out how to comply with the act’s mandates
while remaining 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 franchise 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.”
As for the future of international
franchising, 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 emerging brands nationally. “
That’s a growing area, particularly in the
developing world,” Haller says. “Asia,
Australia, 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 using 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 conducive to our entrepreneurs
having the freedom to grow and sell franchises,”
he concludes.
EXPANDING INTO
THE FUTURE
May 2014
| BusinessWorld | 91
