Franchise Operations
To achieve long-term success, franchise systems require operational excellence at all levels, from their stores to their supply chains. Other essential operational factors include franchisee support, recruitment, training, and retaining top talent. Find ideas, tips, and tools to enhance your franchise business operations.
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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
- 4,119 Reads 1,014 Shares
The recent merger of Cold Stone Creamery and Kahala Corp. (which operates a dozen other franchise concepts including Blimpie, Taco Time, and Surf City Squeeze), see executives taking it all in stride.
- Kerry Pipes
- 4,737 Reads 1,014 Shares
Check cashing has come a long way toward respectability in the past couple of decades. Its reputation, however--at least in the eyes of the media and much of the general public--has lagged behind.
- Eddy Goldberg
- 16,392 Reads 1,701 Shares
This issue's Tech Talk looks at two ways area developers can save time and money by using technology to improve their management and operations: 1) using Web-based software to conduct online meetings for all or some of their sites; and 2) using in-store cameras to improve operations on the fly and provide a digital record that can improve customer relations and protect employees at the same time.
- Ripley Hotch
- 3,637 Reads 4 Shares
Innovation has played a progressive role in franchising since the beginning. Over the years, there have been new spins and fresh angles on all kinds of products, services, and concepts. As if there were any doubt, consider the more than 300 new franchise concepts introduced last year alone, according to franchise research firm FRANdata.
- Kerry Pipes
- 6,105 Reads 182 Shares
Steve Smith was a busy soldier during the 24 years he was in the U.S. Army. His two dozen years of service were spent as a logistics material manager. The second half of his military career was with the Special Operations Forces conducting worldwide logistics support ?" he even spent time working in the Pentagon. Smith served in the 101st Airborne during the first Gulf War and helped to defend Kurds fleeing Saddam Hussein in the "Provide Comfort" campaign in northern Iraq. In 2002, the Sgt. Major in the 10th Special Forces Group stationed in Fort Bragg, NC, retired.
- Franchising.com
- 1,938 Reads 15 Shares
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.
- Kerry Pipes
- 3,897 Reads 5 Shares
Multi-unit operators are a sophisticated culture within the franchise industry. They typically are streamlined, aggressive, think big, plan ahead, and are focused on continual growth. So why would a successful area developer want to sell a particular brand or chain of units? Lots of reasons: retirement, health issues, liquidity, a change in direction, a more aggressive growth strategy, a better opportunity, or simply the desire to "try it again with another concept."
- Kerry Pipes
- 5,099 Reads 1,021 Shares
Keld Alstrup went to Canada in 1968 to see the world outside his native, tiny Denmark. He ended up working for Ford and then Volvo. So things, as he says "worked out."
- Eddy Goldberg and Kerry Pipes
- 3,673 Reads 5 Shares
The most powerful players in franchising will gather this spring for the nation's only conference dedicated to the industry's most strategic and fastest-growing segment - multi-unit franchising.
- Press Release
- 3,208 Reads 14 Shares
One of the biggest concerns for franchisees is attracting, hiring, and retaining quality employees. And one of the biggest concerns for working Americans is balancing the competing demands of home and work. For franchise owners willing to be creative, this represents a tremendous opportunity.
- Thom Winninger
- 4,791 Reads 12 Shares
It's human nature to want to be recognized and appreciated. After all, those kinds of accolades help to determine how we feel about ourselves as well as our careers. It's certainly no different in the franchising world. Franchisees want to know that they're more than just another cog on the wheel. They want to feel valued. When they feel like they play an active role in the decisions affecting their business, they're going to work harder. When they work harder, they're generally going to be more successful. And, of course, more successful franchisees mean a more successful franchise organization. So say the franchise executives who are really tuned in to their franchisees.
- Kerry Pipes
- 4,505 Reads 18 Shares
Area developers usually come to the party with experience in franchising and the industry they're in--or at least one of the two. In the case of new Precision Tune Auto Care area developers Dick Lippert and Al Unser, Jr. (yes, that Al Unser, Jr.), neither has franchise experience. But Lippert brings a strong track record of business success. And Unser? Well, he knows a little something about cars.
- Debbie Selinsky
- 3,964 Reads 10 Shares
Statistical information speaks volumes. Take the 2002 U.S. Census. It points out that the composition of the U.S. population will continue to change quickly, with minorities projected to become the majority by 2050. There is also rapid growth taking place in the number of minority-owned businesses. Their numbers exceed 4.1 million; they generate 4.8 million jobs and almost $700 billion in gross receipts.
- Joan Szabo
- 8,493 Reads 186 Shares
When Mike Willett was looking for creative ways to finance the growth of his franchise plans in the Houston area, he looked no further than his existing retirement plan. With a program known as a BORSA (Business Owner's Retirement Savings Account) Plan, he recently tapped his 401(k) holdings to launch the regional development of Synergy HomeCare. The BORSA program is structured so that retirement funds can be used for business development without distributions, taxes, penalties, or loans.
- Joan Szabo
- 5,843 Reads 82 Shares
They may not be the most visible, or even among the highest-paid executives in the company. But in the daily trenches of running a franchise system, chief operating officers, or COOs, are the go-to people for other executives, staff, and franchisees. Most come in early and stay late, taking only brief vacations and then doing so with cell phone in hand.
- Debbie Selinsky
- 8,084 Reads 1 Shares
Financing small-business growth is now moving into the field of franchising. Minneapolis-based Winmark Corp. is branching out from its portfolio of more than 800 franchised retail stores in the U.S. and Canada to a new brand allowing its franchisees to lease business equipment to small-business owners.
- Joan Szabo
- 6,006 Reads 1 Shares
In some parts of the country, Papa Murphy's is still unknown. The typical reaction, according to Senior Vice President of Development Kevin King is, "You've got a thousand stores?"
- 13,131 Reads 1,015 Shares
National franchise operations have marketed in the same ways for years and years. That is, the national budgets were applied to brand building and the local franchisees were charged with creating local lead flow.
- John Federman
- 3,822 Reads 6 Shares
Wouldn't it be great if you could call a home repair service, book an appointment, and be guaranteed they'd show up on time (and not within a four-hour window!), be courteous and respectful, and perform a reliable, professional job?
- 4,571 Reads 11 Shares
Time for my annual "just got back from the IFA Convention" column. I saw lots of my lawyer friends while there-also met a lot of suppliers, franchise consultants, academicians, journalists, and franchisees. Occasionally, I even came a cross a franchisor. Didn't see too many psychologists, however. Why not?
- Rupert M. Barkoff
- 6,658 Reads 1 Shares
The surest way to lose a good employee is to leave him or her up in the air about what the job is and how to do it.
- Ripley Hotch
- 4,937 Reads 3 Shares
The use of outsourcing continues to expand within the franchise industry. In addition to information technology outsourcing, service providers are being called upon to perform a number of business processes including accounting, call center operations, disaster recovery, human resources management, and sales training.
- Milton B. Whitfield
- 4,361 Reads 6 Shares
"Our first salon was a real struggle," explains Doug Barnes. "There were times when we didn't know if we'd have enough money to get through the next day." But those hard times helped forge a determination that he and his wife Elizabeth rely on still today. And it must be a formula that works because today, Barnes operates 26 Cost Cutters and three Supercuts locations throughout Nebraska and Iowa, and Regis Corporation, the parent company of Cost Cutters and Supercuts, just recognized him with its 2005 Multi-Concept Franchisee of the Year Award.
- Kerry Pipes
- 6,146 Reads 192 Shares
Franchising is attracting young entrepreneurs who see the field as full of opportunity. Some are working hard enough and have found the right niche to make their way to the top quickly. Take Gregg Majewski, who became chief financial officer of the Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwich chain at the age of 22 after working only two months in what began as a summer internship position.
- Joan Szabo
- 5,515 Reads
Web-based Performance Dashboards give you the power to analyze information about the performance of your business and the key activities you manage. As the name dashboard suggests, these are web-based tools that continuously display the current state of your key business metrics. And among the most vital signs of your business health are customer satisfaction scores and customer loyalty trends.
- Jack Mackey
- 9,197 Reads 144 Shares
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?"
- Lane Fisher and Rocco Fiorentino
- 4,783 Reads 6 Shares
The numbers are overwhelming: there are more than 12 million businesses in the United States, and over the next five to seven years more than half of these companies will change hands. Of the six million owners who will sell their businesses in the next several years, most will not take specific steps to ensure a smooth transition from their ownership. Even for the few owners who have made an attempt to plan for their exit, their efforts usually fall far short of a comprehensive exit plan.
- Will Lindenmayer
- 3,779 Reads 1 Shares
The franchise industry's shift from the paper to the electronic age has been slow and steady, with the lion's share of today's franchise organizations now operating their systems much like the rest of modern civilization: in real-time.
- Dan Martin
- 4,299 Reads 1,023 Shares
In 1992, after 25 years in the high-tech industry, Bill Criego opted to start his own company as a franchisee for Batteries Plus in the Minneapolis area. By 1995, he'd drafted wife Laurie, a sales manager in a consulting services firm, to join him in the business. By 2003, son Michael, a former airline pilot, decided to come aboard and help run the operations for the stores, which now number ten. (They'll open the 11th in a couple of months and plan others in the future.)
- Debbie Selinsky
- 6,325 Reads 1 Shares
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