Participation in franchising comes at a steep price. Franchise agreements are often inequitable, with the franchisor holding all the power. 

Although franchisees supply the capital and hard work that make this system thrive, they are afforded few legal rights.

But even though franchisees are required to make substantial investments into a franchising system, often their life savings, franchisors are unwilling to grant them {fiduciary} status.

The worst inequity of the franchise agreement is the power of the franchisor to terminate the agreement, almost at will. A termination of the franchise agreement means the franchisee has lost his entire investment, often in the millions of dollars, and that the franchisor now is in possession of an asset it can re-sell to someone else.

To read the entire Op-Ed as printed in the Boston Globe: Go to dunk-d.com and click on the Op-Ed Icon.

Irwin Barkan is a former franchisee of Dunkin’ Donuts and the author of “Dunk’d, A True Story of how Big Money has Corrupted the Franchising Industry.’’