Business View Magazine - May 2016 97
of different industries and I’ve never seen more open
sharing. You’ll go to a discussion panel at an Associa-
tion event, with three or four CEOs from competing
brands, and they’re sharing all the challenges that
they have and what’s going on in their systems. The
transparency is really amazing.
“Clearly the biggest value of the International Fran-
chise Association is education, and that ties directly
into advocacy. The franchise business model is very
misunderstood, especially by local, state, and federal
bureaucrats who tend to view franchising as ‘big busi-
ness.’ The reality is that franchising is just a network
of small business owners, who are the true engine of
economy. There is a lot of proposed legislation that
could have a huge impact on franchised businesses.
We’re helping the IFA tell the true story of franchising
with all the data we have on franchisees, so that the
playing field remains fair for all small business owners
– franchised or non-franchised.”
What are some of the most important points that
you would want our readers to understand about the
Franchise Business Review?
“I think the biggest piece boils down to the fact that
we have all this research based on the actual experi-
ence of franchisees. So many people in the world, at
one point or another in their life, think about owning
their own business, but nine out of ten of them never
do. Franchising is a great pathway for a lot of those
people. Unfortunately, I think franchising still has a
bad reputation due to shady deals that were happen-
ing in the ‘70s and early ‘80s, or they think they know
franchising because of big brands like McDonalds and
Subway. But there are literally thousands of differ-
ent brands operating today, in every industry you can
imagine. The average consumer is touched by a dozen
franchise companies a day and doesn’t even realize
it – from cleaning services to senior care to pet ser-
vices, technology companies, education, recreation,
you name it.
“We can educate the general public about what the
franchise model is all about and how it is a partner-
ship to help people who may not have the resources
or the skills to start a business from scratch, have the
opportunity to own their own business and have it be
successful. Obviously, the franchise companies are
providing the model and a number of resources, but I
think the greatest value in franchising is the network
of other franchisees that are in the business. You can
pick up the phone and call dozens, if not hundreds, of
other franchisees that are doing exactly what you’re
doing. Having access to that network of business part-
ners gives you a huge advantage over an individual,
‘mom and pop’ small business. If you choose a great
brand, franchising offers an incredible business op-
portunity.”
