In good economic times, franchise systems want to aggressively grow their companies, increase the number of new franchise locations, and maximize their opportunities. Conversely, in bad economic times, they don't want to lose what they've worked so long and hard to create – they want to minimize their losses by retaining and improving the performance of their existing locations.

With a softening economy, tight credit and prospective franchise buyers having less access to personal wealth (shrinking 401(k) and home equity), franchise systems are focusing less on new unit growth and more on existing unit retention and effectiveness. To help achieve this better unit performance, franchisors have turned to outside business coaching services.
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