Well, we've discussed this before and I am certain you can find a number of threads if you do a search on "franchises."
I have been open almost two years. I looked at franchises before I opened. I talked to most of the suppliers to the franchise I was most interested in and wrote a business plan with and without the franchise. I have an MBA and felt comfortable with my framing skills, so general business and technical skills were not an issue for me.
What I felt the franchise would give me is a strong start-up knowledge and specific industry, marketing and merchandising experience. I felt the initial fee and their royalty was a good deal for "hiring" a consultant. It was a close call before I decided to "go it on my own."
I met a number of "non-framers" and/or "non-business" people who started franchises. I would say that if you feel particularly weak in either area a franchise is a strong possibility. For a three year period it looked better than independent in most of the scenarios I ran.
My analysis supported John's points exactly. I am a bit of a risk taker, and my wife says she thinks I took an extra share of self confidence when it was being handed out,
so I opened an independent shop.
I would not rule out either possibility if you are thinking about opening a shop. What I WOULD DO is write a business plan BOTH ways, have an independent person go over both with you, and think HARDand objectively about your personality, skills and experience.