Real estate investing vs Franchise investing

[Chris Lynch]

With a fairly low income (43k) I have been searching for investments that will increase my income so I can then snowball the larger amount of income into more investment's ultimately creating long term wealth. 

After some research in Real estate I noticed my area is not a huge application area. With that said I know I there are tons of deals that will cash flow nice. I like Real estate because it is a tangible asset that keeps paying and provides you with tax benefits. 

I have also been browsing on Bizbuysell.com and I have seen some local franchises for sale that seem to provide great cashflow/Net profit. For example there is a semi absentee subway that makes 55k per year * Cashflow not gross* for 140k with financing.  Also a couple dry cleaning business's with great margin. 

My question is will it make more sense to use my investment capital to purchase something that cash flows like a business and then roll that into investment property's? Or am I missing something here all together?