Buying A Franchise

I'm currently working on an article on Buying A Franchise. I think franchises can be a wonderful way to live the American Dream. They provide willing business owners (with lots of money) the opportunity to buy into a current system. In other words, you don't have to re-create the wheel to own your own business. Franchises also provide much neeeded marketing and support, which are vital to startup businesses.
I often wonder, however, would some of these business owners have been better off starting their own businesses from scratch? I mean, buying a franchise isn't cheap these days. When you buy it, you buy it. If the market isn't right for your product and service, you're stuck with it because of the investment. If you start from scratch, you can move on.