Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine Issue III, 2012 | Page 69
C
vened for a general session panel on leadership. Franchise
CEOs who have been or still are franchisees spoke about
the different perspective and understanding they gained
working on both sides of the proverbial fence. The afternoon featured additional sessions before one final meet-up
in the Expo Hall.
Thursday, the final morning of the event, featured an intense session on healthcare reform law. Misty Chally, vice
president of legislative affairs for the Coalition of Franchisee
Associations, presented a summary of how the Health Care
and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 would likely affect
small-business owners. Many franchisees raised questions,
and emotions ran high throughout the session—and all have
their antennae out for the Supreme Court’s scheduled ruling
on the law scheduled for June.
Mel Kleiman, president of Humetrics, moderated the last
session of the conference, in a lively discussion of the current
state of HR and employment law. He was joined by panelists
Blake Helppie, CEO of the JobApp Network, and Janet Grumer, an attorney with Davis Wright Tremaine in Los Angeles.
Building an empire is a tough business. It takes dedication,
hard work, smarts, and often a little luck. But that’s exactly the
kind of franchisee who attends the annual Multi-Unit Franchising Conference. Based on the buzz, the talk of deals in the
making, operating tips, and record attendance, the empires
continue to build.
What Keeps You
Up at Night?
onference attendees were polled on the question,
“What keeps you up at night?” Results from 50
randomly selected responses to this open-ended
questionnaire show the overwhelming concern from
franchisees is front-line staffing (hiring, training, and
retention) and customer service (60 percent).
Next came financial worries (funding, securing investors, banks not lending, debt reduction), mentioned by
32 percent. Closely related were concerns about growth
(opening additional units, managing growth, opportunity vs. risk, finding complementary brands), mentioned
by 30 percent.
Government mandates (healthcare, minimum wage,
taxes) worried 24 percent of respondents. Not far behind at 22 percent were employer issues such as la