The Franchise Council of Australia’s American trip

Consider this my little postcard about my learning’s from the recent International Franchise Association’s annual convention in Palm Springs, California. Prior to departure, the Franchise Council of Australia ’s CEO, Richard Evans, reminded the Aussie delegation that someone once said that the illiterate of the 21st Century will not be those that cannot read nor write – it will be those that cannot learn, unlearn and relearn. So, reflecting on this, what did we learn? While I cannot speak for the entire delegation, I can at least speak for myself.

Firstly, why did I go? I guess my curiosity was up – what’s happening over there? How different are we in terms of development and sophistication? How are we placed against best practice? I wanted to explore these issues first hand by attending the convention. So, I learnt that once you get over the sheer size of numbers the American’s discuss (“Hi! I am a multi-unit franchisee with 2000 sites”, “Hi! We have 11,000 units in our franchise…”) that US franchisors have a unique take on the franchise relationship.

When you ask an American franchisor what their business is, they always respond with ‘selling franchises’.

Given this, I had to relearn that if you have a focus on selling franchises, this greatly reshapes the franchise relationship, how you support franchisees, training them and what opportunities you can offer them to achieve success. This made my own views and experiences of franchise education and how we, in comparison, tend to favour forming sustainable relationships rather than ‘selling franchises’.

I walked away with a feeling that we are doing a great job (dare I suggest a brilliant job) as we are certainly overcoming or don’t have to deal with many of the challenges our American cousins face on a daily basis.

It was a rewarding experience and I would like to thank the FCA for coordinating the delegation, which at times was probably more akin to herding cats than coordinating adults. I strongly suggest to others to attend the convention next year to learn, unlearn and relearn – that and the fact that it is in Las Vegas next year.

Something else to consider…

· Reputation precedes you (we left our mark, as had other Australian delegations before us…)

· Aussies can sniff out a party within any 5 km radius, turn up and know at least half the crowd and be the last to leave…

· Being a cheeky minx with an Australian accent will lead to a full dance card…

· You can’t get up to too much mischief when you have the protection of at least a dozen Australian men…

· Palm Springs bitumen hurts…