Last night, we were proud to host the AAFD’s Total Quality Franchising Awards at the Sheraton Mesa at Wriggly Ville West in Mesa, Arizona. The event featured dapper suits, beautiful dresses, lovely music, and even a live song or two! More importantly, the TQF Awards allowed us to honor deserving leaders in the franchising industry.

Griswold Home Care, a national provider of nonmedical home care services, has been recognized as the American Association of Franchisees and Dealers’ (AAFD) 2019 Franchisor of the Year. The home care organization received this award for its continued dedication to building strong and supportive relationships with its franchisees.  

AUG, 2019: SAN DIEGO, CA—The American Association of Franchisees and Dealers (AAFD) has announced its Total Quality Franchising (TQF) Awards for 2019. Notable honorees include Craig Tregillus who will receive the AAFD Lifetime Achievement Award. The NASAA Franchise Project Group will be honored with the Chairman’s Award for Distinguished Achievement for the Franchising Community. The AAFD also announced nominees for its community awards. 

Most franchisees are required to pay into an advertising marketing fund, which the franchisor controls. What is your franchisor doing with all that money, and is it directly benefiting your franchise? In a perfect world, your franchisor would use the funds exclusively for advertising and marketing the brand, and you (and other franchisees) would have input in determining how the money was used. Let’s make this perfect world even better and say that the franchisor would even provide regular reports to you about fund activities. 

I have compiled a list of the oft-made mistakes that both franchisors and potential franchisees make during the all-critical validation and expectations-setting process. Although no one can completely error-proof their decision, many of these mistakes can be easily mitigated a priori. And, if not, it can be the beginning of an unhappy, short-lived and financially underwhelming nuptial period.

As our friend, Keith Miller, principle of Franchise Advocacy Consulting, likes to say, there are far more franchisees in this country than franchisors. When we join our voices together, we can be a powerful and persuasive political force. It’s time to raise your voice to support an exciting new bill that was just introduced on July 31, 2019 in the United States Senate by Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV). While the bill’s overall aims are modest, the changes—if enacted—will require franchisors to provide more transparency to prospective franchisees or face financial consequences.