Economic crises affect both the organizational side and the brand side of the franchise. Using self‐organizing time maps, this study examines how franchise brand behavior influences decisions by potential franchisees in Spain. The findings confirm that franchising offers an alternative to the business turnaround strategy, which firms apply when faced with adverse changes in the environment such as those caused by the economic crisis in Spain. Results show that all franchise brands within the same sector behaved similarly, except for brands in the catering sector, which displayed varying responses to the economic changes. The authors discuss the implications of these results for future franchisees.