Our “State of the Franchise Operator Report” reveals industry hidden gaps

As part of the celebrations around AFA's 10th anniversary, we released the 2026 State of the Franchise Operator Report, the most comprehensive ground-level look at the franchise operator experience ever assembled in a single publication.

• The report is available at www.FranchiseOperatorReport.com

Drawn from our program enrollment profiles and four waves of employee engagement surveys conducted between October 2024 and October 2025, the report profiles 879 franchise professionals across brands and markets nationwide, including: 54 multi-unit franchisees, 421 district managers, 248 unit managers, and 155 frontline team members.

All data was captured before participants underwent the AFA training, providing an unfiltered snapshot of the operator landscape.

2026 Franchise Operator Report Key Findings

• Financial visibility is the #1 challenge for franchisees — cited by nearly half of all respondents.
• 57% of district managers have less than two years of experience in their role and lack professional training, yet they are expected to lead districts and drive results.
• 36% of unit managers have been in their roles for less than one year, which means they learn the job without a formal framework for leading, managing costs, or developing their teams.
• Only 59% of frontline employees know how or when they can get a raise — the lowest-scoring engagement metric, every single survey wave.

The Motivation Behind the Franchise Operator Report

As I have explained in previous blog posts, the franchisor teaches operators how to run the brand.

We are here to teach Franchisees and their leaders how to run the business.

Our 2026 Franchise Operator Report aims to remind franchise professionals that they're not alone on their journey. We're here to support and empower them every step of the way toward multi-unit success! Our goal is also to share valuable industry data to help bridge the gap.

This is only the first step. We will publish the report annually to track how the franchise operator landscape evolves over time.

• You can download the 2026 edition at www.FranchiseOperatorReport.com