Florida Feature Articles

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.

In franchising, no one has to be reminded of the importance of making deals and signing fabulous new franchisees. But unless you actually open new units, inking the deal is only part of the story. This important distinction--between units sold and units opened--led us to examine six franchises that grew by more than 100 units between 2005 and 2006 and ask them how they did it.
  • Debbie Selinsky
  • 4,198 Reads 25 Shares
At PuroSystems, the vice president of franchise development has an advantage his peers would envy--if they knew it existed: he can listen in live on a franchise sales call, privately offering advice and feedback to his salesperson as the discussion unfolds.
  • John Carroll
  • 3,411 Reads 37 Shares
When Lino DeFeo bought a Sign-A-Rama franchise in West Palm Beach, Fla., he didn't know much about signs. That was about 15 years ago. DeFeo had sold his trucking business in Manhattan and moved to Florida with his wife Maria and their two young children to join a family business. But that didn't work out exactly as planned. "I got out before we totally killed each other," he says with a laugh.
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 9,265 Reads 1,014 Shares
Mike Ghaida lives in a million-dollar house in a quiet suburb in New Jersey with his wife and three sons, and $300,000 worth of cars in his driveway. It wasn't always this way for the 41-year-old Ghaida, who came to the U.S. from Lebanon at 17 to study English and architecture at LSU.
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 22,798 Reads 355 Shares
It's fitting that Guillermo Perales does business in the state of Texas--a place where things are known for being large. Fitting because Perales heads the largest Hispanic-operated multiunit franchise company in the U.S., with more than 140 units across five brands. And he's looking to expand.
  • Area Developer Magazine
  • 9,448 Reads 3 Shares
Most people would trade their day job anytime for Bob Stucker's problem a few years back: "I retired too young."
  • Kerry Pipes & Eddy Goldberg
  • 4,836 Reads 11 Shares
What was once a humble grassroots movement to "Save the Planet" has now become big business, with consumers a major part of the push. Seems everywhere you look these days, more and more companies are touting their "green" initiatives as they scramble to implement various ways to recycle, reuse, and renew. Green is in.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 5,056 Reads 7 Shares
Even experienced area developers can get emotional about locations, says Jeremy Behar, president and CEO of Cirrus Tenant Services, a Toronto-based company specializing in real estate negotiations for various businesses, including franchises. As a consequence, he says, "They will do what it takes to sign the deal and get it done."
  • Ripley Hotch
  • 3,289 Reads 3 Shares
Greg Helwig, vice president of system development for Sylvan Learning Centers, says the company didn't set out to grow with multiple units. It just happened naturally, with an existing franchisee adding a unit, then another.
  • Ripley Hotch
  • 3,655 Reads 3 Shares
Multi-unit operators have been a part of the growth and expansion strategy at Fantastic Sams since the brand first began franchising in 1976, according to Jeff Sturgis, vice president of franchise sales development.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 3,254 Reads 1,014 Shares
Vaughn Hayes, the Virginia area developer for Salad Creations, had an early exposure to franchising - and it was a missed opportunity.
  • Ripley Hotch and Debbie Selinsky
  • 3,475 Reads 4 Shares
Hungry Howie's Pizza
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Conventional wisdom has it that young franchises are jumping on the area developer bandwagon to grow quickly and establish their presence in the most efficient way.
  • Ripley Hotch and Debbie Selinsky
  • 3,466 Reads 137 Shares
Despite all of the attention recently focused on income taxes, it is the property tax that is the biggest expense in most businesses - and the most difficult to manage. According to the Council on State Taxation, a Washington, DC, think tank, American businesses shell out more on property taxes than for any other type of state or local taxes.
  • Mark E. Battersby
  • 3,642 Reads 4 Shares
David Asarnow, 38, might make a good case study in the genetics vs. environment debate. His great'grandfather and namesake, David Bauer was an Eastern European immigrant who opened the first discount pharmacy in Newark, NJ in the early 1930s (according to family lore). But it was his grandfather, Jules Bauer, who also built a successful business, who set the 5'year'old David on the business track.
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 6,154 Reads
As more franchise brands push outward from their local or regional base seeking growth on the national stage, choosing the right city or designated market area (DMA) is always a critical factor in success.
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 4,034 Reads 14 Shares
Fish tales about the "big one that got away" are legendary. Franchise salespeople have their own stories of big ones that got away, too. But the good ones also tell tales of the near-misses they pulled from the fire-- and of how, at the eleventh hour, whether through fancy footwork or a simple stroke of luck, they landed the deal after all.
  • Debbie Selinsky
  • 5,165 Reads 3 Shares
Gary Hoyle thought there might be a good concept for franchising at a Florida restaurant he knew. So he ate there every day for three monthsâ€"soaking in the atmosphere and dining on the delicacies. It was enough to convince him it could work.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 3,385 Reads 1 Shares
Whether it's Kung-Pao Chicken, Shrimp Teriyaki, noodle bowls, or chicken lettuce wraps, more and more Americans are searching for healthier and more exotic alternatives. This desire to eat better and experiment with flavors helps explain much of the growth in Asian food franchise concepts.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 3,734 Reads 81 Shares
If you're looking to add women franchisees--and according to every statistic, you should be (more are looking, and more have the means and skills), then you should know what women want (our apologies to the movie).
  • Linda C. Ray
  • 4,485 Reads 25 Shares
Out of the American West came a term that has changed meaning from its use by the vaqueros herding cattle 100 years ago, to that of today's slick marketers of products and services. That word (or buzzword) is branding. In a world of instant communication, in which images whirl by us daily through multiple media, branding is crucial to success for both individuals and corporations.
  • Carren Bersch
  • 3,166 Reads 5 Shares
National marketing efforts on behalf of franchisees have always been one of the benefits of operating within a franchise system. Generally, you sign on, open a store, and you get brand support and marketing from the franchise system. That’s a great advantage, but some multi-unit operators like to take matters a step further... or even several steps further by taking local marketing into their own hands. There are many unique and creative ways for multi-unit operators to approach local marketing. Done right, it’s much more creative and involved than direct mail or coupons, and the results can be taken to the bank. Here are a few twists and tips we uncovered.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 3,478 Reads 12 Shares
Tropical Smoothie Cafe
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The legend is familiar: In 1950, Bill Rosenberg opens the first Dunkin' Donuts store in Quincy, Mass. In 1955, he licenses the first franchise. In 1960, his dream of franchisors and franchisees working together is realized in the founding of the International Franchise Association. In the coming years he would become involved in philanthropy and be called the "father of franchising as we know it today" by Nation's Restaurant News
  • 28,904 Reads 1 Shares
"If you're not moving forward, you're standing still," goes the old business axiom. In franchising, expansion is one way of moving forward. Whether you're a start-up organization or a player who's been around a while, growth through new sites is an objective--and when it comes to successful site selection tactics and techniques, consider the following approaches.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 4,183 Reads 1,014 Shares
March 30th marked another celebration of outstanding achievement in multi-unit franchising when the 2006 FAB Awards were presented to four franchisee winners who demonstrated a level of performance resulting in significant contributions to franchisor systems. At the JW Marriott Las Vegas Resort, Spa & Golf, attendees got to see franchising at its best at the Fifth Annual Multi-Unit Franchising Development Conference & Expo.
  • Carren Bersch
  • 4,243 Reads 29 Shares
A healthy economy and a continued demand for both long- and short-term employees is driving personnel agencies and temporary employment services-and they love the work. Staffing services is one of the fastest-growing industries in the country. In 2004, the staffing industry generated more than $63 billion in revenues, with temporary staffing accounting for approximately 90 percent and permanent placement contributing the remainder.
  • 2,218 Reads 4 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.
  • 10,631 Reads
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
  • 4,307 Reads 3 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
  • 2,767 Reads
"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
  • 14,519 Reads 2 Shares
In 1996, a young London inventor asked British franchise veteran Victor Clewes whether he should franchise or sell the innovative machine he'd created for filtering used cooking oil. Clewes had never set foot in a commercial kitchen, but it didn't take him long to see that Jason Sayers was sitting on a franchising goldmine.
  • Deb Selinsky
  • 5,165 Reads 15 Shares

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