Item 20: Outlets and Franchisee Information

Content: Several tables are detailed here and each table includes three years of data. Table One is a summary of System Wide Outlets. Table Two is Transfers of Outlets from Franchisees to New Owners (other than the Franchisor). Table Three provides information on the Status of Franchised Outlets. Table Four provides information on the Status of Company-Owned Outlets. Table Five is a table of Projected New Franchised Outlets.

Purpose: This information is provided primarily to give you a numerical breakdown of locations and growth or regression trends.

Tips & Advice: Many people look at this section on a micro level. They go to their state and ask, “Why was there a transfer in my state two years ago?” Although you may want to ask this type of question, I think the more relevant questions relate to overall system wide trends. Has the system grown over the past three years? Has more than 10 % of the system changed hands in any given year? Have there been an excessive number of abandonments? This is an important section – don’t overlook the forest. In regard to the last table, Projected New Franchises Outlets, you can, in most cases, ignore this. There are some franchisors that are highly focused on specific markets and that may be relevant but the fact is most franchisors just don’t have a good enough crystal ball to be able to predict this with any level of accuracy.