How the International Franchise Association is Making Sure that the Fight for Franchising is Real

The franchising industry is currently at a pivotal point both in its history and for its success in the future. Between a volatile political climate, recovering economy and general public that’s confused about what franchising really is, the industry’s leaders are tasked with preserving the unique business model that provides jobs to millions.

There is a widespread misunderstanding among the public and even elected officials about what franchising is and how it actually helps local communities. To help the general public better understand the ins and outs of franchising—including all of the benefits that the business model brings to the table—Cresanti and other members of the IFA’s franchising community are actively working to explain the relationship between franchisors and their franchisees.

Franchising represents the biggest trainer of jobs and creator of brighter futures in America, and maybe even in the world. It trains more people for a successful employment future than even the U.S. military. The IFA is confident that by highlighting the local business owner connection, it will be able to shine a light on the small business owners who are driving the industry forward.

Industry challenges

Despite the success that the franchising industry consistently sees, it’s still facing numerous challenges outside of education. From minimum wage to the evolving definition of what it means to be a full-time employee, there are both active and impending pieces of legislation that can determine the fate of the industry.

The IFA is taking a stand against the new joint employer standard. Under the rule, franchisors and franchisees can be deemed to share the ability to govern workers’ terms and conditions of employment. This issue has the potential to set the tone for the industry for years to come.

The top priority for the IFA is the joint employer standard, which destroys the autonomy that franchisees have to run their own businesses. It basically makes them middle managers in a larger organization that would cause real damage to the underlying model.

Joint employer standard

The IFA is also applauding the work of those in Congress who are trying to change the joint employer standard. This past July, the IFA threw its support behind the Save Local Businesses Act.

This is the most important legislation for franchising in a generation. The franchise model has worked well to put thousands of American families into business for themselves, but not by themselves, provide job opportunities to countless hardworking Americans, and contribute tremendous economic benefits to local economies.

Even as the franchising industry continues to face potentially damaging regulations, the business model is thriving. The combination of hard work from franchisors and franchisees and organizations like the IFA is no doubt due to its consistent level of success.

Our economic statistics indicate that we’ve out-performed competing non-franchise market segments every year in growth, and that trend continues. We expect it to continue this year. So I think all is at an even keel at the moment. We’re also really anticipating and looking forward to opportunities that we haven’t had in the past eight years with the coming of [President] Trump.

It’s up to all of us to be advocates for this industry. It’s not the Republican way or the Democratic way—it’s the American way.