Information is much, much more valuable to franchisees than any franchise law will ever be.

Start the dialogue, record the franchisor’s every move and retain that information through successive ownership changes.

Start educating  your members in the two businesses they run: the store and the franchise relationship.

I started WikiFranchise.org in Feb 2009. I keep it open although most wikis are closely held.

Those with a greater command of the information, wins every time.

• weblog
• smart phones
• wikis

 

Vigorous provincial government relations are invaluable in influencing Tim Hortons Brazilian-based vulture capitalists.

Franchisees need to speak out to their local MPPs (member of provincial parliament).

Queen’s Park, Toronto, Canada

The independent franchisee association should make a legislative “wishlist” a priority.

Nothing, nothing makes a franchisor and his allies (Canadian Franchise Association, CFA et al) stand up and take notice.

Anyone who says talking to politicians is a waste of time, is working full-time for 3G, the CFA, its 1,199 other franchisors and their supporters: banks, legal service providers.

Start by suggesting the Ontario government reverse the onus on good faith in the Arthur Wishart Act.

Est. 1998

Mike Colle, MPP Eglinton Lawrence, Susan Kezios, President, American Franchisee Assocation, AFA and Les Stewart, Canadian Alliance of Franchise Operators, CAFO, Wishart Act hearings, 2000.

Les’s expert witness testimony.

John Sotos, Sotos LLP and Susan Kezios, AFA, Wishart Act hearings, 2000

John’s expert witness testimony. Susan’s expert witness testimony.

Tony Martin MPP Sault Ste. Marie and Dr. Gillian K. Hadfield, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada, 2000.

Dr. Hadfield’s expert witness testimony.

Three MPPs get together to try to make franchise fraud a criminal offence, Second Reading, 2010.

Les Stewart, ON Premier Kathleen Wynne and Don Morgan, 2015.

Q: Why should any public official help your family when (it appears) you don’t give two hoots about the other +70,000 franchisee families?

Tim Hortons operators might listen to Bob Purvin’s sage advice about franchisee associations

Legal advice is necessary but it should not lead ANY franchisee group. Do not allow any lawyer to capture control.

AAFD chairman and founder Bob Purvin

In a conversation with BlueMauMau.org, AAFD Chairman Purvin: Power of Franchisees in Bargaining and Cooperatives in Reducing Costs:

SNIEGOWSKI: Some franchisee associations, frankly, seem banded together merely as an excuse for a class-action lawsuit against the franchisor to resolve a grievance, or at least the threat to the franchisor of one.

PURVIN: Sadly, that is too often the case.

If a lawsuit is the only reason for a franchisee association to exist, it will disappear five years after its startup or until the next round of franchise contract negotiations. The successful associations do more.

The Griswold Healthcare Franchise Association [GHFA] is an example. Franchisees created a fabulous task force on best practices that worked with the company to put on seminars each month. They have great turnouts for their seminars, which are done by webinar. They are now getting involved in lobbying, especially around the issue of caregiver wages. Their legal fund is dedicated to working with various state and local agencies over the rights of caregiver business owners.

Griswold created a products committee, where the franchisee association is now getting involved in the supplier side in a collaborative way. It is not just the franchisor that is cutting a deal with this supplier [getting kickbacks] and mandating that franchisees use that product to enrich the franchisor.

Associations can be more about the supply side than about renegotiating the franchise agreement.

Let me repeat: Associations can be more about the supply side than about renegotiating the franchise agreement.

American Association of Franchisees and Dealers

Rule of Thumb: add together what you’re paying for royalties and ad fund (ie. 4 and 3 = 7%). As a franchisee that does not have a franchisee-led and -owned buying co-operative, you’re putting an additional 7 per cent of hidden cash into your franchisor’s pocket via product and equipment costs.

At what point did you decide to choose power over truth?

For us, it was within a room of lawyers et al.

For what it’s worth, Terry and I decided that some money costs too much.

Who has profited most handsomely from the passage of the Ontario Arthur Wishart (Frachise Disclosure) Act, 2000?

The mega group, elite class action and Tier 2 franchise bar practioneers.

Notwithstanding a very receptive Superior Court, almost no mom-and-pop franchisees.

That’s precisely why no attorney pleads right to associate issues.

The franchise bar profits more from filtering and defeating frachisee claims.

Is there an economic value to knowing precisely who the “rebel” Tim Hortons franchisees are?

Yes, especially if the franchisor wanted to do a mass termination or consolidation of stores.

 

Who would likely collect and deliver the membership list?:

• franchisor,
• independent franchisee association – executives,
• independent franchisee association – management,
• association lawyer, or
• franchisee advisors (former franchisor/founder, former president).

Probably the emails sent to a safe server as well.

My best work has always started around a single franchisee’s kitchen table.

A few franchisees with concern ask me to meet them at their home.

The problem-solving starts almost immediately.

Les Stewart

Midhurst, ON

705 737-4635

les.j.stewart-AT-gmail.com