When people say, “International Franchising,” more often than not they mean taking a U.S. franchise concept to another country. Far less frequently, people are investigating the prospects of bringing a business concept from another country to the U. S. Importing foreign franchises has been written about occasionally, typically in very broad strokes that highlights the obvious risks: does a business model’s success in another country translate into success in this country?
We are working on bringing a couple of very different franchise models into the U.S., from opposite sides of the world and the business spectrum. One from Sweden and one from Australia. We are finding the considerations involved are very nuanced and complex, ranging from language barriers both in terms of literal transitions and, more subtly, differing uses of business terms. What is considered an area developer in this country may mean something very different in another country. There are also issues as basic as where does a newly arrived franchisor set up its operations in this country and what are the considerations that go into that decision?
We will be writing about this more, in great detail, but I would like to invite anyone who has thoughts or observations on this process to suggest them, either here or by contacting the author directly at tmd@ed-lawfirm.com.