Joel Libava's Blog: The Franchise King Blog, page 85
April 25, 2013
A Retail Franchise Buying Tip
If you’re buying a retail franchise business, you’re going to need these.
Feet.
That’s right; you’re going to need a lot of foot traffic.
This foot traffic needs to start in the vicinity of your franchise business.
Because if you have foot traffic nearby, you’ll have an opportunity to convert it into your traffic. Your stores’ traffic.
Traffic = Revenue
Research The Franchise Opportunity
It would be nice to know (before you buy the retail franchise of your dreams) if current franchise owners are getting it.
So, ask them.
(If they’re getting a decent amount of foot traffic)
Some of the franchisees will tell you that they are; some will tell you that they’re not.
Dig
Dig deeper into their answers.
Find out what’s impacting their foot traffic. Ask them if the franchisor does whatever it takes to make sure that they have the best chance to get decent amounts of traffic into their stores.
Ask the franchisees what some of things are that they themselves have done to increase store traffic.
And, if you end up buying the franchise that you’re interested in, refer back to your notes.
Those notes…the answers you got from the 10-15 franchisees that you called and visited, have some real gems that you can use in your franchise operation.
To grow it.
Traffic Tips
If you’d like to find out what retail business owners are doing to increase their store traffic, check out this post that I wrote for Small Business Trends.
Maybe there’s a gem or two you can use in your future retail franchise.
Image courtesy of Wonderlane, on Flickr
March 20, 2013
How Clean Do You Want It To Be?
Do you really want a clean franchise business?
If so, why?
Why wouldn’t you want a dirty franchise business?
Confused?
Does It Matter?
You need to find out.
You need to look deep inside yourself-before you start visiting any of these franchise websites.
You need to figure out if it matters.
“It” being the type of franchise business you end up owning.
I’ll put it another way.
If you owned a residential cleaning franchise, would you be 100% comfortable telling everyone you know?
Or, would you be almost embarrassed disclosing the type of franchise business you were the owner of?
Think about it. Long and hard.
Internal Or External?
I’m no Freud…but, I am trying to get you thinking here.
I don’t want you to end up in a business that you’re not comfortable owning.
Theoretically, if you found out that you’d be able to make $275,000 a year the owner of a cleaning franchise, but you couldn’t really see yourself owning one, would you buy it?
Think long and hard here.
Most franchise agreements (contracts) last 10 years.
That would be a long time to be the owner of a business that you never liked in the first place-but were only interested in The Money part.
Dirty Opportunities
While I’ve got you thinking, I’d like you to read something I just wrote.
It concerns dirt.
Read about these 6 Dirty Franchise Opportunities.
Images courtesy of NancyHugoCKD.com and Eichental on Flickr
February 7, 2013
Low Cost Franchise Opportunities
You don’t have to spend $250,000 to open a franchise.
Unless you want to.
Most of the people that I’ve worked with over the years come to the table thinking that they’ll have to bet the farm in order to become a franchise owner. But, it’s just not true.
But, if you’re hell-bent on starting a franchise that requires a retail space-and along with it, things like inventory, fixtures, and signage, you will end up with a total investment that’s in the $250,000 range.
Low-Cost Franchise Options
Some very successful franchisees own low-cost businesses.
Some of these franchises are home-based, and some are small-office based.
And, if you have great sales skills, there’s a whole world of opportunities in franchising for you to look at.
WGN-Radio
If you’d like to learn more about some of the low-cost franchise business options that are available, I was just interviewed by my friend, Carol Roth.
Carol, an outspoken and influential businesswoman, has a radio program on Chicago’s WGN-Radio, a 50,000 watt powerhouse that can sometimes be heard as far away as Australia.
Take a listen to this 10-minute radio interview; you’ll learn about franchises that have a low investment.
December 27, 2012
Are You In Franchise Sales Or Franchise Development?
If you sell franchise business opportunities, lead a team that does, or are a franchise executive…
Read this:
“The information in Joel Libava’s book is a ‘must read’ for any would-be franchise owner! After having read your book I feel that I can better serve those people looking to buy a Franchise as you have provided me with additional tools to better screen/prepare those people thinking that a ‘franchise’ is the answer.” – Steve Losorwith, Franchise Executive
Steve, who recently purchased my book, Become A Franchise Owner!, wrote me a lengthy letter that included the quote above.
His letter meant a lot to me. Would you like to know why?
Because he told me that it helped him in his job.
His job: selling franchises.
The way I see it, any piece of information that can help me get a better understanding of what the person on the other side of the table is going through, is something I need to have.
You can have it too.
December 4, 2012
Up And Coming Franchise Opportunities From Entrepreneur.com
Recently, my friends over at Entrepreneur.com put together a cool little slideshow. In it, they laid out 10 different franchise opportunities that they felt are worth watching in the coming year.
Now, predictions are just predictions; we all know that. And, crystal balls? They tend to break. (If dropped)
But, once in awhile-predictions do come true.
So, before you go out and buy a franchise, take a look at what the editors at Entrepreneur.com have put together.
Maybe they know something that you don’t.
November 20, 2012
It Needs To Be Multiple Choice
(Courtesy of albertogp123, on Flickr)
You need to have choices. All of us do.
If you’re looking around for a franchise to buy, don’t make the mistake of only focusing on one.
Here’s why:
The franchise concept you’ve been obsessing over for months now may turn out to be a
(Courtesy of Boccaccio1, on Flickr)
Think about it.
All the hours you’ve spent checking out their franchise website…all the time you’ve been spending in your car-driving around to scout out possible locations for your new business…
And, all of those great daydreams you’ve been having about how your future franchise empire is going to look someday.
May turn out to have been a waste of time.
In other words, what if the franchise you’ve been thinking of buying turns out to be nothing even close to what you imagined it would be?
What if your role as The Owner involves a few things that you aren’t very good at?
Or, what if you find out-after doing great research, that it’s going to take a lot longer to make money than you originally thought?
Have Other Franchise Choices
If you only look at one franchise opportunity, you have nothing to fall back on if things don’t work out as you hoped they would. Plus, you will have nothing to compare it to.
You need some choices.
I talk about this topic more during my interview on The Small Business Advocate radio program that is now available for you to listen to at your leisure.
I also discuss my franchise outlook for the next 4 years.
October 25, 2012
Veterans Franchise Reviews From FBR
(Courtesy of vox Efx, Flickr.com)
Franchise Business Review, (FBR) has been in business for several years, and has amassed a large amount of franchise data.
About FBR:
“Franchise Business Review is the leading market research company in the franchise industry, assisting prospective franchise buyers through the examination process of today’s leading franchise systems. Before you invest in any franchise opportunity, get the facts from Franchise Business Review. Our independent franchisee satisfaction reports measure the health of any franchise system, based exclusively on the feedback of today’s franchise owners… the real franchise experts! ” – From the Franchise Business Review website
Veteran Data
The franchise industry has been aggressively targeting our military veterans the past couple of years.
The reasons have to do with fit, and the fact that so many of them are returning and jobless.
FBR just released an interesting report on veterans who have purchased franchises.
According to information I found on the FBR website, the data compiled for this report, (which recognizes the top vet-friendly brands based on overall veteran franchisee satisfaction) comes from their surveys. FBR surveyed nearly 3,500 military-trained franchisees, representing 265 brands. And, FBR also interviewed franchise executives.
FBR seems to have done a very thorough job on this important report.
However…
Not every franchisee who’s a military veteran in every franchise in the US was surveyed.
So, while the report is very comprehensive, it doesn’t reflect the experiences of every veteran franchise owner.
I like what FBR does, and I trust their data.
So, if you’re a military veteran, and you’re thinking of franchise ownership as one of your career options, grab this franchise report.
You’ll learn a lot.
Related posts:
From Forbes.com: Should Veterans Look Into Franchising?
Military Veterans And Franchises: A Fit?
Amazon Video Book Reviews Rock!
October 9, 2012
How Good Are They Online?
Here’s something to add to your list of things to do before you sign a franchise agreement;
Take a look at the franchise’s online expertise.
In other words, are the things they’re doing online first-class?
Your Online Experience
Can you remember what your initial thoughts were when you first arrived at their website?
Did you like it? Was it professional? Or, was it kind of cheesy?
And, do you remember how easy their franchise website was to find?
Better yet, if you found their opportunity by yourself-online, can you remember what search term you used?
Google It Now
I have a little test that you can perform, right now.
Do a search on Google or Bing of the category the franchise concept is in.
For example, if the franchise you’re looking into is a food franchise that specializes in burgers, type “burger franchises.” See what comes up first. (Actually, see what comes up on the search engine’s first page.) Is “your” franchise listed?
Another search engine that you may want to try is Dogpile.
Dogpile is a metasearch site—that means that it searches multiple engines. I use it a lot; it’s pretty good.
The goal here is to find out just how strong the online presence is of the franchise opportunity you’re thinking of investing in…becoming the owner of.
I’ve provided a few more ways to do so in this franchise article at SBA.Gov.
No related posts.
September 22, 2012
Franchise Book Now Available In Audio
More than 100,000 books, from best-selling novels to best-selling business books are now available on Amazon.com in audio versions.
And my own book, Become A Franchise Owner! was just added to the list…
If you’d like to have a listen, go here and check out the job Lance Axt has done; his voice is fantastic!
After you purchase the audio book, you can listen to it on your iPhone, Android device, and hundreds of other ways-at your leisure.
So, check it out!
Related posts:
A Book For Regional Developers And Master Franchise Owners
September 10, 2012
A Book For Regional Developers And Master Franchise Owners
Rik Nonelle thinks that every regional developer should read Become A Franchise Owner! That’s why he called me to have 10 signed copies of my franchise book sent to him for his regional developer meeting this week in Cincinnati.
Rik and I go back a few years; I was a franchise broker when I first met the tall CEO of Window Genie.
Rik and I hit it off right away. He’s a good guy, and he cares. A lot.
When he found out that I had written a book especially for potential franchise business owners, he went on Amazon.com, and bought three of them. A few chapter later, he emailed me, and requested that I send 10 signed copies down to his corporate office. I agreed, and drove down the street and had them shipped by my local UPS Store franchise.
But, why did Rik want 10 signed copies of my franchise ownership book?
Regional Developer Training
Rik is going to hand out my books to each and every one of his RD’s who are coming down to his office for training. He’s decided to make my book, “required reading.” He feels that in order to sell franchises, one has to understand what potential buyers are going through. Rik obviously feels that my book captures that, but I think there’s another reason.
Rik feels very comfortable with prospective franchise owners that have been educated in the right way. And, he wants his regional developers to be, too.
(In case you don’t know what a regional developer is, it’s someone who’s purchased a large territory, and is responsible for building it up by selling new franchise units. The developer gets a portion of the upfront franchise fee and the ongoing revenue in most cases.)
I Never Thought That…
When I wrote the book, I really wrote it for people that were interested in exploring franchise ownership. I didn’t think that it would appeal to franchise sellers.
We’ll see. Maybe Rik is starting a new trend-and creating a new audience for my book.
Cool!
If you sell franchises, would you want to read a book that’s really written for franchise buyer’s?
Check out Rik’s franchise opportunity:
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