HOW AN ASSOCIATION WORKS

As part of the basic fee for forming and managing association activities, members enjoy virtually unlimited access to association counsel for consultation about individual problems and concerns. Attorneys for individual members are welcome to participate in these consultations if that that is member’s decision. Basic association fees do not, however, include the cost of litigation should franchisees decide on that course of action as an eventual outcome.

Basic fees also include attendance by association management at an annual meeting event in conjunction with the annual franchisee meeting scheduled by the franchisor. Monthly or quarterly telephone conference or in person meeting in Houston, if needed are also included in basic fee.

A board is established upon which franchisees can have their representatives serve, and board committees on which those interested in the projects of those committees may serve. The association keeps anonymous all complaints so that the franchisor cannot label one or a few and mark them for retaliation - all issues come from "the association," not from an individual.

The association can also be the clearing house of franchises for sale, and a source to which potential franchisees may have reference for a factual statement of the quality of the franchise relationship with the franchisor as seen through the eyes of its franchisees.

In that manner it acquires credibility to the extent that the franchisor needs franchisee references to help them sell more franchises. The Association can be a source to which other franchisors are referred for the purpose of marketing their franchise concepts to this association's membership.

The association, at it’s best, can get in front of changes in the franchise system so that early input prevents adoption of harmful programs to which a franchisor may already be committed. Getting the ear of the franchisor before they assume a position makes an issue easier to manage than registering complaints after it becomes "official".