Wishful Thinking for 2010

Recall that I previously asked Richard Solomon, David Azrin, and Craig Slavin to outline their perspective on the current state of affairs in franchising, make several predictions about 2010, and share one item from their “wish list” of what they’d like to see take place in 2010.

This approach is actually a basic strategic plan: What is the current reality, what do we think will happen (in the short-term) and what do we want to happen?

Richard Solomon: My one wish is that more troubled franchisees (of which there are many, many thousands) come to me earlier when they still have substantial amounts of money to spend on good lawyering. My subordinate wish is that franchisors who think their system does have legs come to me to project that capability into serious concept replication. So long as there is a deep river of out placed people with access to liquid resources, franchising will continue to be the scam heavy business that it has been for lo these several last years.

David Azrin: “I have two wishes for 2010. First, adoption of uniform state registration regulations in all registration states and second, increased use of financial performance representations by franchisors driven by franchise buyer demand.” 

Craig Slavin: Education. Many people, including some ‘consultants” don’t really get it. They don’t understand that franchising is a market development process and not a franchise sales process. For a small company to begin selling franchises in any particular market, all across America is ludicrous. They are fragmenting their own distribution system and thus, preventing market share from being captured because there is no critical mass anywhere.

Peter Birkeland, Ph.D.: My one wish is that franchisers and franchisees balance growth and productivity. Too often the focus on franchising is solely on recruitment, lead generation, and franchise sales, which is fine, as long as there is also focus on how to create a better business model. Too many franchise companies spend all their resources on growth, but ignore the fundamentals of the business. So you end up with a lot of franchisees but few of them profitable.

Peter Birkeland, Ph.D., is the author of “Franchising Dream,” a speaker, and a contributor to this and many other publications. He has been listed as “one of the top ten minds in business” by Fortune Small Business. Peter helps entrepreneurial and mature companies realize productivity improvements and create strategic growth. He can be reached at Peter@birkelandinstitute.com