McDonald's: Franchisees trying to find a seat at the table

This past week up to 400 franchisees met in Tampa, Florida to discuss the possibility of creating an independent franchisee association. The push for this association is a potential sign of a shift in cultural relationships between McDonald's and their franchisees. More and more often there has been a push by all franchisees, not just McDonald's, to gain more of a seat at the table. Franchisees are feeling the increased obstacles of operating their business. Increased costs of goods is leading them to have to further adjust and maximize their revenue strategies. If an independent franchisee association is created, this would be the first of its kind.

McDonald's has made it a priority to renovate their stores, and with this renovation they have seen an increase of annual sales from between 1-2%. All renovation costs fall on McDonald's and not on the franchisees. The efforts McDonald's has made thus far to continue refreshing their brand is an important step to supporting their franchisees. According to their Quarterly Report, results within the United States were rather flat in the second quarter but were up internationally, which exceeded overall earnings based on Wall Street estimates.

It is clear that McDonald's is striving to improve their brand outlook as well as improve their customer experience. It will be interesting to see if these improvements produce results to settle the franchisees. It will be important for McDonald's to engage with their hundreds of franchisees to understand how their relationship could bolster their individual business and the company as a whole moving forward in the coming months and years.