The free franchise program helps explain what to do "when things go sour".
If you are considering buying a franchise, you might be interested to know that there is a free "pre-entry" program you can do.
It's designed to help you "make informed investment decisions" and "understand the demands" of franchising - claims made by franchisors about potential earnings is a common topic of complaint to competition watchdog the ACCC, which is behind the free course.
More than 5,000 people have now signed up for the course, which is run by Griffith University. The course is designed for people considering buying a franchise.
There were 740 complaints to the ACCC in the last financial year regarding franchising, the ACCC announced this week. According to the ACCC, problem include:
- "Franchisees frequently allege that they didn’t receive a disclosure document, or that the disclosure document they received wasn’t up-to-date or didn’t include important information.
- Another problem noted are "claims made by franchisors about potential earnings." The ACCC warns "There can be severe financial penalties for franchisors found to be misrepresenting potential franchise earnings."
Since 1998, the ACCC reports it has taken successful court action against "more than 20 franchisors".
Today the ACCC announced it will be checking that take-away food and health and fitness franchisors are obeying the Franchising Code of Conduct in its next round of audits.
