Five things franchisees must know for 2010 |
To say that the past 18 months have been difficult for franchisees is an understatement at best. The largest factors in the industry downturn—the economic recession and financial system collapse—were beyond our control. We must, however, take responsibility for the fact that, as individuals and as an industry, we ignored the biggest lesson of the last recession. We have cut prices to levels that are unsustainable in a fight for street-corner and brand market share while providing unlimited access to third-party distributors that sell price, not value. This and other actions have not inspired the consumer to travel more. The outcome is an industry that is greatly devalued and in many ways crippled.
