Membership Benefits

• Working together as a franchise community to positively influence decisions that will impact your long-term net worth.
• Learn from successful franchisees through the DFA Best Practice Sharing programs
• Gain access to many vendor discounts and resources only offered to DFA members
• Attend National and Regional meetings to learn how to increase the value of your business
• Full use and access of the DFA website and resources
• Regular communication to keep you up-to-date and informed
• Gain efficiencies from DFA legal research
• Speak with a unified voice

Click here to join!

---

What does the DFA mean to me?
by Chris Reisch
DFA Board Member/Membership Chair and 7 store Franchisee in Kentucky





Why am I a member year after year? What does my $200.00 per store do for ME?
These are just a few of the questions I get as I talk to other Franchisees about supporting the DFA. The Franchisees who don’t join typically say, “I can’t afford it this year”, “I do not know what the DFA does for me” or “The DFA does not represent or support my specific needs”. So, as I sit down this year to write this letter to encourage my fellow Franchisees to join the DFA, I find myself asking the very same questions of myself and I will give you my honest answers and perspectives.


What does the DFA mean to me, Chris Reisch?
It means I have a group of like-minded Domino’s Franchisees working together for the best interests of not just their Domino’s Franchise, but looking out for ALL Domino’s Franchises. United we have a powerful voice that is needed to help make changes that benefit our entire Franchisee system. The DFA board is made up of some of the best and brightest Franchisees from across the entire country that are elected by Franchisees in their region. They VOLUNTEER their time to benefit ALL Domino’s Franchisees. From personal experience, you have an amazingly intelligent board with some of the busiest people in our system, yet they ALWAYS find time for the DFA.


“I can’t afford it this year”.
The first example that pops to mind is when DPLLC rolled out a new 42 page credit card contract that pierced my corporate veil and allowed the bank to hold me personally responsible for unpaid charges. The DFA stepped in and hired several external consultants and lawyers to get changes made to the contract that significantly benefited Franchisees. This one example saved me thousands of dollars and was made possible because it was driven by an organized Franchisee group instead of a single, or small group, of Franchisees working independent of each other. This one savings paid my dues for the next three years! I could fill this entire website with all the ways the DFA saves you your dues back 10 times over, but that is not the only reason we need the DFA.


“I do not know what the DFA does for me”.
While times may be getting better for some Franchisees, I still hear about too many Franchisees that are struggling to make ends meet and keep their business above water. I completely understand that our profit margins are thinner than ever and we all are working very hard to be profitable. We are in a business that has become more and more about nickels and dimes. As we are being charged fees for services we never had to in the past, all those nickels and dimes are adding up to real dollars evaporating off of our bottom line. We no longer have the reserves built up to weather a tough storm. For many of us, if the cheese winds aren’t blowing in our direction, we could be watching our businesses topple.

The DFA’s relationship with Domino’s corporation is under constant evaluation and the level of Franchisee profitability will always be a source of contention. Representing the needs of 1,200+ Franchisees is a huge task and not a very easy thing to do since we all vary in size, geographic locations, rural vs. metro, financial resources, etc. But what the DFA does for you and me is to continue to fight for a fair balance between the needs of the Franchisees and the goals of Corporate Leadership. Fortunately, I believe that the current DFA Board and our CEO, Ken Peebles, understands the current and future needs of Domino’s Franchisees and recognizes the importance of ensuring that Franchisees have a strong voice in what the corporation decides our Brand’s priorities and objectives are.

We, as Franchisees, must band together to make sure that our profitability needs are just as important to our Corporate Leaders as their DPZ’s quarterly earnings results are. There is too big of a gap between the financially successful and financially struggling Franchisees and using an average of the two does not give us a clear picture of how healthy our Franchisee system is doing. We have to push for a fair business model that helps all Franchisees reach a similar prosperous level of financial success that our franchisor is experiencing. Franchisees cannot do that independently of each other and we need the corporation and the Franchisee body to work together to achieve mutual success. The DFA is our best chance to champion this cause for Franchisees.

I sleep easier at night knowing that I have the DFA working around the clock to make sure my interests are being considered on pending ideas and issues that I may not even be aware of. Many times, ideas/issues that have a negative impact on my bottom line are changed or stopped before they ever get off the ground. This is a great comfort to me and allows me to focus hard on improving my day to day operations knowing someone has my best interest in mind. While the corporation and the DFA may not agree on everything, we do have more in common than we do not. We just need to make sure we have a strong Franchisee organization like the DFA in order to continue to represent the best overall interests of the Franchisee community as we work with the corporation to make the Brand stronger.


“The DFA does not represent/support my needs”.
I know that the DFA cannot always be perfectly aligned with the thoughts and needs of all 1,200+ Franchisees and some Franchisees feel that the DFA should have taken a harder or softer stance on a particular issue… or given more support to a specific Franchisee on a particular issue. The DFA receives feedback from the Franchisee body on key issues and objectives and tries to prioritize them based on the impact to the overall Franchisee system.

Before the DFA decides how to move forward on any issue, they gather input from a wide cross section of Franchisees to make sure we understand the issue, its impact on the entire Franchisee community, and the direction that the majority of Franchisees want to take. It is always easier to throw stones and focus on what could have been done different, but I ask that you do the opposite. Don’t just join the DFA, but get involved, or even run for one of the 14 board positions next spring and volunteer your time to help put things into perspective.

I will tell you with first-hand knowledge that you have a WORLD CLASS Franchisee Association. OUR association can only improve and help you more if YOU choose to join and get involved. The bigger our membership means the stronger our voice to be heard and better chance to improve our success. Your first step is to join and then get involved if you can. Not all of the involvement requires major time commitments and can be as simple as helping us updating Franchisee information from your DMA.

Keeping our Franchisee records up to date is a never-ending project and we sure could use everyone’s help getting current contact information for the Franchisees in your area. We have a lean and mean support staff and the majority of work done by the DFA is from Franchisees volunteering to help the organization. Please help us by joining… getting involved… and being a spokesman for YOUR DFA.

Please never hesitate to contact me at chrisreisch@gmail.com if you have any questions!

Read DFA Board Chairman Rick Swisher's letter to Franchisees.