About a year ago, we wrote about the questionable nature of the 90% success rate for franchisees (a figure promulgated by the industry).

Now, two recent Wall Street Journal articles raise even more questions about the viability of a franchised business from the vantage point of the franchisee.

In the first article (“Is Buying a Franchise Riskier Than Ever?”), Sarah E. Needleman notes that:

“Franchising has never been a more popular option — or, perhaps, a bigger risk. Over the past few years, people have been flocking to franchising, seeing it as a simpler path to entrepreneurship in troubled economic times. But over that same period, numerous pitfalls have appeared that make franchising much tougher to navigate, say many franchise attorneys and advocacy groups. For one, they say, it’s gotten much more complicated for buyers to get an accurate picture of a franchise before taking the plunge. And, they…