Assessing Franchising Sector Maturity: Australian Evidence

Abstract

Business format franchising in Australia has been consistently growing since the start of the 1970s. The development of the franchising sector has been traced through periodic surveys from 1988 to 1998 and the latest presents an opportunity to assess the level of maturity attained. No widely accepted basis exists for measuring maturity in a nation's franchising sector. As a result, a framework for assessing the level of development is proposed, consisting of a number of attributes that may be expected to develop over time. The performance of Australian franchises is compared against these attributes wherever appropriate evidence is available from the surveys. The conclusion is reached that Australian franchising exhibits many of the attributes that indicate the achievement of a level of early maturity. Some aspects however have not yet developed to the extent expected. These offer opportunities for national franchise associations and governments to develop strategies strengthening franchise performance.