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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.

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
  • 9,132 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
  • 4,286 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
  • 24,070 Reads 3 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
  • 9,395 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
  • 4,298 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
  • 3,593 Reads 21 Shares
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
  • 7,429 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
  • 4,274 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
  • 9,037 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
  • 5,274 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
  • 15,109 Reads 1 Shares
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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
  • 10,327 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
  • 7,104 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
  • 17,725 Reads 1 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
  • 10,585 Reads 1 Shares
Jim Sullivan keeps an eye on business trends and market shifts. His livelihood depends on it. In fact, the very mission of his organization, Sullivision.com, is to design and deliver operations and leadership training programs for companies - including many franchises. He's worked with brands like McDonald's, Panera Bread, Regis Corp., Jiffy Lube, Applebee's, Domino's, and Dunkin' Brands.
  • Multi-Unit Franchisee
  • 4,689 Reads 1,023 Shares
Gina Puente learned about hard work, tenacity, and the power of cash at the feet of her father, "working" in his office equipment business from the age of eight... when she wasn't busy with commercials and pageants.
  • Debbie Selinsky
  • 5,537 Reads 181 Shares
Overcoming obstacles and facing adversity will be part of the game plan when Sean Tuohy keynotes at the upcoming Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine Multi-Unit Franchising Conference in Las Vegas in April.
  • Multi-Unit Franchisee
  • 4,749 Reads 72 Shares
The remarkable change in his life is not lost on John Betz. It seems one day he was wearing a three-piece suit and hopping a private jet to meet with telecommunications industry clients, and the next thing he knew he was wearing shorts and rolling pretzel dough behind the counter of his first Auntie Anne's Pretzels.
  • Debbie Selinsky
  • 8,726 Reads 1 Shares
As a street-savvy franchise owner, you've done your homework. Your "shiny object" of brand, service, or product has been selected carefully, with an eye to profits and market-share. Now, you want to assess the current economic climate, to discover whether it best supports a full speed ahead approach or a careful step-by-step advance. The truth is that franchises have been known to both bottom-out and burst sales records in a variety of economic situations. Your best bet is to focus on using time-proven methods to grow a "demand for ownership" of your "shiny object" among customers and prospects.
  • David LaBonte
  • 4,075 Reads 19 Shares
When Emir Lopez was ready to open his first Domino's Pizza store, he could have done it anywhere. But after working his way out of the James Weldon Johnson Project in East Harlem, New York, Emir decided the best place to open that store was right in the neighborhood he had come from.
  • Multi-Unit Franchise
  • 4,043 Reads 32 Shares
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Among the many costs associated with running a successful franchise are staff wages, marketing campaigns, and product costs (with regard to ordering and maintaining an inventory). One of the biggest expenses, without question, has to be your commercial rent. Higher income from rent-paying tenants, like you, will make a landlord happier. However, this remains as money out of your pocket. By decreasing your monthly rent, your profits will increase. Doing this is not impossible. Know that the amount of rent that you agreed to pay at the beginning of your lease term is not necessarily the amount of rent you will pay on your renewal. I have been quite successful in negotiating midterm rent breaks and lease renewal rent reductions for many clients - both independent business owners and franchisees.
  • Dale Willerton
  • 38,266 Reads 20 Shares
In part one of this three-part series, I discussed self-assessment and how to take inventory of the leadership shadow that you cast. Nothing can be more fundamental to business success than acquiring the necessary skills that are critical to leading others in a multi-unit franchise operation.
  • Tom Welter
  • 10,456 Reads 1 Shares
For the past few years you have heard me note that the majority of franchised units in the U.S. are owned by multi-unit operators. With more than 400,000 franchised units in the country, multi-unit operators control about 53 percent of those units. That's impressive, and the percentage controlled by multi-unit operators is rising. This growth is a consequence of many brands focusing their development models on multi-unit development packages over single-unit programs.
  • Darrell Johnson
  • 9,335 Reads 324 Shares
Seat-of-the-pants management styles may be fine themes for business magazine articles and their Hollywood adaptations, but responding to the symptoms of problems instead of preventing problems in the first place is like taking aspirin to cure pneumonia.
  • Steve LeFever
  • 19,257 Reads 510 Shares
When Anil Yadav hears people talk about the United States as the land of opportunity, he takes pride in the fact that his life since emigrating from India has been a testament to the promise implicit in that phrase.
  • John Carroll
  • 23,669 Reads 6 Shares
Sean Tuohy, entrepreneur, NBA broadcaster, and subject of The Blind Side, J. Patrick Doyle, CEO of Domino's Pizza, futurist Jim Carroll, and John DiJulius, customer experience speaker, author and consultant, will be the four keynote speakers at the 2011 Multi-Unit Franchising Conference, April 27-29 at The Venetian in Las Vegas. The annual conference is organized by Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine, and the 2011 theme is, "What's Next. Plan Tomorrow Today."
  • PRESS RELEASE
  • 5,796 Reads
When Hurricane Katrina slammed into New Orleans five years ago, Glenn Mueller already was a grizzled veteran of the Gulf Coast hurricane season. Being a franchisee carries some special challenges for anyone who operates in the region, and Katrina put all of his considerable skills as one of the country's top Domino's franchisees to the test.
  • John Carroll
  • 7,759 Reads 393 Shares
A great franchise in a poor location will become a poor business. When it comes to site selection, one difference between an independent tenant and a franchisee is that, presumably, the franchisee will be getting real estate help and support from the franchisor.
  • Dale Willerton
  • 74,631 Reads 11 Shares
As we continue to mine Dave Melton's book, <i>Hire the American Dream</i>, I thought it would be interesting to highlight a case study that demonstrates just how successful smart hiring can be. Here Melton describes his experience hiring an immigrant.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 4,140 Reads 88 Shares
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