![\"Money](\"https:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3238\/2956354361_cc40aca375.jpg\")
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You’re throwing your money right down the drain.<\/p>\n
Especially if you’re a new franchisor<\/strong>. If you’re a new start-up<\/em> franchisee<\/strong>, forget about it<\/strong><\/span>; you’re going to need to focus<\/strong> on making it through your 1st year. That’s <\/em><\/span>where you need to put your money and your time.<\/p>\n Now, the up-front pricing isn’t too<\/em> bad if you end up deciding to join the IFA<\/a><\/strong>. (International Franchise Association<\/em>)<\/p>\n And the IFA does<\/em> have cool awards<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n But, they charge you for everything<\/em>, once you become a member.<\/p>\n Me don’t like that.<\/em><\/p>\n And, it’s not really an association<\/em>; it’s a lobbying organization. <\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n It even says as much on the membership application form.<\/p>\n From the IFA.org website – a PDF;<\/p>\n Dues payments to the International Franchise Association are not deductible as charitable contributions for U.S. Federal Income Tax purposes. Dues may be deductible as an ordinary business expense, subject to restrictions pertaining to <\/span><\/em>lobbying<\/span> activities. IFA estimates that the non-deductible portion of your payment due to <\/span><\/em>lobbying<\/span> is 15%<\/span>. $18 if your dues are allocated for each subscription to Franchising World magazine you receive as part of membership and may not be used to reduce annual dues.<\/em><\/p>\n $$ <\/span>Dues $$<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n If you’re a franchisor who’s been around for awhile, and have less than 300 franchise units, you’ll be writing a check for $2200.00 yearly. Not bad, and they throw in some discounts\/freebies, also.<\/p>\n If you’re a large franchisor, you’re dues range from $4400.00 a year, all the way up to $11,900 if you happen to be the CEO of McDonald’s, and you want your company to be an IFA member.<\/p>\n Franchisees<\/strong>; it’s only $100 a year to be what they call a “subscriber member,<\/em>” which means you get the email newsletter. Now, your franchisor may<\/em> be able to put you under their membership. Then, it’s free. (You still have to pay for events, certifications, and of course, travel and lodging in either case.<\/em>)<\/p>\n If I would have been an IFA member during the last couple of years<\/strong>, especially if I happened to be a franchisor-member<\/strong>, I would have been pretty angry in reference to the IFA’s lobbying efforts<\/strong>. They were lousy. (As they related to franchise lending.<\/em>)<\/p>\n Not only did they pretty much get nothing accomplished with regards to franchise loans, they left out (until recently<\/em>) something very important in all of their efforts; funding for franchise start-ups!<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n (Instead, they focused their efforts on getting the banks to loan money to the franchise companies<\/strong>, so they<\/span> could grow. Kind of hard to do that <\/span>without new franchises being sold.) <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n A franchise consultant\/marketer\/blogger from the powerful and highly influential city of Cleveland<\/strong>, on his own<\/em>, had to pound the blogosphere with articles<\/a><\/strong>, and Tweets<\/a><\/strong>, to make sure that folks thinking about buying franchises had their voices heard!<\/strong> (About the total lack of small business loans being available to them from the big banks.<\/em>)<\/p>\n There were no mentions at all <\/em>of franchise start-up funding in all the correspondence written to Congress, etc.<\/span> Hello<\/strong>. Hello!!! McFly!\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\nFranchisors<\/strong><\/span>; if you’re a new franchisor, the IFA encourages you to sign on for 2 years. It’s $3,000, and they give you discounts\/freebies for upcoming events.<\/p>\n
\nAbout Lobbying<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n