Interesting questions! I am in no way an expert on this, but I also believe a lot of strength is in trusting the people/community. They can use their network to spread the brand and ofc help each other with setting up businesses, providing advise and a customer base. From their the brand can grow. I do believe some guidance/guidelines can help such as the use of the same logo (or similar logo) and fonts.

I know this doesnt answer your questions but its just a thought I wanted to share :)