You build a good business, and the very first thing that goes through your mind is, “How can I franchise your business or maybe license it?” It’s an ultimate entrepreneur dream-sort of like getting an all-access pass to the business world VIP lounge. Trying to decide on whether to franchise your business or take the route of licensing has the feeling of choosing between two delectable desserts. Both come with high notes-both able to help lengthen your empire-but each dishes out a different recipe of rewards and challenges.

Consider franchising a bit like sending mini versions of your business out into the world to continue in your good name, while licensing really is about granting access to, and use of, part of what you’ve built. You might think of franchising as cloning your successful café all the way down to each individually pulled cup of artisanal, single-origin espresso. Instead, that new café owner, armed with the right support and mentorship, follows your lead to preserve for every coffee drinker that which you took such great care to build. You could license that signature espresso blend to another café, which would still be free to leave everything else about their business intact.

You supply the guidebook to operation, and in return, you enjoy a modicum of control with another business operation. It is finding harmony in replication, the balance required so that the scent of freshly brewed ambition smells the same. Of course, there is no rose without its thorn; this harmony doesn’t come about without its due share of attention, rather like tuning up a symphony.

Whereas in licensing, you literally hand over the keys to some part of your magic, whether your brand name, trademark, or that killer product everyone has been talking about. This model makes the operation way easier, though at the cost of direct oversight.