Franchise Outlook
Coping with Franchise Changes
Another set of franchisees has decided to sue their franchisor. In this case, the franchisor has changed hands several times in the past years and the new owner — an equity holding company — has made a lot of changes. Here’s a sampling, from the point of view of the…
Senate Hearing on Franchise Industry
Last week, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a hearing on the changes facing the franchise industry following the National Labor Relations Board’s decision that franchisors and franchisees can be “joint employers.” The “joint employer” idea says that the corporate office shares responsibility for employee working…
Franchise Forecast for 2015
Franchise businesses are expected to drive much of the job creation for 2015. The International Franchise Association announced this week that it expects to see 247,000 more jobs in franchise businesses in 2015, an increase of 2.9 percent. This is just slightly more than 2014’s 2.8 percent job growth. 2014…
Who Started Out as a Franchisee?
Franchise businesses appeal to celebrities as investments, to retired people looking for a second career, to new college grads having trouble finding a job. But they also appeal to plenty of savvy businesspeople. One example you might not have heard about: Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart. “Mr. Sam,” as…
Minimum Wage Campaigns and Franchisees
The Wall Street Journal recently predicted that minimum wage campaigns would heat up during the holiday season, and that franchisees in particular would be affected. The president would like to see the national minimum wage increased, but states and cities are making legal changes on their own, and protesters are…
California’s Franchise Bill Vetoed
Governor Jerry Brown has vetoed a bill, SB 610, that would have made substantial changes in the relationships of franchisors and franchisees in California. One of the big changes the bill would have made was in the ability of franchisors to close down or refuse to renew a franchisee’s relationship…
Hottest Trends in Franchising
What are the hottest trends in franchising? Think of franchising as a funnel, and let’s look at the trends with the broadest application first and move down toward the narrowest trends. Success Franchises are hot. They’re growing at a faster rate than independent start-ups, they’re supplying 10% of all new…
Franchising and the Government Shutdown
Will your franchise business plan be affected by the government shutdown? It’s possible. The Small Business Administration is closed and won’t be signing off on new loans. BusinessWeek assembled a list of all the services the SBA won’t be providing; the short version is that they will be doing just…
Franchise Ownership Outlook is Bright for 2013
BY MARC KIEKENAPP | November 28, 2012 After several years of slower activity in new franchise unit openings, investors and existing franchisees have started investing in additional units to be positioned for an improving and growing economy. Franchising offers an excellent investment opportunity in today’s economy. With interest rates on…