Complaints of the Site's Content, Dynamics and Organization that Skews the Truth

Submitted by Don Sniegowski on Wed, 2008/04/16 - 13:40.

Discussion and complaints about how a news story, reader comment, or forum posting skews the truth by being poorly arranged or presented, e.g. a news report that reads more like an advice blog.

Besides individual postings, the community itself can take on its own group think, which can be influenced by simply how the site is organized. This forum is for discussing the strengths and weaknesses of this franchise social network site and how to make it better.

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Quiznos Franchise Ads on the Website?

Submitted by Guest on Wed, 2008/08/20 - 07:25.

Dear Sir's,

I have been an avid Blue MauMau reader for quite some time now.As a former Mail Boxes Etc. Franchisee your site has even discussed our plight with our Franchiser.

My question to you is this...

Since Blue MauMau has been reporting on all the "MASSIVE PROBLEMS" Quiznos franchisee's are having with the Quiznos Franchise System...how in the world does Blue MauMau allow them to place ads on the Blue MauMau Web site inviting the public to buy into this TROUBLED FRANCHISE???? If Blue MauMau allows this then you might want to consider the amount of CREDIBILITY your Web site is going to LOSE.

It's like talking out of both sides of your mouth.

Thank You
Lance

Interactive Ads and Pre Purchase Investigation

Submitted by michael webster on Wed, 2008/08/20 - 09:03.

The ads for any franchise system provide a glimpse into their marketing materials, which then may later be compared against the representations made in the agreement and FDD.

Just as no government agency recommends any franchise system by requiring the system to disclose certain information, BMM is not recommending any franchise system by running its promotional material.

Michael Webster PhD LLB
Franchise News

Blue MauMau Welcomes All

Submitted by Mr. Blue MauMau on Wed, 2008/08/20 - 08:35.

I think there is a misunderstanding on Blue MauMau's purpose. Although there are a number of franchisee advocates posting on this site, this is not a consumer advocacy site. It is a site about knowing where to invest in franchises.

In an industry where it has been extremely difficult to uncover information beyond the myth, obfuscation, and message control, we started a model using new social media technology to create a citizen trade journal that could break through all that. This is a model in which insiders on all sides can give franchise owners investment information.

Overworked mainstream business reporters had a difficult time understanding and tapping into the inside issues of franchise systems. Sadly, those news articles that investors relied on to make choices often read like press releases. Mainstream business reporters are increasingly relying on this vertical trade journal to easily and quickly get the scoop (at the touch of a mouse) and to better explain its significance.

In our beginning days, as franchisors used traditional venues that typically gave them strong control of their message, franchisors were sometimes uncomfortable participating here. That was not to say that we discouraged franchisors from contributing their perspectives on the news. We went out of our way to contact them on just about every news piece that we did. It's just that the industry was not used to such openness.

The times are changing.

It would be against the mission and values of Blue MauMau to block content or ad messages on investment opportunities. We believe that the marketplace of diverse messages and ideas is the best source to determine the truth and the investment worthiness of a franchise owner's dollar.

We know that franchise owners and advocates like to participate here but we also strongly encourage franchisors to participate in this news network in whatever way they feel comfortable. Blue MauMau has many mouths to talk out of.

For Love of Franchising

Submitted by Don Sniegowski on Tue, 2008/04/29 - 14:54.

"it's surprising, Don, how many people on this site are anti franchising -- that all franchisors are scoundrels." - John Hayes

Of the thousands who have registered on Blue MauMau's social network site and the scores who frequently post, I can think of a couple contributors who possibly consider ALL franchisors to be scoundrels. I quite agree that such individuals are anti-franchising. In a perfect world, there probably would be none. However, such a rare writer should not be confused with the many experts, franchisees, attorneys, leaders or other members that write here about a specific franchise's problems.

There are individuals who try to argue that because someone is saying unpleasant things about a specific franchisor and its leadership, that those individuals must be "anti-franchising". That argument doesn't hold.

Many of the active posters here have devoted a significant chunk of their lives to franchising. They are so passionate about the subject that they write about it during basketball, lunch hour, insomnia, back surgery, boring conference calls or whenever they can. I tell them to get a life. They reply that they want to talk about franchising. To which I say, "so do I."

Suggestions on Setting Up an Online Hui Reputation System

Submitted by Don Sniegowski on Wed, 2008/04/16 - 16:41.

Is the world ready for reputational management of franchise concepts and leaders?

We have the capability to have an online hui, an eBay or Amazon style reputational management system set up in full for all franchise systems and for this site's members.

The easiest next step is to have members ranking each other. Although welcome to post comments under blogs and post in our forums, anonymous guests will naturally be given a zero star reputation.

What do you think, gang? Any suggestions on how to structure an effective reputational management system?

We could:

  1. use our current star ranking to  evaluate member contributors (available at the switch of a button right now)
  2. to have contributors evaluated by a summary of all of their articles that readers voted on
  3. set up a reputational mechanism that has the editor (me) rank, along with a panel of appointed judges having a heavier weight than the population as a whole

What say ye? A straight popular vote or a weighted system of judges and total population to vote on reputation?

A online hui?

Submitted by Do Diligence on Wed, 2008/04/16 - 17:19.

With the purpose of people interested in getting into franchising and making sure they get with a good franchisor? Plus if they are having problems posting their problems. With the result zees could ask for advice to grow their business. To provide advice from people who are already successful. Goal from all this is zees and zors will or could talk about problems and fix them. End result a win win situation?

What kind of popularity contest do you want?

Submitted by Truth in Franchising on Wed, 2008/04/16 - 17:19.

How can people vote on the reputation of franchise systems and their leadership without having a frame of reference or firsthand knowledge? I don't see the value.

Let's see Quizno's will get a negative vote for franchise system and leadership and no franchise system or leadership will be a clear winner. It would be completely subjective and worthless.

Heck, the AAFD has worked on this subject for years and their solution is less than perfect.

The Truth Shall Set You Free!

TIF

Popular Ranking Is Important

Submitted by Bob Frankman on Wed, 2008/04/16 - 17:53.

"no franchise system or leadership will be a clear winner" - TIF

In a ranking system, someone will rank higher and someone will rank lower. How many here want to guess who will rank at the bottom? Any guesses on who some winners might be? 

There are some systems that have an awful lot of screaming and problems for being so little. On this site, we know who they are. And we have some ideas of the good guys.

If anyone out there is interested in such information, this is the place.

My first suggestion: Only allow a computer a single vote.

Re: Popular Ranking Is Important

Submitted by Truth in Franchising on Wed, 2008/04/16 - 18:00.

How so and based on what criteria? 

The Truth Shall Set You Free!

TIF

Market Perceptions

Submitted by Bob Frankman on Wed, 2008/04/16 - 19:10.

There is room for a lot of rankings.

1. Mr. Blue MauMau can rank franchisors based on criteria that he thinks is important. The Entrepreneur list would have worked if Entrepreneur were more transparent about their listing, and improved through time based on the feedback they received.

2. Rankings can be made by an elite group of analysts, who supposedly know more than the rest of us. I hope I can read those rankings too.

3. But there is also a place for franchise amateurs like many of us here to rank franchise systems. The list would be a popular ranking by the market. These ratings could be based on set criteria that the editor establishes and the readers' perceptions of the franchise based on those criteria. Comments can be made by readers to describe why they ranked the franchise the way they did.

I'm guessing that if franchisors perceive their buyers are being influenced and guided by comments here, that franchise companies will begin to identify and improve the places they are perceived as weak.

It will be the market dictating to the supplier. If the market misperceives the supplier a certain way, the supplier will still react.

Re: Market Perceptions

Submitted by Truth in Franchising on Wed, 2008/04/16 - 19:21.

Even if the Entrepreneur list was transparent it would still be crap. 

Frankman says - "But there is also a place for franchise amateurs like many of us here to rank franchise systems. The list would be a popular ranking by the market. These ratings could be based on set criteria that the editor establishes and the readers' perceptions of the franchise based on those criteria. Comments can be made by readers to describe why they ranked the franchise the way they did."

I ask - Okay Mr. Frankman what pray tell would you propose the editor establish as criterion? And who cares what some idiot might think about franchise or several franchises.

The Truth Shall Set You Free!

TIF

Who Cares? Buyers and Eventually Franchisors

Submitted by Bob Frankman on Wed, 2008/04/16 - 20:12.

"And who cares what some idiot might think about franchise or several franchises." - TIF

We can ask that of any major purchase. Who cares what some idiot buyer might think about the quality and effectiveness of the new Sanyo PLV-Z2000 projector?

Answer: Other idiot buyers and the idiot seller who wants to sell those idiot boxes, that's who. After all, who really cares about what the CEO or his paid experts think of their own product? We know what that will be.

If you make the franchise criteria technical enough, the guy judging the franchise system because of the quality of the doughnut he eats there at lunch will feel out of his league to judge - just as if I asked if the perception of brightness in the Sanyo PLV-Z2000 was less or greater than 1000 lumens, you would go on to other sites that took less technical skill.

Re: Who Cares? Buyers and Eventually Franchisors

Submitted by Truth in Franchising on Thu, 2008/04/17 - 06:43.

Foolishness Bob what you are saying is just plain foolish! 

It is wholly unhelpful to have opinions absent facts as a qualitative measure of a franchise concept and its leadership.

In fact this kind of ranking gives people bad information, a false sense that they are performing actual due diligence and promotes confirmation biased thinking.

There is no subsitute for individual franchise concept evaluation and due diligence.

The Truth Shall Set You Free!

TIF

Reputation for Fairness

Submitted by michael webster on Wed, 2008/04/16 - 17:50.

TIF writes: "Heck, the AAFD has worked on this subject for years and their solution is less than perfect."

I would go farther than TIF.  The AAFD solution which relies upon their being a marketplace for reputation simply has not worked - franchisees are not interested in evaluating franchisor's reputations.  Prospective franchisees just want to believe the dream; existing franchisees do not take advantage of collective action.

There is only one group of people who would benefit from a market for franchisor reputation: existing franchisors who have to compete for new franchisees against highly dubious systems.

High quality franchise systems ought to be pushing to the sidelines low quality offerings - it is in their interest to attract a wide pool of qualified applicants.

Currently, the IFA refuses to act as a trade association and the AAFD, which could act as a trade association, doesn't attract sufficient franchisor interest.

The result is that crappy franchise systems continue to plague the marketplace -the franchisee consumers are not sophisticated enough to tell McDonalds from McPoo.

But the big losers are the good quality franchise systems who lose financially qualified and good people to the purveyors of McPoo. 

Michael Webster PhD LLB
Franchise News

Editors Sometimes Write Editorials

Submitted by Don Sniegowski on Wed, 2008/04/16 - 13:44.

There are probably few who see the volume of daily franchise news that I do. I am aware that there are readers who expect me to share things that in my position I am privileged to see. As an editor, reporter and member of the community, I struggle to find the right balance of just reporting the news in a news article (left-hand of the front page) and writing an advice / op-ed blog (right-hand side). I write comments and post forum remarks just like every one else.

Let me know if you think my blogs, comments under the blogs or debates in forums are getting in the way of objectivity of reporting news stories.

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