"Go Big" 2025 Could be The Year of Franchising

The new year is off to a fast and furious start with no shortage of action in Washington, D.C., and around the states that impact the franchising community. From the very beginning of the new administration and Congress, IFA has been at the center of the key policy debates in the nation’s capital, working to protect, enhance, and promote the franchise business model.

There are incredible opportunities ahead for franchised businesses in 2025, and it is up to all of us in franchising to realize that potential. With the right economic and policy environment, together, we can make 2025 “The Year of Franchising.” 

Announced leading into the 65th IFA Annual Convention, IFA released our annual Franchising Economic Outlook. The numbers indicate that not only did franchise growth exceed projections for 2024, but franchising is expected to grow an additional 2.4% this year, a faster rate than the 1.9% projected for the broader economy by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). This year, franchising is expected to add 20,000 new units, totaling 850,000 small businesses in the U.S. this year and 210,000 new jobs. Last year’s franchise growth of 2.2% also bested the 1.9% projection. 

From economic growth and increased regulatory certainty—following a decade of back-and-forth policy changes targeting franchised businesses—now is the time to enact policies to protect franchise small businesses for good. It’s why IFA is pursuing a “go big” legislative strategy that we will be unrolling as the year unfolds. 

To start, IFA has announced our support for numerous key positions in the administration that will be critical to advancing meaningful policies for local franchises. 

One major example has been IFA’s successful advocacy in the debate around Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer to lead the Department of Labor. Seen as an unconventional choice for this role by some, IFA secured a meeting with the nominee and some of our members to understand Chavez-DeRemer’s priorities and ensure her support for franchising. Following that meeting, IFA became one of the first major business organizations to publicly support her nomination. 

Throughout her confirmation process, Chavez-DeRemer reiterated not only her support for the franchise model, but also her commitment to the appropriate and narrow definition of joint employer, which is consistent with her support of the effort to repeal the previous administration’s expanded joint-employer rule. 

Chavez-DeRemer was ultimately confirmed on a strong bipartisan basis, and I was pleased to attend her swearing in at the White House to show our commitment to working together to enable the franchise business model to reach new heights. 

IFA has also come out in support of a number of other key nominees who will have roles directly impacting franchising, such as those at the Small Business Administration (SBA) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC). We are working to build relationships as leaders and their agencies overhaul the regulatory landscape, which can affect every franchised business. 

Specifically on the policy front, IFA will be taking the opportunity at hand to pursue a permanent solution to the back and forth of the joint-employer standard. After four different definitions of joint employer in a decade, now is the time to enact permanent change to ensure franchisors and franchisees have a clear definition of the appropriate level of control without damage to the brand or a franchisee’s autonomy and equity. 

Additionally, IFA is urging Congress to permanently extend pro-growth tax reforms in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which will provide businesses with long-term certainty to drive economic growth, increase wages, and support job creation. Without the extension of these tax cuts, every franchised business faces a tax increase. 

IFA will also be working with the FTC on finalizing the long-overdue update to the Franchise Rule. We are encouraging the agency to adopt our 2024 Responsible Franchising policy recommendations to improve disclosure at the outset of the franchise sales process. We will also keep a watchful eye on any misguided regulatory overreach, like the Corporate Transparency Act, which we have opposed from its inception and which the administration announced it would not enforce—another win for franchising.

While nobody could have predicted the pace of action in Washington, IFA is working toward long-term, meaningful change that can preserve the franchise model well into the future. Your engagement is essential to achieving that goal, and we encourage everyone in franchising to get involved to make it possible.

Matt Haller is president and CEO of the International Franchise Association.