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Multi-Unit Franchise Articles

Browse our selection of franchise articles and features to help further your knowledge in opening and operating a franchise business. Our exclusive features cover the , , , , , , and site of the franchise business. Written by the editorial team that produces Franchise Update Magazine and Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine, the franchise industries premier magazines.

Everybody loves lists. Whether it's a year-end "best of" list in the entertainment world or a list of business-performance rankings, we see them everywhere. Lists give us insight and a benchmark for all kinds of comparisons. Readers continue to tell us that the lists found in the pages of Multi-Unit Franchisee magazine each issue are informative--and sometimes provocative--and provide a perspective that often allows for self-assessment and operational adjustments.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 10,871 Reads 1,023 Shares
Joe Drury's personal history reads like a rags-to-riches movie script. Born in Canton, Ohio, he was on his own at 14 and "chose to survive," he says. "Everything I did, I attacked it like it was my last meal." He started out working in a Wendy's. He excelled and worked his way into the corporate office, where his mentor and "best friend," Wendy's founder Dave Thomas, taught him everything he knew about running a franchise and being a successful franchisee. He rose to vice president of operations at Wendy's, but left the company in the early 1990s to form the Carolina Restaurant Group, which bought 26 distressed Wendy's restaurants. By 2000, that number was up to 100 and sales had risen significantly.
  • Debbie Selinsky
  • 11,921 Reads 11 Shares
What do these questions have in common? Each relates to how changes in costs, volume, and pricing affect your bottom line. By the end of this article, we'll have given you a single analysis model to help you answer these questions more accurately than ever before.
  • Steve LeFever and Dave Ashcraft
  • 15,563 Reads 6 Shares
Sam had developed and owned a successful retail operation during his business career. He also tried to be diligent by having what he thought was a sound estate plan executed before he died. He and his wife Sally felt they had everything taken care of. So when Sam died unexpectedly, Sally was dismayed to see the vehement dispute that developed between her two sons as to who would operate the company going forward. Apparently Sam had spoken to both of them about running the company if something happened to him, but he had failed to make this decision. Sally ultimately found her only choice to resolve the dispute was to just sell the business.
  • Andrew D. Horowitz, CPhD, and Nicholas K. Niemann, Esq.
  • 3,459 Reads 66 Shares
John Hotchkiss was born in Pontiac, Mich., and grew up in San Antonio, Texas. But he likes to say he "was born" into franchising. "I started working in our stores when I was 9 years old and really enjoyed it. I learned in high school that it was a good business to own when I came home exhausted from a crazy, busy night at one of our stores and my dad was relaxing and reading a book on the back porch," he recalls. "He had 700-plus employees working hard that night making him money.
  • Debbie Selinsky
  • 11,231 Reads 1 Shares
Iced coffee seems to be gaining tremendous popularity as the summer months bring on the heat. And according to data from NPD Group's Consumer Reports on Eating Share Trends (CREST), servings of iced and frozen coffee drinks have shown a 20 percent increase during the first months of 2009 over the same time period last year. The company's research also found young adults between the ages 18 and 34 make up 39 percent of the iced beverage's consumption. Even the National Coffee Association has data procaliming coffee consumption among 18 to 34-year-olds has recently hit record highs.
  • Multi-Unit Franchisee
  • 5,282 Reads 436 Shares
Jett Mehta knew early in his life that franchising would be a good fit for him. "I grew up in the business," says Mehta. "My dad is a Ponderosa franchisee and was the largest franchisee in the country at one point. He was investing in multi-family real estate and got into the restaurant business in the '80s. When I finished school I hooked up with him." It wasn't long before Mehta drew up some ambitious plans of his own. First came a motel deal, and then the food industry beckoned.
  • John Carroll
  • 11,933 Reads
Gurvinder Singh is, in many ways, a "normal" 24-year-old guy. A former wrestler, he's into martial arts and spends an inordinate amount of time training in the gym. Despite his high energy level, he can go "couch potato" with the best of them, and he loves TV (his favorite show is "Lost"). He also loves cars, and jokes that the health of his business can be measured by the impressiveness of his ride.
  • Debbie Selinsky
  • 3,412 Reads 13 Shares
It all began with a single Golden Corral restaurant in 1997. In just over a dozen years, Guillermo Perales has grown to operate 142 franchise locations, spread across 5 brands throughout Texas and Florida. It's quite an accomplishment for this native of Mexico, and he's not even close to finished. "I'd like to double the size of my business over the next decade," says Perales. Based on his track record, it's a good bet he'll succeed. He just inked a deal with T-Mobile for some new units, and he's negotiating with a yogurt and seafood franchisor--and that doesn't even include his planned hotel project in Dallas.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 10,464 Reads 1,015 Shares
Long before they met and married, Donna and Jim Wade grew up working in their respective family businesses--Donna in Southeast Texas, and Jim in a small town in West Tennessee. Both families owned restaurants and grocery stores. Their paths crossed when Jim, a University of Memphis graduate who went to work in accounting for Binswanger Glass, was transferred to Houston as a controller. She was selling copiers for Xerox, and he called one day for a quote. "Not long after he completed the purchase, we started dating," recalls Donna. "We realized instantly that we shared a passion for business."
  • Debbie Selinsky
  • 3,841 Reads 5 Shares
Dennis Hitzeman has had some legendary mentors in his life. First there was McDonald's founder Ray Kroc, who hired the 16-year-old Hitzeman as a crew member for his third location. Later, as a West Point Cadet, he played football for assistant coach Bill Parcells and studied under Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr.
  • John Carroll
  • 7,177 Reads 4 Shares
Jersey Mike's Subs
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The current recession and credit crunch are putting the hurt on franchise businesses, says a new report by the International Franchise Association (IFA). There's no question that the franchising's economic growth and ability to create jobs has been hamstrung by the lack of available credit.
  • Multi-Unit Franchisee
  • 3,331 Reads 5 Shares
Gross sales? Target revenue? Break even? No, this figure is more important than all those. These days, as we're all looking at ways to cut costs, figuring out where and how to cut is extremely important. Using break-even analysis allows you to go in with a scalpel instead of a hatchet.
  • Steve LeFever and Dave Ashcraft
  • 8,962 Reads 775 Shares
John had come to us with high expectations for the price he thought his company would sell for. He was certain of this because he had seen other companies sell for a similar multiple of gross revenue. However, what John had failed to understand was that buyers are only partly interested in top line revenue. More important to negotiating the selling price of most companies is the net cash flow the company produces. John's bottom line failed to live up to industry standards, which meant he wasn't likely to achieve the exit he had envisioned.
  • Andrew D. Horowitz, CPhD, and Nicholas K. Niemann, Esq.
  • 3,921 Reads 118 Shares
Franchise Update Media Group (FUMG), the leading industry resource for franchise development, reports that for the first time, multi-unit franchises are the new industry majority, providing growth opportunities in these times of economic uncertainty.
  • Press Release
  • 4,081 Reads 1 Shares
Charles Loflin started climbing the ladder of success from the bottom rung, and he hasn't stopped yet. "I've been in food and beverage all my life, starting when I was washing dishes at the age of 15," says the 40-year-old multi-brand franchisee.
  • John Carroll
  • 4,219 Reads 7 Shares
After years of building his company by acquiring distressed franchise units and real estate, John Metz bought a distressed franchisor. That's right, a franchisor. On December 17, 2008, Metz took over Hurricane Grill & Wings. And he's from Buffalo.
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 5,591 Reads 2 Shares
Just to let you know where I'm coming from when I talk about the five biggest mistakes I see franchisors making in today's tough economic times, I've been plying my trade for more than 20 years now, and well over 50 percent of my clients have been among the nation's foremost franchise organizations. I've been in the trenches with them during all kinds of economic scenarios--inflation, recession, expansion, steady-as-she-goes, and a couple of booms and busts.
  • Mel Kleiman
  • 8,297 Reads 286 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.
  • Andrew D. Horowitz, CPhD, and Nicholas K. Niemann, Esq.
  • 3,224 Reads 12 Shares
For a man in the hospitality business who's traveled widely, Ted Torres didn't fall far from the tree, nor did he want to. "My father, a first-generation hotelier, was my mentor, teacher, coach, and partner," says Torres, who at 43 has been in the business for 20 years. His most far-flung project, building hotels for Hilton across Russia, never came to fruition--through no lack of willingness on his part--but it was a fabulous month-long adventure just the same.
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 4,808 Reads 49 Shares
At some level, there's a growing realization that the current economic "decline" is not just a speed bump. The assumption that a return to the "status quo" is sure to come--that it's merely a matter of time--also appears to be quickly fading. The emerging conclusion: Things typically don't come this unhinged only to revert to what existed before.
  • Carol Clark
  • 3,701 Reads 3 Shares
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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
  • 4,144 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
  • 4,153 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
  • 4,790 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
  • 3,316 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
  • 8,561 Reads
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
  • 6,435 Reads 212 Shares
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
  • 7,229 Reads 383 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
  • 4,338 Reads 22 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
  • 11,348 Reads 6 Shares
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