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Barbara Moran had given up on the idea of ever heading up her father Dennis's company, Moran Industries. She'd wanted to be president, but was told that it wasn't in the cards because a woman in a male-dominated industry just wouldn't work for customers and franchisees.
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 3,982 Reads 1 Shares
If you are a multi-unit franchise owner on a fast growth path, you are always on the lookout for sources of capital to help grow your business. That is why you will want to take a serious look at one of the latest developments that enables you to get capital, using your future credit card sales. This arrangement promises to help you raise the funds you need to expand, purchase more franchises, buy equipment and inventory, and modernize your operation.
  • 2,900 Reads 4 Shares
Jacques Lapointe founded Jan-Pro in 1991, and over the next 15 years grew the commercial cleaning company to more than 75 master franchisees and 4,500 unit franchisees. He had a solid business model, continuous and solid growth, and was looking for a way to take the company to the next level. But the day-to-day details, which were no longer challenging but still required his attention, kept him from focusing on strategic growth.
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 10,944 Reads 4 Shares
Outsiders think that franchising is a quick and easy way to get big bucks--there's even a new book out that promises "instant success" in franchising. You know that's not true. It doesn't matter where you get in, there's a ton of work, and some fair amount of suffering as a franchisor or franchisee gets up to speed.
  • Ripley Hotch
  • 2,936 Reads 2 Shares
While politicians wrangled over the Mexican-U.S. border situation in 2006, one thing remained certain: people on both sides of the border love Mexican food. Americans have come a long way from Taco Bell, embracing Mexican food more and more each year, in all its flavors and variations.
  • 10,712 Reads
Let's face it. From a franchisee's perspective, the single most important piece of information to gather during the sales process is the likely return on investment. Any franchise salesperson will tell you that the most frequently asked questions by prospective franchisees during the sales process are: "How much can I make?" and "What do similar units earn?"
  • Lane Fisher and Rocco Fiorentino
  • 3,805 Reads 6 Shares
The biggest challenge in every business, and I really think this is more of a challenge even than finding good people, is once you get them, how to you keep them?
  • Thom Winninger
  • 2,894 Reads 1 Shares
When a franchise deal becomes large enough to attract the interest of venture capital and private equity firms, it almost always involves buying franchisors, not investing in franchisees. But that picture is changing as 1) multi-unit franchisees and area developers continue to grow larger, and 2) the money available for investing at the private equity level continues to pile up.
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 2,996 Reads 10 Shares
Chew on the numbers presented in this article and consider the implications for you and your organization from the perspective of your customers and employees--the people you hire and the people you sell to. You will see great numbers to keep in mind when positioning your company, looking for your next location, and developing your next marketing push.
  • Mauricio Velasquez
  • 4,349 Reads 3 Shares
With well over 100 company-owned units in operation mostly on the west coast, El Pollo Loco decided that its franchise program needed to change if the company was going to handle the growth it was anticipating from 190+ franchised units. The product, flame-grilled chicken with a Mexican flair, was right for a market more interested in healthier eating.
  • Ripley Hotch
  • 3,512 Reads 3 Shares
For many years--like the ancient bones of "Lucy" discovered by Donald Johanson in 1974 and long thought to be mankind's first ancestor--Albert Singer, who founded the Singer Sewing Machine Company in 1851, has been credited with being the first franchisor in the United States. The designation was likely given because his was the most recognized name of the early pioneers that people still remembered.
  • Michael Seid
  • 28,176 Reads 26 Shares
Tint World
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Tint World
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Tint World
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Big money, in the form of private equity, is finding a home in franchising, and bringing big promise to area developers and multi-unit operators-and to franchisors and franchise executives as well.
  • 5,128 Reads 1 Shares
What's the outlook for franchise finance in 2006? [i]Area Developer[/i] asked several industry veterans for their take on who's financing area developers and multi-unit operators today.
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 3,852 Reads 7 Shares
Smoothie and juice franchises are healthy and hot. "Juice and smoothies, including juice and smoothie bars, frozen dessert stores, and the mix segment, are forecasted to be approximately $2 billion in retail sales for 2006," says Dan Titus, president of Juice Gallery Multimedia, a consulting and publishing company concentrating on the needs of juice bars and restaurant start-ups.
  • 2,431 Reads 30 Shares
Chew on these numbers and take into consideration the implications for you and your organization from the perspective of your customers and your employees - who you hire and whom you sell to. You will see great numbers to keep in mind when positioning your company, your next office and your next marketing push. Many of these numbers come from my work in the construction, landscape, and business-to-consumer industries, which understood these numbers many years ago. Construction, landscaping, manufacturing, and related industries are in the trenches and don't understand why so many other industries are not getting it.
  • Mauricio Velasquez
  • 2,814 Reads
No, neither the price of gasoline nor its impact on your multi-unit, multi-brand franchise business will be reduced under of the recently passed energy and transportation bills. However, both the Energy Tax Incentives Act of 2005, and the Safe, Accountable, Flexible Efficient Transportation Equity Act of 2005, could have a noticeable impact on the tax bills of every franchised business - as well as those of their owners and operators.
  • Mark E. Battersby
  • 3,136 Reads 1,021 Shares
No, neither the price of gasoline nor its impact on your multi-unit, multi-brand franchise business will be reduced under of the recently passed energy and transportation bills. However, both the Energy Tax Incentives Act of 2005, and the Safe,...
  • Franchise Update
  • 5,113 Reads
The numbers are overwhelming: there are more than 12 million businesses in the United States, and over the next five to seven years more than half of these companies will change hands. Of the six million owners who will sell their businesses in the next several years, most will not take specific steps to ensure a smooth transition from their ownership. Even for the few owners who have made an attempt to plan for their exit, their efforts usually fall far short of a comprehensive exit plan.
  • Will Lindenmayer
  • 2,952 Reads 1 Shares
Who likes income taxes? Tax preparation services, that's who! Entrepreneurs who have successfully used the franchising business model to spread their brand across the globe are enjoying unprecedented success and expansion in 2006.
  • 3,266 Reads 86 Shares
For a multi-unit franchisee, the relationship with a customer doesn't end with the sale. Each purchase of an item or use of your service is a single transaction between an individual customer and an individual employee. Whether it is a quick meal at a sub shop or a thorough home cleaning, this transaction should be the beginning of a long-term relationship with your customer. After the transaction, the relationship must be grounded in not only the quality of the product or service, but also in the strength of your response to customer needs. How do you gauge and evaluate your quality of product, service and response beyond the price tag?
  • Thomas J. Winninger
  • 3,412 Reads 16 Shares
Family business teams in the franchise industry help prove the old adage that two good ideas are always better than one. That continues to be the case for Kelly Saxton and his family.
  • Joan Szabo
  • 3,006 Reads 7 Shares
MassageLuXe
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MassageLuXe
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MassageLuXe
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When looking at a franchise opportunity, the big question often asked is 'how much can I make?' Coming up with those projections isn't always easy. It takes a little digging on your part. Even so, most area developers have enough experience and are wise enough to know how to find the best franchise opportunities that will reap a good return on investment (ROI).
  • Joan Szabo
  • 13,480 Reads 3 Shares
The franchise industry's shift from the paper to the electronic age has been slow and steady, with the lion's share of today's franchise organizations now operating their systems much like the rest of modern civilization: in real-time.
  • Dan Martin
  • 3,408 Reads 1,023 Shares
It's every multi-unit operator's nightmare: You have a solid group of healthy performing units until you notice one beginning to decline - lower sales numbers, declining traffic, increased customer complaints, unusually high employee turnover. Or maybe you decide to take on a new unit that has been a low performer. It can be a difficult situation, but it can also provide an opportunity filled with high returns if handled properly. Here are some approaches, tips and insight to what some area developers have done to turn around poor performing units.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 3,367 Reads 47 Shares
In my previous column, I discussed the first two pieces of how to build an organization that grows your franchise business. Part one was planning the structure of your organization over time, based on your territory, market, or development growth in terms of your team. Part two focused on the functional role of individuals within the organization. The third piece is how to develop pools of talent.
  • Thom Winninger
  • 3,324 Reads 11 Shares
Fast food chicken franchising has come a long way from 1939, when Colonel Harlan Sanders introduced Kentucky Fried Chicken. Since then, brands like Church's, Chester's, and Popeyes have spread the gospel of fried chicken not only across the continent, but across the world. Fried chicken has become American as apple pie, and everybody wants a piece.
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 3,483 Reads 13 Shares
The difference between satisfied customers and loyal customers can sink a multi-unit franchisee. But there is also good news here.
  • Jack Mackey
  • 4,208 Reads 3 Shares
It's all her son's fault! Twenty-eight years ago, says Alice Schleicher (pronounced "Slisher"), her then 16-year-old, Rick, came home and said, "'Mom and Dad, I saw a restaurant and I want to buy it.'" It was a KFC in Sellersburg, Indiana. "We kind of looked at each other and said, 'Okay, well, we'll buy it.'" She envisioned having four someday. So far, she's exceeded that by 50.
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 9,705 Reads 1 Shares
"Today you can work anywhere," says John Metz from his home in Buffalo, where he spends three months a year--the winter months. "It's a wonderful thing. I dial in to my office in West Palm Beach through a VPN and get everything I want. I can dial into the POS systems and get real-time information on all my restaurants. What else do I need? It's just like being in West Palm." Except for the snow.
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 14,587 Reads 2 Shares
It's a family affair all the way around at United States Beef Corp. Founded in 1969 when Bob and Connie Davis purchased their first Arby's restaurant – just five years after brothers Forrest and Leroy Raffel opened the first Arby's in Boardman, Ohio – today the Tulsa-based franchisee is headed by their sons Jeff, CEO, and John R. Davis, president. And a focus on a family-type atmosphere in its restaurants completes the picture.
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 6,273 Reads 349 Shares
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