Pet Feature Articles

Twenty years ago, franchising meant buying the rights to and opening a single unit or business. But a changing trend has taken hold during the last two decades. Today, it's not uncommon for a single franchise operator to have 5, 6, or even dozens of units. FRANdata research notes the number of multi-unit operators now tops 34,000, and those operators control more than 155,000 franchised units in the U.S. It's a growth strategy that has proven effective but it should be approached with caution. Multi-unit operators are generally wired differently then their single-unit counterparts. Successful multi-unit operators are typically experienced, skilled, professional business executives who have chosen franchising as their business model. They possess the skills, training, capital, infrastructure, and vision to operate numerous units and have the ability to continue adding units to their portfolio--without stressing their organization or their stomach.

As we examined last time, home-based franchising can be a great business model, but it's not for everyone. Working from home takes an organized self-starter who can get the job done despite what's going on around them. But for those who are self-motivated, can multi-task, and can balance working and living in their home, the benefits of a home-based franchise can add up to big success. The choices for home-based franchising are varied and wide - and seemingly growing more by the week. These days there are all kinds of home-based franchise opportunities. Just a few examples include home decorating, home repair, home cleaning, healthcare, as well as a number of pet services. Most of these home-based franchises typically require a lower investment and often offer a more specialized service than their retail and commercial kin.

"The one with the most money wins the battle in recruiting new franchisees" is an axiom that means more now than ever. Emerging franchise companies have a difficult time getting the attention of serious franchise candidates in today's challenging economic environment. This is because new advertising and marketing channels are emerging, and more franchisors are chasing a limited number of qualified franchisee candidates.

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.

USA Insulation, based in Eastlake, Ohio, has added four new franchise locations to serve Chicago, Omaha, Central New Jersey, and Portland, Maine. Interest in insulation has grown in recent years as homeowners hit by the economic downturn and rising energy costs seek to reduce their monthly gas and electric bills - good news for this franchisor. "Aside from the typical reasons for insulating a home, many of our new customers have wanted to take advantage of the energy tax credit," says company President Patrick Pitrone. "Adding home insulation now can get you a 30 percent federal energy tax credit of up to $1,500."

On September 1, the SBA announced revisions in its Standard Operating Procedure for financing of goodwill in resale transactions under its 7(a) program. The changes, which take effect October 1st, supersede revisions made in March that limited the amount of goodwill financing for resales to $250,000 or 50 percent of the loan amount, whichever was lower.

Franchisee validation can make or break the sale of your candidate. Pow! Just like that, a once-supercharged prospect can deflate to nothing in 24 hours, bailing out of your process almost instantly. Validation is the most influential stage in the selling process. What franchise owners say means far more than what a corporate sales person tells them. Franchise operators are doing it and living it, and it's their experiences that count foremost with cautious buyers.

This article from 2008 could almost be written today. Learn how the more things change, the more they stay the same (except for Covid, of course).

When Steve Foltz graduated from Eastern Oregon University in 1985 he thought he might be interested in city or government work. To bide his time and help pay bills while he was interviewing for jobs during the day, he took a night job at Rax Restaurant in Portland.

In taking various licensed concepts to some 70 countries, we have seen numerous approaches to how licensors evaluate new countries. These approaches can be classified into three basic categories: the reactive approach, the shotgun approach and the predictive approach. In general, these three approaches can be described as follows...

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.

1987 was a good year for franchising. Up to then, franchising was young, brash, and not always professional. Franchises weren’t much concerned with history. They were built mostly by young entrepreneurs who saw an opportunity and grabbed it, looking forward, not backward. The first 30 years of modern business format franchising had the feeling of the Wild West (like the Internet of the last 10 years).

Since 1653, when Izaak Walton published The Compleat Angler, "compleat" has come to mean many things beyond what Walton described as "a Discourse on Fish and Fishing." The dictionary tells us it means classic or quintessential. But compleat also implies mastery far beyond the basics, conjuring up words like visionary, leader, even master.

Building customer loyalty is no easy task in today's highly competitive business world where consumers will change brands or products to save even a few pennies. Businesses from mom and pop operations to multi-national conglomerates are routinely looking for new and unique ways not only to recruit customers, but to turn them into loyal, repeat shoppers who also spread the word. As numerous studies have shown, it's much more cost-effective to keep existing customers than to find new ones.

Franchising can be a snap… or a click. Photography franchising is getting a lot of, er, exposure, and has developed rapidly in recent years.

Pets and pet-related businesses are among today's hottest franchise opportunities--especially in the U.S., where pet owners are notorious for pampering their dogs, cats, birds (and even their rodents, reptiles, amphibians, and fish).

Have you ever wondered why doing the right thing or behaving as we "should" is usually the most difficult choice? Especially when it comes to handling our finances, there is almost always a less emotionally challenging path than the one that is "in our own long-term best interest."

Outsiders think that franchising is a quick and easy way to get big bucks--there's even a new book out that promises "instant success" in franchising. You know that's not true. It doesn't matter where you get in, there's a ton of work, and some fair amount of suffering as a franchisor or franchisee gets up to speed.

Let's face it. From a franchisee's perspective, the single most important piece of information to gather during the sales process is the likely return on investment. Any franchise salesperson will tell you that the most frequently asked questions by prospective franchisees during the sales process are: "How much can I make?" and "What do similar units earn?"

There's no place like home - and for an increasing number of Americans, there's no business like home business. The rise of home-based franchise opportunities coincides with the shift to a service economy in the United States. As more households with two working adults struggle to make ends meet, a combination of factors has made working from home an increasingly attractive option.

Imitation is said to be the sincerest form of flattery. If that's true, discount giants Wal-Mart and Target have paid a glowing compliment to small but booming dollar stores, including franchises such as My Dollar Store, Dollar Castle, Just-A-Buck and Dollar Discount. Wal-Mart is testing "Pennies-n-Cents" sections in 20 of their Supercenters, and Target has launched The I Spot in the front of about 125 of its stores.

In taking various licensed concepts to some 70 countries, we have seen numerous approaches to how licensors evaluate new countries. These approaches can be classified into three basic categories: the reactive approach, the shotgun approach and the predictive approach.

Got a qualified prospect interested in opening up a new franchise but who has never seen one of your stores? No problem for Long Beach, Calif.-based It's A Grind Coffee House, which utilizes a web-based program that allows prospects with a password to get behind a computer screen, log on, and view real-time streaming video of the action inside a store. A camera located behind the counter offers online viewers a live feed of what's going on inside an It's A Grind Coffee House. Prospects can see the store's layout, decor, customers and employees engaged in transactions.