I love Franchising Part 1

According to the International Franchise Association (IFA) nearly 4 percent of all small businesses in the U.S. are franchises; Government might not understand the true impact

It is estimated that there are more than 900,000 franchise businesses across 300 business categories in the U.S. which provide nearly 18 million jobs and generate more than $2.1 trillion to the economy. Franchising is a huge industry, yet, quite often, policymakers don’t understand the fundamentals of franchising enough to be mindful of its impact and the impact of their ideas.

With the spread of franchising in business, many have fallen in love with the impacts, structure and success of the industry – including those who represent brands and franchisees legally.

What do they love most about this industry?

Bret Lowell, DLA Piper: I love two aspects of franchising. First, I love learning about different types of businesses. I have represented franchisors in businesses as diverse as restaurants, car rentals, hotels, children’s’ activities, automotive, and home services. There are commonalities among these businesses that I am able to draw upon for all of their benefits, while at the same time vast differences among them that are always fascinating to learn. Second, I am fond of saying that I “practice franchise law, even though there is almost no such thing.” Yes, there are a few franchise laws to know about, but the practice of franchise law is really the application to franchising of contract law, intellectual property law, privacy law, antitrust law, mergers and acquisitions law, securities law, and much more. Overall, I love that am always learning about both business and legal aspects of franchising.

Brian Schnell, Faegre Baker Daniels: I love that franchising is all about attitude, collaboration and unit level economics. In order for a franchise system to be sustainable, the franchisor must create and promote through collaborative leadership a franchise system where all stakeholders have an undying devotion to the brand. With those principles, any system can be successful regardless of the product or service. That’s the beauty of franchising.

Elizabeth Sigety, Fox Rothschild: Many things. I think the two things that immediately come to mind are, from the franchisee’s perspective, giving an individual a chance to own and operate their own business in an industry they love – even if they have never done it before. Also, for an emerging franchisor, a solid model to expand their business.

Fredric Cohen, Cheng Cohen: Easy answer: the creative, entrepreneurial people who populate the industry. I hate lawyers as much as the next guy. As a franchise lawyer I get to spend my day working hand in hand with top people in a given industry, whether marketing gurus, restaurant operations folks, financial officers, and so on. The excellence and commitment these people embody serves to motivate and challenge me every single day.

Mark Kirsch, Gray Plant Mooty: Franchising – as an industry, as a collection of business sectors, and as a legal discipline – is a dynamic mix of issues, challenges, and stakeholders. Franchising businesses run the gamut from A to Z, from retail, to foodservice, to hospitality, to services, to healthcare, and more. While some (or many) questions, issues or problems are similar from brand to brand, the nature of the franchise, the size of the network and the goals of the parties are varied. I like that diversity. At the end of the day, everyone is trying to improve their business – which is good – and my job is to assist that effort to create win-win-win results, for the franchisor, the franchisees, and the customers.