Stimulus Plan

Let's look at some recent trends. The stock market: trending downward. Franchise system sales: flat or downward in well over the majority of cases. Sales of new franchises: definitely on the downturn, almost dormant. How depressing!

We all tout the compelling benefits of the franchising model, praising its value as a blueprint for success and proven business system. So why don't the overwhelming majority of franchisors divulge any financial performance data to support this? Savvy companies that do show results gain greater credibility over their competitors.

Welcome to the ever-changing world of franchising! Just when we all think we have things figured out, a new challenge arises. The economy! As I recall, we were all chugging along running our ad campaigns, generating leads, and (hopefully) converting some to qualified candidates. Guess what? Pipeline paralysis! Not that lead volume has fallen--on the contrary, lead flow is rising, right about in lockstep with the unemployment rate as more people are compelled to explore business and franchise ownership options. Yet as lead volume has increased since the clock struck 1/1/09, we are now faced with a new challenge: how to effectively position our business in a troubled economy and actually get qualified candidates financed and into business.

I made a presentation to a national law firm's franchise practice group a few years ago with the title, "You Won't Believe What You Can Learn From a UFOC." The presentation was made to people who were responsible for putting UFOCs (now FDDs) together. They were surprised to learn all the things that could be analyzed and extracted from the documents they prepared.

Unfortunately for many business owners, the economic forecast looks gloomy for this year and perhaps next. At Clix, we have taken an active approach toward understanding the state of the economy and planning our development for the next 12 to 36 months.