McGrow Franchise Consulting Spreads The Franchise Lie
McGrow Franchise Consulting spreads the deadly franchise lie that franchises hardly ever fail.
(UnhappyFranchisee.Com) McGrow Franchise Consulting of Hingham, MA claims it is “recognized as the leading franchise consulting firm in this country.”
McGrow Franchise Consulting encourages companies to start offering franchises with their help, claiming McGrow will share with them the “secrets to success.”
McGrow Franchise Consulting claims that the U.S. Department of Commerce has stated that fewer than 5% of franchises ever fail.
According to McGrow Franchise Consulting, franchisees don’t need to worry when they invest their life savings, 401Ks and their kids’ college funds because they have a whopping 95% chance of success.
Unfortunately, McGrow Franchise Consulting is spreading The Franchise Lie.
And they have inspired others (like sex offender & franchisor Greg Cantrell) to spread the franchise lie as well.
McGrow Franchise Consulting Spreads The Franchise Lie
If you are new to the franchise industry, you need to know this fact: Anyone can claim anything about themselves and never be challenged on it.
McGrow Franchise Consulting can claim it’s recognized as the leading franchise consulting company in the nation.
Yet, in the past two decades, we’ve never heard anyone refer to McGrow as the leading anything. Most people in the industry have never heard of them.
McGrow Franchise Consulting claims its clients are successful, that their clients have sold thousands of franchises, that they maintain long term relationships with every client and that, if you hire them, “You’ll be able to expand with less overhead and fewer day-to-day operating headaches, while generating a highly profitable stream of income.”
Yet McGrow Franchise Consulting does not include a client list on its website, and there are no names attached to its few sparse client comments. Where are the long lists of successful franchise clients who are maintaining a 95% success rate and generating steady streams of profits?
McGrow Franchise Consulting claims that buying a franchise is an almost risk-free investment:
Low Risk – The U.S. Commerce Department estimates that 95% of franchises succeed; only 25-35% of independent businesses succeed. Why the difference? Since a franchise is usually a duplicate of an already successful business, it should succeed.
The only problem is that the U.S. Commerce Department never stated that franchises have an estimated 95% success rate. They haven’t published any success rate that we know of, at least not in the past 25 years.
It’s fiction.
It’s a lie.
Even the IFA warned about The Franchise Lie
In May, 2005, International Franchise Association President Matthew Shay warned franchisors and other members (McGrow is a supplier member of the IFA) to knock it off with the bogus statistics. He wrote:
Dear Friends:
A message from International Franchise Association President Matthew Shay
It has come to our attention that some IFA-member companies may be providing information about franchising that is long out of date and no longer presents an accurate picture of the sector.
Of particular concern is information claiming that the success rate of franchised establishments is much greater than that of independent small businesses.
Many years ago, the U.S. Department of Commerce conducted studies about franchising which presented such statistics. That information is no longer valid. The agency stopped conducting such studies in 1987.
We strongly urge you to remove any information from your Web site and published materials that make such a claim. The use of such data, in the absence of current research, could mislead prospective franchisees who are attempting to conduct responsible investigations…
As a member of the franchising community, you serve as a gateway to future generations of franchisees and entrepreneurs. Please join IFA in making an effort to present an accurate picture of franchising.
Sincerely,
Matthew Shay President
International Franchise Association
Could it be that the leading franchise consulting firm in America and a long-time member of the IFA, and its founder Jack McBirney, didn’t get the memo?
Or are McGrow Franchise Consulting and Jack McBirney knowingly deceiving prospective franchisors and franchisees as to the real dangers of franchising?
We will contact McGrow Franchise Consulting and ask for clarification and give them a chance for rebuttal.
We will ask them for a copy of the Department of Commerce research study that they quoted.
And we will ask them for a complete list of ALL the franchise programs they have helped launch.
It will be interesting to see how close to a 95% success rate their clients have achieved.
ARE YOU A MCGROW FRANCHISE CONSULTING CLIENT? ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE MCGROW FRANCHISE CONSULTING, JACK MCBIRNEY OR THE FRANCHISE LIE? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
I had several conversations with McGrow. They never pushed me into anything. They were always very truthful in their offerings. I am on the other side of the equation. I own a business and am looking to expand by franchising.
For anyone looking into franchising, use your common sense. Markets change no one can guarantee you success. You need to have a vision and you benefit by using the training and expertise of a franchising. If there is value in their brand and products then go for it.
Great Rafael.
And you would recommend McGrow and their lies.?
The real question is how was the quality of their offering, and how much did they help with strategic planning, documentation (FDD and operational manual) and general expertise to get the infrastructure set up etc. I hear you on the references of any wildly successful franchises that they helped. That is a big concern. But anyone have any experience with their actual deliverables ?
Once you have preliminary conversations with Jack, he sends to you an extensive reference list. I have not contact them as of yet, but plan to call a few this week. Clearly in their proposal they lay out exactly what their service provides and it is very comprehensive. Jack has never promised any type of success rate, but does clearly articulate the type of person and business that is most successful and the key characteristics that must be in place to experience success.