Why Some Franchise Businesses Fail

The concept of franchising is in itself a soundsuccumb to the pressure.
business idea. Many have become rich because ofOther franchises ceased operations after some
it. However, not all franchise businesses become atime because they failed to obtain a firm
success story. There are several factors thatcommitment from central management to
may contribute to the problem.provide adequate, substantial, and continuous
Some franchise units, although parented by largesupport to the franchise.
corporations, failed to make the mark due to theSome failed to get the commitment of their own
failure of the franchisee to strictly adhere to theemployees to support a new business strategy or
program and terms of the franchise. Following thedevelop new employee and management skills to
system of the company and the provisions of thehelp them cope with new market demands.
franchise agreement is crucial to the success ofFailure to handle and manage change is also
any franchise unit because it is the essence ofanother factor in the collapse of a franchise. The
franchising.franchisee may not have sufficient insight about
Some companies venture into franchising with littlethe staff's resistance to change (new strategy,
experience and limited resources, hence they aremanagement style or policies) to be able to
unable to develop an effective franchise system.detect it right away and handle the situation
Although they may be able to sweet-talkproperly.
prospects into buying a franchise, some, if not all,Moreover, the franchisee may lack the required
of these franchises are doomed to fail because ofknowledge in technology, operational systems and
the flawed system of the company.organization that he loses credibility among his
In some cases, the company did not place muchemployees. In such a situation, employee morale
attention and effort to market research specificwill be low and a high rate of employee turnover
to the franchise because its main concern is sellingcan be expected. This dissatisfaction will certainly
as many franchises as possible, without studyingreflect on their initiative and work quality, and will
what the ideal number of units in a given areabe mirrored in the overall performance standard
should be to ensure success.of the unit.
The market is affected by many external factorsFranchises may also lack adequate reporting and
that are beyond the control of business. Thesecontrol systems particularly those that were
include the condition of the national economy, theabandoned by the parent company after the
outbreak of war or local civil unrest, marketbusiness has opened. Any business that does not
demand or shift in preferences, disease outbreakhave a strict reporting and control system will
that affects raw materials supply, naturalmost likely be operating on vague estimates, until
calamities, or anything that would cause suddenit finally closes shop.
and significant decrease in the supply of goods orThere are many reasons behind the failure of a
the market demand, or both. Unfortunately,franchise but all these can be avoided with a
business cannot do much about these conditions.thorough study of the company, its existing
The key to survival is adapting to prevailingfranchise network, proper training, and strict
conditions and being able to take the blow, untilcompliance with the terms of the franchise
conditions are better. Sad to say, not manyagreement.
businesses can do both so they eventually