To franchise or not to franchise..

I'm at a bit of a crossroads..

I started with the plan to acquire an independent property management company in Denver. But now, buying into a franchise (PMI) is looking more and more attractive, especially since their acquisitions department can help me find, underwrite, and acquire bundles of contracts at ~1x revenue instead of the 2-3x revenue you typically pay for a standalone business, which is likely going to take a long time to find.

Here’s how I’m thinking about it.

Franchise fee: $40k gets me access to PMI’s backend systems (probably better than what an independent would have), acquisition support, and the ability to scale gradually, rather than jumping in all at once with a massive debt obligation.
Finding the right business here in Denver will take time, cost more upfront, and come with zero support beyond the seller. PMI takes a 7% royalty, which I’m not crazy about, but I’m seeing more it as an investment in gaining time and resources and mitigating risk.
However, I’ve read David C. Barnett’s book on franchises, which makes me cautious, but other PMI owners I’ve spoken to compared it to being a realtor at a brokerage—yes, there are fees, but the backend support allows them to focus on growing the business and ultimately make more money with less hassle and risk.

Here’s what I’m asking:

Am I thinking about this the right way? Is this franchise an exception to the downsides present with most franchises?
I have this nagging feeling that I'm giving up the dream and taking the easy way out at the expense of greater upside - but I'm not sure that's actually true. On paper, the franchise route (in this instance) seems to mitigate a lot of risk and save a lot of time, while preserving all the upside, and potentially creating more. I suspect my ego would much rather acquire a business because it sounds a lot sexier, but it might not be the right decision in this instance.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.