Atlanta Business Radio Franchising Special

I'd like to express my thanks and appreciation to Amy Otto and Lee Kantor, hosts of Atlanta Business Radio, for inviting Jim Squire and me, to co-host a one hour broadcast, dedicated completely to franchising. These invitations were extended to us, because Jim and I each chair one of Atlanta's two franchise membership forums. Jim, The Southeast Franchise Forum and yours truly, The Atlanta Franchise Alliance. The two of us then, invited an outstanding line up of guests, to talk about the state of franchising in this challenging economic and political climate. We were joined first by David French, VP of Government Relations at the International Franchise Association, followed by Geoff Seiber, CEO of FranFund, Ron Feldman, CEO of Siegel Financial Group (and RetroTax franchisee) and Michelle Belinfante of The Leasing and Management Group.

The link that follows, will take you to more about the program and to yet another link, that will

enable you to stream the program's audio. http://atlantabusinessradio.libsyn.com/

To all of those that I will not see or speak with in the next few weeks, I wish you and your families a very safe and Happy Holiday season.

Public Affairs Conference Success – On To Franchise Update TODAY

The IFA Public Affairs Conference was high energy and positively charged. IFA’s Conference and Government Affairs team was on top of their game and did a stellar job in keeping the program on track and the speakers relevant. George Will as a repeat speaker worked well for me as well. He was every bit as good this year as we was last. Just as he does weekly on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos, he breaks down all of the political double speak, to the simplest of common denominators.

More than 400 IFA loyalists attacked the Hill to lobby their members of Congress for the myriad of issues that are important to IFA and its members, predominantly:
· Capital Access
· Card Check
· Health Care

As for me, I broke ranks and instead of joining the rest of the Georgia gang to visit our Peach State elected officials, I spent my time seeking out those Members of Congress and staff that can make the greatest difference with reference to the passage of another issue that IFA has signed on to, one that is near and dear to all of us at RetroTax. I am referring to HR 1677, HR 3500 and S 1222, three bills that are focused upon the extension and expansion of the legislation governing the Federal Empowerment Zones and Renewal Communities and tax credits available to businesses that send resident employees to work in those zones. My time on the Hill was very productive and I am confident that we will prevail in the extension of these benefits.

And, I think other IFA member’s time was productive, too, as there were easily 450 in attendance, a true reflection of the times and how important our collective voices are on the Hill, in these challenging times.

This week, the franchising fun continues, as I will be Networking, networking, networking at the Franchise Update Leadership Conference in Chicago – STARTING TODAY.

I am looking forward to robust conversations with franchisors that can benefit from RetroTax services, to learning as much as possible from my peers and as always, to giving back as much as I can, to those that can benefit from hearing from me. I’m really looking forward to participating in the “pre-conference, CEO Summit again this year. As was the case last year, it is facilitated by the very able Linda Burzynski and is a mindshare session for CEOs and Presidents only. This interactive program is all about "Exceeding Today's Stress Tests for Franchise Growth". How to continue to grow franchise units, where to get the right capital, what your org. chart should look like, how to craft salary and incentive programs and issues like that.

As for the panel that I am speaking on this year, our topic is: Lead Generation Track -- Where Can I Find More Qualified Prospects in this Economy? I join the very capable Paul Mangiamele, President/CEO, Salsarita's Fresh Cantina and Kevin Drudge, Vice President of Franchise Development at Valpak for this session.

Information shared at events like the IFA Public Affairs Conference and Franchise Update’s conference in Chicago this week are validating my belief that the recession has hit bottom, but that there will be a long slog to recovery. It could take years to get there, but barring any unforeseen events, I don’t think that things are geared to get any worse than that which we have already experienced.

If you are at Update – be sure to connect with me (best way if you want to schedule a meeting is by emailing me at stan.friedman@retrotax.com). Can’t wait to see all of you!

Economic Improvement Continues – My Economic Predictions

For those of you that read my blog regularly, you know that I remain optimistic about the future, despite these challenging times that we’re all living through. It’s been a while though since I last commented on how I see things, so an update seemed in order. While on some fronts I believe that economic conditions surrounding the recession may finally be close to bottoming out, I’m still a bit concerned about the potential for another meltdown in real estate. This one though, on the commercial front. With so many business failures recorded during the first half of the year, there is the potential for a commercial crisis, stemming from landlords unable to meet their mortgage commitments on unoccupied retail and office spaces.

Needless to say, when it arrives, economic recovery will be good for all businesses, franchised or otherwise. I think though, that it will take a bit of time for demand to catch back up with supply on the real estate side. Overall, as a business model, I believe that franchising would have weathered this storm with far less stress, but for the perfect storm caused by the simultaneous impact of the recession and credit freeze. More than anything, it was the latter that has gummed up the works for franchising, keeping displaced employees from becoming aspiring new entrepreneurs.

Through all of this, IFA members should all be extremely proud of their membership in the International Franchise Association. Now, more than ever, the IFA, it’s Board of Directors, its Government Relations Team, and members on all fronts, franchisors, franchisees and suppliers have made their voices heard at the White House, on Capitol Hill, at the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury.

Don’t miss your chance to do the same by voicing your concern to your elected officials at http://www.franchisingvotes.com/ and by attending the IFA’s fall Public Affairs Conference on Capitol Hill in mid September. More about that opportunity to meet with your elected officials can be found at http://www.franchise.org/publicaffairs.aspx. Each of these efforts support the loosening of the purse strings so that banks again begin lending to existing and/or soon-to-be franchisees. That will provide the best assurance of sustainable growth for our economy and the creation of new jobs and businesses on Main Streets across America. In addition to the obvious value propositions provided by the IFA, like education and networking, in my opinion, there is nothing more powerful than the voice it provides in terms of political action.

As for the future – or the end of this economic drought -- I wish I could read those tea leaves and see through the haze. I do think though, that what happens (or hopefully doesn’t,) between now and summer recess on Capitol Hill, will speak volumes to where we can expect things go from here.

As the old saying in TV news goes, “film at 11.”