The franchise industry is unique in so many ways, but that is not always good. For most, buying a franchise, next to buying their home, is the biggest investment they will make. Unlike all other investments they make, they risk everything in buying a franchise, every asset they own, and then some. You ask, how […]
Franchisees, Is Your Operations Manual Changing Your Franchise Agreement?
As franchise owners, we all sign franchise agreements that set the terms and conditions of our business, and the relationship with our franchisor. Most of those franchise agreements contain a condition that you will follow the then current Operations Manual. While it is understandable that the Ops Manual must change, a new sandwich is introduced, […]
California Enacts Strongest Franchise Protection Rules in the U.S.
BLUE MAUMAU– Governor Jerry Brown of California signed a new franchise protection law Sunday afternoon that gives California franchise owners the strongest rights in the United States. The law protects franchise owners from franchisors who seek to terminate their business on a whim or who desire to take possession of a lucrative franchise without compensating the […]
Maine Small Business Investment Protection Act (LD1458) Fact Sheet
The Maine Small Business Investment Protection Act (LD1458) has Reported to the Maine House of Representatives. Below is a graphic that depicts the benefits of LD1458 and it’s goal to protect the equity of Mainers that invest in a franchise. Maine franchise owners need these basic protections so they can build, harvest and perpetuate the […]
Failure to Pass Franchise Protections 20 Years Ago Cost Maine More Franchised Units
In 1994, Legislative document 1916, or as some people remember it — The Franchise Practices Act, was shot down by Governor John R. McKernan, Jr. even after it passed both the Maine House of Representatives and the Maine Senate. Leonard Kovit, owner of 5 Meineke’s in Maine and New Hampshire in 1994, remembers the bill […]
Franchisee Protections Exist Across the Maine Border in Canada
Five provinces in Canada have passed franchise disclosure and fair franchise relationship laws: Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Ontario, and Prince Edward Island. British Columbia is also considering franchise disclosure and franchise relationship legislation. In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requires the use of a Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) in all 50 states […]
William Whipple of Kittery Reads the Franchisee Bill of Rights
A lively William Whipple joined Maine franchise Owners, and legislators from all across the state to read the Universal Franchisee Bill of Rights (UFBOR) on Wednesday, January 29th at the Senator Inn in Augusta. Whipple was born January 14, 1730 in Kittery, Maine. By the late 1750’s, he was heavily involved in the Patriot movement, […]
MFOA Board Votes to Ratify the Universal Franchisee Bill of Rights
The Board of Directors of the Maine Franchise Owners Association (MFOA) voted unanimously to ratify the Universal Franchisee Bill of Rights. MFOA joins 19 other franchisee associations that have voted to ratify the Universal Franchisee Bill of Rights. The intent of the document is to spell out a framework of a mutually beneficial relationship between […]