Your Franchisor is not your Friend
Yes, you need to have a good working relationship with your Franchisor
and yes, it’s possible that the guy who sold you the franchise is a mate
of yours.
But as a Franchisee, your Franchisor IS NOT your friend.
Let’s make a quick distinction here, between ‘franchisor’ and
‘Franchisor’.
The franchisor is the mate who gave you an awesome opportunity to
come on board something that was going to be big –you are friends,
your kids play together, your partners are also friends, and when
successes happen, you all gather around the barbie and bring a keg.
Business agreements between you are made with a handshake or a pat
on the back. It’s a very casual, easy arrangement.
The Franchisor (with a capital F) on the other hand, is the person you
signed a contract with. He is responsible to the entire group to make
sure it remains a viable concept. He hangs out with lawyers and
accountants and business analysts. He makes sure you toe the line
when it comes to the essentials of his franchise program.
Your franchisor may be your friend, but your Franchisor is not.
Make sure that the boundaries of your relationship are very clear from
the start. Business relationships need to be kept businesslike. Your
contractual relationship as Franchisee and Franchisor doesn’t have a
bearing on your friendship.
In the early stages of a franchise, franchisees and franchisors are often
friends. After all, if a person finds they have a proven success, and it
is able to be copied and repeated, who are they likely to approach first
to share in the spoils? Why, their friends, of course. And while the
franchise group is small, friendships spring up between franchisor and
franchisee purely because you are both concerned with exactly the
same things.
However, once the franchise group reaches a certain size, the
franchisor can’t be seen to be offering preferential treatment to their