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Back in 1981, with the prime borrowing rate at an all-time high of 21 percent, most bank customers felt that those cameras they have in banks to photograph robbers should, in all fairness, be pointed at the "real" crooks: the lending officers. At such rates most companies found it difficult (if not impossible) to borrow money. Actually, it wasn't so hard to borrow money--it's just that no one could repay it.
  • Steve LeFever
  • 7,832 Reads 185 Shares
Terri Miller knows how marketing is supposed to work. She has served as the marketing director in the travel franchise division at Carlson Companies and spent time on the agency side where she worked with clients such as Century 21 and Toro.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 10,224 Reads 2 Shares
As the economy starts to turn around, franchisees often find themselves in need of funds to expand. As consumer demand increases and expansion makes more sense, the challenge of how to finance growth can create new dilemmas.
  • By: Stephen J. Sheinbaum
  • 12,150 Reads 6 Shares
The Great Recession has shifted the thinking and behavior of consumers, forcing franchise brands to respond with changes of their own as they try to keep up with the new normal. Indeed, no discussion of franchise trends in 2011 and multi-unit operators' favorite brands can begin without a nod to the recent economic turmoil and its residual short and long-term effects.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 6,856 Reads 4 Shares
Hot business opportunities come and go in franchising but one that's currently providing a sizzling opportunity is child services franchises, according to a new study by Franchise Business Review. The report examines a number of franchise models within the child services sector to assess the franchise investment opportunity. The businesses evaluated encompass many different offerings, including tutoring and education, sports and physical development, child care, retail/resale stores, and niche services like photography and event hosting.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 6,891 Reads 1,021 Shares
As a young man, Army veteran and athlete Randy Merrill followed his natural interests into training and coaching at some of the nation's top fitness chains. The Atlanta native became one of the top producers for American Fitness Centers (later bought out by Bally Total Fitness) and then helped expand Australian Body Works, now known as LA Fitness, from five to 12 locations in the Atlanta market.
  • Debbie Selinsky
  • 9,918 Reads 2 Shares
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
  • 8,326 Reads
It would be fantastic to have a franchise that is so far and away superior to anything else on the market that there is simply no comparison. In the real world, most of us have competitors that have products and services (shiny objects) that perform reasonably well compared to ours.
  • David LaBonte
  • 6,740 Reads 353 Shares
Franchise Update magazine, published by Franchise Update Media Group (FUMG), launched its new look and feel with the Q2 2011 issue. The latest edition shows off the design facelift and also introduces the expanded and reorganized content - Leadership, Growth (sales and development), and Consumer Marketing sections.
  • PRESS RELEASE
  • 2,793 Reads 1 Shares
Mobile applications and technologies provide the ability to significantly improve customer experience shopping at franchise stores. The mobile device provides many opportunities for advertising, customer engagement, and most important, sales. Franchises will uniquely benefit from these capabilities along the entire spectrum, from brand marketing to closing the sale.
  • Conrad Sheehan
  • 3,755 Reads 75 Shares
If I were to ask 100 business operators to define customer service, I would guess that 97 of them would say this: Customer service is providing the customer with service that is fast, accurate, and courteous. While those are indeed elements of customer service, there is more to it, so much more.
  • John Tschohl
  • 7,254 Reads 475 Shares
Dogtopia
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Dogtopia
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Dogtopia
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Core values are today's "X factor" in franchise development. To succeed in this business, franchisors must effectively position their concept in the marketplace, offering compelling benefits to both customers and potential franchise buyers. By creating a dynamic culture you'll add a powerful dimension to your brand, which can catapult your organization beyond the competition.
  • Steve Olson
  • 3,720 Reads 15 Shares
As multi-unit franchisees with 24 Sizzler restaurants, Gary and Sally Myers spend a lot of time together at work, where he is president and CEO of their Temecula, Calif.-based company, and she is vice president of marketing.
  • Debbie Selinsky
  • 7,334 Reads 46 Shares
With the much anticipated release of the 2010 U.S. Census data, it is time for businesses and franchises to gear up for the new customer demographic adjustments that will inevitably follow. The biggest news to emerge thus far is the rapidly expanding Latino population, estimated to have become a trillion-dollar customer base in the 10 years since the previous census was taken.
  • Jose Torres
  • 6,762 Reads 1 Shares
For most multi-unit franchisees, the need for dependable hard-working employees is paramount to creating a successful unit. Face it, without top-performing employees, there's really no chance of having a top-performing unit. This makes recruiting employees a top priority. Yet many multi-unit operators still struggle with finding, hiring, and retaining great employees. But there's hope - and at least 10 proven ideas you can try.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 5,753 Reads 278 Shares
It is essential for brands, especially franchise brands, to have a reputation management strategy for the Internet. It has always been the role of the franchisor to promote and protect the brand. In the Internet age there are new challenges online that must be addressed appropriately. In the old days, you put up a website and you directed people to go there and learn about you. You probably had a way for them to send you an email and maybe you had a coupon to print or detailed request form to fill out. Those days are gone. People no longer want to see what you are saying about yourself on your website. Web 2.0 and social media have changed all that. The Internet is now all about individual content and peer-to-peer interaction. People are no longer reading your website, they are reading what other people are saying about you everywhere else. There are conversations about your brand taking place online--conversations you may or may not know about--and you need a strategy to deal with them.
  • Franchise Update
  • 5,489 Reads 1,021 Shares
One of my greatest concerns is agents who are supposedly working for the tenant while accepting a commission from the landlord. I have hesitated writing this article for months lest it be considered an attack on real estate salespeople or agents. Nothing could be further from the truth. If it weren't for real estate agents and brokers, landlords would have half-empty buildings. My purpose here is to enlighten franchise tenants, open some eyes, and let you decide for yourself about this important issue.
  • Dale Willerton
  • 5,870 Reads 89 Shares
Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine, published by Franchise Update Media Group, today announced that John Metz, president of RREMC Restaurants, LLC has been named chairman for the 2012 Multi-Unit Franchising Conference. The conference will be held April 24-25 at The Mirage in Las Vegas.
  • PRESS RELEASE
  • 10,120 Reads 4 Shares
"How important is a conversion strategy to your development plans?" Conversion franchising is the foundation for The Dwyer Group development plan. A franchise conversion program has allowed us to be proactive in generating leads for our franchise development team, rather than hoping enough leads come in through normal lead generation channels.
  • Franchise Update
  • 7,206 Reads 1 Shares
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
  • 5,900 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
  • 5,343 Reads 96 Shares
Hungry Howie's Pizza
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Hungry Howie's Pizza
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Hungry Howie's Pizza
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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
  • 12,290 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
  • 3,995 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
  • 9,772 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
  • 7,088 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
  • 4,471 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
  • 6,607 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
  • 11,205 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
  • 9,337 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
  • 2,827 Reads 24 Shares
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