As a franchise owner, you are part of a $600B industry. This industry is larger than the automotive, computer and airline industries combined. While it is relatively easy to find information about the thousands of franchise companies (franchisors), very little accurate and objective information exists about the owners (franchisees) comprising this massive industry. FranchiseFacts is striving to fill this information gap by surveying franchisees about their experiences, and sharing our findings with the franchise community. Our goal is to present solid quantifiable information based on franchisee participation in our annual survey. We can only do this with your support.
The participation we require is not just from the few who regularly participate in franchise discussion boards. We need to hear from the silent majority of franchisees who do not participate in a vocal or identifiable manner. It is not uncommon for the vocal minority on the various social media sites to have opinions that may not be reflective of the majority, so we strive to obtain wider participation in the survey.
It often seems that far too many people are fed up with voluntary requests for information. Telemarketers and junk e-mail have taken a toll on our willingness to share information. Then there is the mistrust that many franchisees have with those that gather and report information. Far too many franchisors are perceived as not being interested in gathering reliable information, or selective reporting of survey findings to its own franchisees. Nevertheless, it is important that we recognize the importance of independent and unbiased information gathering. Without reliable information, most of which can only be gathered through surveying, both franchisor and franchisee bear the costs. The alternative to good information for making sound business decisions is increased financial expenditures, poor business decisions and internal conflict between franchisee and franchisor.
To cite just one example of what we can learn from this first survey period, the accompanying chart reports, based on survey responses, what franchisees hope to be doing five years from now. It is from this, and similar insights, that we have begun to think of the franchise industry as being in the early stages of an industry-wide contraction. This is just one of the topics that we will elaborate on in the upcoming Annual Report. Other articles (available at www.FranchiseFactsUSA.com) suggest how franchisors can try to reverse this trend.
Click to view accompanying chart.
The survey period for FranchiseFacts’ National Franchisee Survey closes on October 31. All survey responses received after this date will be incorporated into the 2011 survey period. The 2010 Annual Report will be available early in 2011. This report will, to the best of our ability, report the information you share with us in an unbiased and impartial manner.
These last few weeks are your final opportunity to contribute to the franchise community by participating in this comprehensive survey that maintains your confidentiality and is independent of franchisors and franchise associations. As a participant, you have the option of receiving the Annual Report and comparing our industry findings with that of your own business.
To be clear, FranchiseFacts does not sell franchises nor do we have an interest in making franchisors look bad. As such, we do not have a vested interest in the specific results or findings of our survey. That is a crucial difference between FranchiseFacts research and research funded by organizations that derive revenue from sources other than the research. We look at where the data leads and then try to explain the reasons for our findings.
As with the articles and preliminary findings I have reported to you throughout the year, it is likely that you will not agree with everything that we report. We do our best to understand and explain what may appear to be inconsistencies between the data we report and conventional thinking. It is our hope that the soon to be released Annual Report will encourage discussion and promote better understanding between franchisees and franchisors. To facilitate this, we will be providing an advance copy of this report to Blue MauMau and other major media so that they can conduct their own independent review of our findings.
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FranchiseFacts – Capturing the franchise experience
Perry Shoom, FranchiseFacts
Capturing the franchise experience!
Franchisee Survey in progress at www.FranchiseFactsUSA.com
If you are a franchise owner or store manager, please participate!
Understanding the Franchise Experience blog can be found at franchisefactsusa.blogspot.com
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