Archive for the ‘Franchise Tips’ Category

Failing franchise

When you are pitched by a franchise company that franchises can’t fail, just stay away from that franchise: Franchises – just like any other businesses – can fail. What to do next if your franchise is failing?

I was pitched that franchises has a better sustainability due to their inherited ability to succeed. I was also pitched that franchises can’t fail because when you buy a franchise, you buy a proven system.

Wrong – my two franchise units were going out of business for one reason or another.

I’m not going to point a finger to my franchisor…

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100 franchisee questions

Not all can be franchisees – there are certain personality traits and circumstances that can hinder you from being a successful franchisee.

Are you a franchisee material? Here are 100 questions to ask or answer to ultimately help you determine whether you have all the potential to be a great franchisee or not, excerpted from Franchise Bible:

1. Have you and your spouse and knowledgeable family members discussed the idea of buying a franchise?

2. Are you in complete agreement?

3. Do you have the financial resources required to buy a franchise? If not, where…

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Franchising is not magic

“Franchise opportunities – easy to run, no experience required!”

In this article I want to be totally honest with you: Whenever you encounter such offer, not only in franchising but in any business opportunities, my only suggestion for you would be to stay away, even run away from them.

Franchises are mistakenly touted to be businesses that are easy to run – thanks to the proven franchise system in place. This is misleading and could lose franchisees money eventually.

Here’s the cold, hard truth: Despite the proven system in place, new franchise units are essentially business…

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Franchise agreement signing

You have prepared everything you need to do to buy your dream franchise: Location, check. Market research, check. Financing, check. The due diligence, check, check and check. Now it’s time to move a step forward: Let your franchisor know that you are ready for reviewing and signing a franchise agreement.

Franchise agreement is where things are put at stake – Misinterpret it, and you’ll face the consequences for at least 5 to 10 years.

Franchise agreement can be 50 pages long, even more, and can be overwhelming to read word-by-word, especially if you are not familiar with…

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Promise?

I heard too many stories of franchisees who “feel” that they were being cheated by their franchises, resulting in an under-performing, if not dying, franchise units.

The general rule of thumb in any business agreement is: read every word, and don’t forget the fine print.

Not to discredit franchisors, but some seem to have a subtle intention to “trick” franchisees into signing for franchise agreement. Alas, we can’t ask for franchisors to guarantee anything – they can’t, and even if they do, they are considered as both unethical and illegal.

The truth is, you and I can’t put all…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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Here is the question that your answer can make or break your entrepreneurial career: To buy or to lease business premise.

Leased property

Many people misunderstood McDonald’s business model. Many thought that McDonald’s is successful because it makes the best burgers.

Not entirely true (to me, Burger King’s burgers are the best of all – LOL. McDonald’s? Theirs are simply… um… bland.)

Many people can claim that they make better burgers than McDonald’s. They can be successful with their superior burger recipes. Unfortunately, most of them are missing one major key ‘ingredient’ – An ‘ingredient’ that makes McDonald’s not only…

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Many people deciding to buy a franchise because it is closely related to their hobbies. My opinion: Hobby-based franchises are great, but let your hobby be your hobby.

Science franchise

I have talked with some franchisees in the past who are buying a franchise because it is their hobbies-turned-into-businesses.

One of their most common comments is: Let your hobby be your hobby.

To clarify: Not that hobby-based businesses (in this case, franchises) are bad. In fact, for the right people, hobby-based franchises can be extremely successful, considering the nature of hobby/entertainment community and industry.

Unfortunately, using your hobby as the…

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