In a recent report on the status of the Franchising Industry, the Federal Trade Commission knowingly and falsely purported that its Franchise Disclosure Rules are cost effective. In fact; there is nothing inexpensive or "cost-effective" about the 190 to 230 pages of disclosures that franchisors must give to prospective franchisees. Anyone purporting such misrepresentations does so either for personal gain (Lawyer) or out of spite against franchisors due to a misunderstanding of what the franchising model is or how it works.
We see in many industries, for instance real estate, where laws, case laws, regulations have made a simple house purchase turn into a series of forms no less than 400 pages, (it may not look as big in 10pt font and double sided, but it is) and just short of the number of pages in this Federal Trade Commission report. What does all this mean? It means we have further complicated the original reason for such disclosures to the point of absurdity, where each side is so busy trying to CYA, in case of frivolous lawsuits that each side believes they have the right to be irresponsible in their business practices and have no need to fulfill their promises because there is a clause in the contracts and disclosures giving them a way out and behind that way out a lawyer who will be glad to make 2+2 equal 50 if you so desire and have paid the retainer.
It is all a crock, everyone in franchising knows it, no one is willing to say it and the Federal Trade Commission is so busy having meetings with lawyers that they forgot about the original consumer who is not helped in the least by over disclosure as the costs that the franchisors pay in the exorbitant fees to prepare the disclosure documents are passed onto the very consumer that the Federal Trade Commission is claiming they protect. It is total BS to say that such over disclosure helps consumers at all. Just a lie, an excuse for further rule making and minutia piling (BS). Simply helping lawyers to that which they did not earn and do not deserve.
While some might contend that franchise disclosure give vital and pertinent material information to prospective franchisees, such over disclosure hurts that very prospective franchisee if they buy the franchise and become a consumer of franchisor. The extra costs passed on to the consumer are not the only issues to be concerned with, there is also much proprietary information of the franchisor which is in such documents, information such as:
Number of Units expected to be established in the future in various states, Complete set of audited books, complete business structure, name and address and phones numbers of franchisees, often earnings claims which show unit performance by region, etc. all this information makes it really easy for competition to track and crush the fledgling franchisees by establishing stores in those regions and competing with all that information. Information that non-franchised competition do not disclose as they are not regulated in such a manner. This further un-levels the playing field for the franchisee unit and could cause them to go out of business. Thank you FTC. You fine folks at the FTC- "Forgot The Consumer" Again !!! How is it that no one understands this? I see no attorneys discussing these things in their comments? Why? Because the attorneys do not understand the market place and really have no business commenting on the proposed franchise rule changes as they are the ones who have made the modern day franchise model highly unworkable for their own personal gain a fees. The FTC doesn't get it, the lawyers do not want you to, the consumer doesn't understand what is happening and the franchisors are drowning in minutia. Wake up. Think on this, debate the topic if you will, but any rational human being with half a brain can see what is happening. Thanks for listening and all the best.
"Lance Winslow" - If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.worldthinktank.net/wttbbs
best cleaning company Highland Park ..The Justice Department is at it again; promoting themselves in... Read More
When this president's father was in the Oval Office, he... Read More
Utah introduced a bill designed to limit the use of... Read More
It looks overall like the liberals are advocating for no... Read More
The idea that the majority shows the will of the... Read More
Large parts of the world today suffer from a severe... Read More
The plight of whistleblowers ? those employees who sound the... Read More
Many have lost faith in the government and are completely... Read More
Blessed with Chinese GDP growth rates (7-8% annually in each... Read More
City Governments is their quest for; "quality of life" often... Read More
In every national budget, there is a part called "Public... Read More
Indonesia's Energy Minister, Purnomo Yusgiantoro, is unhappy with the modest... Read More
The process of researching this topic has been an interesting... Read More
If slavery has not worked well, then cloning if it... Read More
Streamlining Homeland Security with a Free market flair? An idea... Read More
The second amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees every American... Read More
In years past California Mutual Assistance Program and emergency response... Read More
The expertise and advancement of the evolution of man and... Read More
From the National Association of Realtors' Virtual Office Website policy,... Read More
United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), one of the most... Read More
Britain has a proud tradition of valiant armed forces and... Read More
Death may not be dignified in any light but the... Read More
In the fields of juvenile justice policy and programming, there... Read More
The US Dollar has been falling continuously in last year.... Read More
As we increase our populations every new soul will require... Read More
high-end home cleaning Winnetka ..Well we have certainly been reading a lot about prison... Read More
The FTC franchising division purports their law enforcement experience in... Read More
Many have lost faith in the government and are completely... Read More
Earlier this month, I heard President George W. Bush and... Read More
Some call it the "unofficial" or "informal" economy, others call... Read More
History repeats itself, goes the cliche. It does so, perhaps,... Read More
We recently saw another ferry accident, this one in NY... Read More
Expected new applications for Mexican trucks to enter the US... Read More
I am not an African-American. Don't call me an African... Read More
The Federal Trade Commission has very important Anti-trust Laws. They... Read More
(1) Each person is to have an equal right to... Read More
Many are quick to point out the benefits of religion... Read More
I am noticing an increasing and alarming rate to which... Read More
We have all heard of the huge debates surrounding genetically... Read More
In the last Gulf War we saw thousands of enemy... Read More
It is important as populations expand to work on the... Read More
IT'S NO LONGER NEWS THAT CHINA IS BECOMING A MAJOR... Read More
Japan lit its candles of pure, "noble sadness" on the... Read More
De-classification of official documents have been a routine practice in... Read More
Industrial Recruiting. The absence of a state income tax in... Read More
Many in the peanut gallery of society are so quick... Read More
Many of those who wish to fight for our country... Read More
We presently have adequate sniffer devices in this country to... Read More
Currently the US Army is having trouble recruiting. These problems... Read More
The new law "Special Protective, Antidumping and Import Compensatory Measures"... Read More
Political |