Loud and Proud

I consider myself lucky.

I’ve had the privilege to sit face to face and talk with a lot of Franchisees within our system.  A bar in Ottawa, a hotel meeting room in Markham, or a patio overlooking a Marina in Vancouver.    I’ve also had the opportunity to speak with many more Franchisees over the phone.  I am looking forward to continue to meet and share our experiences.

What we are trying to accomplish is ground breaking!!  To communicate on a Canadian level, sharing national issues, working together to build our resources and better our system, all of this is just amazing to me.

I am proud to be a Franchisee within this system and I am proud to be a part of our drive to communicate and organize.  I am excited that a lot of Franchisees across Canada are proud to be a part of this also.

I hope that as we continue to progress down this path we all remember to take time, sit back and enjoy it.

This is exciting.

This is fun.

Why Now?

Looking back over the last couple of months CBCL has started to communicate with Franchisees just a little more.

There has been more open dialogue at playbook meetings, RAP sessions, summer golf days (mandatory?), BBQs, and now CBCL is launching a survey for Franchisees to fill out.

Why Now?

Think back six months ago, a year ago, 5 years ago…..

If “troubles’ a-brewing” there is a very typical response from a large corporation.  Create an atmosphere where those who are frustrated are able to share their feelings.  By providing a medium to share personal feelings and thoughts to those who are looking for change you now can “stroke” their egos.  Craft new ways to establish the perception of interest, the perception of wanting to listen, and the perception (or hope) of change because of it, you can deflate (just enough) the frustration and dissatisfaction that had brewed up to this point.

I don’t have the ability to eloquently put this into words so below are a few quotes from those that can.  I particularly like the quotes from Thomas Carlyle and Theodore Roosevelt.

A public-opinion poll is no substitute for thought.
Warren Buffett

Talk that does not end in any kind of action is better suppressed altogether.
Thomas Carlyle

 Let no one be deluded that a knowledge of the path can substitute for putting one foot in front of the other.
Mary Richards

Rhetoric is a poor substitute for action, and we have trusted only to rhetoric. If we are really to be a great nation, we must not merely talk; we must act big.
Theodore Roosevelt

Freedom to Associate

From wikipedia;

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (also known as The Charter of Rights and Freedoms or simply the Charter, French: La Charte canadienne des droits et libertés) is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada. It forms the first part of the Constitution Act, 1982. The Charter guarantees certain political and civil rights of people in Canada from the policies and actions of all levels of government. It is designed to unify Canadians around a set of principles that embody those rights. The Charter was signed into law by Queen Elizabeth II of Canada on April 17th 1982 (along with the rest of the Act).

Section 2 of the Charter is the Fundamental Freedoms given to every Canadian Citizen.

Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms:

(a)	freedom of conscience and religion;
(b)	freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication;
(c)	freedom of peaceful assembly; and
(d)	freedom of association.

At the Ontario Advisory Council meeting today (July 22, 2009), CBCL wanted to announce that regardless of Provincial Law, every Franchisee in Canada has the right to associate. 

Thank you?

McRap Session

Where does the term “RAP Session” come from?

In the 1970s McDonalds instituted RAP sessions as a means to prevent local issues from getting out of hand.  See link below.

RAP Sessions

A few points to note about McDonalds RAP sessions;

1. The people participating in the RAP session get paid to provide their opinions.
2. No persons invovled in the processes being critiqued are ever at these meetings.
3. No one being critiqued ever knows “who said what” about them or their division.
4. The issues raised in a RAP session must be acted upon.

I wonder where CBCL’s version of a RAP session came from? 

Think about our RAP sessions — A Franchisee is not paid, the concerns you put “on the table” implicate or affect the one who sits across the table from you, they obviously know it was you that said it, and do you think that concern must be acted upon?

Which version is set up to respect and value your time and input to the company and system you’re a part in?

Hearing Excerpts at Queens Park in 2000

Susan P. Kezios is the President and Founder of the American Franchisee Association. She was an expert witness at a public hearing in March of 2000 as part of the creation of the Arthur Wishart Act.

The full hearing can be found at Queens Park website.

You will find a few familiar names that have had an impact on our Franchise Agreement within this hearing. 

Here are a few excerpts of Ms. Kezios testimony;

She is giving a comparison of issues that affect both U.S. and Canadian Franchisees.

“When you are buying the franchise and you sign the contract, you say, “What happens at the end of my initial term?” and the franchisor sales representative says, “Don’t worry, we’ll renew you.” What they don’t tell you is that you’re not going to be renewed on exactly the same contract. They say, “You will sign” – this is important: Today, when I’m buying the franchise, I am signing that when my initial term ends, I will sign the then current contract. As long as I’m not in default, I will be able to sign the then current contract. You don’t know what that contract is going to be. The franchisor doesn’t even know what that contract is going to be. So you are agreeing today to sign something 10 or 15 years hence that is a moving target.”

Here she explains the need for governmental legislation within franchising;

“Why has franchising evolved to where legislation is necessary? Two reasons: When it started in the United States in the 1950s, it was often a handshake. It was a two- or three-page agreement, a pretty easy contractual relationship. But franchise agreements have evolved today to the point where, except for the provisions relating to the use of the trademark, the use of the proprietary information and payment of fees, almost every other provision has some element of controlling, trapping or defeating the franchisee.”

“Franchisees, you have to understand, are governed by these totally one-sided contracts that are drafted by the franchisors’ attorneys. There is unequal bargaining power from the beginning … and the franchisor has arbitrarily decided on the rules by which the two parties are going to conduct their business after they sign the contract. Those rules are incorporated into the franchise agreement, which the franchisor prepares unilaterally for the franchisee to sign. What is even worse is that franchisors justify their own abuses, post-sale, by claiming that pre-sale disclosure in these lengthy, unintelligible legal prospectuses makes any abusive trade practice they do after sale totally legal.”

Canada Bread Franchisee Website

Canada Bread recently launched a secure login for Franchisees on their website;

www.cbfranchise.ca

In the site there is links to Canada Bread’s buying and support programs.  It also includes the weekly feature reports.  It is worth looking through the information to see if you can utilize anything to better your personal business.

I wonder if Canada Bread sees our Association as a benefit to Franchisees?  We are attempting to provide information through the Association to individuals so that each of us can better our business and build stronger and more profitable.