👉 Background: Laser Clinics Australia is a big chain of cosmetic clinics, doing everything from facials and laser hair removal to fillers and botox. Since getting started in 2008, it's grown to have more than 200 clinics around the globe, including 135 in Oz.

👉 What happened: Last year, 52 LCA franchisees alleged that the owner of LCA, KKR, was forcing them to offer aggressive discounts and charging them major markups on supplies like machines and injectables. AKA eating their profits.

👉 What else: LCA has now purchased at least 38 clinics from disgruntled franchisees for anywhere from $300k to just over $1 million. KKR aims to unify the company's rift between franchisee and franchisor 🤝.

What's the key learning?

💡Franchising is a business model, that allows a business to operate under the brand of another business. And it's huge in Oz. In fact, Australia's franchise system is worth around $170 billion.

💡Our franchise system has been under the microscope for years without a lot of change. Get this: Retail Food Group (owner of Gloria Jeans, Crust and many more) opened 1,000 new franchises in a seven-year period, but closed 1,100.

💡A 2019 parliamentary inquiry uncovered 'systematic exploitation' by some franchisors, and last year we got an updated Franchising Code of Conduct. But if LCA is anything to go by, it looks like we've still got a ways to go in fixing this industry.

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