Issued in April of 2021.
The “highly regulated” franchise industry isn’t actually “highly regulated” at all. This report by Cortez Masto arguably indicates the many irregularities and need for transparency, rule changes, and yes, increased regulation.
Franchisors and organizations that defend them when it comes to regulation are literally up in arms with most any form of increased regulation or rule changes. The lobby is strong on behalf of organizations like the International Franchise Association (IFA) to thwart efforts by concerned lawmakers in making any changes to current FTC rules and other peripheral regulation (some where States supersede federal regulations e.g. Registration States).
Consideration for the Cortez Masto recommendations should absolutely established. It’s high time that a serious microscopic look at the franchising industry becomes more concerned about protecting Franchisees rather than the one sided defense of franchisors who don’t take it upon themselves to utilize the tenets of “Total Quality Franchising”.
Here is a link to the complete report:
The report is long yet clearly contains incredible effort in discussing and indicating precisely where change may be needed. Worth the read.
