The way to combat franchise fraud is to leak evidence to the media. Press that proves the fraud will educate the public and put pressure on Congress and the Federal Trade Commission. FranchiSEEs have lost far too much money and illegitimate franchise business expansion has done too much harm to the economy for this problem to stay under wraps.
And the way to combat franchise fraud is to make it SAFE for franchiSEES to leak evidence to the media. FranchiSEES would already be telling their stories and sharing their evidence if they weren’t afraid of being sued for speaking.
Franchise fraud is everybody’s business. Taxpayers need to understand why so many of the SBA loans they’re backing are defaulting. Right now, taxpayers don’t know they’re supporting a franchise industry that systematically and fraudulently exploits hard-working individuals and families. Taxpayers don’t know that the prices they enjoy when frequenting franchised businesses are subsidized by exploited families who may likely lose everything they’ve spent their lives working for. Taxpayers don’t know that franchiSORS are using franchiSEES’ life savings to undercut the prices of other local small businesses, making it impossible for them to survive.
Taxpayers don’t know. The media doesn’t know. Investigative reporters don’t know… at least not yet.
But franchiSEES know. They know because they’ve lived it. They know because they’re holding the evidence in the documents they possess and in their personal stories.
Exposure needs to happen so everybody else can know, too.
Without exposure, the status quo will continue:
- The franchiSORS will continue to pay lobbyists to fight bills (2017, 2019) introduced to Congress
- A vast network of integrated businesses will continue to make money off of franchise sales
- The Federal Trade Commission will continue to not enforce its own Franchise Rule
- The Federal Trade Commission will continue to resist allowing for private enforcement of its Rule
- Illegitimate franchise business expansion subsidized by franchiSEES’ life savings will continue to undercut other, more legitimate business expansion
- Taxpayer will continue to naively subsidize the systems that make the endemic fraud possible
Exposure is the solution. The best exposure happens when the media reports on evidence. Evidentiary leaks give investigative reporters the solid information they need to boost their stories.
And good investigative reporters have an interest in sharing this story. Ethical United States citizens’ will want to know what’s happening. Ethical United States citizens have interest in protecting retirees, veterans, and other vulnerable populations from extreme financial loss in a fraudulant franchise system.
Ethical government employees and policy makers will welcome the support offered by media leaks and public exposure. There are many people invested in fixing problems. But franchiSEE silence and lack of public awareness makes it difficult for the good people who want to solve the problem to get a foot in the door.
FranchiSEES must speak. FranchiSEES must share their evidence. FranchiSEE silence is allowing the franchiSORS to maintain the status quo. Exposure ends the silence.
But franchiSORS have this fraud figured out. FranchiSEES aren’t speaking because the franchiSORS know how to use contract law to make it almost impossible for franchiSEES to win in court. FranchiSEES know very well that if they speak or share their evidence, the franchiSORS will likely sue them.
And the franchiSEES know that the franchiSORS will very likely spend a lot of money on attorneys to win. The franchiSEES can’t afford to play legal games the way franchiSORS can.
So… in order for the necessary leaks to happen, we need to make them SAFE for franchiSEES. We need to create a method for franchiSEES to share the leaks completely anonymously so that franchiSORS can’t subpoena anyone to figure out where the information came from.
Only then will we see the real evidence come forward.
Franchise fraud is big. Right now, the story seems too big to be believable to people who haven’t walked the path themselves. And franchiSORS bank on that. FranchiSORS need the general public to remain naive of the extent of the fraud in order to keep selling more franchises. If the public really knew how extreme the problems in franchising were, nobody would consider investing in franchising and the franchiSORS’ scheme would come to an end.
Exposure through SAFE, confidential and completely anonymous and untraceable leaks is the solution.
