Page 103 - BWM March 2013

March 2013 | Business World Magazine | 103
UNDUE
BURDENS
Apolicy issue posing a chal-
lenge for the IFA is the Af-
fordable Care Act, which
is not supported by the or-
ganization. Members were
hopeful that the U.S. Su-
preme Court was going to
declare it unconstitutional,
but the law was passed and
now they are dealing with
the repercussions.
Haller says the bill has
created a regulatory envi-
ronment where many IFA
members are trying to fig-
ure out how to complywith
the act’s mandates while re-
maining profitable. “These
mandates place what we
think are undue burdens
on the franchisees to provide coverage,” he
says.
As a result, 3.2 million jobs in the fran-
chise sector are at risk because of the act,
Haller adds. “Our messages were heard loud
and clear, but the administration is passing a
lot of the costs of this law onto the backs of
franchise business owners.”
EXPANDING INTO
THE FUTURE
As for the future of international franchis-
ing, more than 70 per cent of their members
have operations overseas or plan to operate
overseas in the next five years. International
growth is a primary focus, not only for their
established brands, but also for their emerg-
ing brands nationally.
“That’s a growing area, particularly in the
developing world,” Haller says. “Asia, Aus-
tralia, New Zealand and South America are
hotbeds for franchising.”
Since franchising is still a relatively new
business model, “the sky’s the limit,” he says,
with respect to the longer-term future of the
IFA. The number of different franchises us-
ing the business model to grow in scale is
only increasing, and the IFA’s view is that
trend can only continue going forward.
“The franchise model has only been
around for around 50 years. The future looks
bright if the business environment is condu-
cive to our entrepreneurs having the freedom
to grow and sell franchises,” he concludes. o
IFA 2011 ANNUAL REPORT
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