Trends

The Melting Pot is looking to reopen some franchise locations and it has created a new incentive to help recruit qualified restaurant operators. The new program will provide financing to those who sign a franchise agreement to purchase an existing Melting Pot location in select markets across the country, starting with Chattanooga and Memphis.
Under the guidelines of its new "Path to Grow" program, approved restaurant operators can inject as little as 5 percent liquidity into the purchase of the restaurant to partner with the franchisor, who would provide the financing. In exchange, the franchisor would initially assume 51 percent ownership of the restaurant under the conditions that the operating franchisee agrees to pay back the initial loan within three years of signing the franchise agreement...

The cold rush is coming to Florida. The Sunshine State will be the location of more than 30 new shops of the San Francisco-based dessert franchise CREAM over the next 7 years. The franchise specializes in premium ice cream sandwiches and other frosty treats.
The new agreement marks CREAM's largest and most significant franchising announcement since launching its franchise opportunity in 2012, and will develop stores starting in South Florida before moving towards West Florida and beyond.
"There's definitely a lot of excitement around the brand," says CREAM president and COO Jim Ryan. "We are very excited to have over 30 units available to entrepreneurs in Florida and to make our East Coast debut."
The initial deal was inked with Armando Martinez Stone, who discovered the brand while participating in his High School DECA program in which participants were given the challenge to outline a plan to improve a company's national and international success...

Franchisees in Seattle have the International Franchise Association (IFA) on their side. The group is appealing a recent decision in federal court that allows the city of Seattle to discriminate against small franchised businesses as part of the city's 2014 minimum wage law. The IFA sought a preliminary injunction, which was denied by U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones court in mid-March.
The IFA and five Seattle franchisees have given notice that they will appeal Judge Jones' decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The original lawsuit filed in June 2014 requested fair treatment for franchises under the law, which treats them as large, national companies, rather than the small, locally-owned businesses...

Fastsigns franchisee Clint Ehlers is taking a stand in support of the franchise industry at this week's U.S. Chamber of Commerce event, "The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the Joint-Employer Standard: New Interpretations, New Liabilities and the Impact on Other Statutes."
Ehlers owns and operates Fastsigns locations in Lancaster and Willow Grove, PA. This isn't his first time to speak up about the issue. He previously took a stance against the ruling in an appearance on September 9, 2014, testifying before Congress against the "joint employer" decision, with Catherine Monson, CEO of Fastsigns International.
As a pervasively critical issue within the franchise industry--among franchisors, franchisees, and employees alike--the NLRB's ruling on the Joint-Employment Standard will be addressed by Ehlers at the March 20th event, including the threat to locally-owned and operated franchise businesses across the nation that provide incredible value to communities by providing jobs, products/services, and sales tax revenue...

Allen Peake and Mike Chumbley are the powers behind C&P Restaurant Company, a Macon, Georgia-based company that operates Captain D's and Cheddar's locations. The duo has just inked a deal for six Fazoli's restaurants in Georgia and South Carolina.
The new deal brings Peake and Chumbley back to Fazoli's. As executives and minority owners of RMS Family Restaurants - where they worked together for 15 years - they previously operated 12 Fazoli's in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. RMS sold its Fazoli's restaurants in 2000; they eventually were closed.
Under the new agreement, C&P Restaurant Company plans to open Fazoli's restaurants in Macon, Warner Robins, Athens, Augusta, Columbus, and Savannah.
"We always knew that we wanted to again be part of Fazoli's, and now the timing is right," says Peake...

From Target and Home Depot, to Apple's iCloud, Sony, and Anthem, it seems there's a new security breach announced every other week. Polls indicate that 50 percent of small- to medium-sized businesses believe they are immune to targeted cyber-attacks because criminals are more focused on large corporations. The reality is these companies are easy targets because they don't invest in new tools to defend against today's new breed of cyber attacks.  All companies, regardless of their size, are at risk.
Older, traditional security solutions are based on technologies that rely on knowing something about the attack, such as the vulnerability targeted, the malware used, or the reputation of the email sender. These tools may block basic known malware, but they are incapable of identifying today's dynamic, multi-vector, multi-stage attacks...

Every day my husband and I make decisions that affect the lives of 450 people and their families. It's a lot of responsibility but above all a labor of love. It is all part of being local franchise owners and living our American dream. The franchise model has been a gateway for millions of people over the years to achieve small business ownership, many of them from racial or ethnic minority groups. It is important to not only preserve, but to strengthen this business model.
My husband came from Grenada and worked for the UPS for over 20 years. As a young man, he had the foresight to invest in a property in Brooklyn that grew in value over the years. Blessed with some money when we sold it, we considered how to invest our good fortune into a new livelihood and soon discovered that franchising was the way to go for us...

Franchise relations are in the midst of powerful, fundamental change. Driven by the maturity of franchising, the rise of large multi-unit operators, the after-effects of the recession, and, most recently, external regulatory and political threats to the franchise model itself, franchisors and franchisees are working together more than ever before--and looking for ways to do it better.
In our conversations with multi-unit franchisees and franchisors, we found three overriding themes: collaboration, communication, and having a structure in place to facilitate them. Here's how some are working together for mutual gain.

Collaboration
In his 35 years in franchising as a franchisee of Great American Cookies, Doc Cohen has seen the brand trade hands from its founders to a private equity firm, sold to its chief competitor, and then sold twice more to private equity firms...

Franchisees around the country are breathing a collective sigh of relief as the post-recession rebound officially sets in. For many who weathered the economic downturn, earnings have increased, profits are up (thanks to strategic management decisions), and potential purchasers are again lining up to enter the market with finances in hand. And for others, fair market value for the business has reached a point where it may make financial sense to sell, particularly for those who held on to see a better day.
But before you make plans to sell the franchise, whether now or in the next few years, there are a few simple steps that you should take to prepare and avoid unwanted surprises. After all, preparation enhances the value of your business; surprises cost money and time...

When evaluating a brand, experienced operators have two big advantages over first-time prospects. First, they know what questions to ask. Second, most of the time they know what a good answer looks like.
The first advantage really isn't all that much of an advantage. Common sense leads prospects to ask many of the most relevant questions. In addition to how much they will be asked to invest and how much can be made from that investment, some of the more frequently asked questions include: the franchisor's financial position, the experience of the franchisor's management team, the amount of training and support, brand marketing efforts, and the performance of units and franchisees.
The second advantage is usually considered the big one...

Energy management systems (EMS) are great in theory but often prove problematic in practice for many multi-unit franchise owners. The reasons tend to vary but a common theme centers on the administration of the intelligent thermostats, the pre-conceived cost of installation and complexity to ascertain, analyze, and effectively apply the data.
All of these are valid points against EMS for entrepreneurial multi-unit franchisees who operate in environments with razor thin margins and who may have limited internal resources. These owners simply don't have the bandwidth or dedicated staff to effectively administer, monitor, and analyze the fire hose of data associated with energy management systems.
As a result, multi-unit operators often discard the notion of embracing energy management systems and the significant financial benefits and operational efficiencies they provide...

Two franchise business owners urged Congress to address regulatory overreach by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to expand the definition of what constitutes a joint employer during a hearing February 5 before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) committee. The franchise business owners testified that recent actions by the NLRB would significantly undermine their ability to operate and sustain their businesses - potentially forcing them to close down. 
At issue is the recent NLRB recommendation to upend the decades-long, well-established joint employer definition. Should the NLRB expand the definition of joint employer to include a franchisee's national brand, it would destroy the franchise model - leading to industry consolidation and, ultimately, to store closures and a loss of jobs, economic activity and entrepreneurial investment...

Small businesses have made a huge recovery since the economic crash in 2008 and that's good news for all of us. Since we account for 63 percent of new jobs, our success puts people back to work. That, in turn, helps us even more - people with paychecks buy stuff!
And here's more good news: Women are launching more businesses than ever - 1,288 a day, according to a recent analysis by American Express. That's up from 602 in 2011-12. Since 1997, women-owned businesses rose by 68 percent.
As a female entrepreneur who will soon celebrate my company's 25th anniversary, I'm well aware of the challenges these brave new CEOs face. I'm not exaggerating when I use the word "brave." My experiences have taught me that courage is essential to launching and growing a successful business - particularly if you're a woman...

A blog from the Franchise Performance Group examines 10 trends in franchise lead generation for 2015. What follows are edited highlights. For the complete version, which explains each trend in further detail, click here.

Smart franchisors have seen these "game-changing" new trends in how franchise buyers research opportunity, how search engines affect website traffic and results, leading a reinvention of how they recruit franchisees. Here are our Top 10 trends for franchise lead generation in 2015 and beyond:

Trend No. 12015 spells the end of VPs of Marketing controlling the franchise development advertising budget. Marketing to franchise candidates is totally different than marketing to just about anyone else. For decades, franchise salespeople have been held captive by the marketing department, forced to use pretty but otherwise ineffective marketing materials...

Throughout modern history, periods of heightened innovation and technological advance were followed by a relatively radical step up in the human condition as new industries, processes, routines, and services became commonplace. In the mid- to late-1800s, the United States became truly united with the completion of the transcontinental railroad and interconnected waterways, while subsequent advances in electricity, plumbing, engineering, and medicine accelerated the efficiencies of life and business dramatically.
Recent advances in such things as robotics, computer processing and storage, sensors, materials science, and synthetic biotechnology have brought us to the verge of another new era, one with significant long-term implications for investors...

Franchise businesses are expected to grow and create more jobs at a faster pace than the rest of the economy in 2015 for the fifth consecutive year, according to "The Franchise Business Economic Outlook: 2015" released today by the International Franchise Association (IFA) Educational Foundation and IHS Economics.
"Franchising is an American success story. Independently-owned and operated local franchise businesses are growing faster, creating more jobs at a quicker pace and producing higher sales growth than other businesses. Franchising is a vital engine of economic expansion in the United States and 2015 looks to be another strong year for franchise businesses," said IFA President & CEO Steve Caldeira.
But Caldeira added a word of caution about the franchise outlook...

Multi-unit franchise operators are fostering the growth of franchise profit across the United States. In 2014 alone, franchise organizations drove about 3.5 percent of the total U.S. GDP and franchise operators employed over 8.5 million Americans. Multi-unit operators played an instrumental role in advancing franchise operations across the country this year, and will continue to move the needle on franchise success in the new year.
In an always-evolving retail, restaurant, and service economy, being part of a franchise corporation gives new and seasoned entrepreneurs the means to hit the ground running. Starting an independent business is tough, but existing as part of a larger franchise network provides the support and direction it takes to see success early on...

This year's annual CFA Day Forum will be in Washington, D.C. from March 24-25 at the Omni Shoreham. The forum will include informational sessions, an attorney's round table, congressional visits, a Cherry Blossom Dinner Cruise, and a closing luncheon on Capitol Hill.
  Traditionally, the CFA Day Forum has provided an opportunity for franchisees and their vendor business partners to hear from well-known political speakers including Sens. John McCain, Lindsay Graham, and Rand Paul, as well as Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, Reps. Howard Coble, and Jared Huffman, and political pundits like Bill Kristol, George Will, and Sam Donaldson.
This year's agenda will feature subject matter experts on legislative hot topic issues and will boast a variety of informative and educational topics relevant to the franchisee community...

What's the difference between those that do and those that don't?
After decades of asking myself and thousands of others that same question, I have come to the conclusion that your success comes down to just one thing.
Whether you're trying to lose weight, save money, climb mountains, win a grand final, run a marathon, get a promotion, pretty much anything! One thing sets the winners apart from the losers, the achievers from the underachievers, the successful from the unsuccessful.
I have watched thousands of documentaries, read thousands of stories, and interviewed thousands of people and in every single case it's the same.
It's not having a positive mindset (although that helps), it's not having a secret formula (although having a plan helps), it's not where you were born or where you went to school, and it's not who your friends are or how much money you have...

No one ever said franchise growth was easy. Operating one or two locations is hard enough, but growing to 10, 20, or more is challenging for even the most seasoned operators--especially if any of their new builds or acquisitions turns out to be a poor performer. We tracked down five successful multi-unit franchisees who have been there and done it--and who bear the scars and trophies to prove it. Among the key factors in multi-unit success, they say, are timing, funding, cash flow, people, infrastructure, and identifying the right opportunities. Their insights into what to look for and how to proceed once you decide it's time to grow may contain just the missing ingredient you need.

Right time
Deciding when to grow--and if you're ready--differs for each franchisee...