Can You Bootstrap a Franchise Business?
The expression started out as “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps” — an impossible thing to do, so in the 19th century it meant a tall tale or an impossible claim. In the 1920s, it gained the meaning of succeeding by one’s own efforts or being a self-made man. By…
What You Can Get out of a Franchise Business
Owning a franchise business is different from owning an individual start up business in a number of ways. One of the clearest is the end game. Your franchise agreement is for a specific length of time. An independent start up may hope to be bought out by some deep-pocketed competitor…
Crowdsourcing Franchisee Compliance Checks
Domino’s (formerly Domino’s Pizza) has offered a chance to win a year of free pizza to people who will post Instagram photos of “Domino’s Pizza” signs with their locations, using the hashtag #logoinformants. What’s going on? First, Domino’s has created a clever social media campaign. Reaching Instagram users with the…
Franchise Business Opportunity Promotions
Right now, 7-Eleven is offering certain franchise business opportunities with an amazing promotion — they’re waiving the franchise fee. That can mean a savings of tens of thousands of dollars for qualified franchisees. It’s not long since TCBY and Mrs. Fields were offering a BOGO: both franchises for the initial…
Coping with Franchise Changes
Another set of franchisees has decided to sue their franchisor. In this case, the franchisor has changed hands several times in the past years and the new owner — an equity holding company — has made a lot of changes. Here’s a sampling, from the point of view of the…
Franchise Turnover Rates
We’ve explained turnover rates before. However, a new article on the franchise industry asks whether the industry as a whole has a turnover rate problem… and suggests that there are some franchisors that are skewing the numbers. A franchise’s turnover rate is the percentage of franchise locations that close in…
Women In Franchising
Look at magazines about business that are directed toward men. You’ll see biographies of millionaires, tips for productivity, and information about new technology. Check out the magazines about business that are directed toward women. Lead articles focus on how to decorate an office or studio, how to overcome negative feelings,…
Senate Hearing on Franchise Industry
Last week, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a hearing on the changes facing the franchise industry following the National Labor Relations Board’s decision that franchisors and franchisees can be “joint employers.” The “joint employer” idea says that the corporate office shares responsibility for employee working…
How Much Time Does It Take To Own A Franchise?
When you think about owning your franchise business, what are you imagining? You work the same 40 hours each week that you do now. Those hours include tasks like visioning, networking, taking people to lunch, and providing high-level empowerment for your staff. You set your own hours, opening and closing…
Planning for Innovation with Your Franchisor
Look ahead a couple of years… you’ve chosen the perfect franchise for you — let’s say a spa services franchise with automated mobile booking. It combines a luxurious boutique feel at check-in with automated services and a terrific automated email drip system that brings customers back frequently. Sure, you had…