Our Story

The Franchise Relationships Institute (FRI) was established in 1989 by business psychologist, Greg Nathan, who had previously been a multi-unit franchisee and senior franchisor executive. At the time, Greg was surprised at the lack of quality information available on how to be a successful franchisor or franchisee, or how to manage the common stresses within the franchise relationship. Seeing an important need, he used his psychological training to create evidence-based tools and techniques for franchisors and franchisees, to help them understand the factors important to their mutual success and satisfaction.

Since 1989, FRI has since conducted extensive research with hundreds of franchise networks around the world on what helps or hinders healthy franchise relationships. Several popular books, such as Profitable Partnerships, have been published, and a number of important discoveries made. The first was The Franchise E-Factor, a model that explains the inherent tensions in the franchise relationship. Useful collaboration techniques have been developed for preventing conflict and improving communication in large meetings, such as the Group Scoop. A number of objective psychometric tools have also been created, including the ACE Franchisee Survey for measuring franchisee satisfaction, and the Nathan Profiler, for assessing franchisee suitability.

Whenever new discoveries have been made, these have been integrated into FRI’s professional development programs and conference presentations.  It is this passion for sharing evidence-based tools and information that has established FRI as the world’s most trustworthy resource for helping franchisors and franchisees create healthy franchise relationships.

We have built a reputation for quality, value, and trustworthiness by staying true to three brand values:

• Thought leadership: continuously researching and developing fresh ideas to help our clients succeed.
• Simplicity: ensuring everything we deliver is easy to understand and makes practical sense.
• Integrity: doing the right thing, and never exploiting a situation or person for our gain.

We also have seven cultural values which we call our Mastery Values that guide us day to day, and ensure we continue to deliver value, maintain quality, and grow personally:

• Make a difference: being proactive, courageous, and speaking up.
• Adopt the Artisan’s eye: bringing excellence and beauty to every detail.
• Show genuine interest: genuinely connecting with people to understand and help them.
• Take care of yourself: staying calm and positive, and looking after ourselves.
• Employ Good judgment: thinking it through and making sound, evidence-based decisions.
• Reach out to others: proactively connect with others and collaborate and discuss to create better outcomes.
• Yen for knowledge: constantly studying and seeking feedback on how to improve.