2011 has been a momentous year for Australian franchising with State legislation now in place in South Australia and Western Australia moving in the same direction with the appointment of a Small Business Minister. And while the acknowledgment by the new Chairman of the ACCC that franchising needs to clean up its image offers some cause for optimism at a federal level the appointment of the union’s Senator Arbib as Small Business minister suggests that in real terms the Gillard government will foolishly continue to ignore the needs of Small Business. 2011 saw franchising virtually stagnate with lenders becoming wary of the turmoil and risks in franchising and we saw the Franchise Council of Australia lose enormous amounts of credibility with it’s below the belt...

Last week the South Australian Small Business Commissioner Bill passed through the Lower House. The genius in this Bill comes from redrafting of another Bill to increase positive impact to greater stakeholder and gain that stakeholder support. In Australia there have been rumblings of discontent from small business for decades. When confronted by a financially more powerful adversary in a dispute typically the big business always wins and small business simply has had to survive or fail in that reality. Small business in Australia has gradually been devoured by big business using free market principles to justify the erosion of healthy competition. At a federal level big business lobbyists are in favour and the long term cost to taxpayers and government has been ignored. Small...

If you are a franchisee in South Australia, you will celebrate a first for Australia. The state has introduced the Small Business Commissioner Bill 2011, which will ensure broad powers to enhance protection of franchisees by stipulating that dealings are conducted fairly and in good faith. South Australian Minister for Small Business Tom Koutsantonis has tabled the Small Business Commissioner Bill 2011 (pdf). Along with Tony Piccolo MP, Koutsantonis claims South Australia as the safest place for small business entrepreneurs to invest. In a media statement from Tom Koutsantonis MP: The establishment of a Small Business Commissioner will create a level playing field, it will allow the small guys to stand up for themselves and promote good-faith dealings between all parties. This...

This is not just a warning for Australian franchise investors. If you are ready to invest in a franchise brand you should consider what stage of franchise network growth your 'brand of choice' has achieved and what that might mean to any suggested financial success you have been promised. We’ve all seen the franchising brands that have been around for some time and many experience double digit growth until one day they struggle to open new sites or sell existing sites either after company buy backs or directly from failing franchisees. It has nothing to do with market saturation. It is a stage brought on by a franchising reputation reeking of danger and sooner or later those franchise networks shrink as complaints grow, ex-franchisees greatly outnumber the size of the...