Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Franchise
Franchise
A franchise is a type of license that a party (franchisee) acquires to allow them to have access to a business's
(the franchiser) proprietary knowledge, processes and trademarks in order to allow the party to sell a product or
provide a service under the business's name. In exchange for gaining the franchise, the franchisee usually pays
the franchisor initial start-up and annual licensing fees.
To this day, franchises account for a large percentage of U.S. businesses. The 2015 top 15 business franchises include
McDonalds (MCD), Subway, Pizza Hut (YUM), Dennys (DENN), Jimmy Johns Gourmet Sandwiches and Jack in the Box
(JACK). Other popular franchises include the chain hotel industry such as Hampton by Hilton (HLT) and Days Inn (WYN),
as well as 7-Eleven Inc. and Dunkin Donuts (DNKY).
It is important to note that a franchise contract is temporary, akin to a lease or rental of a business, and does not signify
business ownership by the franchisee. Depending on the franchise contract, franchise agreements typically last from five
to 30 years, with serious penalties or consequences if a franchisee violates or prematurely terminates the contract.
In the U.S., franchises are regulated by law at the state level. However, there is one federal regulation established in 1979
by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The Franchise Rule is a legal disclosure given to a prospective purchaser of a
franchise from the franchiser that outlines all the relevant information in order to fully inform the prospective purchaser of
any risks, benefits, or limits of such an investment. Such information specifically stipulates full disclosure of fees and
expenses, any litigation history, a list of suppliers or approved business vendors, even estimated financial performance
expectations, and more. This law has gone through various iterations, and has previously been known as the Uniform
Franchise Offering Circular (UFOC), before it was renamed in 2007 as the current Franchise Disclosure Document.
Disadvantages include heavy start-up costs as well as ongoing royalty costs. To take the McDonalds example further, the
estimated total amount of money it costs to start a McDonalds franchise ranges from $500,000 to $1.6 million.
Franchises, by definition, have ongoing costs to the franchiser company in the form of a percentage of sales or revenue.
This percentage can range from 4 8%. Other disadvantages include lack of territory control or creativity with your own
business, as well as a notable dearth of financing options from the franchiser. Other factors that affect all businesses,
such as poor location or management, are also possibilities.
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/franchise.asp
What is franchising?
Franchising refers to the method of practicing and using anothers perfected business concept. In a franchise relationship, the franchisee
is granted the right to market a product or a service under a marketing plan or a system that uses the trademark, name, logo and
advertising owned by the franchisor.
The business format franchising, also identified as a name and process franchise, features a broader and ongoing relationship between
the franchisor and the franchisee, wherein aside from granting the right to use the name and market the products and services of the
franchisor, the franchisee is also provided a complete plan for managing and operating the business a transfer of the proven way of
doing business that has been developed by the franchisor. This plan often includes a full range of services, including site selection,
training, product supply, marketing plans and even assistance in obtaining financing. All of the franchisors operating systems, technical
expertise, marketing systems, training systems, management methods and essentially all relevant information, are transferred to the
franchisee.
With the means of distributing goods and services perfected, rapid expansion of a successful business concept occur more quickly.
Modern day franchising is primarily in the business format mode, accounting for around 90% of franchise businesses worldwide. PFA is an
association of franchisors who are into business format franchising.
Challenges
Control
As franchising involves the use of a proven business expertise, trademark, knowledge and training, the franchisee is required to follow the
system. Some franchisors impose on a certain degree of control that makes following the system difficult.
On-going costs
Aside from the franchise fee and royalty, franchisees pay a certain percentage of their franchises revenues to the franchisor each month.
Additional fees for services provided, such as advertising costs, are also charged regularly to franchisees.
Failed expectations
Conflict may arise in a franchisor-franchisee relationship due to incompetence. Franchisors can destroy its franchisees by failing to give
ample support or by squeezing them too aggressively for profits. On the other hand, franchisees who tend to be lax in adhering to
franchise agreements create dents on the established system, later on creating damage to the business or the brand.
A good franchisee is an important part of a successful franchise chain. Evaluate your ability to be a good franchisee with these qualities:
Avid learner. Someone eager to learn will be receptive to the training and knowledge a franchisor will impart.
Effective communicator. A franchisee with good communication skills will be effective in conveying their thoughts and ideas to different
individuals in their course of work.
Ample experience. General business skills, such as marketing, sales or administrative expertise, will come in handy for a franchisee.
Financially capable. Financial capability is essential in making a franchise fruitful. The required money should be complemented with
proper financial planning to run the business till it breaks even.
Awareness of the brand. A prospective franchisees ample knowledge about the product or a service indicates whether he is really
serious in getting a franchise or not.
Open to new ideas. A good franchisee must be open to new ideas in order to make it easy for the franchisor to introduce changes in the
system that can be beneficial for both of them.
Ready to follow. A franchisee must be ready to follow the prescribed set of rules and regulations contained in the franchise agreement.
This is important in maintaining the proven business system developed by the franchisor.
Original thinkers. Though its necessary that a franchisee be a good follower, he should also be able to think for himself. However, it
must be made clear that franchisors are to be consulted first at every stage of introducing a new change in the system.
Renewal - Renewal period grants the franchisor the chance to review the FA thus enabling him to decide whether to renew the agreement
or not. The franchisees good performance is the most common of all criteria. However, a renewal does not guarantee the retention of
the original terms and conditions of the agreement. If applicable, a renewal fee is also charged by the franchisor.
Investment Amount and Fees - This part of the FA explains the total investment cost and its inclusions, as well as the date a franchisor is to
be paid. Included in these are:
Franchise fees - The initial franchise fee, which may be non-refundable, is paid at the start of a franchise relationship thus giving the
franchisee the right to engage in the business using the franchisors name and business system.
Royalties - Royalties are usually a percentage of the franchisees sales and are typically paid weekly, biweekly or monthly.
Marketing contribution - System-wide marketing contributions are also based on the percentage of franchisees sales.
Training and Support The FA should state the kind of training and support the franchisor will provide.
Purchase of Products - Products and supplies used in the franchise system should maintain consistency. Hence the FA specifies that the
franchisee may only buy from suppliers accredited by the franchisor. A detailed list of approved suppliers is also provided in the
Operations Manual.
Territory- The Territory determines the geographical boundaries a franchisee may operate, or within which no other unit of the
franchisors businesses may compete.
Termination - The FA carries in it the grounds for termination of the contract. In some cases, violations of such conditions may still be
remedied, however if repeated over time or failure to act on them will still lead to termination of the contract.
THE ADVANTAGES
Advantage #2 Training
A franchise system will provide training for the new franchisee. This is usually done at the home office and at the franchisees place of
business. This training should prepare the new owner in all facets of the business.
THE CHALLENGES
A. Visit the corporate headquarters. Seek to get a feel for the staff and how smoothly the operations runs.
B. Talk to other franchisees. Ask what their relationship with the franchisor like.
C. Read as much about franchise as possible.
Statistics indicate that the success rate in franchising is 90%. Traditional businesses, on the other hand, will give you a 25% chance of
survival. While this points to the obvious that franchising is your best option in your dive into the ocean of entrepreneurship, you still here
accounts of people that fail in their endeavors.
This is the 10% that is hardly spoken about. This is the 10% that shatters dreams. This is the 10% that leads to disillusionment. Do we now
join the ranks of franchisings naysayers and avoid the industry like a plague? Or do we arm ourselves with knowledge that will lead us to
a point where we get to an informed decision with regard to franchising?
This article will be about the second option. We need to know what franchisings obstacles are and how to hurdle them. Better yet, we
will show you what they are so that you can avoid them altogether. Well point out the traps. Well give you the tips. Hopefully all of us
will be wiser because of this.
TIP: Do a self-assessment.
Do a self-check when considering getting a franchise. Can you work well into the night? Do you have energy for this endeavor? Are you
willing to go 24/7 for your business?
You have to answer these questions and it has to be very clear to you that you are ready and committed to running a business.
Many people dream of being an entrepreneur. By purchasing a franchise, you can sell goods and services that have instant recognition
and can obtain training and ongoing support to help you succeed. But be cautious. Like any investment, purchasing a franchise does not
guarantee success.
To help evaluate whether owning a franchise is right for you, the following information will help you understand your obligations as a
franchise owner, how to shop for franchise opportunities, and how to ask for the right questions before you invest.
A franchise typically enables you, the investor or franchisee to operate business. By paying a franchise fee, which may cost several
thousand dollars, you are given a format or system developed by the company (franchisor), the right to use the franchisors name for a
limited time, and assistance. For example, the franchisor may help you find a location for your outlet; provide initial training and an
operating manual; and advise you on management, marketing and personnel. Some franchisors offer ongoing support such as monthly
newsletters, a toll free 800 telephone number for technical assistance, and periodic workshops or seminars.
While buying a franchise may reduce your investment risk by enabling you to associate with an established company, it can be costly. You
also may be required to relinquish significant control over your business, while taking on contractual obligations with the franchisor.
Below is an outline of several components of a typical franchise system. Consider each carefully.
1. THE COST
In exchange for obtaining the right use the franchisors name and its assistance, you may pay some or all of the following fees.
Advertising Fees
You may have to pay into the advertising fund. Some portion of the advertising fees may go for national advertising or to attract new
franchise owners, but not to target your particular outlet.
II. CONTROLS
To ensure uniformity, franchisors typically control how franchisees conduct business. These controls may significantly restrict your ability
to exercise your business judgment. The following are typical examples of such controls.
Site Approval
Many franchisors pre-approve sites for outlets. This may increase the likelihood that your outlet will attract customers. The franchisor,
however, may not approve the site you want.
Franchise Terminations
A franchisor can end your agreement if, for example, you fail to pay the royalties or abide by performance standards and sales
restrictions. If your franchise is terminated, you may lose your investment.
Renewals
Franchise agreements typically run for 15 to 20 years. After that time, the franchisor may decline to renew your contract. Also be aware
that renewals need not provide the original terms and conditions. The franchisor may raise the royalty payments, or impose new design
standards and sales restrictions. Your previous territory may be reduced, possibly resulting in more competition from company-owned
outlets or other franchisees.
Demand
Is there a demand for the franchisors products or services in your community? Is the demand seasonal? For example, lawn and garden
care or swimming pool maintenance may be profitable only the spring or summer. Is there likely to be a continuing demand for the
products or services in the future? Is the demand likely to be temporary, such as selling a fad food item? Does the product or service
generate repeat business?
Competition
What is the level of competition, nationally and in your community? How many franchised and company-owned outlets does the
franchisor have in your area? How many competing companies sell the same or similar products or services? Are these competing
companies well establishes, with wide name recognition in your community? Do they offer the same goods and services at the same or
lower prices?
Name Recognition
A primary reason for purchasing a franchise is the right to associate with the companys name. The more recognized the name, the more
likely it will draw customers to know its products or services. Therefore, before purchasing a franchise, consider:
The companys name and how widely recognized it is;
If it has a registered trademark;
How long the franchisor has been in operation;
If the company has a reputation for a quality products or service; and
If consumers have filed complaints against the franchise with the Better Business Bureau or a local consumer protection agency.
Franchisors Experience
Many franchisors operate well-established companies with years of experience both in selling goods or services and in managing a
franchise system. Some franchisors started by operating their own business. There is no guarantee, however, that a successful
entrepreneur can successfully manage a franchise system. Carefully consider how long the franchisor has managed a franchise system. Do
you feel comfortable with the franchisors expertise? If franchisors have little experience in managing a chain of franchises, their promises
of guidance, training and other support may be unreliable.
Growth
A growing franchise system increases the franchisors name recognition and may enable you to attract customers. Growth alone does not
ensure successful franchisees; a company that grows too quickly may not be able to support its franchisees with all the promised support
activities. Make sure the franchisor has sufficient financial assets and staff to support the franchisees.
Comparison Shop
Visit several franchise exhibitors engaged in the type of industry that appeals to you. Listen to the exhibitors presentations and
discussions with other interested consumers. Get answers to the following questions: How long has the franchisor been in business? How
many franchised outlets currently exist? Where are they located? How much is the initial franchise fee and any additional start-up costs?
Are there any continuing royalty payments? How much? What management, technical and ongoing assistance does the franchisor offer?
What controls does the franchisor impose?
Exhibitors may offer you prizes, free samples or free dinners if you attend a promotional meeting later that day over the next week to
discuss the franchise in greater detail. Do not feel compelled t o attend. Rather, consider these meetings as one way to acquire more
information and to ask additional questions. Be prepared to walk away from any promotion if the franchise does not suit your needs.
Business Background
The disclosure document identifies the executives of the franchise system and describes their prior experience. Consider not only their
general business background, but their experience in managing a franchise system. Also consider how long they have been with the
company. Investing with an inexperienced franchisor may be riskier than investing with an experienced one.
Litigation History
The disclosure document helps you assess the background of the franchisor and its executives by requiring the disclosure of prior
litigation. The disclosure documents tells you if the franchisor, or any of its executive officers, has been convicted of felonies involving, for
example, fraud, any violation of franchise law or unfair or deceptive practices law, or are subject to any state or federal injunctions
involving similar misconduct. It also will tell you if the franchisor or any of its executives has been held liable or settled a civil action
involving the franchise relationship. A number of claims against the franchisor may indicate that it has not performed according to its
agreements, or, at the very least, that franchisees have been dissatisfied with the franchisors performance.
Note to the Editors: The FTC Consumer Guide to Buying A Franchise is included in IFAs Franchise Opportunities Guide, a directory of
hundreds of franchise companies that provides information to educate prospective franchisees. News media representatives may get a
free copy of the guide by sending a request on company letterhead or by contacting IFA Media Relations at 202-628-8000. Visit the
associations Web site at www.franchise.org to view the IFAs Franchise Opportunities Guide Online.
EDITORS RESOURCE:
News Media Contact: Laura FENWICK or TERRY HILL, 628-8000
Buying a franchise is investing in your future. Because the International Franchise Association wants tomorrows business owners to make
educated decisions about their futures, it is providing the following information from the Federal Trade Commissions (FTC) Consumer
Guide To Buying A Franchise. IFA recommends enlisting the help of an attorney, business consultant and accountant when investigating
franchise systems before investing. For this and other information about franchising, visit IFAs Web site at www.franchise.org.
A primary goal for all business owners is to improve your business units profitability and performance. Making more profit, improving cash flow
management, developing a comprehensive understanding of financial control and financial management to achieve your objectives are all
important and necessary business activities and they all start with smart money management.
An area that Profit Mastery specializes in is working with franchisees and franchisors especially for those new to either the franchise or the
business world. The demands on franchisors are significant in addition to developing new products, providing marketing and operations
training, tools and support, and delivering all the services, manuals, templates and operating processes and procedures franchisors need to
provide financial management guidance at the business unit or individual franchise level. To do all of this effectively it is necessary to create
an organizational structure at both the franchisee and the franchisor level.
Developing field staff advisory skills needs to be a priority as they become the front-line support for the individual franchise owners. We can
help you with that staff development particularly from a financial control and management perspective but also with a focus on all elements
of the business that benefit from strong profitability strategies and overall franchise management development.
Our Profit Mastery process is proven and effective: we are experienced at assisting franchisees improve profitability and cash flow management
while supporting the franchise network overall. Our process includes training and education, benchmarking and access to peer performance
information and groups, and financial analysis and management planning tools. We deliver the information you need in a clear and consistent
format you build your knowledge in a step-by-step approach that enables you to better understand, and manage, the finances, human
resources, operations, and marketing functions of your business.
Typically, we will start the Profit Mastery journey through the delivery of an overview session (90 minutes) and a subsequent action-oriented
workshop (90 minutes) to all franchisees (often at a national or regional conference). From there we can develop direct one-on-one training
and consulting or group sessions that will build on the foundation of the overview and workshop. Our sessions are designed to inform, motivate
and engage in a supportive and knowledge-centered environment. Our presenters receive excellent feedback at all conferences that we
attend we are typically top-rated. We are focused on motivating you and building excitement and interest in the numbers topic that is so
important to all businesses.
Contact me to find out more about what Profit Mastery can do to help
your franchise management success! Tom Lewis
https://profitmastery.ca/franchise-management.htm
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02642069.2014.905921
History[edit]
In microeconomic production theory a firm's input and output combinations are depicted using a production function. Using such a function
one can show the maximum output which can be achieved with any possible combination of inputs, that is, one can construct a production
technology frontier (Sieford & Thrall 1990).[3] Some 30 years ago DEA (and frontier techniques in general) set out to answer the question of
how to use this principle in empirical applications while overcoming the problem that for actual firms (or other DMUs) one can never
observe all the possible input-output combinations.
Building on the ideas of Farrell (1957), the seminal work "Measuring the efficiency of decision making units"
by Charnes, Cooper & Rhodes (1978) applies linear programming to estimate an empirical production technology frontier for the first time.
In Germany, the procedure was used earlier to estimate the marginal productivity of R&D and other factors of production (Brockhoff 1970).
Since then, there have been a large number of books and journal articles written on DEA or applying DEA on various sets of problems.
Other than comparing efficiency across DMUs within an organization, DEA has also been used to compare efficiency across firms. There
are several types of DEA with the most basic being CCR based on Charnes, Cooper & Rhodes, however there are also DEA which address
varying returns to scale, either CRS (constant returns to scale) or VRS (variable). The main developments of DEA in the 1970s and 1980s
are documented by Seiford & Thrall (1990).
Techniques[edit]
This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. No cleanup reason has been
specified. Please help improve this section if you can. (July 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this template
message)
Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is a linear programming methodology to measure the efficiency of multiple decision-making units (DMUs)
when the production process presents a structure of multiple inputs and outputs.[4]
"DEA has been used for both production and cost data. Utilizing the selected variables, such as unit cost and output, DEA software
searches for the points with the lowest unit cost for any given output, connecting those points to form the efficiency frontier. Any company
not on the frontier is considered inefficient. A numerical coefficient is given to each firm, defining its relative efficiency. Different variables
that could be used to establish the efficiency frontier are: number of employees, service quality, environmental safety, and fuel
consumption. An early survey of studies of electricity distribution companies identified more than thirty DEA analysesindicating
widespread application of this technique to that network industry. (Jamasb, T. J., Pollitt, M. G. 2001). A number of studies using this
technique have been published for water utilities. The main advantage to this method is its ability to accommodate a multiplicity of inputs
and outputs. It is also useful because it takes into consideration returns to scale in calculating efficiency, allowing for the concept of
increasing or decreasing efficiency based on size and output levels. A drawback of this technique is that model specification and
inclusion/exclusion of variables can affect the results." (Berg 2010)
Under general DEA benchmarking, for example, "if one benchmarks the performance of computers, it is natural to consider different
features (screen size and resolution, memory size, process speed, hard disk size, and others). One would then have to classify these
features into inputs and outputs in order to apply a proper DEA analysis. However, these features may not actually represent inputs and
outputs at all, in the standard notion of production. In fact, if one examines the benchmarking literature, other terms, such as indicators,
outcomes, and metrics, are used. The issue now becomes one of how to classify these performance measures into inputs and outputs,
for use in DEA." (Cook, Tone, and Zhu, 2014)
Some of the advantages of DEA are:
results are sensitive to the selection of inputs and outputs (Berg 2010).
you cannot test for the best specification (Berg 2010).
the number of efficient firms on the frontier tends to increase with the number of inputs and output variables (Berg 2010).
A desire to Improve upon DEA, by reducing its disadvantages or strengthening its advantages has been a major cause for many
discoveries in the recent literature. The currently most often DEA-based method to obtain unique efficiency rankings is called cross-
efficiency. Originally developed by Sexton et al. in 1986[5], it found widespread application ever since Doyle and Green's 1994 publication[6].
Cross-efficiency is based on the original DEA results, but implents a secondary objective where each DMU peer-appraises all other DMU's
with its own factor weights. The average of these peer-appraisal scores is then used to calculate a DMU's cross-efficiency score. This
approach avoids DEA's disadvantages of having multiple efficient DMUs and potentially non-unique weights[7]. Another approach to remedy
some of DEA's drawbacks is Stochastic DEA, which makes a synthesises of DEA and SFA.[2]
Sample Applications[edit]
DEA is commonly applied in the electric utilities sector. For instance a government authority can choose Data Envelopment Analysis as
their measuring tool to design an individualized regulatory rate for each firm based on their comparative efficiency. The input components
would include man-hours, losses, capital (lines and transformers only), and goods and services. The output variables would include number
of customers, energy delivered, length of lines, and degree of coastal exposure. (Berg 2010)
DEA is also regularly used to assess the efficiency of public and not-for-profit organizations, e.g. hospitals (Kuntz, Scholtes & Vera 2007;
Kuntz & Vera 2007; Vera & Kuntz 2007) or police forces (Thanassoulis 1995; Sun 2002; Aristovnik et al. 2013, 2014).
Examples[edit]
In the DEA methodology, formally developed by Charnes, Cooper and Rhodes (1978), efficiency is defined as a ratio of weighted sum of
outputs to a weighted sum of inputs, where the weights structure is calculated by means of mathematical programming and constant
returns to scale (CRS) are assumed. In 1984, Banker, Charnes and Cooper developed a model with variable returns to scale (VRS).
Assume that we have the following data:
Unit 1 produces 100 items per day, and the inputs per item are 10 dollars for materials and 2 labour-hours
Unit 2 produces 80 items per day, and the inputs are 8 dollars for materials and 4 labour-hours
Unit 3 produces 120 items per day, and the inputs are 12 dollars for materials and 1.5 labour-hours
To calculate the efficiency of unit 1, we define the objective function as
all u and v 0.
But since linear programming cannot handle fraction, we need to transform the formulation, such that we limit the denominator of the
objective function and only allow the linear programming to maximize the numerator.
So the new formulation would be:
Inefficiency measuring[edit]
Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) has been recognized as a valuable analytical research instrument and a practical decision support tool.
DEA has been credited for not requiring a complete specification for the functional form of the production frontier nor the distribution of
inefficient deviations from the frontier. Rather, DEA requires general production and distribution assumptions only. However, if those
assumptions are too weak, inefficiency levels may be systematically underestimated in small samples. In addition, erroneous assumptions
may cause inconsistency with a bias over the frontier. Therefore, the ability to alter, test and select production assumptions is essential in
conducting DEA-based research. However, the DEA models currently available offer a limited variety of alternative production assumptions
only.