Indoor entertainment franchises are a cool investment to beat the summer heat in 2022, and the rise in these family friendly activity locations looks poised to hit new heights.
As people leave the sedentary quarantine lifestyle behind and become more active, many will look to massage therapy to relieve aching muscles unaccustomed to hard exercise, making massage franchises a top franchise investment in 2022.
The franchise industry is facing its greatest challenges in its history, challenges that strike at the heart of a successful business model that has allowed trademark owner franchisors and trademark licensee franchisees entrepreneurial opportunities to build wealth. The vibrancy of the franchise industry is well-documented: nearly 800,000 franchised businesses employ 7.5 million workers; people of color, women, and veterans comprise more than 30% of franchisees, and franchised businesses generate revenues of approximately $670 billion. In short, franchising is a vibrant, progressive and very successful industry.
While franchisors and franchisees alike have enjoyed the clear disclosure requirements of the Franchise Rule for over 30 years, some advocates have urged that franchisors also disclose the financial statistics of their franchisees in the form of a Financial Performance Representation (“FPR”). Historically, disclosure of an FPR under “Item 19” of the FDD, has been a voluntary decision for franchise brands. Yet, in April 2021, Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto sought to change that by introducing a bill called the “Small Business Administration (SBA) Franchise Loan Transparency Act (S. 1120), to require franchisors to provide: 1) The average and median first-year revenue for all franchise locations for each of the preceding three years; and 2) The average and median revenues for all locations of the franchise for each of the preceding three years of operation.
IFA’s Mike Layman talks about the implication of having franchise critic David Weil serving as the head of the Wage and hour Division at the Department of Labor.
A new category in restaurant franchising is fast casual. Defined as a blend of fast-food efficiency and restaurant-quality ingredients, fast casual franchises offer healthier food (focusing heavily on organics), the ability to customize meals to a greater degree, higher price points, larger quantities, and occasionally some level of dine-in service. This fresh and healthy approach to casual dining prepared at the same speed of traditional fast-food is quickly rising in popularity, making the fast casual category a solid franchise investment.
IFA President & CEO Update: Advancing our Journey Together
Summer road trips are back in full swing, which makes car wash and detailing franchise businesses a hot investment this summer.
By Tanya Hill-Holliday, TanWay Enterprises
By Mark Liston, CFE, retired Neighborly executive