Internaional Franchise Association | 7 UNDUE BURDENS A policy issue posing a challenge for the IFA is the A ordable Care Act, which is not supported by the organization. Members were hopeful that the U.S. Supreme 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 environment where many IFA members are trying to gure out how to comply with the act’s mandates while remaining pro table. “ ese 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.” EXPANDING INTO THE FUTURE 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 ve years. International growth is a primary focus, not only for their established brands, but also for their emerging brands nationally. “ at’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. e number of di erent 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. “ e franchise model has only been around for around 50 years. e future looks bright if the business environment is conducive to our entrepreneurs having the freedom to grow and sell franchises,” he concludes. FA 2011 ANNUAL REPORT
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