Jenny Buchan's blog

NZ has announced it is considering franchise regulation.  Any of you have strong views about what you would do to improve franchise regulation if you had a clean slate - here's your chance!<

AUSTRALIA (Blue MauMau) - Australian franchise chain Kleins Jewellery seems to be heading towards bankruptcy and experts and franchisees are only now beginning to grapple with what to do when their

It would be interesting to know how franchisors are protecting their intellectual property in second life and the range of other formats that have appeared this century.

Under Australia's business migration scheme, immigrants, known as migrants in Australia, need to own a business for three years in order to qualify as a permanent resident.

Australian High Court To Make Ruling on Franchisor Practices, Franchisees Call for Additional Parliamentary Inquiry into Franchise Industry

With public tales of intimidation and the churning of owners for higher franchise revenues, angry franchisees have called on the West Australian Government on the first day of the state’s public inquiry into franchising to pass state legislation to tighten the Franchise Code of Conduct .

Read the full story, Sydney Morning Herald

Blue MauMau member and Baker's Delight franchisee, Deanne de Leeuw, is front and center in the call for better government regulation of franchising.

As Food Costs Soar, Multi-National Pizza Chains in Australia Compete to Down Size Pizzas

AUSTRALIA - In response to soaring food costs, Dominos has followed Pizza Hut in down sizing pizzas throughout Australia. In the shrinking pizza wars, a curious local ad campaign (see below) has been engaged by Eagle Boys pizzas that points out this, er, short-coming of American chains.

Jacqui Walker, former intellectual property lawyer and now journalist, has interviewed numerous franchising people over the past few years.  In this article she has identified the 10 biggest franchising mistakes and how to avoid them. Here's three:

• Selling franchises, not granting them
• Making inappropriate acquisitions
• Expanding too quickly

Australian State Governments Now Investigating Predatory Franchise Practices 

AUSTRALIA (Blue MauMau) - Hot on the heels of the Australian federal government’s 2006/07 review of the disclosure provisions of the Franchising Code of Conduct, there are now to be reviews into franchising by the State governments of Western Australia and South Australia. At the federal level, the Productivity Commission is conducting two inquiries that touch on franchising issues too.

On 2 November 2007 Minister Margaret Quirk of the Western Australian Small Business announced the start of an inquiry into the operation of franchise businesses in Western Australia. The inquiry is about fairness in franchise arrangements and will be chaired by franchisee Chris Bothams, manager of the South East Metro Small Business Centre. He has a Master of Commerce (Business Administration) from Curtin University of Technology, having completed his thesis on Australia's Entrepreneurial Spirit: The Contribution of Franchising.

Franchisees Down Under Complain They Are But Meat in The Renter's Sandwich

CANBERRA, Australia (Blue MauMau) - Small business owners in Australia are complaining that they lack market power in leasing premises. So Australia's Productivity Commission is undertaking a public inquiry to examine and report on difficulties small businesses may face in entering into commercial leases and the lack of buying influence. 

SmartCompany, an online magazine for small businesses, reports, "Underlying each of these complaints is the perception that shopping centre owners exercise superior market power over their tenants. For many tenants, this means lease negotiations involve just one choice – agree to the landlord’s offer, or walk away."

Unfortunately, because of the interruptions caused by the upcoming federal election (24 November), the Productivity Commission has extended its deadline for receiving submissions to its retail leasing inquiry to 31 March 2008. The  submissions to the inquiry are available below: