In quality franchise systems, a notice of breach of contract is an absolute last resort.  In any system, such a notice almost always produces angst no matter what the motivation behind it. This is a thought provoker from Jason Gehrke of Australia’s Griffith University’s Asia-Pacific Centre for Franchising Excellence and the Franchise Advisory Centre.

In short, breach notices are received like bombs that explode in the hands of the recipient and create in them an aggressive desire to explode straight back at the franchisor.- Jason Gehrke

When a breach notice is issued to ensure the compliance that protects all franchise investments to a healthy system an additional franchisor investment in education may minimize confrontation.  

Through training, franchisees may develop a better understanding that a breach notice is not an unrestrained personal attack on the business operator.

There is no better time than during franchise induction training to instruct new franchisees of the processes that ensure compliance as a brand strength.  It also pays to train support personnel as to their approach to calming potentially damaging franchisee reactions.  Franchisors should also have an established, visible approach to negative responses that includes catering to any breach backlash in a positive, collaborative and educational manner.  

Omitted from this franchisor educational piece is any reference to those franchise systems that utilize a systemic approach to vexatious breach notices to quell legitimate complaint, hasten the calculated exit of franchisees and impose ‘penalties’ while possibly attempting to appear to comply with a franchisor’s regulatory obligations with a side benefit usually being strategically induced franchisee stress and/or isolation where such isolation is designed to induce, amongst other things, fear of a an attempt at a united franchisee involvement within a troubled network.

Much of the typical franchising information provided by many industry promoters including Griffith University, while often insightful, tends to often deny new entries to the industry, by omission or vague reference, the opportunity to gain a balanced perspective on an industry torn between ‘perfect world’ franchising and the abusive realities experienced by far too many naïve investors.  For such a perspective there is no better forum than Blue MauMau.