You are assuming (in your first paragraph) that franchisors know the UNIT performance statistics . . . I’m telling you they do not, or they do not always know. Should they? Of course. But they don’t. So they can’t disclose what they don’t know. You may be confusing the franchisor’s gross sales with UNIT statistics. Franchisors generate revenue from franchisee royalties and other fees, but they still don’t know specific information about each unit. And it’s not only because they don’t specifically gather this data; sometimes franchisees withhold the data!

In your last paragraph, where you discuss my last paragraph on churning . . . I don’t think it’s incomplete or inaccurate. I’m talking to and about franchisees in that paragraph and not franchisors. Maybe I didn’t make it clear enough? Franchisees are churning and don’t know it! Unfortunately there are many franchisees who should not be franchisees . . . and many of them are just spinning their wheels and they are eventually going to lose their businesses. There are many reasons why they don’t know it, including refusal to let a franchisor help them . . . but this is America, the land of the free, and in our society certain things go the way they do because we are a free society.

Franchising always boils down to buyer beware. Do your homework. And while it would be nice if all the data were available in all cases, it’s just not. Which is why I frequently tell people who can’t get their arms around the missing info that they should not buy a franchise.

Thanks for reading and commenting!

It appears that if profit-making franchisees in some systems were abundant that these systems would disclose the possible profits to new buyers in the disclosure regime but most franchisors don’t opt to disclose earnings and make no representations as to success or profits in writing.

Your last paragraph on “churning” appears to be incomplete or inaccurate because it is the franchisors who are enabled to churn their fasilures out of view of the regulators and the new buyers who profit from churning and who don’t have to disclose the churning to the public.

Thank you
Nadine