Home
>
Small Business
>
The Misconceptions of the Value Of Disclosures in Franchising

The Misconceptions of the Value Of Disclosures in Franchising

Disclosure laws in franchising are suppose to help the consumer. They don't. The FTC, which over sees franchising has in fact created a rule, which makes 5 lb. Disclosure documents for franchise buyers, which is so huge that no one ever reads it. I know when I personally meet a franchise buyer whose application form is approved and hand them a UFOC, Uniform Franchise Offering Circular with attachments and watch their jaw drop and then their hand drop when they clutch it in their hands (due to the weight of the 155 to 200 pages), I see a blank look. I apologize every time for my unreasonable government and the US legal system for the rules.

I tell them it is to protect them and put up my shoulders and they usually say something like "Yah Right." A franchise buyer who wants to buy a franchise is not going to read and expect to understand every clause, nor are most franchisors going to enforce every clause. You can't, you would not have any franchisees left. There are too many laws in franchising and too much regulation. Many times a franchise buyer will ask me, "What the hell does this have to do with washing cars?" I really cannot answer what I really think, I would launch into a tirade that would last four hours full of more examples than I care to write in this brief letter. I could write a book over disclosure and franchise law.

The fact is that we are a mobile car wash franchise for the most part and that is a relatively easy and simple business. As much as the professionals care to argue to the contrary, all these disclosure laws just are not needed. Neither is all this regulation and surely not anymore than already exists. You can sit and argue why the rules and all the laws are necessary, but you will never convince myself or franchise buyer of it. Has anyone stepped away from the box long enough to see how absurd this is? Are we all so engulfed in the words of the statues and rules that we cannot see what we are doing. Forcing some businesses into the franchising model that should not be there, forcing the square peg where it does not fit.

Half the time it appears we have lost site of the peg and it has found itself in a place where the sun don't shine. Thank you for keeping it safe for us, but really the FTC does not need to go that far. There are enough rules, and rules about rules and findings about rules, and opinions about rules. We should tread lightly, before we make more rules. We should look at all the consequences of the rules we make and try to find fault with the rules we already have. The FTC can spend time debating which rules to axe rather than which rules to enact. This will definitely keep them busy, and it puts them in the distinct position of being part of the solution instead of the problem.

The consumer does not really want any more barriers to buying a franchise. They do not like the 10-day waiting period, which ends up half a month with holidays. They do not want to go through a long sales process. They want instant gratification and they want to start their new career/business and embark on their new chosen lifestyle. All these regulations have complicated the issue and made it tougher to buy franchises, all to the frustration of the consumer. Tell me did anyone ever take a survey of the sales process and large documents of existing franchisees and ask them what they think of the whole mess, which has been created to supposedly help them? NO, of course not. Yet, I cannot think of a franchisor, which does not constantly survey their end users of the franchised outlet for the desires and events leading to a sale of goods or services and on all those surveys they always ask the same things. Did you feel that all your questions were answered, were you happy with the buying process, were your needs met, etc.?

Why doesn't the FTC ask real franchise owners what they think of all the paperwork, large documents and rules. Simply taking the information from lobbyist groups of franchisee advocate rabble-rousers will not do it. Taking Internet complaints will not do it. Ask the actual franchisees already in the systems, the good franchisees, which follow the system. By making more rules the FTC is actually hurting the franchisees, lengthening the documents. This causes new case law, more stipulations and boiler-plate phrases all adding to the length and complexity of the documents, agreements and buying process. Thus causing another law or rule to follow after circumstances unanticipated show their heads over issues of previous rules. And would you look at all this has created now? Whheeewwweee? Think about it.

"Lance Winslow" - If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.worldthinktank.net/wttbbs

home cleaning services Deerfield ...

In The News:

Travel expert Katy Nastro says 50,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles vanished from her account after someone redeemed them without permission.

Google AI Overviews can't be permanently turned off, but adding -AI to your searches and using the built-in Web filter can help bypass AI summaries.

Attaxion researchers found 30 fake Texas campaign merchandise stores traced to just two sellers hawking gear for competing Republicans and Democrats.

GM plans to debut eyes-off driving in the Cadillac Escalade IQ by 2028, but safety testing reveals how long distracted drivers take to regain control.

Data brokers assign labels predicting your health, finances and religion based on browsing and purchases, then sell those profiles to businesses.

Elon Musk says he'll give one SpaceX share to every kid in America in 2027, but key details about eligibility and distribution remain unclear.

ClearSpace UK's robotic spacecraft with giant claws will chase down dead satellites at 17,000 mph, with a 2029 launch from Scotland planned.

A fake Social Security statement phishing email uses the SSA logo and a convincing layout, but the sender's domain instantly exposes the scam.

A clean credit report doesn't mean your identity is safe. Six ways criminals can steal from you without triggering a credit monitoring alert.

Carolyn Marvin, a 78-year-old retired professor, was arrested after blocking an Uber Eats delivery robot on a Philadelphia sidewalk for months.

The Midnight Mimosa malware campaign hides inside cheap Android phone firmware, giving attackers powerful access before owners even turn devices on.

The Fox News AI Newsletter covers the latest artificial intelligence technology advancements, including the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

Meta's Muse AI was built to manage tasks, but users are developing romantic AI relationships and even calling the AI companion their girlfriend.

A Minnesota murder suspect's notebook listed 11 people search websites, raising urgent questions about data broker opt-out and online privacy risks.

Google Universal Cart tracks price drops, surfaces promo codes and uses Google Wallet to match your best credit card rewards before checkout.

Safari's Notify Me feature and Google's price-tracking tools can monitor products and send alerts when prices drop on your iPhone or Android.

George Weiner built PACspam.org to trace who sends nonstop political fundraising texts after blocking numbers repeatedly failed to stop the messages.

A dedicated VPN IP address may reduce frustrating CAPTCHAs and bank login security checks by giving websites a consistent connection to recognize.

Apple Wallet in iOS 27 lets you create digital passes from physical cards using a photo or screenshot, but not every card in your wallet qualifies.

Anthropic's Claude AI submitted a fabricated eyewitness tip about an unsolved murder to a Philadelphia police website during automated testing.

P7 DarkSword iPhone spyware can steal saved passwords, photos, Apple Notes and cryptocurrency wallet data by checking for commands every 15 seconds.

Cybersecurity experts told Fox News Digital that a cyberattack on French supermarket freezers should warn the U.S. about critical infrastructure gaps.

The Oracle Health breach exposed medical records, Social Security numbers and diagnoses of nearly 20 million patients across multiple states.

The new Tesla Roadster drove upside down and launched into the air at SpaceX's Texas facility, but a 2028 production target remains unconfirmed.

Apple's iOS 27 lets you add keywords to iPhone photos, while Samsung Gallery tags and Google Photos search offer similar organization tools.

The Misconceptions of the Value Of Disclosures in Franchising

Small Business