Entrepreneurial blogs are talking about franchising. David Patterson started it over at Small Business Trends by citing this study of the International Franchise Association. Jeff Cornwall then observed:

Franchising is often not the happy partnership that the marketing packages franchisors send out to interested parties. Franchisees will often band together in an almost union-like manner. In fact, one of the most common seminars for franchisors done within this industry addresses the litigation issues they face with their franchisees. Broken promises, unmet expectations, and a perception of little value for the often high monthly fees paid to the franchisor lead to these legal battles.

This is all true, which makes franchising great fun to teach in a law school. Given the high absolute number of franchises in the U.S., I suspect that seemingly large number of disputes represent a very small proportion of the whole. At any rate, franchises are certainly more successful than most marriages. While I always advise prospective franchisees to be very cautious (a piece of advice most often ignored), the conflicts inherent in the relationship normally do not bring it down.

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