It’s a brilliant concept – get someone else to buy your idea, then charge him an ongoing share of the profits for making it work! Franchising is centuries old although the modern form of franchising that we recognise today is something that has evolveed over the last hundred years.
To sum up franchising in a sentence it is "someone with intelectual rights to a product or service that offers others the opportunity to use a proven system to develop a succesful business, adding value to the brand; over time everyone benefits"