Let’s face it, in an industry unfettered by anything to stop anyone from calling themselves a franchise consultant, there is bound to be the odd dodgy consultant. But Nelson experienced an epidemic of dodginess from Auckland consultants back in 2006. “There are a bunch of cowboys from a large North Island city who are selling the concept of franchising small business concepts,” said Paul Thomas of Summit Real Estate in Franchise New Zealand magazine at the time.

Apparently these unscrupulous JAFAs – don’t most South Islanders consider ‘unscrupulous’ to be superfluous in describing Aucklanders? – had been promising the good business people of the sunny city ‘the recipe for wealth’ and charging $70,000 to $80,000 for franchise documentation which was ‘from the ark’ and had been cut and pasted from the same source ‘along with the spelling mistakes’.

Unfortunately no names were mentioned in Franchise New Zealand ’s article, so we’ll never know if the culprits were brought to justice or are still working their way through South Island metropolises.

More recently, the director of a franchise consultancy was named by the magazine after he was banned and then fined for breaching the ban. But we wonder if a fine of $5000 is sufficient disincentive for an operator like Campbell Shorland Spencer of Base Franchise when he has been commanding five- and six-figure sums for his ‘services’? Certainly one of his clients, Brett Humble of Lemongrass House, which had to close after handing over $140,000 to Spencer, told the Herald on Sunday that he thought the fine was not enough. The Herald did not say what punishment Humble felt would be appropriate.

So how can you get the help you need from a professional franchise consultant to create, develop or grow your franchise without being ripped off?

The standard response from the likes of Franchise New Zealand would be to check out your consultant’s credentials and references and make sure they’re a member of the Franchise Association before you go entering into any contracts.

We don’t disagree with that but, in keeping with our name, will go way beyond that. We, and only we, will offer you the complete no-risk solution to all your franchising needs, featuring:

• lots of free resources such as initial consultations and our franchise feasibility report which put you at no obligation to use our other services if you decide you don’t require them
  
• not charging for documents such as franchise agreements and disclosure documents as if they’ve been created from scratch – let’s face it, despite what many franchise consultants and lawyers will tell you, these are almost always based on templates which we all then personalise to meet your needs, so unlike everybody else, we only charge you for the personalisation, saving you thousands
  
• not entering into binding contracts that you can’t get out of if you change your mind about working with us, run out of money or don’t love what we do for you
  

If you’re keen to turn your business or business idea into a franchise, or need help with your existing franchise, and don’t want to get ripped off, talk to us at 0800 NOORDINARY or robin@noordinary.co.nz.