Brian Schnell Discusses Brand Compliance Programs for Franchisors With Nation’s Restaurant News

In “2 Ways To Make Your Restaurant Franchise Recession-Resistant,” Nation’s Restaurant News spoke to corporate partner Brian Schnell about the importance of brand compliance for restaurant franchisors.

Regarding doubling down on brand compliance, Schnell said, “If you have to enforce brand standards or collect money from non-compliant franchisees through legal proceedings, you can easily spend $100,000 or more.”

“Typically, franchisees don’t wake up one day and say, ‘I’m not going to pay or comply with brand standards starting today.’ For example, franchisors often allow franchisees to go unchecked on key brand standards for an extended period of time,” Schnell noted. “FranConnect can equip you with technology that can provide you with solutions to detect early warning signs so that little issues don’t become big issues that result in lawyers getting involved.”

Schnell also emphasized that zero violations do not equal compliance. “In reality, there may be significant issues that haven’t been detected yet. If left unaddressed, those issues could cost the franchisor way more in enforcement costs than it would have spent on solutions to prevent them,” he explained.

“With the cost of noncompliance nearly three times the average cost of complying with industry regulations, there shouldn’t be any question about the value of having a robust internal brand compliance program,” added Schnell.