Archive for the ‘Franchise News’ Category

McDonald’s is finally faltering from the rising competition and US poor unemployment rapport. Is it representing the big picture of franchising today?

McDonald’s at Toms River, New Jersey, US

For McDonald’s, it’s always been me against the world – Competitors are doing their best to secure and grow their market shares in the industry. Like it or not, competition always drag the competing entities to price war – and we all do know that price war is where we DON’T want our franchises involved in.

Unfortunately, the recent news of McDonald’s US sales decline indicates that, like it or not, McDonald’s has to play the price war game. As…

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Franchisors and franchisees – should you join the Black Friday 2009 sales? Based on the stats, you should.

Black Friday – Union Square, San Francisco

The day businesses, especially retailers, have been waiting for is finally approaching: The Black Friday on November 27, 2009.

The Black Friday (and the whole Christmas shopping season starting from that day) is the Day for customers to lavishly spend their money and for businesses to attract and serve as many customers as they can. Franchises are definitely on the bandwagon right now and I don’t think you should miss this out.

Papa John’s, for example, has already launched a Black Friday weekend specials:…

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Cash flow is the life energy of every business, including franchise. Lack of it will drain the life out of your franchise unit – and this is just the beginning.

Franchise unit operation cash flow

In the midst of economic turmoil today, we heard this advice all the time: In order for your business to survive, you should increase sales, cut expenses.

With all due respect – I don’t think the above is entirely applicable for the rest of us.

Increasing sales and cutting expense in today’s difficult economy is very challenging, if not very difficult for the rest of us. I do agree that the logic behind it…

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Do you want to receive free franchising advice from top franchising experts but too tired to read any franchising articles? Try listening to live podcasts.

Franchise podcasts

The Internet offers wealth of knowledge if you want to learn as much as you can about franchising. You only need to look for the online resources.

One of the resources I would like to recommend is franchising podcasts.

What is podcast anyway?

Podcasts are series of digital media files (most commonly audio) that can be shared and listened to, either live or recorded. Podcasts are commonly come into life in the of online talk shows or online interviews.

I enjoy listening to podcasts…

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The 5th annual Franchisee Satisfaction Awards is now calling for registrants – Register your franchise to join the elite group of 500 leading franchise brands.

Franchisee Satisfaction Awards 2010

Franchise Business Review is inviting you to register to be inducted in their 2010 Franchisee Satisfaction Awards, held in San Antonio Texas on Feb 6 – 8, 2010.

The Awards will showcase franchise companies that are doing it right – putting their franchisees first and focusing on the things that truly matter most.

Here is a quote from Franchise Business Review site about the Awards:

Franchise Business Review presents awards to the top rated franchises in 17 industry categories: Advertising &…

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Franchises aiming for global expansion could mean two things: It is either they are booming or they are looking for overseas market, due to stagnant or declining local market.

Krispy Kreme irony

Let us start with McDonald’s as an example.

We all know that McDonald’s franchise units are present in many parts of the world (#1 in 2009 top 100 global franchise lists.) They have achieved what Subway and 7-Eleven can’t. Despite challenges McDonald’s face in the countries they existed, such as a victim of terrorist attack (for being an ‘American’ business) and protests from many parts of the world, they do thrive.

Unfortunately, not all global expansion cases are…

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Paul Segreto, one of the authoritative voices in franchising, tipped me with his experience as a franchisee, teaching us how to deal with our struggling financial units.

We are business owners, not ostriches

Paul commented on Franchise Note’s Do You Think Franchising is Easy? Think Again sharing his story as a franchisee.

Paul’s story is evolving around his mistakes dealing with his struggling franchise units. At that time, he did what many of us did (and do) – Sticking our head in the sand, running away from problems by deeming our franchise units as failures too early; In other words, we often give up before we give all we…

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Social media can help new franchisors to create the buzz necessary for the launch of their franchising concepts… and for attracting franchisee candidates.

New franchise launch 2.0

I have just written an article on my other business blog, Noobpreneur.com, about social media ROI. To my surprise, 5 minutes after I posted the article, I received 2 comments. Both of them manage social media activities for small business clients, and one of them is actually helping with the social media of a newly-launched franchise, Naples Tomato – a popular local restaurant in Naples, Florida (read the press release.)

In my Noobpreneur.com blog, I question whether the social media have…

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2009 Top 200 Franchises

Here is another franchise resource you would like to refer to in your search for the right franchise opportunities. The Franchise Times 2009 Top 200 Franchise Systems has just been published by the well-respected franchise publication, the Franchise Times.

The ranking in the Franchise Times 200 is based on total sales of US-based franchise companies, worldwide. The roster presents you the franchise companies’ current rank, previous rank, worldwide sales figures, domestic, international and overall franchise unit counts, along with ‘percent franchised’, which indicates the percentage of total number of franchise units which are owned by franchisees.

The only ’stumbling block’ of the Top 200 Franchise…

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7-Eleven as Kwik-E-Mart

Franchising is more appealing to entrepreneurs than ever – Many thanks to the recession. People are ‘forced’ to take entrepreneurship route due to downsizing and troubled personal finance. As people need a hand in guiding them in the new frontier, franchising comes to the rescue, offering proven system, strong brand name and support/help along the way.

I’ve just read an article from the NYDailyNews.com that, in essence, echoes to what I believe all this time – Franchising as the legitimate business model in the midst of economic uncertainty.

The article, titled In weak economy, having your own biz, but not being on your own, has appeal,…

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