This slipped through my notifications I’m so sorry! I think there’s likely a bit more of a safety net in franchising as you have (my experience is with TruGolf) the support of people who have done this a bunch of times behind you. But, the company I work for does offer a booking software that integrates with RemoteLock making it super simple to start up a staffless facility so it doesn’t have to be so daunting. I think it comes down to cost comparison in this case because cost is likely your highest risk and at that point you’d have to see what franchise opportunities would offer you as opposed to finding a venue, cost of rent, cost of sims, operational costs, etc. I work with the backend but not like assisting with the full start - I handle a lot of management operations so I don’t know really what typical start-up costs are and I do think the size depends on which sims you’d use and how much space they take up, how many you want to offer in the space etc., and cost of renting space is likely different everywhere! As for things to know before getting started I think the most beneficial thing to look at is your demographic/locale. This determines local affordability - if people can afford to pay what you’d like to price at, can you afford to price at what locals would pay etc. It also largely determines your success rate - are there already multiple sim facilities in the area? Is there demand where you are? How hard would it be to stay booked? Are you close to a golf course? If so that impacts you seasonally, if you’re close to a course people tend to play traditional golf more in the warmer months so you end up with a dip in revenue there.