In the early days of franchising the mission was clear: Franchisors make their success off the success of their franchisees. Today, that premise is hard to find in many convoluted franchise business models that are presented to would-be-buyers in franchise disclosure documents. Many are over 300 pages, crafted by shred franchisor attorneys.
Franchisees continue to face challenges today in successfully running their businesses, many times seeing little results from the efforts of franchisors, franchise associations, highly-paid attorneys, and franchise regulators, those in control of their destiny. But a look back 25 years ago when franchisees struggled with similar problems in trying to level the playing field, may shed a brighter light on meaningful solutions.
In 1993 the franchise community was facing many difficulties, as the International Franchise Association (IFA) broke with 33 years of tradition and invited franchisees to become members at the direction of IFA chairman C. Stephen Lynn, CEO of Sonic, and to the disappointment of many large franchisors.
