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Franchise development teams are trying to defy the seemingly insurmountable odds of today's economy by creatively ramping up their sales efforts. Tactics such as discounted franchise fees, reduced royalties, buy-back guarantees, and other incentives have been pouring onto the franchise marketplace in recent months. The innovative techniques seem to be getting results.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 6,604 Reads 1 Shares
Unfortunately for many business owners, the economic forecast looks gloomy for this year and perhaps next. At Clix, we have taken an active approach toward understanding the state of the economy and planning our development for the next 12 to 36 months.
  • Franchise Update Magazine
  • 8,035 Reads
At the end of January, following the headlines of optimism and encouragement that came with the presidential inauguration, came the harsh reality of job layoffs and plant closings in one company after another across the country. Home Depot announced 7,000 layoffs, Pfizer trimmed 19,000 jobs, and Caterpillar 20,000. In total, nearly 60,000 wage earners became unemployed, and while many enjoyed reasonable severance packages others were most certainly caught unprepared for the income loss that will follow.
  • Rollie Trayte and Gary Widman
  • 4,129 Reads 50 Shares
Business cycles are the norm and while difficult to predict, peaks and valleys in our economy will always occur. However, the speed and magnitude of deterioration in worldwide business conditions and financial markets make the current recession especially severe. As everyone now knows, this is not a normal trough or business cycle; survival and success during these times will require extraordinary actions.
  • Dean Zuccarello
  • 4,140 Reads 1 Shares
It's hard to ignore the negative press about the economy, and it's almost impossible not to cringe at the mention of credit rates and loans. But (and there's always a but) the glass remains half full--or possibly even overflowing--for those lucky enough to be tenants in today's real estate market.
  • Dan Rowe
  • 4,783 Reads 107 Shares
In the 20th century (some of you might remember that more stable and predictable period), multi-unit franchising was not much of a factor. Sure, there were multi-unit operators, but by and large franchisors didn't really put much emphasis on them. Those that did generally focused on growing their own, not wanting to invite franchisees in from other systems, and certainly not wanting to share their own.
  • Darrell Johnson
  • 3,290 Reads 6 Shares
With 324 Subways in Oklahoma and Kansas, Don Rottinghaus knows his brand and his market. Must be time for something new. "I work those areas constantly," he says. He has to. Over the past 20 years, the multi-unit franchisee has built a huge chain of Subway locations in the region. And now he's taking on a new challenge, bringing a taste of Southern California sunshine to the Midwest. Over the next 5 years, Rottinghaus will develop 12 new LA Sunset Tan locations in Oklahoma and 25 in Kansas.
  • John Carroll
  • 8,542 Reads
One of the great things about being an editor at [i]Franchise UPDATE[/i] is the constant stream of press releases we receive. (Okay, I admit, it also can resemble a state of siege). The mailbox always includes some great suggestions on how to improve your business, as well as success stories of franchises continuing to grow, despite the economy. Here are a few items to stimulate your thinking, from top to bottom line.
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 4,498 Reads 7 Shares
As a student at Florida State University, the entrepreneurial spirit in Sam Osborne led him to own and operate a small personal training business. One of his clients was David Walker, who was soon to be a co-founder of Tropical Smoothie Café. Things have "worked out" well for both.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 6,414 Reads 212 Shares
Let's play Jeopardy. The answer: "Document!" The question: "What is the most effective way to minimize risk in the franchise sales process?" To be honest, my answer is a form of shorthand, but it succinctly makes my point.
  • Rupert M. Barkoff
  • 6,640 Reads
Once you've examined yourself and considered the broker question, it's time to take the next step. Now you want to look at the various industries and sectors that are attractive and - hopefully - a good match for your skill set. Making a List make a short list of the kinds of industries you're interested in - food service, senior care, home repair, etc. Review the players, the competition, and any regional strengths and weaknesses for the industries you're considering. Older, more established brands may look safe and solid but could be less flexible to deal with. Likewise, newer brands may be big on innovation, but could be short of cash, or worse, struggling financially. Evaluate your risks carefully.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 15,858 Reads 1 Shares
Jeff's Bagel Run
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Looking to expand your multi-unit operation and add some units fast? There's a way you can add locations--and immediate cash flow--quickly, without the long wait and usual headaches associated with building a unit from the ground up. It's called refranchising, and it's hot.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 7,214 Reads 383 Shares
Franchising can offer a great business opportunity, but there are many different kinds of franchising models and business structures, and so many different brands and concepts. How do you know what's right for you? Begin your research by conducting a thorough and honest internal audit of yourself. Look at how you like to operate. Analyze your strengths and weaknesses. Review the things that make you tick, and the things that tick you off. Do you like to be in charge and calling the shots, or do you like to delegate? Do you like to be behind a counter or desk all day, or do you prefer being out in the field working one on one with customers and potential customers? This is just the tip of the iceberg for the kinds of questions you should be asking yourself. Give this some serious thought. The worst thing you can do is prematurely choose a franchise concept you will be unhappy working in day after day.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 23,692 Reads 2 Shares
The air conditioner at one of your Phoenix units has failed. The manager calls you and says it's so hot inside the store that customers are turning around and walking out. Your first thought is to call your local A/C repair business for what will most likely be a costly service call.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 4,329 Reads 22 Shares
Despite all the buzz about "rich media," the simple text ad is still one of the most effective ways of bringing prospective franchisees to your website, according to a report from market research firm iPerceptions. The study is especially intriguing, given its substantial number of participants: 14,000 people were surveyed about their ad preferences after they visited leading media websites.
  • Joe Dysart
  • 6,114 Reads 307 Shares
Franchise Update Media Group (FUMG), the leading industry resource for franchise development, today announced that attendance for the 8th Annual Multi-Unit Franchising Conference is on track to set a new attendance record. The conference is April 15-17, 2009 at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas.
  • Press Release
  • 3,916 Reads 173 Shares
We called on our friends at FRANdata to "run the data" to help shed light on this growing trend. For a second year, they've provided us with a list of the top 50 multi-unit, multi-brand franchisees in the country. Restaurant operators continue to dominate, with some of the most popular brands including Burger King, Pizza Hut, Wendy's, Subway, Hardee's, A&W, Taco Bell, and Popeyes.
  • Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine
  • 11,339 Reads 6 Shares
Ella Avery-Smothers may have been a C-level student in high school, but she's far from average. This 63-year-old multi-unit owner, who operates seven Burger Kings in the Los Angeles area, pulled herself out of poverty as a child to become a player in the franchise restaurant industry. And she's just opened two El Pollo Locos, with two more under construction.
  • Amy Zuckerman
  • 6,166 Reads 1,021 Shares
Reading newspapers, listening to the radio, or watching TV today is like drinking from a fire hydrant. Here are some recent headlines:
  • Marvin Storm
  • 4,216 Reads 3 Shares
We weren't surprised by our meeting with Art. We had seen it many times before. Art and his son had founded and built a very successful retail business. They had operations across the country which were consistently producing significant year-to-year net cash flow. Art had decided recently that he was ready to sell the Company and that he wanted to get this done right away. However, as we began to visit, it was obvious Art had some roadblocks in his path that would take some time to overcome. He and his son clearly had significant differences about the future which Art was finding at this late date were becoming more and more difficult to resolve.
  • Nicholas K. Niemann, Esq., Andrew Horowitz, CPhD
  • 9,020 Reads 12 Shares
When Jeff Innocenti was a teenager in the Bronx, he and his brother James pretty much lived at the Gold's Gym in nearby Yonkers. "Our mother bought us our first membership and we became gym rats," says Innocenti, now 40. "Working out with weights was pretty much all we did at the time. We may as well have lived there."
  • Amy Zuckerman
  • 13,997 Reads 3 Shares
Potbelly Sandwich Works
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As with anything valuable, lead supply is sometimes short. Yet lead demand, the lifeblood of the sales force, keeps demanding. The tectonic shifts in our financial, business, and cultural bases naturally have affected franchise lead flow, an effect that shows up differently for each franchisor. Many, however, are experiencing some sort of shortfall in the quality and/or quantity of leads, and today, more than ever, customary lead generation methods are being challenged.
  • Philip St. Jacques
  • 3,615 Reads 1 Shares
Franchise Update Media Group (FUMG), the leading industry resource for franchise development, today announced the launch of its latest educational forum, the Franchise CEO Network, with host Linda Burzynski. The first webinar is Thursday, March 26, and begins at 11:30 a.m. EST.
  • Press Release
  • 4,072 Reads 12 Shares
Working to restart the economy's engine of job creation, President Obama announced Monday that the Treasury Department would invest as much as $15 billion to boost lending to credit-hungry small businesses.
  • Los Angeles Times
  • 2,779 Reads
Looking for deals in today's economy? Look no farther than the franchise agreement--but look carefully (and bring a lawyer). Written by franchisors to protect their brand and their interests, franchise agreements have historically favored franchisors, with little room for negotiation, especially among more established brands. That not only is changing, it already has--the result of fundamental shifts within franchising itself, accelerated by today's economic upheavals.
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 4,339 Reads 35 Shares
Over the past several years, we have spoken with business owners around the country who had decided they had reached the point of being ready to leave their businesses. However, no one was stepping up to provide them the exit results they wanted. These owners had spent all of their time aggressively working in their business, but had spent little time aggressively working on how they would eventually exit their business. They found themselves late in the game with few options to achieve their exit objectives. Simply put, they were too late.
  • Andrew D. Horowitz, CPhD, and Nicholas K. Niemann, Esq.
  • 5,097 Reads 1,015 Shares
In my inaugural column as chair of the 2009 Multi-Unit Franchising Conference (right around the corner from April 15-17 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas), I wrote "I think it is important, more than ever, that multi-unit owners like ourselves have the opportunity to hear from others dealing with similar challenges, and to network with them in an open, informal setting. Because as hard as it might have been for some of us last year, the times are even more difficult as we head into 2009."
  • Gary Grace
  • 3,150 Reads
It's no surprise that multi-concept franchising continues to soar. So much so, that for a second consecutive year, we have devoted an issue of Multi-Unit Franchisee to covering it in detail. This high-flying approach to expansion is growing in popularity for a multitude of reasons. As a growth strategy it offers more units, brands, territory, and income--while spreading risk across the different concepts in a franchisee company's portfolio. Multi-concept operators typically have a solid infrastructure in place that, among other things, allows them to hire and retain talented individuals by providing growth paths within the organization. And of course there's the leverage of economies of scale in this type of operation.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 5,521 Reads 1 Shares
First, let's set the record straight on what's going on. This isn't just a credit crunch crisis. It may have been triggered by credit issues, but it is much bigger than that now and won't be solved by governments throwing money at it, although that is a necessary first step. This crisis will get solved when consumer income and debt levels can support a stable level of demand, not just in the U.S., but worldwide.
  • Darrell Johnson
  • 3,126 Reads 3 Shares
"How has the capital market for franchise financing changed in the last 3 to 6 months, and what are you doing differently in franchise sales in the next 3 to 6 months?"
  • Franchise Update Magazine
  • 4,371 Reads 4 Shares
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