Here is something that looks like a contradiction.
A restaurant chain reports that sales at its existing locations grew slowly. Maybe barely at all. And on the same day, it announces it is opening hundreds more restaurants.
That seems backwards. If the existing stores are not doing better, why build more?
The answer is that the company announcing the openings and the restaurants themselves are two different businesses, owned by different people, making money in completely different ways.
Gif by wingstop on Giphy
Once you see that split, franchising stops being confusing and becomes one of the most elegant structures in business.
It also explains something useful about how to evaluate almost any company.
Let us dig in.