Archive for the ‘Franchise Tips’ Category

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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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 successful as a franchise, but as a business empire,…

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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 main reason to decide on buying a franchise is not…

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In the midst of tons of guides to buy a franchise, there are not many guides on how to sell a franchise. This article is one of the guides on how to properly sell a franchise unit.

franchise for sale

How this lack of guideline in selling a franchise unit could affect a franchisee? The answer is: A lot.

Firstly, with lack of or wrong guidance, a franchisee could make an uninformed decision regarding the sale of his/her franchise unit. This could lead to misunderstandings later on.

Secondly, selling a franchise without proper preparation can only bring the franchisees in difficult situations, such as future nags from the franchise…

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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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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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Copyshop franchise – in fragments

I like browsing for small business-related news, partly because I have interest in the topic, and partly because I run and manage two small business-related blogs – Noobpreneur.com and FranchiseNote.com.

While browsing for franchising news, two articles have caught my attention – The Boston Globe’s and The Tennessean’s.

Actually, those two articles have caught my attention because there are some issues bugged me reading those two, leading to one question: Do people really think franchising is as easy as 1-2-3?

I was in franchising as a franchisee since 4 years ago, back in 2005. From my experience, buying a franchise with a mindset that is…

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home-based franchise operations

Many people don’t realise that not all home-based franchises are enabling you to do most of your work from home. Some do allow your home to be the ‘headquarters’, where business operations are done mostly outside the comfort of your home.

Let us get this straight – Home-based franchises are those franchises that allow you to, well, use your home as the franchise ‘base’ or ‘headquarters’. Although, in general, home-based franchises describe those that allow franchisee to stay at home and (mostly) work from home, some home-based franchises are mobile franchises – Those that don’t require a premise to run the business (the franchises utilise cars,…

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