Dana, that is an interesting post. In an economic world in which leaders get outsized rewards for coordination of groups, maybe some people are simply "going on strike".

I have a leadership exercise on this topic:
http://www.franchise-info.ca/cooperative_relation...

That is interesting. I just wrote up a small exercise to sort aardvarks from eagles:
http://www.franchise-info.ca/cooperative_relation...

The CFA has exactly the same problems as the IFA does, and my sense is that is less prepared as a lobbying force than the IFA.

But, at this time, I do not attend the CFA meetings, nor am I a member. Most of the Canadian franchise systems are either not big enough to warrant IAFD programs or are American offspring and it makes more sense for the IAFD to approach the US Trade Association.

My own sense of the IFA's problem is that they are freezing out too many young franchisors who need the tutoring/mentoring that the IFA claims to have - the initial fees are too high for too little perceived benefit.

It would not surprise you to hear that I believe the IAFD has at least a partial solution to that problem.

Joel, thank-you for brining this post to my attention. I think that you are making a number of good points here - especially about the transparency of the lobbying process.

This is a criticism of many associations - how do the political stands get formulated? Where is the history and transparency in the process? I don't think an individual franchise or franchisee should be paying any money to any organization who intends to lobby on their behalf unless you are convinced that they can live with the current level of transparency.

Oh, and I don't think that the IFA's website is good. I think that for the major trade association representing franchisors in the US, it has an abysmal level of social interaction.

Barry, I think Facebook lacks any lock-in - it could be the next Geocities. But, Linkedin's new social network maps maybe the lock-in. It shows you roughly what groups you have in your 1st degree contacts, but more importantly who isn't properly connected. Check it out at linkedinlabs.com

Barry, if you are a credit card user who pays their card on time, you get the benefits of a very expensive platform for no cost. Why should the net platform being different?

I would stick with the first model - proudly state that franchisors pay you as their sales agent. It will work out better for you.

Good luck, I have enjoyed this blog and hope that the new association will add to it.

Joel, I don't think the cooperative business model is a real challenge to the franchise business model.

Straw Hat Pizza used the co-op model, but when it came to expand, they went back to the franchise business model.

Co-ops are are hard to govern, they have their place in a franchise system. But, the model won't replace the franchise model of leasing a trademark with a business plan.

Part of the trouble was other Mattel contracts did explicitly include "ideas" as part of the definition.