Tim Hortons’ franchisees fancied themselves above all other franchise systems renters.

Even McDonald’s.

Maybe they never met Ray? Or his loyal Canadian subordinate, George?

 

Boom, Like That

I’m going to San Bernardino ring-a-ding-ding

Milkshake mixers that’s my thing now

These guys bought a heap of my stuff

And I gotta see a good thing sure enough now

 

Oh my name is not Crock, that’s Kroc with a K

Like crocodile but not spelled that way now

It’s dog eat dog, rat eat rat

Kroc-style… Boom! like that

 

Folks line up all down the street

Now I am seeing this girl devour her meat now

And then I get it Wham! as clear as day

My pulse begins to hammer then I hear a voice say:

 

These boys have got this down ought to be one of these in every town

These boys have got the touch It’s clean as a whistle and it don’t cost much

Wham! Bam! You don’t wait long, shake, fries, patty you’re gone

How about that friendly name, heck, every little thing ought to stay the same

 

Or my name is not Crock, that’s Kroc with a K

Like crocodile but not spelled that way now

It’s dog eat dog, rat eat rat

Dog eat dog, rat eat rat now

Oh it’s dog eat dog, rat eat rat

Kroc-style… Boom! like that

 

You gentlemen ought to expand

You’re gonna need a helping hand now

So gentlemen well what about me?

We’ll make a little business history now

 

Oh my name’s not Crock, you can call me Ray

Like crocodile but not spelled that way now

It’s dog eat dog, rat eat rat

Kroc-style… Boom! like that

 

Well we’ll build it up and I buy ’em out

But man they made me grind it out now

They open up a new place flippin’ meat

So I do too, right across the street

 

I got the name but I need the town, sell em’ in the end and it all shuts down

Sometimes you gotta be an S.O.B. you wanna make a dream reality

Competition sent em south, if they’re gonna drown put a hose in their mouth

Do not pass “Go”, go straight to hell

I smell that meat hook smell

 

Oh my name is not Crock, that’s Kroc with a K

Like crocodile but not spelled that way now

Ohh it’s dog eat dog, rat eat rat

It’s dog eat dog, rat eat rat

Ohh it’s dog eat dog, rat eat rat

Kroc-style… Boom! like that

I smell that meat hook smell

 

 

Serruya family buys Kahala, Cold Stone and others

Multi-tradename franchisors often are (how should I say this) the least sensitive to franchisees’ investment concerns,

A very good article on Blue MauMau by Janet Sparks, Kahala Acquired in Auction by Serruya Family:

TORONTO – The Serruya family today announced that they have acquired a controlling interest in Kahala Corp., owner of Cold Stone Creamery and many other franchised brands. The transaction was completed on Monday.

The Serruya family brings substantial experience in franchising to Kahala. They are planning for growth of Kahala brands in both international and North American markets.

The new franchisors seem to have to prove something to knowledgeable franchisee advocates.

Former Cold Stone franchisee Cecil Rolle, who has been engaged in litigation with the franchisor said, “I’m hoping the acquisition of Kahala Corp by the Serruya Family is a watershed moment for Cold Stone Creamery franchisee profitability and the harmonization of the franchisor to franchisee relationship, which has been as contentious as they come. The Serruya Family will have to prove to me they are serious about the concerns of the franchisees and their families. Rolle has been an advocate for current franchisees, assisting them in profitability and other issues.

Some of the comments about the buyers from a related Globe and Mail article are speak to all the franchisees might be in for:

10. Sniktaw
Have to agree with the general thrust of the other posts here. These scumbags are right up there with Marc Tellier re ability to engineer massive shareholder value destruction whilst at the same time garnering obscene riches for themselves.
11. 911c2
i also got creamed owning their stock. Also, rode up the swisher stock that coolbrands turned into. That stock was jacked up to $10 now its at $1 again!! I will run away from anything that they are selling. No more stocks from them. won’t even try yogurtys since they r involved. Are they still doiong business deals with Jack Banqueseus aka Jack Banks who had four public shell stocks?
this post is all in my humble opinion

Franchisees have much, much less protection against opportunism than do owners of publicly traded stock.

Quesada Mexican Grill: just another over-hyped franchise pump-and-dump development deal?

Let me get this straight: based on 3 years of franchising experience, they’re going to go from 15 to 300 in 5 years? [20 times the size]

Franchisors have never been shy about risking other-peoples’-money.

Quesada President Tom O’Neill in QSR magazine called Canadian Mexican Brand Plans to Hit 300 Units in 5 Years:

The company expects to open about 300 franchised restaurants in the next five years. “Our game plan,” says O’Neill, “is to double in
 size every 12 months.”

Double every 12 months? Really? Anybody’s business doubling for 2 years in a row nowadays? And the risk to every franchisee when the franchisor spins out of control?

• Brutal…all equity gone.

This couldn’t be another pump-and-dump deal that leaves the area developers and their franchisees holding the bag just like Krispy Kreme…Could it? See Burnt to a Crisp on WikiFranchise.org.

Canada Franchise AssociationListing

Quesada Franchising of Canada Corp.
Eat More Burritos
Franchise Fee: $20K
Startup Capital Required: $60K-$75K
Investment Required: $152K-$242K
Available Territories: British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Québec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island
Training: 2 weeks
Franchise Units Canada: 11
Corporate Units Canada: 4
In Business Since: 2004
Franchising Since: 2010
CFA Member Since: 2010

Source

Being a franchisee is like…

…living in a blender.

Tolerable as long as you don’t think of those who are closer to blade.

Don’t worry: give it time.

[Art Data Bank]

Franchising: Trap for the Trusting by Harold Brown

Written in 1969; franchisor opportunism has become worse.

Inside cover:

This book is designed to inform the public and the legal profession of the egregious imbalance that exists in the franchise relationship and to suggest various forms of redress by means of litigation and legislation. By discussing (and printing) the contents of the usually secret franchising contract in complete detail, the author makes the reader thoroughly familiar with such inimical and routine restrictions as the covenant not to compete, the informer clause, supplier kickbacks, the “bad boy” clause, the “yellow  dog” clause, arbitrary termination, the suspension clause, and many other forms of contractual coercion, both stated and implied.

For too long the law has permitted franchisors to invoke “quality control” and “sanctity of contract” to ruthlessly enforce their unjust agreements…

Until definitive franchising legislation is passed, FRANCHISING: TRAP FOR THE TRUSTING can show the reader how to avoid the pitfalls of the standard franchising agreements or provide his attorney with a blueprint for seeking relief through existing statutes and case law. Arguments and citations from the franchise related fields of fraud, equity, securities regulation, Anti-trust, and labor relations are included.

Still Unsafe at any Brand.

Wealth, in even the most improbable cases, manages to convey the aspect of intelligence.

The privileged have regularly invited their own destruction with their greed.

[JKG: tallest, farthest left]

The greater the wealth, the thicker will be the dirt.

The economic system operates effectively only within firm rules of behavior. The first is common honesty – truth must be conveyed as essential information to investors, the public at large and, as already specified, to consumers. In the field of finance, however, it is especially likely that, misconduct being remunerative and damaging, this will not occur. Regulation must, accordingly, prevent false or misleading reporting as to business performance and earnings as to investment prospects. And there are numerous other designs for bilking the minimally informed or mentally innocent. p. 79

— The Good Society, John Kenneth Galbraith, 1996

The real reasons for failure are made to fit the prevailing American Dream myth

To those with no franchise experience, almost any pretense of why your franchise failed.

Whether that bears any semblance to reality, Who cares?

[Caught In A Hustle]

ActionCoach Canada: Someone get me an application.

I promised my bankruptcy trustee no more franchises but…

ActionCoach belongs to the Canadian Franchise Association, CFA. As a member, they are bound by the CFA’s Ombudsman program and their Code of Ethics. Every franchisee is automatically a member of the CFA if its franchisor is.

ActionCOACH Canada
The World’s Number 1 Business Coaching Firm
#202, 12906 – 54 Street
Edmonton, AB T5A 5A8, Canada
Phone: (888) 478-0790 / (780) 478-0790
Fax: 1-866-243-1654
Web: http://www.actioncoachcanada.info
Email: gregkopchuk@actioncoach.com
Contact: Greg Kopchuk, Master Licensee

Do you want to improve your personal lifestyle, income, wealth, equity and eliminate your debt? Do you want to be able to help others? Do you want balance in your life so you can spend more time with your family? Do you want to be part of an organization that offers mentorship and guidance to success? An ActionCOACH franchise might be the right choice for you. With the license you are granted, you’ll receive the tools, support, and business systems that work in any business, anywhere, any time.

Franchise Units Canada: 40 USA: 325 Other: 554
Corporate Units USA: 7 Other: 1
In Business Since: 1993
Franchising Since: 1998
Franchise Fee: $75K
Investment Required: $100K
Training: $25-47K 10-45 Day Program
Available Territories: All of Canada, US, Int
CFA Member Since: 2000

Thought control, the digital media and empires

New media is often captured by totalitarian regimes.

PhD, one-time, legally appointed Chancellor Goebbels and Leni Riefenstahl used motion pictures.

Now others use the internet.

I responded recently to a series of posts from Richard Solomon and an anonymous poster called FuwaFuwaUsagi. Fuwa’s motto is, it seems “Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large numbers.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-R99035,_Adolf_Hitler_und_Leni_Riefenstahl.jpg

Near the end, it’s just pathetic.

Ch-ch-ch-changes (turn and face the strain) Ch-ch-changes

Franchising would be an okay investment…

IF its business model risk profile didn’t change (ie. turns ugly) over the course of the contract.

But it does. Like a lot.

Don’t gamble with your life savings by buying a car with no brakes.

Changes, David Bowie form the 1971 album Hunky Dory.

Still don’t know what I was waiting for
And my time was running wild
A million dead-end streets
Every time I thought I’d got it made
It seemed the taste was not so sweet
So I turned myself to face me
But I’ve never caught a glimpse
Of how the others must see the faker
I’m much too fast to take that test

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes
Don’t want to be a richer man
Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes
Just gonna have to be a different man
Time may change me
But I can’t trace time

I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream
Of warm impermanence and
So the days float through my eyes
But still the days seem the same
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They’re quite aware of what they’re going through

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes
Don’t tell t hem to grow up and out of it
Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes
Where’s your shame
You’ve left us up to our necks in it
Time may change me
But you can’t trace time

Strange fascination, fascinating me
Changes are taking the pace I’m going through

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes
Oh, look out you rock ‘n rollers
Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes
Pretty soon you’re gonna get a little older
Time may change me
But I can’t trace time
I said that time may change me
But I can’t trace time