I just came back from Kuala Lumpur after meeting several franchise clients—and once again, it was the same old story. “The franchisor didn’t do this…”, “The franchisee didn’t follow that…”—blame passed back and forth like a hot potato. It’s always easy to point fingers. But the truth? Franchising is messy—because you’re not just dealing with systems, you’re dealing with people, habits and emotions.
Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s.
That’s why in my coming book, I stress this hard truth: franchising is NOT—and NEVER has been—a guaranteed path to success.
Over the years, I’ve watched even well-known brands collapse. Not because franchising doesn’t work, but because they couldn’t sustain what they started. They were built too fast, too thin, or on shaky ground.
And here’s the thing—many people talk about scaling. It’s a buzzword. But if you can’t sustain, don’t even talk about scaling. Scaling without a strong foundation is not ambition—it’s foolishness and reckless.
Some think franchising is just a way to make big bucks quickly by collecting franchise fees and some extras. That mindset is wrong and dangerous and completely misses the point. Franchising is not a shortcut to wealth—it’s a long-term commitment to mutual success and shared value. It demands structure, discipline, and above all, the wisdom to build right.
In Chapters 17 and 18 of my book, I tackle this reality head-on. I break down the real struggles faced on both sides of the franchise divide. Franchisors battle brand erosion, system fatigue, and leadership overwhelm. Franchisees wrestle with unrealistic expectations, financial stress, and poor support. These chapters are meant not to discourage—but to equip. To prepare you for what franchising really is: a human journey that requires wisdom, resilience, and grace.
Because in franchising, as in life—if you can’t sustain, you can’t scale.
And that’s exactly why I titled this book The Franchise Code: Start, Structure & Scale Your Franchise in Malaysia. Because before you scale, you must structure. And before you structure, you must start right—with a solid foundation.
As the Good Book says, “A wise man builds his house upon the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.” (Matthew 7:24-25)
Franchising is not just business—it’s a journey. A human journey.
And if you want to go far, you better build well.