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Ken Leese, a New Jersey-born accountant who played on the tennis team at Old Dominion University, sees his career as a multi-unit franchisee and area developer in terms of sports analogies.
  • Debbie Selinsky
  • 6,827 Reads 1 Shares
In April 2010, McDonald's helped cement the realization that if franchises want to continue succeeding in this consumer-driven world, they must get involved in social media.
  • Lisa Wehr
  • 4,144 Reads 1 Shares
Franchisee satisfaction is a key performance benchmark for forecasting the rate of your system development. If your "troops" aren't promoting you, it doesn't matter how compelling and profitable your program is. I'll never forget the children's franchise with a great financial success story. Even though their business model and ROI were terrific, their recruiting efforts were flopping. Lack of corporate support sparked huge issues, and owner validation was near nonexistent.
  • Steve Olson
  • 3,821 Reads 6 Shares
Readers of Multi-Unit Franchisee magazine have resoundingly told us how they look forward to our annual rankings lists. So once again, working with research ally FRANdata, we've gathered the data, crunched the numbers, and formulated our annual "MU50" lists.
  • Kerry Pipes and Eddy Goldberg
  • 21,201 Reads 1 Shares
When Cheryl Robinson went to work as a bookkeeper at a Southern California Supercuts salon in 1980, she knew nothing about franchising. Worse than that, she had "the world's worst hair. My idea of a good 'do' was a bikini scarf and hair tape on my bangs," she jokes. "I had curly, unruly hair and was using terrible products. I quickly learned that Prell--since it could hold up a pearl--was drying the holy hell out of my hair."
  • Debbie Selinsky
  • 10,481 Reads 372 Shares
One of the significant consequences of the Internet's development is that we can gather opinions from a diverse group with minimal effort. I did so recently through a posting on the American Bar Association Forum on Franchising listserv.
  • Rupert M. Barkoff
  • 90,741 Reads 3 Shares
So you got the franchising bug. You heeded the calling to go into business for yourself. But you decided you didn't want to go it alone and you've teamed up with an operating partner to launch the new unit. It's now time for a reality check. When you first identified a partner, the two of you seemed to really hit it off. Your personal and business interests and philosophies seemed to blend, your skill sets complemented each other, and your eagerness to "run your own business" was infectious.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 26,856 Reads 2 Shares
Regulators have presented franchisors with new opportunities to demonstrate their systems' strengths by permitting franchisors to make financial performance representations based on subsets of units. As a result, franchisors can use an Item 19 financial performance representation to tell their prospects about system performance over time, how the system is recovering from recent economic downturns, improvements in financial performance as a result of system changes, or even to profile the most efficient units.
  • Lane Fisher and Joseph Dunn
  • 3,192 Reads 19 Shares
When the topic of international franchising comes up with clients, many are quick to dismiss the opportunities. Comments such as, "I haven't sold out the U.S. yet," are common. Some franchisors take a more inquisitive approach and ask, "What's it going to cost me?" Others want to know how quickly they can open because they want the initial fee or want to go there on vacation
  • Jeffrey A. Brimer
  • 7,276 Reads 610 Shares
Franchise Update Media Group (FUMG) the leading industry resource for franchise development, today announced that the 2010 Franchise Leadership and Development Conference theme of "Driving Performance" will reveal strategies to increase leads, boost sales and grow your brand. The conference will be held September 22 - 24, 2010 at the Ritz Carlton Buckhead, Atlanta.
  • Press Release
  • 3,020 Reads 3 Shares
Franchisors typically have developed franchise agreements that have been tailored by time and experience to address the issues that most often arise in the development of their franchised businesses. However, even the most polished agreement can benefit from a periodic review and revision. Here are five areas that frequently require attention to enhance enforcement rights, protect against competition, protect intellectual property, and protect against claims by third parties.
  • Terrence Dunn and Michael Einbinder
  • 4,645 Reads 107 Shares
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In January 2007, the FTC released the amended FTC Rule on Franchising and made compliance mandatory by July 1, 2008. Since then, many of the states with franchise registration laws have also amended their laws to conform to the FTC's changes. Violations of the FTC Rule and state franchise laws can have a profound negative impact on a franchisor, its officers, directors, and sales staff, and can even lead to jail time. We thought we would take this opportunity, more than three years after the release date, to offer you a short quiz to gauge how well you remember some of the important current requirements.
  • Kenneth R. Costello
  • 8,267 Reads 1 Shares
Last issue, we discussed growth through nontraditional franchises. Private equity firm investments of significant amounts of capital in franchisors and in franchisees represent another avenue for sales growth. Economic travails have led to the availability of sites with increased negotiating leverage for prospective tenants and experienced franchise talent. But in this tight financial market, where are the dollars to take advantage of those opportunities? We explore private equity firm concerns, what to expect in negotiations, and when franchisors should "just say no."
  • Jan Gilbert and Gayle Cannon
  • 3,952 Reads 7 Shares
The other night I told one of my daughters, who is in college, that I was going to the IFA convention and would be gone about a week. She asked me why even have conferences, and why business people travel anymore, because with all the technology out there people can communicate almost like it was in person (we Skyped with her for the last five months when she was in Argentina).
  • Darrell Johnson
  • 6,545 Reads 72 Shares
Market dominance is the measure of the strength of a brand, product, or service relative to the competition. Emerging franchise companies that are the first movers in their market niche need to be agile to establish their market presence before more aggressive or better capitalized companies move into their niche and overtake their first mover advantage.
  • Marvin Storm
  • 7,466 Reads 2 Shares
The allure of franchising can be intoxicating. Many young people (fresh out of college or with very little business experience) see franchising as a logical shot at owning their own business. Franchising can also offer a fresh start following corporate downsizing. So long as the required financing can be worked out in advance and the franchise agreement approved, the next major step is operations. It's where the rubber meets the road.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 18,799 Reads 3 Shares
Each year franchising needs debt capital in excess of $10 billion to fund more than 30,000 new units and transfers of existing units. That's a lot of money, and the lending community doesn't seem that likely to meet the demand--even though collectively there's ample lending capital available. It's clear that access to capital will be an issue for the franchise community for the next few years at the very least.
  • Darrell Johnson
  • 5,044 Reads 5 Shares
In 1998, a young Canadian attorney named Fiorenzo Bresolin traveled to Florida to work on a large real estate transaction. It wasn't long before he fell in love with the state--and its booming real estate business. The outgoing corporate lawyer went on to develop, along with partners, a 500-acre corporate park in South Florida owned by the late Mel Simon of the Simon Property Group; today he's knocking on doors to place his restaurants in some of those malls.
  • John Carroll
  • 9,039 Reads 569 Shares
So you got the franchising bug. You heeded the calling to go into business for yourself. But you decided you didn't want to go it alone and you've teamed up with an operating partner to launch the new unit. It's now time for a reality check. When you first identified a partner, the two of you seemed to really hit it off. Your personal and business interests and philosophies seemed to blend, your skill sets complemented each other, and your eagerness to "run your own business" was infectious. Now, however, you are a few weeks or even months into the business and you're working long hours and spending a lot of time with each other. You're facing stress and important decisions like how to market the new unit, hire and train employees, manage supplies, and many other operational issues that must be efficiently overseen. It's these reasons that make it so important to create boundaries and job responsibilities – for you and your partner - and then stick to them. The level of success for your new franchise business depends on it.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 26,859 Reads
Despite the surging growth in franchisors using multi-unit development strategies over the past 20 years--especially the past decade--this approach is not always a sure bet for successful franchise growth, and certainly not for every franchisor. For example, the multi-unit model may make a great development tool for an established retail-oriented brand seeking heavy market penetration in a given territory, but it may not be right for a newer service-based brand testing a smaller market
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 4,949 Reads 21 Shares
Historically, franchising has accepted EBITDA as the benchmark for establishing valuation. However, as seen over the past several years, valuations can vary widely across franchisors, franchisees, and company-owned concepts. Franchising has seen transaction multiples ranging from the low single digits up to lofty double digits. So what is the justification for this wide range in transaction multiples? What makes a buyer willing to pay 8x for one deal, but only 4x for another?
  • Dean Zuccarello
  • 17,667 Reads 1,834 Shares
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If you haven't already done so, it's time to face the facts. Your customers are online and they're using social media. Here's what many of them are doing - connecting with their friends on Facebook, chatting up brands on Twitter, and spending quality time with companies through videos on YouTube. They are writing and reading blogs, listening to and participating in podcasts, and connecting on LinkedIn. Want to reach them? You can if you're at the right places.
  • Multi-Unit Franchisee
  • 3,491 Reads 1 Shares
Anil Yadav likes to think big. The multi-unit, multi-brand franchisee in Northern California owns 155 Jack in the Boxes and 26 Denny's restaurants in California and Texas. In fact, he's Jack in the Box's largest franchisee and he owns one of the largest privately held franchise companies in the country - which just happens to employ more than 4,000 people. Apparently, all that's not enough.
  • Multi-Unit Franchisee
  • 3,938 Reads 1,023 Shares
In his book, <i>Hire the American Dream</i>, Domino's Pizza multi-unit franchisee Dave Melton outlines much of his own personal journey and roadmap to discovering how to hire the best and most productive employees, and create a culture that leads to success for everyone in the company. It's a task that all franchisees encounter and Melton's tried and true methods can be applied to almost any situation.
  • Multi-Unit Franchisee
  • 3,269 Reads 12 Shares
As "The Lease Coach," I am a magnet for leasing questions. In fact, I receive hundreds of questions from independent and franchisee tenants each year; I am approached after my seminars, e-mailed, and called. One telephone call that I received was from a woman who had recently purchased a franchise. She started by telling me that her franchisor had offered to do her site selection and real estate work for an extra $3,500. Not knowing much about commercial real estate, she had thought that was a great deal and had accepted the franchisor's proposal for help. According to the franchisee, she was to meet and spend the day with a local real estate agent looking at sites, which she did.
  • Dale Willerton
  • 4,228 Reads 113 Shares
Over the past few issues of the Multi-Unit Franchising Report we have highlighted a handful of franchisees and their efforts to keep better tabs on the income and expenses of their units. Such unit economics strategies have become central to many franchisee operations. As the old adage states, you can't manage what you don't measure.
  • Multi-Unit Franchisee
  • 3,095 Reads 62 Shares
As savvy franchise companies continue to flourish in this challenging economy, FUSR will continue to bring you good news each month, highlighting brands that are adding units, increasing comp store sales, striking deals with investors, and continuing to grow despite the economy - maybe even because of it. And, as the U.S. struggles through its "jobless recovery," growth-oriented franchisors continue to look overseas for expansion opportunities. To be considered for next month's Winner's Column, please send your Good News to [email protected]
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 10,584 Reads 93 Shares
Referrals are vital to franchise system growth. As noted in the May FUSR, studies validate the power of referral sales. Close rates for direct referrals are typically three times higher than for other leads. According to Franchise Update Media Group's Annual Franchise Development Report, referrals continue to be a top franchise sales producer every year.
  • Steve Olson
  • 7,019 Reads 4 Shares
Most prospective franchisees want financial performance information as part of their due diligence process when deciding whether or not to purchase a particular franchise. Prospective franchisees are understandably hesitant to invest thousands of dollars if they have no idea what kind of financial performance exists at the outlet or unit level. Financial performance information can be a powerful selling tool for franchisors because this information responds to a prospective franchisee's compelling need for information concerning the possible financial results of their investment.
  • Brian Schnell
  • 22,610 Reads 8 Shares
Franchisors seeking to grow in a tight credit environment and slow economy are turning to private equity to counter a slowdown in financing and cash flow. For struggling systems, capital "infusions" or outright acquisition by private equity firms can replace diminished royalties and franchise fees; for successful brands, this source of additional capital can be used to accelerate growth and provide a competitive advantage.
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 4,696 Reads 58 Shares
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