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Browse our selection of franchise articles and features to help further your knowledge in opening and operating a franchise business. Our exclusive features cover the , , , , , , and site of the franchise business. Written by the editorial team that produces Franchise Update Magazine and Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine, the franchise industries premier magazines.

By now everyone is familiar with the Domino's Pizza "turnaround" campaign that's been all over the airwaves. The brand created a high profile marketing campaign that addressed negative consumer attitudes about its pizza by embracing the criticism and showing consumers that the brand was listening. The project has been an overwhelming success for the 9,000-store chain and president and CEO J. Patrick Doyle will offer an insider's look at the campaign from soup to nuts when he keynotes the 2011 Multi-Unit Franchising Conference in Las Vegas April 27-29.
  • Multi-Unit Franchisee
  • 5,414 Reads 8 Shares
Restaurant franchisees gathered in New York last month for the International Restaurant & Foodservice Show. The event typically attracts restaurant owners and partners (34% of attendees last year were from the restaurant industry and 40% of these individuals were managers and key decision makers) who come to bone up on the latest strategies, techniques, and technology. There's always plenty to see and do at the event.
  • Rick Lauber
  • 7,213 Reads 259 Shares
Every commercial landlord wants national franchises and chain stores for tenants. They have name recognition and a proven track record in business. So when it comes to expanding your own operations and negotiating further leases, lead with your strengths. If you are opening a franchise location, you are automatically more desirable to a landlord. If you are opening your third, fifth, or tenth franchise location, you are even more attractive because you are proven successful! Here are three strategies to implement in your lease negotiations.
  • Dale Willerton
  • 9,933 Reads 1,023 Shares
Retaining employees is an ongoing challenge for new franchisees -- and a key ingredient in building a successful business. After training employees to do their jobs well, the franchisee's goal is to retain them as productive, reliable workers. It costs much more to hire and train replacements than it does to work with current employees to improve their job performance.
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 25,570 Reads 4 Shares
On many occasions during the past year, I've seen and heard the past 10 years dubbed as "The Lost Decade." From a stock market perspective--with prices essentially flat between 2000 and 2010--it's not hard to understand why. Upon writing this article, the annualized return on the S&P 500 over the past 10 years was -0.68 percent, versus the average return of 6.28 percent since 1929 (according to FactSet Data Systems). Interestingly, over a similar time frame, aggregate corporate profits have doubled while total household net worth is about 50 percent higher.
  • Carol Clark
  • 4,976 Reads 14 Shares
The economy continues to show signs of improvement and the executives at Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine's Multi-Unit Franchising Conference have factored this new business reality into the planning of their annual event. This year the Multi-Unit Franchising Conference will take place April 27-29 at The Venetian in Las Vegas. The theme is "What's Next. Plan Tomorrow Today."
  • Multi-Unit Franchisee
  • 10,688 Reads 554 Shares
Multi-unit franchisee owners should be fully aware of the specific considerations relevant to small commercial site development prior to committing to a lease or property purchase. The challenge of fitting many required components onto a small parcel can be daunting, especially when considered in conjunction with evolving local ordinances and state regulations, which are on the rise. The best method of ensuring that the proposed site will work, and do so in the most efficient manner possible, is to apply rigorous due diligence in the development design process.
  • Bob Ziegenfuss, P.E.
  • 9,059 Reads 3 Shares
Charles Smithgall is the incoming Chair of Franchise Update Media Group's 10th Annual Multi-Unit Franchising Conference, April 27-29, 2011 at The Venetian hotel in Las Vegas. This is the only national conference focused exclusively on multi-unit franchisees. The theme this year is "Plan Tomorrow Today."
  • Charles Smithgall
  • 4,380 Reads 40 Shares
When Indianapolis native Greg Willman and his friend Phil Salsbery talked years ago about forming a small investment company or owning and operating franchise concepts, they consciously omitted the restaurants category. "Neither of us knew anything about the food industry or had any experience in it," recalls Willman, who had worked in marketing and product development at large pharmaceutical, chemical, and medical device corporations
  • Debbie Selinsky
  • 4,890 Reads 61 Shares
Family and entrepreneur-run businesses face many unique and complex challenges, including succession planning. Generally, family businesses are more than just a place of work; there is emotional as well as financial capital tied up in the business, and passing on the family legacy can be stressful and fraught with difficulty.
  • Dean Zuccarello
  • 6,990 Reads 107 Shares
Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine today announced that nominations are now open for the annual MVP (Most Valuable Player) Awards, recognizing the industry's best in franchisee talent, performance and excellence. The deadline for entry is March 15, 2011, and the winners will be announced on April 28, 2011 at the Multi-Unit Franchising Conference in Las Vegas.
  • PRESS RELEASE
  • 3,313 Reads 8 Shares
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When Indianapolis native Greg Willman and his friend Phil Salsbery talked years ago about forming a small investment company or owning and operating franchise concepts, they consciously omitted the restaurants category. "Neither of us knew anything about the food industry or had any experience in it," recalls Willman, who had worked in marketing and product development at large pharmaceutical, chemical, and medical device corporations.
  • Debbie Selinsky
  • 9,116 Reads 1 Shares
Many new franchisees discover that they love being a franchise operator but often quickly learn that they can't always be in the store overseeing operations at all times. This is especially true as single unit operators expand. Since hourly employees typically need oversight, guidance, and sometimes redirection, many franchisee operators often turn to unit managers to help them keep the unit operating at maximum efficiencies. It's this "point man" who often wields the knowledge and power that can significantly affect a franchisee's bottom line. Naturally, you want talented and motivated managers.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 19,392 Reads 2 Shares
Refugees from corporate America seeking capital to open a franchise business are tapping into their retirement plans to fund their fledgling businesses. So are multi-unit franchisees seeking to expand.
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 8,767 Reads 1,023 Shares
Jim Carroll loves to predict where the world is going. As such, he has become one of the world's leading international futurists, trends, and innovation experts. His analysis digs deep into topics such as technology, business model change, fast paced innovation, and global challenges and growth. He's been in demand with such clients as Northrop Grumman, Visa, Rockwell Collins, Lincoln Financial, and the Walt Disney organization. He was featured as an innovation expert on the global CNBC show, the Business of Innovation, and was named one of four leading sources for insight into innovation by Business Week magazine.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 12,280 Reads 1,023 Shares
In today's tight market, negotiation strategy plays an important role in the sale of any franchise. Even if you execute every other aspect of your business sale perfectly, the lack of a good negotiation strategy can still derail the deal. A good business broker can help, but ultimately the business owner will need to be an integral part of negotiations.
  • Mike Handelsman
  • 9,091 Reads
Gary Hughes turned 50 and decided he'd had enough of the corporate executive life. Based in the Seattle area at the time, he also decided he'd seen enough big city congestion to last a lifetime. Hughes soon found a picturesque, midsized town to call home and moved to Clarkston, Wash., pop. 50,000. "I used to say that we're so far out into the boondocks it's 120 miles to the nearest freeway," says Hughes gleefully.
  • John Carroll
  • 4,245 Reads 31 Shares
Your hourly employees…they're the face of your franchise business. They greet and serve customers and are essentially the cornerstone of your customer service efforts. So it only makes sense that if you've gone to the effort to recruit right that you would want to make sure that you keep those top employees happy and motivated. You might be surprised how poorly some franchise operators actually are when it comes to motivating their hourly employees.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 23,912 Reads 2 Shares
In 1980, Bob Chase was in his early 20s, with a small family and not much money. He was barely able to start his first franchise, a Dry-Chem carpet cleaning operation, from a then-fledgling franchisor. But Chase wasn't the kind of young man to let a few little things like that stop him from building his own business from the ground up.
  • John Carroll
  • 9,348 Reads 1,061 Shares
Shiny objects marketing is a simple principle, ancient in origin and easy to apply. From open-air markets in Nepal to the local mall, everyone tries to make their product or service stand out. Yet many savvy entrepreneurs fail to grasp the full meaning of this elementary skill and run into difficulties when trying to put it into practice.
  • Dave LaBonte
  • 4,274 Reads 72 Shares
In the first part of my three-part series on leadership, I discussed leadership fundamentals and items needed in your leader's toolkit. Part two of the series outlined the three C's: Capability, Competency and Capacity. In part three, I will discuss putting good leadership to work and how to stay on track.
  • Tom Welter
  • 3,550 Reads 21 Shares
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Measure twice so you only pay once. I have found that some landlords are over-charging multi-unit franchisees for more square footage than the actual available space. Are you paying too much? Unfortunately, incorrect square footage figures are a common oversight in commercial leasing. Multi-unit franchisee tenants often trust the reported square footage of their leased premises. However, the amount of reported square footage can easily be wrong--whether this figure was accidently reported by the landlord or reported by a property owner who has never even seen the site. The result is that multi-unit franchisee tenants could be needlessly paying an increased rent.
  • Dale Willerton
  • 7,385 Reads
Like many successful and charismatic people, Elena Donahue punctuates her speaking with exclamation points. "Dream big! Focus small!" she encourages the staff at OceDon Restaurant Management in Castle Rock, Colo., and to fellow volunteers at the Mile High Chapter of the American Red Cross.
  • Debbie Selinsky
  • 4,229 Reads 18 Shares
On the surface, franchise corporate executive appears to enjoy a comfortable, prestigious, and satisfying life. They often work in or head up a department brimming with resources and personnel, and the corporate perks aren't bad either. It's a life that can be seen in stark contrast to the often hardscrabble existence of the multi-unit franchisee who has borrowed money to open, invests sweat equity, and works long hours just to keep the business running and the cash flowing. Yet, despite this perceived contrast, some franchise executives chuck the corporate "good life" and set out into the franchisee frontier with their own set of hopes and dreams.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 8,989 Reads 235 Shares
Being a part of YouTube is no longer something franchise businesses can control. Chances are, you're there, whether you created the content or not.
  • Lisa Wehr
  • 5,218 Reads 99 Shares
Jason Mann learned early that a career in advertising sales could get you just so far in life. And he wanted to go much, much further. So in 1999, at the age of 30, Mann stepped out of his sales role and joined forces with his father to enter the franchising business.
  • John Carroll
  • 15,040 Reads 1 Shares
There are some big franchisees out there, mega franchisees, in fact! We know because each year we rank them by number of units and brands in our "Mega 99" list. Beyond these black-and-white numbers--which are especially impressive since many began working part-time in low-level positions, or started with a single unit--are their stories of passion, creativity, long hours, and sheer will and determination to succeed. Multi-unit franchisees have many stories to tell, and their journeys to where they are today are filled with ups and downs.
  • Multi-Unit Franchisee
  • 10,257 Reads 1,023 Shares
Gary Hughes turned 50 and decided he'd had enough of the corporate executive life. Based in the Seattle area at the time, he also decided he'd seen enough big city congestion to last a lifetime. Hughes soon found a picturesque, midsized town to call home and moved to Clarkston, Wash., pop. 50,000. "I used to say that we're so far out into the boondocks it's 120 miles to the nearest freeway," says Hughes gleefully.
  • John Carroll
  • 7,054 Reads 148 Shares
In many ways, the face of the franchise is its employees. They are the ones who meet and greet customers, provide the products and services, and represent the brand daily. Some franchise concepts require more employees than others, and there's a wide range of the types and skills sets of employees needed. But chances are you will need to do some hiring and, to some degree, it will remain an ongoing process for your business.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 17,559 Reads 5 Shares
The economy continues to show signs of improvement and the executives at Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine's Multi-Unit Franchising Conference have factored this new business reality into the planning of their annual event. This year the Multi-Unit Franchising Conference will take place April 27-29 at The Venetian in Las Vegas. The theme is "What's Next. Plan Tomorrow Today.
  • Multi-Unit Franchisee
  • 10,532 Reads 1 Shares
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