In spite of the important contributions of franchising to many economies, it remains unclear whether it truly provides a scope for entrepreneurial tendencies to flourish amongst franchisees. This study examines the debate surrounding the franchisee as an entrepreneur from the perspectives of the main contributors within the UK franchising sector, franchisors and franchisees, by analysing their entrepreneurial tendencies and the franchisee selection process.

Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on an empirical study using a focus group and a survey approach.

Findings
The findings from this study demonstrate that franchisees have similar levels of entrepreneurial tendencies to franchisors. The results further indicate that franchisors appear to value entrepreneurial personalities within their franchised outlets, as demonstrated by their franchisee selection process.

Originality/value
By providing an indication of the extent of the franchisee’s entrepreneurial tendencies, this study expatiates on major arguments in the franchising and entrepreneurship literature, which are also profound amongst practitioners in the fields of franchising and entrepreneurship.