SA Franchise Restaurants, Just No….

Over the years I have spent a substantial amount of time involved in some way or another with the local franchise scene. Yes, it looks great with their modern/rustic décor and flashy pictures in the menus and such…. But its not there. Yet anyway.

One franchise is backed against the wall with lawsuits from disgruntled Franchisees, another relies purely on the name of their main director, another copy pasted everything they run on from other franchises, and all the time, in every case, who takes the brunt? The franchisees.

Who are these directors anyway? Major restaurateurs? Not hardly. Most of them are not even from the hospitality industry. I know right. Alarm bells are ringing. What’s that? Spar? Ya that’s not a restaurant. Not even close. Hence, you have business models based on hit hard and hit fast. Basically, get as many franchisees hooked into ‘impossible to get out of' contracts as quick as possible. This business model leads to quality of support falling to the wayside.

Another issue is that if you get right down to it, these franchises are willy nilly handing over restaurants to people with no restaurant experience what’s so ever. Complete no no. Its like me handing over the keys to the car over to my six year old. In little to no time, franchisees have drowned them selves in debt and can’t continue. Then what happens? Well they sure as hell can’t get out of that contract. So branches get sold, new franchisee in, old spat out and the whole process starts all over again.

I’m not attacking for no reason here. The franchise scene is not set up to look after the franchisee. This is a warning because I feel it is wrong. Very wrong. Its unethical. These clowns still have the audacity to form little association bodies consisting of these same directors. How many franchisees on these committees? Mmmmm…. One idiotic group still created a ‘Franchise of the Year' award ……. And heir franchise won it. And that boring magazine where they pat one another on the back and stuff? Really? Yet still people are falling for this in droves.

Don’t just take my word for it. Go speak to the thousands of people who managed to escape the franchise environment. Listen to them and please Don’t sign those contracts. You can open your own awesome restaurant at half the cost of a franchise. What’s that? No restaurant experience? Then you have no business opening restaurant. Take that 1 million and invest in renewable power. Its going to blow up soon. Nows the time to invest.

Peace.