Ken Gutman spent 22 years at Sign-A-Rama, a West Palm Beach, Fla. franchisor of business-sign shops, climbing from store manager to chief operating officer of the 1, 300-unit chain.
Gutman got off to a good start--Sign-A-Rama (since renamed United Franchise Group) signed him to a two-year consulting deal soon after he left--but skeptics abound, especially among companies already carrying a squad of lawyers on their payroll.