Franchise Guide: The Economy - Franchising.com
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The Economy

There are many misconceptions about how to go about valuing your business. In general, most business owners have a value in their mind that is usually several times more than the actual value a sophisticated, competent buyer ultimately pays.
  • Rod Bristol
  • 15,496 Reads 9 Shares
IFA says "political theater" SEIU protests over per hour wages put the future of jobs and businesses in jeopardy.
  • Multi-Unit Franchisee
  • 6,027 Reads
Two new reports show steady progress for franchise industry, NLRB remains top concern for franchise business owners.
  • Multi-Unit Franchisee
  • 8,314 Reads 1,016 Shares
Throughout my career I have observed that a strong alignment of interests between two business parties usually leads to good outcomes for both.
  • Darrell Johnson
  • 8,570 Reads 1,023 Shares
We're often asked, "I've been in this system four years. When should I start making a profit?" This is a disturbing question at best--as if profits were somehow time-sensitive: just wait long enough and, Presto!, profits.
  • Steve LeFever and Rod Bristol
  • 11,987 Reads 1 Shares
Good news! The economy is growing again. However, expanding businesses are often in greater peril than those that have suffered through a challenging economy and declining revenues.
  • Rod Bristol
  • 16,375 Reads 1,023 Shares
New measure lifts the cap on the Small Business Administration's loan program to $23.5 billion.
  • Multi-Unit Franchisee
  • 12,153 Reads 4 Shares
Franchise industry on the defensive after SEIU files a petition demanding that the federal government investigate franchisors for alleged abuses against franchisees.
  • Multi-Unit Franchisee
  • 6,863 Reads
Pro-business reps warn New York Governor Cuomo not to discriminate against franchisees by raising minimum wage.
  • Multi-Unit Franchisee
  • 6,900 Reads 4 Shares
The National Retail Federation says Obama administration's overtime expansion would harm restaurant and retail careers, managers, and consumers.
  • Multi-Unit Franchisee
  • 6,831 Reads 7 Shares
Now that we're nearing November, it's time to refocus on the business with an eye toward planning for 2015.
  • Steve Lefever
  • 7,062 Reads
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For the past 30 years, the U.S. has experienced the longest bull market on record for fixed-income securities. As interest rates declined, investors in bonds benefited.
  • Carol M. Schleif
  • 7,350 Reads
Loan financing and equity investment are two common methods of funding a new business start-up, assuming you do not have the capital on your own. Each strategy has advantages.
  • Jenny Q. Ta
  • 10,924 Reads 1 Shares
Franchising is fighting back. Organized labor and activist groups have been hammering away at the franchise business way of life.
  • Multi-Unit Franchisee
  • 6,837 Reads
A few months ago, the Wall Street Journal ran a front-page story detailing how it's legal for nongovernmental providers of key data series, such as the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment poll ...
  • Carol Schleif
  • 6,297 Reads
In late July, the National Retail Federation issued a statement from Senior Vice President and General Counsel Mallory Duncan on U.S. District Judge Richard Leon's decision that found that the Federal Reserve misapplied Congress' intent when it implemented required swipe fees reforms.
  • Multi-Unit Franchisee
  • 3,628 Reads 22 Shares
Johnny Collins is a man of faith and endurance. He knows what kind of hard work and dedication it takes to run a marathon, serve as a firefighter, and work as a security officer.
  • Multi-Unit Franchisee
  • 5,081 Reads 160 Shares
Is anybody else as fed up as I am with hearing about how bad things are? Let's get on with it already and start focusing on what we can do to survive--and thrive--in the new reality.
  • Carol Schleif
  • 5,227 Reads 62 Shares
Long ago, when I was a newly minted junior analyst at a local investment firm, a grizzled veteran noted that it was pointless to be in the investment business if you weren't a long-term optimist. To me, that time-worn piece of advice continues to ring true. Operating from this mantra, I've spent my entire career believing that whatever short-term morass the economy or the market found itself in could be fixed (eventually) by the drive and ingenuity of the American entrepreneurial spirit. I'm hopeful that this time will be no different--although I admittedly find my optimism being severely tested. In nearly 30 years in the business, I've never witnessed such a complex array of issues at play.
  • Carol Clark
  • 7,020 Reads 35 Shares
Greg Hamer, Sr., worked in the oilfield service industry for two decades before dipping his toe into franchising. He knows about hard work and about managing assets. Today, he is the largest Taco Bell franchisee in the state of Louisiana. Hamer has operated B&G Food Enterprises out of Morgan City, La., since opening that first Taco Bell unit in 1982. In the 1990's, the company added KFC and Pizza Hut units to the portfolio and most recently, Teriyaki Experience.
  • Multi-Unit Franchisee
  • 4,126 Reads 21 Shares
Franchising has flourished over the past two decades, adding tens of thousands of units and rising on a compound basis faster than most of the industries it operates in. Much of this growth was achieved by franchisee operators who began when they were in their thirties and forties. Today many of them are in their fifties and sixties and looking toward retirement.
  • Darrell Johnson
  • 3,753 Reads 4 Shares
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Cary Albert is sold on the value in unit economics. The Dallas, Texas-area multi-unit franchisee operates Schlotzsky's and Cinnabon locations and says there's no question his operation benefits from keeping an eye on unit performance numbers.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 8,216 Reads 1 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
  • 5,898 Reads 72 Shares
The way to a man's heart may be through his stomach, but the way to a banker's heart is through strong unit economics.
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 6,150 Reads 83 Shares
Dustin Winkle was a victim of the dot-com crash a few years back. While pondering his next career move, he visited with family members who operated some dry cleaning stores. He liked what he heard and purchased his first Martinizing Dry Cleaners stores six hours away in Yakima, Wash. It was a long commute from his home in Boise, Idaho, but he loved the business. Three years later his family was ready to sell its dry cleaning stores and Winkle was more than happy to buy some units closer to home. Today he operates 10 Martinizing Dry Cleaning stores (and one non-Martinizing unit) in the Boise area.
  • Multi-Unit Franchisee
  • 5,649 Reads
The most fundamental business strategy calls for black numbers on the bottom line. In simplest terms, it's proof the business is generating more cash than it is spending. All too often, though, entrepreneurs get involved in businesses without employing a proper system to help them keep a watchful eye on what they're earning and what they're spending. Managing day-to-day operations can be so time-consuming that it leaves little room for financial analysis. Or perhaps key individuals lack a basic understanding of how to read and interpret financial statements. Combine these factors with the down economy, and you'll likely wind up with a troubled business.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 7,187 Reads 518 Shares
Gaining access to and securing capital is more important for franchisees today than ever. Every week we talk with multi-unit franchisees about how they are growing and the kind of financing it takes for them to achieve their goals and objectives. It's an important topic and sometimes we get some very candid responses.
  • Multi-Unit Franchisee
  • 5,791 Reads
Last issue we began the discussion of how buying assets out of bankruptcy court is time-consuming but usually easy - when done properly. But if you try to pick and choose, it can become more difficult. It's hard to determine a fair value for such assets. If you're not careful you could find yourself back in court fighting angry creditors who think you've cheated them.
  • Barry Kurtz and Nevin Sanli
  • 4,899 Reads 169 Shares
I will never forget as we clustered around a single Quotron watching as market prices plunged more than 23 percent on that fateful day back in 1987. I was a rookie analyst in a trust department and distinctly remember the shock and horror that everyone, from newly minted analysts to gray-haired veterans, felt as we watched the seemingly impossible happen right before our eyes. Honestly, having survived one "500-year flood" event, I never imagined I'd still be in the business when another came along.
  • Carol Clark
  • 3,270 Reads 2 Shares
It was like a gut punch for Charlie Marshall. In less than a year's time, the Spring-Green Lawn Care multi-unit franchisee went from paying $12 per bag for lawn fertilizer to more than $25 per bag. "That will make you look for ways to streamline and cut costs," says Marshall. To add insult to injury, gasoline prices were skyrocketing, making it even more expensive to fire up his seven trucks and dispatch crews to care for his customers' lawns each day.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 3,935 Reads 57 Shares
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