Exactly, and when the control company locks you out of their software after you quit being an active dealer, you effectively lose your customer-base.

When you look at it that way, what you may consider to be "your" customer is essentially theirs. You merely become the conduit that delivers the product. And then, if for whatever reason things turn sour, you've either got to try and convince them to move to another system at huge expense (possibly with similar risk) or simply hand them over/lose them to another dealer.

Like you said; Not easy, and not something I'm comfortable with having hang over my head.