Mission Statement

Source Book Publications is committed to helping individuals in their quest for self-employment and business ownership by providing them with the most comprehensive and up-to-date information on the maximum number of legitimate franchise systems and service providers. We feel strongly that the operating and systems advantages provided by franchising make it the preferred avenue for 95% of those people who want to go into business for themselves.

Our Stakeholders

Our stakeholders are today's prospective and existing franchisees, franchisors, law firms, consulting firms, accounting firms, service providers and entrepreneurs, who, as a group, make the franchising industry what it is and, more importantly, what it can become.

About Source Book Publications

With its extensive product line of books, internet websites, databases and consulting services, Source Book Publications is the pre-eminent provider of reliable, up-to-date and easy-to-use information on franchising.

Books include:

1) Bond's Franchise Guide (16th Edition) provides detailed profiles on over 1,000 North American franchisors, as well as supplemental data on over an additional 1,100 franchisors. The profiles are divided into 45 distinct industry categories;

2) "How Much Can I Make?" (5th Edition) provides historical sales, expense and/or profit data on actual franchise operations, as provided by the franchisors themselves. This "insider's guide" includes 145 recent earnings claim statements for 29 major industry categories;

3) Tips & Traps When Buying a Franchise (2nd Edition) provides an insightful overview and road map for prospective franchisees;

4) Bond's Top 100 Franchises provides a rigorous analysis of the 100 top franchises in the food-service, retail and service-based industries. Selected from the 2,500 available franchise systems, these companies were evaluated on the basis of historical performance, brand identification, market dynamics, franchisee satisfaction, level of initial training and on-going support, financial stability and other key factors;

5) Bond's Minority Franchise Guide provides detailed profiles on over 450 companies committed to the inclusion of minorities in their systems. The book also provides relevant resources for the minority investor;

6) The International Herald Tribune International Franchise Guide (2nd Edition) provides detailed profiles on a broad range of international franchisors, attorneys and consultants/service providers. Included franchisors are specifically looking for international partners.

For detailed profiles on these books, as well as other books about franchising, see our Bookstore.

Internet websites include:

www.worldfranchising.com - the Internet's most comprehensive and up-to-date portal on franchising. The subsidiary sites (noted below) of resources and sortable databases cover all major segments of the industry.

www.franchisingamerica.com - a sortable database that includes a detailed listing covering 50 fields of critical information on more than 1,200 North American franchisors, as well as related resources.

www.minorityfranchising.com - a sortable database that includes a detailed listing covering 50 fields of critical information on over 450 North American franchisors who actively seek out and support minority franchisees, as well as related resources.

www.franchisingattorney.com - a sortable database that includes detailed profiles of leading North American attorneys who specialize in franchising, as well as related resources.

www.franchisingconsultant.com - a sortable database that includes detailed profiles of leading North American franchise consultants and service providers, as well as related resources.

www.sourcebookpublications.com - lists over 20 franchise industry publications that can be purchased over the Internet. Orders are usually shipped within 24 hours.

Robert E. Bond

Rob Bond is a leading national authority on the exceedingly complex franchise industry. As the founder and president of Source Book Publications, located in Oakland, California, his sole focus for the past 12 years has been the dissemination of timely and in-depth information on franchising through books, websites and databases. Source Book Publications currently maintains six websites and publishes eight books on franchising, including Bond's Franchise Guide, considered by many to be the "industry bible."

Recognizing the need for a national forum to address the under-representation of minorities in the U.S. franchising community, Bond created the National Minority Franchising Initiative. The 2003-2004 program included Bond's Minority Franchise Guide, the www.minorityfranchising.com website and 10 seminars hosted throughout the country. The 2004-2005 program will include 10 seminars, the dates of which are currently being finalized. His partner in the NMFI is Everett Wallace of Wallace Enterprises International.

Since receiving his MBA from Stanford Business School, Bond has built an extraordinary record of achievements in several Fortune 100 companies, real estate development and consulting. As an author, lecturer and consultant, he is regarded as one of the franchise industry's most knowledgeable and widely-quoted spokespersons.