IBA, as the premier business brokerage firm in the Pacific Northwest, is firmly established as a respected professional service firm in the legal, accounting, banking, mergers & acquisitions, real estate, and financial planning communities.  Periodically, we will post guest blogs from professionals with knowledge to share for the good of owners of privately held companies & family owned businesses. The following blog article has been provided by Curt Maier. Mr. Maier is IBA’s VP of Business Development, a certified franchise broker, and member of the Franchise Brokers Association (FBA) https://ibainc.com/franchise-sales/

Franchise Grade – A Franchise Brokers Association Tool to Increase Knowledge & Transparency in Franchise Acquisition

IBA is a member of the Franchise Brokers Association an organization which is challenging franchise sales professionals to improve the way they do business in 2020. FBA is asking industry professionals to take an honest look at the franchise systems they are selling and be clear about the pros and the cons in the franchise when presenting it to prospective franchise buyers.

Most consumers looking to buy franchises have a limited understanding of franchising and what they are buying. Many franchise consultants, coaches, and franchise sales reps are also unclear about the performance track record of the franchise systems they sell. The impact of selling a franchise with a bad track record could be quite severe.

By partnering with Franchise Grade – the number one authority on franchise system information –FBA offers franchise brokers, franchisors, and franchise buyer’s real, validated data that tells a full story about the actual success of a franchise brand.

“It is vital for franchise sales professionals to educate their clients with real information, so the client can make an informed decision,” said Sabrina Wall, the Franchise Brokers Association’s CEO. “This is a key component of our mission – to bringing clear and truthful guidance to franchise opportunities. Proper franchise sales education is critical, and has been a major focus of the FBA since we were founded in 2008.”

Joining in an exclusive partnership with Franchise Grade has allowed FBA to expand on that mission. Franchise Grade is designed to produce honest, unbiased performance information on all franchises. They do this by researching and scoring the most important resource available, the Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).

“FBA is committed to uplifting the franchise sales industry as a whole through establishing more trust, transparency, better experiences, and ultimately more successful franchise owners,” said Wall. “Often there are simple mistakes illuminated through the FDD that are easy to correct. Other times, the issue goes deeper.”

Franchise Grade works to connect the dots by analyzing annual data through thousands of annual franchise disclosure documents. Each FDD is run through a scoring system, which ultimately assigns the franchise a grade. Franchisors cannot buy their grade. They have to earn their grade.

An FDD is the gateway to truthful knowledge behind a franchise. Each FDD reveals key components such as franchise performance, lawsuit, profitability, and franchisor/franchisee obligations.

FBA is on a mission to help utilize accurate, validated data exclusively available to FBA members through Franchise Grade. This is beneficial to people looking to buy a franchise because this allows them to truly make an informed decision on their investments.

“We are the buyer’s preferred choice when looking for a franchise – our brokers are the best trained and can shine a light on ANY franchise to give a clear picture of the investment,” said Wall.

For more information about the Franchise Brokers Association, please visit www.franchiseba.com.

For more information about the Franchise Training Institute, visit www.franchiseti.com.

For more information about Franchise Grade, visit www.franchisegrade.com.

If you have questions relating to the content of this article, the acquisition of a franchised business opportunity, or the sale of an established franchise, Curt Maier would welcome the opportunity to talk with you.  Mr. Maier can be reached at (425) 454-3052 or curt@ibainc.com.

IBA, the Pacific Northwest’s premier business brokerage firm since 1975, is available as an information resource to the media, business brokerage, mergers & acquisitions, and real estate communities on subjects relevant to the purchase & sale of privately held companies and family owned businesses.  IBA is recognized as one of the best business brokerage firms in the nation based on its long track record of successfully negotiating “win-win” business sale transactions in environments of full disclosure employing “best practices”.