Many potential franchisees become trusting of their chosen franchisor and go further to make the mistake of believing that their agreement and supply chain is, and must be, a “take-it-or-leave-it” agreement. Significant dangers lurk throughout almost every franchise or distribution agreement drafted by franchisors and suppliers

The New York Times recently released a scathing article that shines the light on systematic franchisor abuse at the world’s largest fast-food company, Subway.

For over 50 years, franchisors have continually tilted the playing field in their favor, successfully eroding franchisee rights and equity. In response, the collective voice of franchisees has been too small and too quiet.

The theme of the 2019 AAFD Franchisee Leadership Summit is “Protecting Your Franchise Equity,” but we very well might have called it “Reclaiming Your Equity.” Truly, the important benefits of business ownership expected by franchise owners have been under siege for decades, and franchisees continue to see serious erosion of their ability to increase and secure the value of their franchise investments.

What looked like the surprise franchise legislative effort for the year quickly stalled and is now on hold until next year. State Senator Chris Elliott introduced Senate Bill 129, the Protect Alabama Small Business Act, to specifically create protections for franchise owners in the state.

For over 25 years, the AAFD has pursued a market driven approach to reforming the franchise community. Unfortunately, we live in a political climate dominated by franchisor influence and a dearth of franchisee associations rallying together in common cause. The laws and legal precedents continue to strongly favor franchisor interests. The importance of franchisee associations to aggregate their combined resources under a common banner has never been more essential.