A franchise is a license to use the business name and model of an existing concern

Zackly. I have a major car dealership (multi-affiliated) as a client, and it's given me a real insight into how excruciating a grip on the short & curlies is exacted by the auto makers. For example, Joe Bloggs can't call himeself 'Joe Bloggs Majormotors' (where you can substitute whichever brand you want for the last word)except in certain very rigidly controlled ways (even down to typeface, size of type, etc, going way beyong the normal advertising criteria of brand reinforcement); on the other hand he needs the credibility offered by the 'franchise' of the recognised dealership which is only available on dictated terms; his advertising budget has to be placed on a schedule agreed by the manufacturer; his stock of cars won't always be actually owned by him (there are all kinds of weird deals!)... so I have becoem aware that the theoretical disctinctions that we might understand between the two terms is not so apparent on the forecourt.