Florida Feature Articles

Looking for a franchise opportunity in Florida? Whether you're a first-time business owner or a seasoned entrepreneur, Florida offers exciting potential for franchise success. With thriving markets in key cities like Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Tallahassee, there's a perfect environment to launch and grow a franchise. From food and beverage to retail and services, the diverse economic landscape in Florida is ripe for franchise opportunities. Explore the best franchise options today and take the next step toward business ownership in Florida.

Informative articles to support business buyers, franchisees, and franchisors in Florida.

Mentor-Motivated: Two Key Individuals have Inspired Jerry Heath

Two people have figured prominently in Jerry Heath's career. The first is his father, who helped bankroll him when he started out in franchising. The second is Steve Jackson, the president of Hungry Howie's Pizza, who began mentoring Heath at an impressionable age (12).

John Carroll
8,933 Reads 2 Shares

Special Operations: Franchising in a Strange Land

Opening franchise units in nontraditional locations has been the domain of specialists--but not anymore. With the economy still slumping, lending still tight, and suburban expansion at a standstill, many multi-unit franchisees are exploring the viability of sites such as airports, hotels, colleges, senior centers, highway rest stops, hospitals, and military bases.

Eddy Goldberg
6,649 Reads

Capital Access: Florida Multi-Unit Operator on Strategic Growth

Pizza franchising is a tough market. The competition is stiff and the recent economic recession really put the squeeze on many franchise operators. But despite pizza price wars and price-sensitive consumers, operators like Glenn Ajmo have discovered a few silver linings that are helping him sustain growth.

Kerry Pipes
7,355 Reads 1,023 Shares

Social Media: A New Frontier in Franchise Development?

Social media platforms are now emerging as franchise recruitment tools. Granted, it's still early in the adoption process and only time will tell how successful these new channels are in generating leads and franchise sales.

Kerry Pipes
13,873 Reads 1 Shares

The Winner's Column

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.

Eddy Goldberg
10,647 Reads 93 Shares

High Roller: Veteran Franchisee Finds his Niche in Las Vegas

New Jersey native and veteran franchisee Frank Bonanno says he learned early in life that he wanted to do something "easier" than mixing cement and carrying bricks and blocks like his contractor father

Debbie Selinsky
11,792 Reads

The Winner's Column

Eddy Goldberg
11,789 Reads 93 Shares

Previously Owned: Used Equipment Saves Costs, Boosts Profits

Ken Greene has a secret. When he gets ready to open a new Honest-1 Auto Care franchise unit in New York (34 now and counting), he knows how to save up to 60 percent on the cost of his equipment.

Kerry Pipes
9,988 Reads 1 Shares

The 2010 Multi-Unit 50: Ranking Today's Leading Multi-Unit Brands

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
21,350 Reads 1 Shares

Food Courting Florida: Area Rep Brings Teriyaki Experience to the Sunshine State

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
9,216 Reads 569 Shares

Both Sides Now: Greg Jones Measures Unit Profitability as a Franchisor and Franchisee

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
3,174 Reads 62 Shares

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Eddy Goldberg
10,891 Reads 93 Shares

New Traditionalists: Give the People What They Want--where They Want It!

About two years ago, at the behest of a friend, Nick Vojnovic, president of Beef 'O' Brady's, made his first foray into a nontraditional franchise location, opening a restaurant at the TradeWinds, a resort in St. Petersburg, Fla., with 1 million annual visitors. It wasn't exactly on his radar, but Vojnovic decided to give it a go.

Eddy Goldberg
4,458 Reads 1 Shares

The Winner's Column

Franchise Update
7,564 Reads 2 Shares

The Winner's Column

As savvy franchise companies continue to flourish in this challenging economy, FUSR will 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.

Franchise Update
6,360 Reads 2 Shares

Gunning for Growth: Young Multi-Unit Franchisee is Expansion-Minded

In the mid-1990s, when the stock market was on fire and Darrell Lamb spent most of his days on the phone in an unending quest for new investors, he had a chance to invest in an Express Oil Change franchise. Lamb had some great advisers to rely on. His uncle was president of the company and his dad, an Alabama optometrist with a keen interest in growing ventures, was an investor.

John Carroll
8,904 Reads 1 Shares

Multi-Plied!: Multi-Unit Franchising Comes on Stronger Every Year

Multi-unit and multi-brand operations are where the action is today in franchising. Whether the economy stalls, falls, or climbs, an increasing number of multi-unit franchisees are not content with just one unit--and many are not content with just one brand. Multi-concept franchising offers power in numbers--units, brands, territory, and income--as well as the security gained by spreading the risk across different brands in a franchisee company's portfolio.

Kerry Pipes and Eddy Goldberg
6,116 Reads 1,023 Shares

Unit Economics Rules!: How to Make Lenders Love You in 2010

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
6,998 Reads 83 Shares

Measure for Measure: Unit Economics Plays a Leading Role on Today's Economic Stage

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
8,300 Reads 518 Shares

The Winner's Column

Franchise Update
6,790 Reads 93 Shares

The Winner's Column

As savvy franchise companies continue to flourish in this challenging economy, FUSR will 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. economy struggles through its "jobless recovery," growth-oriented franchisors continue to look overseas for expansion opportunities - and this month, we report on an overseas franchisor set to open its first U.S. location, as well as several new entrants to franchising.

Franchise Update
7,256 Reads 93 Shares

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Turnaround Player: Transforming Low Performers Into Franchise Leaders

Glen Helton's lifelong career in franchising began as a teen with his first job at a Burger King in Fayetteville, N.C. Today the Texas native is president and COO of Strategic Restaurants Acquisition Corp. (SRAC), which operates 271 Burger Kings and 17 T.G.I. Friday's across 9 states. Helton, along with SRAC's CEO, Jerry Comstock (former Bennigan's CEO), have become known for turning underperforming restaurants into profit generators. They did it for the 226 Burger Kings they acquired out of bankruptcy 5 years ago, and they also have added 45 new ones. Today they're applying their turnaround skills to the 16 T.G.I. Friday's in New York and Florida that they bought out of bankruptcy in August 2008.

Debbie Selinsky
10,936 Reads 1,189 Shares

Doing the Common Uncommonly Well: Florida Papa John's Operator Rises Above The Recession

Ricky Warman already knew a lot about finance when he left his job as an investment manager for Prudential Securities in Miami to start a life in franchising in the early 1990s. Warman was a friend of Jenny Craig and started in franchising with nine Jenny Craig weight loss centers. He would go on to try other franchise brands, including Schlotzsky's. Today he's wholly committed to the Papa John's brand, operating 42 pizza locations. (He had 53, but recently sold 11.)

John Carroll
9,618 Reads

Southern Style: North Carolina-Based Multi-Concept Operator Capitalizes on Three Decades of Restaurant Experience

Thomas "Tab" Broome has spent most of his professional life in the restaurant and franchise business. He's seen it all - learned a lot - and is one franchisee who knows how to manage a chain of restaurants. His professional story begins with a restaurant group in Raleigh, N.C. At the time, the company ran a string of Darryl's restaurants - a place that looked a lot like Applebee's, only with a little more variety and flair - a group of 11 Pizza Inns, and the Angus Barn. General Mills swooped in and bought the pizza places and family restaurant business and Broome got a chance to work for a large restaurant corporation.

Multi-Unit Franchisee
4,026 Reads 32 Shares

The Winner's Column

As savvy franchise companies continue to flourish in this challenging economy, FUSR will 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. economy struggles through its "jobless recovery," growth-oriented franchisors continue to look overseas for expansion opportunities through master franchise deals.

Franchise Update
6,823 Reads 93 Shares

Winner's Column

Wingstop announced positive comps for the 25th consecutive quarter, dating back to July 2003. Wingstop ended its most recent quarter with a 1.6 percent increase and is up 3.8 percent for the year. The company predicts the positive trend to continue into the fourth quarter during the football and holiday seasons, when its sales are typically strongest. "This news is strong evidence that limited-service chains continue to deliver value during a difficult economic climate," said Darren Tristano, executive vice president of Technomic, Inc., an industry research firm. Wingstop, founded in 1994 and franchising since 1997, has 425 restaurants open in 34 states.

Franchise Update
4,343 Reads

The Stevie Factor: Trust and Empower, But Verify

Stephen Reitz was in his late 30s when he entered the world of franchising. He'd already learned quite a bit about the world of business in the years preceding his career switch. "I had a number of positions before I got into franchising," says Reitz, who spent 20 years at Ford Motor Company in sales and marketing. One highlight at Ford was a week he spent with W. Edwards Deming, the legendary management and quality guru who helped the Japanese create some of the world's leading manufacturers--and who spurred Reitz to become passionate about process improvement.

John Carroll
5,289 Reads 35 Shares

Is There Gold Beneath Your Feet?: Unearthing Tax Incentives Can Pay Big Returns

Why would both a franchise capital finance company and the CEO of a retail franchise brand sign on as franchisees of a new concept? That's what Siegel Financial Group and Gabriel Bottazzi, CEO and founder of Bijoux Terner, have done. They are among the six franchisees who have signed on with RetroTax. Part of the reason, both say, is that it's a great concept. RetroTax, as the name implies, finds tax credits for both franchisors and franchisees--and gets paid as a percentage of what they find.

Eddy Goldberg
4,439 Reads 15 Shares

Dominators!: Six Operators Who Shine in 2009

To be the best at what you do. To be the best in your market, your industry, your niche. To take your passion and build a business that excels in every way. To build teams, train managers, and win the loyalty of customers. To gain recognition and win awards from your franchisors. And to provide for your family and build a life--and a business you can pass on to your children. All these goals and more are what drive multi-unit franchisees to dominate. In our annual "Dominators" issue, we feature six operators what drives them. Here's a "sneak preview."

Eddy Goldberg
5,779 Reads 9 Shares

Winner's Circle

Cleveland-based USA Insulation has added new franchise locations in Indianapolis, Chicago, Omaha, Portland, Me., and central New Jersey. Company President Patrick J. Pitrone attributes the company's growth to forecasts of a cold winter, unpredictable energy prices, and the Federal Energy Tax Credit of 30 percent (up to $1,500) for homeowners who add insulation by year-end.