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Family members working together in a franchise business is not that unusual. In fact, many families have created considerable multi-unit franchise operations - and fortunes - by keeping it all in the family. According to the Small Business Administration, an estimated 90 percent of businesses in the U.S. are family-owned or controlled. Furthermore, an American Family Business Survey from MassMutual found that almost one quarter of all family businesses are run by females. With an estimated 27.2 million small businesses in America, that's a lot of women and families working together. Women like Heather Petersen.
  • Multi-Unit Franchisee
  • 5,874 Reads 129 Shares
It was my first week as COO of Sopra Brands. My job was to oversee the company's existing franchise brands (no small task), and to oversee the development and implementation of a brand-new frozen yogurt franchise from its inception--in a crowded category, during a full-blown recession, for an opening date that was already months behind schedule.
  • Keith Gerson
  • 5,307 Reads 96 Shares
If you have a telephone at any of your franchise locations, you are most likely being overcharged. If you have trash service at any of your franchise locations, you are probably paying more than you have to. If you pay for worker's compensation at any of your franchise locations, there are almost assuredly errors in the way your coverage was categorized. To put it more simply, if you have walls, doors, workers, and customers, the monthly bills you're getting are probably too high.
  • Dan Schneider
  • 12,210 Reads 73 Shares
Consumer marketing has emerged as a sizzling-hot topic in franchise circles. Reaching customers efficiently and cost-effectively is front and center right now. Strategies and tools are rapidly changing and those brands not keeping up will undoubtedly suffer at the hands of their competition.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 3,936 Reads 1 Shares
Nearly every business owner has, at one time or another, found themselves on the defensive, scrambling and looking for ways to cut costs and pump up the bottom line. But too often this scenario involves terminating employees. That's a move which does reduce payroll but can also have a devastating impact on morale and customer service. In other words, it's a short-term solution to a long-term problem.
  • Multi-Unit Franchisee
  • 9,712 Reads 835 Shares
Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine honored the 2011 MVP (Most Valuable Players) at a special session of the 10th annual Multi-Unit Franchising Conference on April 28, which highlighted the brand leadership, franchise innovation, commitment to quality, outstanding customer service, and community involvement of the award winners who were in attendance. The conference was held at The Venetian in Las Vegas, April 27-29.
  • PRESS RELEASE
  • 7,032 Reads 125 Shares
Americans' love affair with big, chewy cookies was just taking off 32 years ago when Lawrence "Doc" Cohen exited the retail pharmaceutical industry after 15 years to open his first Great American Cookies store in Lafayette, Louisiana, in the late '70s.
  • Debbie Selinsky
  • 4,424 Reads 55 Shares
Glenn Miller's first look at the franchising business came in the early 1990s, when the British Chartered Accountant's brother, an attorney, wound up with six Arby's in Central Illinois. It didn't take a rocket scientist to see some of the problems that needed fixing.
  • John Carroll
  • 6,515 Reads 133 Shares
Today Franchising.com sits down with Mark Davis, a franchisee for the past 18 months with LaVida Massage in Canton, Michigan. Davis discusses his transition from the grocery and supermarket business to his present life as a successful franchisee – now looking to open a second LaVida Massage center.
  • Franchising.com
  • 11,119 Reads 2 Shares
Jeff Kullman loves his new life in franchising. He's a part of the growing Mooyah Burgers, Fries, & Shakes franchise system and he's opened two restaurants in the past year in the Dallas, Texas area. But life hasn't always been burgers and fries and for Kullman
  • Multi-Unit Franchisee
  • 9,256 Reads 1,023 Shares
In our premiere issue of the Franchise Consumer Marketing Report, we began reporting some of the findings from our first-ever Franchise Consumer Marketing Study.
  • Franchise Update
  • 2,791 Reads 24 Shares
MassageLuXe
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MassageLuXe
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In 1991, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) issued regulations which allowed the use of service animals in public, including restaurants, hotels, retail establishments, theaters, and concert halls. The ADA's mandate caused little stir early on because service animals at that time were primarily "seeing eye" dogs highly-trained to help persons with blindness, deafness and some other disabilities while ignoring such distractions as food, strangers, and the presence of other animals.
  • Grace Y. Horoupian
  • 46,325 Reads 138 Shares
Social media/networking and the collection of tools they have spawned have moved solidly into the strategy toolbox for organizations.
  • Scott Klososky
  • 2,704 Reads 35 Shares
It's no surprise that employees like benefits. Medical, dental insurance, and contribution plans rank high on the wish list of most workers, yet four out of 10 employees lack any knowledge of how much their medical insurance costs and of the 60 percent of employees who think they know the cost of their medical insurance, just 15 percent were able to provide a reasonable estimate, according to a new report by LIMRA, a worldwide research, consulting and professional development organization.
  • Multi-Unit Franchisee
  • 6,601 Reads
Menchie's, the Encino, California-based frozen yogurt franchise brand, is turning to technology to separate itself from the competition while building an even stronger bond with its customers.
  • Franchise Update
  • 3,632 Reads 63 Shares
While franchisors typically supply name brand recognition, a proven business concept, and extensive franchisee training and ongoing support, most will not sufficiently help you with your site selection or commercial lease. Deciphering the lease agreement document (often 50 to 60 pages in length) and negotiating the best deal is often left up to you. And negotiating this against an experienced landlord or the landlord's broker can be a challenge. Knowledgeable real estate agents and brokers are specialized sales people.
  • Dale Willerton
  • 9,887 Reads 622 Shares
In an article entitled "Customer Satisfaction and Stock Prices: High Returns, Low Risk," author Claes Fornell discusses the result of extensive research and studies that prove that an increase or decrease in customer satisfaction not only greatly impacts each individual organization, but has a significant impact on the future health of the economy.
  • John DiJulius
  • 3,379 Reads 37 Shares
It's often the case that the weaknesses of a system are not obvious until that system is catastrophically overloaded. That's when most breakdowns or failures occur. Overloaded electrical systems start fires, overloaded computer systems crash, and overloaded human beings suffer nervous breakdowns.
  • Mel Kleiman
  • 4,244 Reads 9 Shares
Anand Gala can remember working in his family's Jack in the Box restaurants when he was still in elementary school.
  • Anand Gala, CEO, Gala Corp.
  • 3,531 Reads 13 Shares
For more than 20 years Rick Huffman and his two partners--Sam Catanese and Marc Williams--have been building things. They've developed shopping centers, hotels, apartment complexes, a large stock of affordable housing units, and Branson Landing, a $400 million mixed-use project in Branson, Mo.
  • John Carroll
  • 6,652 Reads 2 Shares
I was recently asked the question, "How do you convince small business owners that social media is a must-do? It wasn't difficult to answer as it's something I'm asked almost every day, and my answer remains the same. The reason? Quite simply, it works!
  • Paul Segreto
  • 3,131 Reads 6 Shares
Indevia Accounting
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Indevia Accounting
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Indevia Accounting
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As savvy franchise companies continue to flourish in a challenging economy, FUSR continues to bring you good news each month, highlighting brands that are adding units, increasing comp store sales, striking deals with investors, innovating, and continuing to grow, whether domestically or overseas.
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 9,746 Reads 1 Shares
Transitioning corporate executives and other individuals that may be exploring franchising as a career alternative often ask me to help them outline questions to ask franchisees and franchisors as they're doing their due diligence. Here's how I advise them...
  • Paul Segreto
  • 11,441 Reads 1,023 Shares
A look at today's franchise candidates will reveal they are more sophisticated, better educated, and more technologically advanced than ever before. In addition, and even more so because of the economic downturn over the past few years and subsequent slow recovery, they are extremely cautious.
  • Paul Segreto
  • 5,905 Reads 3 Shares
Distinguish your franchise by knowing what creates steadfast customer loyalty to your brand. Franchisees profit from this consumer connection, which drives repeat business. At American Advertising Distributors I capitalized on our point of differentiation by arming our retail clients with marketing intelligence that was superior to any other service at the time, producing more successful campaigns for their businesses. I bragged to prospective franchisees about our powerful corporate research and development, which was instrumental in our 82 percent customer retention rate. Our retail market craved expertise for building their businesses, and our system delivered the goods beyond their expectations. We had raving customers who championed our brand because we provided them what they wanted.
  • Steve Olson
  • 3,368 Reads 1,023 Shares
Ever notice how closely the words intimate and intimidate are in their spelling? Probably not, but that's okay. It dawned on me while writing this, the third article in my series on Socially Engaged Lead Management. It is clear that to succeed brands today must become much more intimate with their customers and prospects.
  • Tom Hochstatter
  • 3,475 Reads 28 Shares
For several years social media has kept up its position as one of the hottest topics in franchising, and in business in general. Today, most business publications include at least one standing column about social media. While its potential marketing impact has been dissected and analyzed, in franchising quite a bit of that debate has focused on whether a brand's social media presence should be controlled by the franchisor, or whether franchisees too should be able to have their own accounts and profiles on Facebook and other social networking sites.
  • Beata Krakus
  • 8,377 Reads 1 Shares
Subodh Patel got his start in franchising during the great Texas downturn of the 1980s. By the late 1980s, the savings-and-loan debacle had spawned the federal Resolution Trust Corporation, which in turn became an overnight bazaar for cut-rate, distressed properties that had to be sold fast.
  • John Carroll
  • 11,734 Reads 2 Shares
Senior care is one of the hottest growth segments in franchising today. The demand for senior care services, both medical and non-medical, has been growing by leaps and bounds, in tandem with the growth of the country's aging population, who are living longer, staying healthier, and remaining more active than any seniors in history.
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 5,129 Reads
There is no denying the impact technology has had on business. It has allowed companies to market and sell their products and services to customers in every corner of the world, and to do so 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
  • John Tschohl
  • 11,479 Reads 995 Shares
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