Playing for keeps!

Tell me when this article was written:

The franchising industry is in a looking glass mirror – peer inside and you see the big picture in reverse. When the Canadian economy is absolutely racing, new franchising muddles along. When the general economy tanks, franchising hits top gear.

“When middle managers get parachuted out of their regular jobs, then they start to think about buying themselves a job,” explains Gord Metcalfe, president of Francon Canada, a Toronto consultancy that charts the franchising industry on behalf of private clients like the big banks.

Franchises have appeal because an investor gets to buy into a pat hand, rather than attempting to crank up a no-name business from scratch. “You get to buy a trademark and proven managerial systems – what’s known as ‘the back of the house’” says Metcalfe.

Sounds easy, but the woods are full of people who plunged their savings into a franchise and wish they hadn’t. The complexity of the financing/royalty arrangements, the vagaries of location and the shifting sands of public taste mean buying a franchise is very much a dice toss, just like a regular startup.

What’s your guess – 2005?  2006?  You’re all wrong!  It’s from an article in the Toronto Star back in 2001!

Franchising fraud is timeless.  There is never an end to the debauchery of screwing people out of their money.  Timeshares come and go.  Other scams have shelf life.  Not franchising.  McDonald’s has been ripping people off since the first days of formulation by Ray Kroc.  In spite of the 15 million dollar class action lawsuit awarded to Snap-On wives in 2006, Snap-On is on the Entreprenuer Top 100 every year.  Where are these blokes getting their data?  NOWHERE! I SAY! NOWHERE!  They are simply believing everything the carney barking, under-the-table dealing franchisors have to say.  What a great system.  Get Entrepreneur magazine in your back pocket by buying advertising, tell them you’re great and they’ll put you in the top 100!  Whatever happened to truth, accountability, audit trails, integrity and honesty?  Well folks, none of those virtues are resident in the franchisor’s house.  He’s just another Bernie Madoff when it comes to virtue.  He doesn’t care if you go bankrupt or lose your home. He doesn’t care if you get divorced or widowed by suicide!  After all, what better business to be in than one where you actually make more money when people fail than when they succeed?  For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, look up “churning” in previous blog posts or simply google  “churning and franchising”.

Wake up people!  It’s just like when you played marbles for “keeps” as a kid.  You ain’t gettin’ your marbles back!  The only safe way to keep them in the bag, is to never take them out!

Multiple AGs speak out against Leasing Company Fraud!

Note this Memorandum of Law placed out in the public domain listing our wonderful leasing friends and how they scam small Mom & Pops.

A Judge in Nebraska, the Federal Trade Commission, Vermont’s AG and Pennsylvania’s AG all speak up against this practice of fraudulent business practices.

Scamming Leasing Companies:  Patriot Leasing – Pennsylvania, Preferred Capital – Ohio, Landmarks Financial – Colorado, IFC Credit – Illinois, Frontier Leasing- Iowas, Dollar Leasing – Ohio, CFC Investment – Ohio, C & J Leasing – Iowa, Pawnee Leasing – Colorado, Susquehana Patriot Commercial Leasing – Pennsylvania, Preferred Leasing

Process: Sell them a deal that doesn’t actually exist, go bankrupt, put a hell/highwater clause in the lease, make them sign over rights to venue to the state of the leasing company, file in a state the small business cannot afford to commute to (most leases were not sold in the state of the leasing company) & finally use the court to extract every dime from the victims even though there are multiple states with summary judgments and/or remands in favor of the victims.   But how would the other small businesses know?

Wake up people!  These companies are not strong unless you make them strong by continuing to buckle under their idle threats!!!!!!!  This is not an isolated incident. This is rampant and if you’re reading this, you’re most likely a victim.  What if everyone just stood up and refused to pay?  Again, you are continuing to empower them when you pay money against an illegally constructed contract!!!!