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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.

Multi-unit, multi-brand franchising has achieved a milestone: More franchises are owned by multi-unit developers than by single-unit franchisees. So we thought you'd like to know how big some of these guys are. Area Developer magazine introduces this annual feature, profiling some of the industry's most successful multi-unit franchisees. Working with FRANdata to compile a list of the largest multi-unit franchisees, "The Big 99" (ranked by number of units), rest assured our editors also know that when it comes to franchising, size isn't everything.
  • Eddy Goldberg, Linda Ray & Deb Selinski
  • 4,054 Reads 1 Shares
You wouldn't know it from looking at his photo, or at his remarkable string of successes in taking failing chicken franchises and giving them wings, but Aslam Khan grew up poor. "I was born in poverty," said Khan in a 2001 interview, "and had a deep desire to move away from it. I wanted to do better."
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 10,399 Reads
Customer satisfaction data must correlate to comp sales growth. Otherwise, there is no reason to worry about providing great service--if there is no positive financial result from that effort. Without financial linkage to business results, there is no external validity to the customer satisfaction measurements and you are probably measuring "satisfaction"incorrectly. Let's look at a proven method of measuring your customer's experience that gives you clear financial linkage to comp sales growth.
  • Jack Mackey
  • 3,163 Reads 1 Shares
Whether you are a franchisor or a multiunit franchisee, you must have noticed that the marketing and sales landscape is changing. No matter what kind of business you're in, status quo marketing and sellingis no longer going to get you the resultsyou need or want. In a business-to-consumer franchise system you will see the demographic changes in your customer marketplaces more quickly than in business-to-business. Time to wake up and smell the demographic coffee!
  • Mauricio Velasquez
  • 3,751 Reads
I have read many "How To" articles on real estate. Often, they were written by attorneys, estate agents, or learned Ivy League professors in need of publishing. They quote facts, point to figures, refer to charts, and on occasion come up with something of value to the reader. The problem, in all fairness to these authors, is that it is difficult to write about real estate without a clear and specific idea of what their readers need or are looking for.
  • Lewis Gelmon
  • 3,490 Reads 20 Shares
Before he even served his first sandwich, Bill Duke signed a contract with an outside human resource organization to handle all his personnel issues. And after one successful year as a single-store franchise owner, Duke is pleased with his decision.
  • Linda C. Ray
  • 3,480 Reads 17 Shares
The most powerful players in franchising will meet in March for the nation's only conference dedicated to the industry's fastest-growing and most targeted audience - multi-unit franchise developers.
  • 2,157 Reads 35 Shares
The best way to ensure profitable sales growth is to keep building an ever-increasing base of loyal customers. Customer research consistently proves that "loyal" customers are worth much more than merely "satisfied" customers. Only "highly satisfied" customers become loyal customers. They buy more often; they spend more per transaction, and they drive new customers your way with positive word-of-mouth advertising.
  • 2,836 Reads 3 Shares
Much has been made of the benefits of web-based technology as it applies to the franchise corporate office and how it can easily and effectively collect financial data from its franchisees.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 3,127 Reads 3 Shares
"It's personalities that makeany business," says ZaneTankel, and he shouldknow. He's owned a number ofthem, starting withcommercial printing. Now he'schairman and chief executiveofficer of Apple-Metro, Inc.,the sole franchisor in the NewYork metropolitan area ofApplebee's and Chevys.
  • Ripley Hotch
  • 4,187 Reads 35 Shares
Many area developers are under tight time pressure to open new units. Often, area developers will agree to growth provisions in their franchise agreements that can be unrealistic to all but the most sophisticated operators. Franchisors will, of course, prefer to grant territorial rights to those who promise rapid growth. Once you have been awarded those rights, you may have the best intentions and plans to meet your growth requirements, but you may discover early on that it takes much longer than expected to open each store. The realization sets in early with most that they stand to breach their franchise agreement’s growth requirements and find themselves struggling to catch up. Like a swimmer who panics, a lot of splashing occurs but little in the way of real movement happens.
  • Jeremy Behar
  • 3,031 Reads
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When doing business in Australia, you may hear the expression "fair dinkum" as in "Mate, are you fair dinkum?" This is an old and popular bit of slang that Australians use to assure themselves that others are being honest, genuine, and reliable in their dealings with them. It challenges any real or suspected evidence of phoniness, deception or manipulation.
  • Franchise Update Magazine
  • 2,908 Reads 1 Shares
If you're over 20 years old, you probably think this is some crazy scifi phenomenon, or I've simply lost my mind. Don't fret; the vast majority of people don't know what a blog is all about�and more important, why it matters to them. In particular, why does it matter to your franchise company?
  • Dennis Schooley
  • 3,170 Reads 1 Shares
At February's Franchise UPDATE Multi-Unit Conference in Dallas, attendees dug into their pockets to help Rocco Fiorentino's Little Rock Foundation. Multi-unit operators are known for generosity to charities, but the record for amounts may well go to Batteries Plus. Batteries Plus Multi-Unit Franchisee Leonard Cyphers, who owns three Atlanta-area Batteries Plus stores, was diagnosed with Young Onset Parkinson's disease in 1997 at age 48. He is managing his disease with diet, medication, and exercise, and the help of a pioneer in Parkinson's research, Dr. Ray Watts.
  • 2,830 Reads 7 Shares
Area Developer, the only magazine dedicated exclusively to multi-unit franchising, will take an indepth look at the expanding multi-unit franchise landscape. This industry first drill-down will identify those franchise systems that have substantial numbers of multi unit franchisees and meet specific baseline standards.
  • 4,342 Reads 2 Shares
It's one thing to have a dream and a want; it's another thing to have an organization to support that dream and want. I've always said that growing the organization is a full-time job for those who want to grow multi-units.
  • Thomas J. Winninger
  • 3,123 Reads 5 Shares
Capital fuels growth, and multi-unit operators know how important growth is to their success. One finance company making growth happen for many area developers is GE Commercial Finance, Franchise Finance (GEFF). With more than $12 billion in served assets, GEFF has more than 6,000 customers and 21,000 property locations, mainly in the restaurant, hospitality, branded beverage, storage, and automotive industries.
  • Joan Szabo
  • 3,886 Reads 1 Shares
But with a father who was a barber-turned-businessman and franchise owner, and a mother who was a stylist herself, they knew something about the hair business.
  • Tom Steadman
  • 14,221 Reads 5 Shares
Brad Bruckman owned 15 Krispy Kreme franchises in the Northern California/Sacramento area when he felt a desire to reexamine his career direction. "I didn't necessarily foresee any of the problems that were soon to begin affecting that franchise, but I did begin to wonder about other opportunities, and, ultimately, I feel like I got out at just the right time," says the 42-year-old entrepreneur.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 3,634 Reads 3 Shares
Area Developer asked Darrell Johnson, president and CEO of FRANdata, what a multi-unit developer should look for when evaluating franchise opportunities. In a wide-ranging interview, Johnson sorts out the massive amount of available information into four basic categories and provides a tutorial-and dozens of relevant questions-on how to think things through when searching for the best brand to suit your business (and personal) needs.
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 4,387 Reads 1 Shares
I call it the 10-10-10 rule. You spend $10,000 on your building, FFE and advertising to attract a customer. In 10 seconds, you drive her away with a bad service experience. And you wait 10 years for another chance to win her back. Service success, or failure, is predictive of your future sales and profitability. A terrific Harvard Business Review article explains the business economics in detail and I'll tell how you can get that article at the end of this column.
  • Jack Mackey
  • 4,830 Reads
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Franchisors are always looking for ways to boost cash flow and build greater trust with franchisees. One way to help accomplish those goals is to offer an effective purchasing program.
  • Joan Szabo
  • 3,471 Reads 11 Shares
For multi-unit owners, planning an exit strategy is something to consider long before investing in that first unit or concept. What are your long-term goals? Would you like to sell in five years? Ten? Pass the business to a family member? Make a clean break, or keep your hand in? Is trading your cash flow for a lump sum the best way to go? What about seller's remorse?
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 4,990 Reads 11 Shares
Being a big fish always helps, especially in a big pond. But big fish still have problems-or opportunities as the more optimistic prefer to call them. And it certainly helps to have a positive outlook when you become an area developer. Topping the list of problems/opportunities are the usual items: location, hiring and retention, financing, etc.-but magnified by the number of units, as well as the number of concepts operating under one umbrella. Area Developer magazine asked four successful "Big Fish" to weigh in on what's tipping their scales as 2005 approaches.
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 3,231 Reads 7 Shares
Seattle's Dennis Waldron is still in the early stages, but he's by no means an amateur. For 10 years he was president of Cinnabon, where he introduced franchises and grew the chain to 400 units. After Cinnabon was sold, "I looked at a number of opportunities and finally settled on being a franchisee," he says. More than that, Waldron set out to be a multi-unit franchisee.
  • 5,663 Reads 206 Shares
The multi-unit operator point of view is more of building an organization. From real estate, capital investment and people development, it is a very different environment. And the people development is the most critical aspect for success.
  • Mariel Miller
  • 3,494 Reads 2 Shares
Franchising's great strength has always been that it is adaptable. Combining two kinds of ownership, one general, the other close to the ground, has given these systems quick reflexes in an ever-changing economy.
  • Joseph Wheeler
  • 4,247 Reads 16 Shares
John D. Prince is a franchise owner on the grow. His current flags include Applebee's, Aaron's, Famous Dave's, and Hooters. His holdings are concentrated mainly in Utah, where, owing to the state's unique liquor laws, he also owns and operates three private sports bars. He got involved in Applebee's by necessity, when his Ponderosa Steakhouses were tanking in the early 1990s, and has steadily added new sites-and new concepts-ever since.
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 5,687 Reads 379 Shares
When Rocco Fiorentino was 30 and a mechanical contractor in Philadelphia, an accident opened an opportunity that changed his career path. He was remodeling a bagel shop owned by a neighbor when his client had a heart attack. Fiorentino ended up with the shop.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 6,459 Reads 92 Shares
Irvine, CA-based El Pollo Loco has a penchant for serving hand-marinated, flame-grilled chicken and the freshest Mexican foods, and last year the company experienced record sales of $396 million. But executives there say that although their product is important, they owe much of their success to their loyal and dedicated employees. In fact, multi-unit operator Roland Spongberg recently went six years without losing a single manager at his 21 southern California El Pollo Loco locations. So what's going on at this company that's creating this environment of motivated, hard-working employees who stay the course?
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 4,320 Reads 210 Shares
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