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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.

You've cut back on as many napkins and ketchup packets as you can, reduced your maintenance costs, renegotiated with suppliers, and maximized employee efficiency (see page 68)--and margins are still razor-thin. Interested in a way to add some zeroes (000's) to those savings, without spending a dime up front? It's time to take a new look at wage-based tax credits.
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 5,952 Reads 1,021 Shares
There's a good reason the United States is called the Land of Opportunity. The spirit of independence is one of the cornerstones in the nation's founding. That spirit persists today in the world of business, where independent-minded entrepreneurs take the risks and reap the rewards of running their own business.
  • Franchising.com
  • 9,591 Reads
In the mid-1990s, when the stock market was on fire and Darrell Lamb spent most of his days on the phone in an unending quest for new investors, he had a chance to invest in an Express Oil Change franchise. Lamb had some great advisers to rely on. His uncle was president of the company and his dad, an Alabama optometrist with a keen interest in growing ventures, was an investor.
  • John Carroll
  • 10,092 Reads 3 Shares
Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine today announced the winners of the first annual Multi-Unit Franchisee MVP (Most Valuable Player) Awards, which recognize exceptional multi-unit franchisees. This year's MVP award winners are: Bill Ramsey, Schlotzky's franchisee; Gary Hughes, ColorTyme and RimTyme franchisee; Glenn Mueller, Domino's franchisee; and Anil Yadav, Jack in the Box, Denny's, and Marcos Pizza franchisee.
  • Press Release
  • 4,246 Reads 8 Shares
Social media is an ingrained part of people's everyday lives. How many people? Well, according to Facebook, there currently are 350 million active users. And by active, Facebook is accounting for those who log on to the site every day. eMarketer anticipates the number of U.S. Twitter users in 2010 to jump to 26 million. That's 15.5 percent of all adults online--and that's huge. What do these digits have to do with growing your multi-unit franchise? Close to everything.
  • Lisa Wehr
  • 5,556 Reads 24 Shares
Dave Melton had heard Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York" countless times before he opened his first Domino's Pizza restaurant in Manhattan. But it took a little time to really understand the truth in the song's line "If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere..."
  • Debbie Selinsky
  • 8,840 Reads
Multi-unit and multi-brand operations are where the action is today in franchising. Whether the economy stalls, falls, or climbs, an increasing number of multi-unit franchisees are not content with just one unit--and many are not content with just one brand. Multi-concept franchising offers power in numbers--units, brands, territory, and income--as well as the security gained by spreading the risk across different brands in a franchisee company's portfolio.
  • Kerry Pipes and Eddy Goldberg
  • 7,535 Reads 1,023 Shares
When Frank Illiano left his native Italy and came to the United States 27 years ago, he didn't plan to stay. He figured he'd get a business, work for a while, make some money, and head home.
  • John Carroll
  • 6,839 Reads 117 Shares
Franchising really began to blossom in the post-war 1950s and 1960s. Franchisors of convenience goods and services seemed to be popping up on every corner. McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken, laundry services, dry cleaners, hotels, and rental car franchises flooded the marketplace.
  • Franchising.com
  • 8,052 Reads
With the trend of multi-unit franchising continuing to drive franchising into the 21st century, some progressive franchisees are looking for the next logical step in the progression of franchising's ongoing and complex development. Many are finding that next step is through multi-brand franchising. Multi-brand franchising can offer a great additional growth tool for multi-unit franchisees who have seen their fortunes rise simply from adding new units of one brand. Adding additional brands and units makes logical sense. If following the franchise system works for one successful brand, it will most likely work in another, then another--if you choose wisely. With a streamlined infrastructure, solid capital base, and strong unit economics, more profit can flow your way with each passing year and additional brand.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 27,857 Reads 12 Shares
Franchise Update Media Group (FUMG), the leading industry resource for franchise development, today announced that its website Franchising.com continues to be ranked in the "Top 5" in eMaximation's latest Franchise Benchmark Report for Franchise Portals. Franchising.com has also been ranked in the "Top 5" for completed franchise applications, an indicator of the quality of leads that are generated.
  • Franchise Update Media
  • 7,880 Reads
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The way to a man's heart may be through his stomach, but the way to a banker's heart is through strong unit economics.
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 7,881 Reads 83 Shares
German beer makers are often cited as the originators of franchising. Dating back to 1800s Europe, many beer makers granted pubs and taverns the rights to sell and use their name. In fact, the word "franchise" is a French derivative meaning privilege or freedom.
  • Franchising.com
  • 6,860 Reads 1,023 Shares
Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine, published by Franchise Update Media Group (FUMG), today announced that the 2010 Multi-Unit Franchising Conference has record-breaking attendance and is nearly sold out. This year's event is March 24-26 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
  • PRESS RELEASE
  • 3,164 Reads 3 Shares
Multi-unit franchisee Todd Pulley knows all about measuring unit performance and profitability - even though he had no prior financial background before becoming a franchisee. Over the last 15 years though, he has developed and refined his own system for measuring his unit economics at his four PuroClean locations in New Jersey and Delaware. The effort is paying off.
  • Multi-Unit Franchisee
  • 6,122 Reads 1,021 Shares
When was the last time you challenged a landlord or property manager about the operating expenses or common area maintenance (CAM) charges? Probably not recently or never, right? To clarify, operating costs are the day-to-day management and maintenance expenses charged to the tenant; examples include asphalt repairs, snow removal, property insurance, and so on. Franchise tenants pay a proportionate share of these costs based on the space they occupy. Therefore, if a franchise tenant occupies 12 percent of a building, he or she will pay for 12 percent of the operating costs. Paying by this said ratio is the industry standard but, of course, there are deviations for special circumstances like free-standing buildings and so on.
  • Dale Willerton
  • 6,066 Reads 231 Shares
Considering the wide-ranging abilities of today's smartphones, simple text messaging may seem passé, but it's a basic social media tool that's working wonders for Chris Kramolis' franchise operation. He's been using text messages to build business and compile a database of his customers--and he doesn't see any reason to deviate from something that's working.
  • Multi-Unit Franchisee
  • 6,766 Reads 242 Shares
Darrell Lamb remembers toiling away in the heyday of the mid-90s stock market. He was always searching for new investors, and on the lookout for hot investments. One day some of his advisers told him about an opportunity - a chance to invest in the Express Oil Change franchise. He had reason to trust the advisers since they were his uncle, who was president of the company, and his dad, an Alabama optometrist who was always interested in investing in growing ventures.
  • Multi-Unit Franchisee
  • 9,360 Reads 1 Shares
Dustin Winkle was a victim of the dot-com crash a few years back. While pondering his next career move, he visited with family members who operated some dry cleaning stores. He liked what he heard and purchased his first Martinizing Dry Cleaners stores six hours away in Yakima, Wash. It was a long commute from his home in Boise, Idaho, but he loved the business. Three years later his family was ready to sell its dry cleaning stores and Winkle was more than happy to buy some units closer to home. Today he operates 10 Martinizing Dry Cleaning stores (and one non-Martinizing unit) in the Boise area.
  • Multi-Unit Franchisee
  • 9,291 Reads
Twenty years ago, franchising meant buying the rights to and opening a single unit or business. But a changing trend has taken hold during the last two decades. Today, it's not uncommon for a single franchise operator to have 5, 6, or even dozens of units. FRANdata research notes the number of multi-unit operators now tops 34,000, and those operators control more than 155,000 franchised units in the U.S. It's a growth strategy that has proven effective but it should be approached with caution. Multi-unit operators are generally wired differently then their single-unit counterparts. Successful multi-unit operators are typically experienced, skilled, professional business executives who have chosen franchising as their business model. They possess the skills, training, capital, infrastructure, and vision to operate numerous units and have the ability to continue adding units to their portfolio--without stressing their organization or their stomach.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 25,299 Reads 1 Shares
Franchising provides benefits for both seller and buyer. For franchisors, the primary benefit is the ability to use other people's money to expand the brand more rapidly than they could either on their own or through investors or lenders. The initial franchise fee and ongoing royalties they collect allow franchisors to build their brand without sacrificing control to outsiders or the pressure of repaying lenders.
  • Franchising.com
  • 10,761 Reads 2 Shares
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The most fundamental business strategy calls for black numbers on the bottom line. In simplest terms, it's proof the business is generating more cash than it is spending. All too often, though, entrepreneurs get involved in businesses without employing a proper system to help them keep a watchful eye on what they're earning and what they're spending. Managing day-to-day operations can be so time-consuming that it leaves little room for financial analysis. Or perhaps key individuals lack a basic understanding of how to read and interpret financial statements. Combine these factors with the down economy, and you'll likely wind up with a troubled business.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 9,261 Reads 518 Shares
In the few minutes it takes you to read this article, 40 businesses across the nation will fail--and that statistic was [i]before[/i] the economic downturn of the last 24 months. Tragic? Yes. Remarkable? Not at all. The road to business success is littered with the skeletons of companies whose owners--mostly brilliant and skilled individuals--failed to "take care of business" in the financial management of their enterprise.
  • Steve LeFever
  • 5,295 Reads 1 Shares
Franchising is a business model that combines the best aspects of sole proprietorship and Corporate America.
  • 7,565 Reads
The difficult consumer business environment has made the economics of new unit expansion more challenging. This makes "getting to yes" with bankers more difficult because the economics do not have as healthy a margin for error as they did in more robust times. As a consequence, capital access will continue to be the most constraining factor as we look at the next few years. Financing new units is relatively more challenging in general, and in this economy that is particularly true.
  • Darrell Johnson
  • 4,555 Reads 3 Shares
As we examined last time, home-based franchising can be a great business model, but it's not for everyone. Working from home takes an organized self-starter who can get the job done despite what's going on around them. But for those who are self-motivated, can multi-task, and can balance working and living in their home, the benefits of a home-based franchise can add up to big success. The choices for home-based franchising are varied and wide - and seemingly growing more by the week. These days there are all kinds of home-based franchise opportunities. Just a few examples include home decorating, home repair, home cleaning, healthcare, as well as a number of pet services. Most of these home-based franchises typically require a lower investment and often offer a more specialized service than their retail and commercial kin.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 16,811 Reads 2 Shares
Kevin Archer has spent 18 years as a multi-unit franchisee with Bojangles' Restaurants in North Carolina. The Charlotte native knows how much Southerners love their chicken and biscuits. So does he: his favorite menu item is the Cajun fillet biscuit. Archer also believes "You are what you eat and drink." As a proponent of a healthy diet and lots of exercise, he sees no conflict between his philosophy and his business. Even in today's increasingly health-conscious culture, he still sees Bojangles' as relevant and popular.
  • Debbie Selinsky
  • 15,901 Reads 5 Shares
Gaining access to and securing capital is more important for franchisees today than ever. Every week we talk with multi-unit franchisees about how they are growing and the kind of financing it takes for them to achieve their goals and objectives. It's an important topic and sometimes we get some very candid responses.
  • Multi-Unit Franchisee
  • 9,433 Reads
Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine today announced the call for entries for the first annual Multi-Unit Franchisee MVP (Most Valuable Player) Awards to recognize exceptional multi-unit franchisees. The deadline for entry is Feb. 26th . Winners will be announced on March 25th at the Multi-Unit Franchising Conference in Las Vegas. Franchise Update Media Group (FUMG), the leading industry resource for franchise development, is the publisher of the magazine and the conference organizer.
  • PRESS RELEASE
  • 4,174 Reads 1 Shares
After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania and Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, Danny Sonenshine quickly found himself working as a litigator and transactional attorney at major firms in Orange County.
  • Multi-Unit Franchisee
  • 8,754 Reads 1 Shares
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