Questions for a Franchisor (squirm, sweat and stutter;)

We are lead to believe that franchisors tell the truth and have the franchisees’ best interests in mind.  In hindsight, franchisors lead a completely disparate life from the franchisee.  Boiled down to the most common element, franchisors are using the capital of a franchisee to promote their brand.  Nothing more, nothing less.  Anyone who tells you different is probably selling you a franchise.  Franchisors sell franchises to trusting souls while leaving the trusting souls up to their own devices when it comes to any and every aspect of running a small business in the trenches.

If you were to ask a franchisor the following questions, then  “sleep on them” for a night, then validate them with a minimum of 10 franchisees who are in the system and 10 franchisees who have left the system, you would find that franchisors are less than truthful on nearly every issue.  If you’re a franchisee in the system, it’s too late, but hopefully you’re doing your due diligence and you’re reading this prior to purchasing a hairy ball of nothing for the all-too-hefty total of your entire life savings.

1. How many of your franchisees make it past three years in your system?
2. How many of your franchisees have sued you in court?
3. How many of your franchisees own multiple outlets?
4. How many of your franchisees have left the system, really?
5. What is the success rate of your franchisees? (please include churn, terminations, bankruptcies)
6. Who are your finance partners (please name them all past and present)?
7. How many SBA loans have defaulted within your franchise?
8. What is your definition of  “churn” and how many of your franchisees have you churned in your history?
9. Can I please have a copy of the name and number of every franchisee that has left the system in the history of the franchise?
10. How many franchisees have lost to you in arbitration?
11. How many have beaten you in arbitration?
12. Do you get kickbacks from your vendors, and if so, who are they?
13. What is the turnover rate of your corporate HQ employees?
14. How many corporate employees do you commit to the health and well being of your franchisees?
15. What is the average payroll for your franchise-related employees who serve franchisees?
16. How many franchisees have you willfully terminated in your history?
17. How many franchisees have you settled with requiring the signing of a gag order?
18. Do you publish the statistics on your marketing buys?  Can a franchisee have access to the amount of its money you’ve spent in their territory?
19. How many box seats in professional sports arenas do you own?
20. How many corporate jets do you own?
21. How many company stores do you own? What is the greatest number you have ever owned.  Is this on the rise or the decline?
22. How many foreign outlets do you own and how long have you been pursuing foreign markets?
23. Which outside law firm represents you?
24. How many stores are still in operation having dropped your name and franchise?
25. Have you or any of your management staff ever been convicted of a felony, claimed bankruptcy or lost a civil case in the courts?
26. How many legal cases does your franchise have currently pending and in which venues (arbitration, federal and state)?
27. Do you provide and require the purchase of marketing services from your franchisees?  If so, who is your CMO or VP of Marketing?
28. How many franchises have you owned, do you currently own (if any) and what are they?
29. Have you ever operated an individual franchise in this system and if so, for how long?  Were you profitable?  If so, please explain.
30. Finally, would you let a child or relative of yours own one of your franchises?

Bloody

Frontier Leasing sells dirty paper to Univest dba “Vanguard Leasing”

A little birdie told me that Vanguard Leasing is really Univest.  (A publicly held company NASDAQ:UVSP buying dirty paper I might add.) If you refer to my earlier post, you’ll see that Frontier Leasing is selling its paper to avoid the courts finding out their dirtly little secrets, or perhaps because it’s fluff, they’ve already made all their money off of you lessees so they can now sell you to another abusive company and make the trail that much more complex so as not to be liable in the courts.  (More likely they’re close friends and they’re all involved in yet a new type of ponzi scheme to fleece Main Street out of its life savings.)  The new company is now beating the new lessees into submission.  If you want to know more about Univest, and you’re someone who has been so rudely introduced to them, give the “President” a call.  I hear he’s doing his customer harassment himself – probably out of the cafeteria or maybe a Starbucks?

 according to their annual report (below) it’s Mr. William S. Aichele – Chairman, CEO, President of Univest.

 or perhaps it’s Mr. Hugh Connelly President of Vanguard Leasing in the press release below

Vanguard Leasing, Inc. Changes Name to Univest Capital, Inc.

June, 2008Univest National Bank and Trust Co. (NASDAQ: UVSP) today announced its nationwide equipment financing company, Vanguard Leasing, Inc., has changed its name to Univest Capital, Inc. Formed by Univest National Bank and Trust Co. in 2006, the equipment finance subsidiary has integrated Univest products into its portfolio of product offerings for businesses and government entities. Univest Capital customers can open business savings or checking accounts through UnivestDirect, the online home for the company’s business and personal financial solutions. Univest National Bank and Trust Co.’s business credit cards and SBA loans will be available through Univest Capital in June and later this summer, respectively. 

UVSP Stock Quote and Charts  http://www.google.com/finance/historical?q=NASDAQ:UVSP

http://www.univest.net/univestInTheNews_06052008.asp

http://www.rtofunding.com/2008/docs/PR121807.pdf

2006 Annual Report – http://www.univest.net/PDFs/2006UnivestAnnualReport.pdf

 

“Vanguard Leasing, Inc., a new business venture which Univest established in May, will continue to help us enhance the nontraditional side of the bank. Specializing in leasing small ticket items such as commercial and industrial equipment, machine tools and material handling and medical equipment, Vanguard delivers solutions to businesses in 50 states. The company operates as an independent, wholly owned subsidiary of Univest National Bank and Trust Co., and will significantly contribute to future revenue and profits.”