Joel Libava's Blog: The Franchise King Blog, page 86

Could A Fitness Franchise Get Your Financial House In Order?

I ask this question of you…future franchise owners. And, I have a great reason for doing so.

Fitness Franchises Are Still Hot. 

(Photo courtesy of Neeta Lind, Flickr)

Most people, when discussing franchise business opportunities of the fitness type, think of 24-hour fitness studios. And, that’s fine. They are seem to be doing pretty well.

But, is this the time to invest in one?

 

Fulfilling A Need

We can debate on whether or not getting in shape is a need or a want, for days on end. For example, I know that I need to work out…get in shape. But, I’m not sure I want to. That’s because it takes work. And, some commitment. And, a little extra money.

But, if you, (in your heart) feel that most people are looking to live longer, lose weight, slim-down…then maybe you should get on board.

By on board, I’m referring to the steps you’re going to need to take to become the owner of a fitness franchise. And, one of those steps involves a simple gut-check.

 

Gut Check #1

Are you ready to become an owner? Good. There are several things you need to look into, including the franchise concepts themselves. And, yourself. So, before you start looking around, do this.

One more thing; you have to decide if the fitness-related sector of franchising still has some room to grow. Read this article from The Street.com.

 

Gut Check #2

Are you ready to work harder than you ever have before? Is your family going to be okay with your hours?

Is your family even on board? 

Better find out.

Or, you may have a lot of extra time on your hands.

To get in shape. 

 

Check Out These Fitness Franchises 

 

Work With Me

 

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Running And Chasing

(Flickr-ilovememphis photostream)

Technology. It makes things easier. Simpler. Less hectic.

Right?

Was it ever supposed to? I don’t remember. Because, I’m too darn busy-all the time. But, at least there are a few local franchise businesses that can help me with some of the things that consume my time.

 

All The Time

 

Sometimes, I feel like I’m just running and chasing. 24/7. (What I’m running to-or chasing down, I have no idea.)

But I know this; I’m not alone in feeling this way. I am running all the time. Unless I’m here, on vacation.

I wake up, chill for a moment or so, then turn on my Smartphone. (I usually check for messages etc. And of course I check for messages right before I power it down for the night, too.) That usually starts the ball rolling, running-wise.

While it’s true that all of us run and chase during certain periods in our life-lately, it just feels like it’s all the darn time. Heck, sometimes, I don’t even have time to eat.

Can you relate?

 

An Opportunity

 

When was the last time your family sat down to eat at the same time? If you can remember, you’re doing a lot better than most. If you can’t, read on.

Our eating habits have kept pace with our…pace.  Have the restaurants in your area done the same? Are they staying open later, so they can serve our seemingly round-the-clock lifestyles?

Should you open one that does?

Look At These Food Franchises  

 

Mounting Evidence

 

According to my friend, Rieva Lesonsky, “There’s mounting evidence that many formerly quiet cities and towns will soon be boasting an ever-increasing number of restaurants (and not just of the quick-service variety) that stay open 24/7. Why? Apparently Millennials are hungrier than the rest of us-and they want access to food day and night.”

Need more? Read her article about the food frenzy at SmallBizDaily, and see for yourself.

 

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Home Services Franchises

You can only do so much. Especially when it comes to home maintenance. And, it’s not because you’re lazy or unmotivated.

It’s because you don’t have time. And, that’s a problem.

 

The Solution

It’s a good thing that most problems have solutions. And, if some of your problems revolve around time-or lack thereof, it’s pretty easy to find a fix for them. You just need some money.

If you’re willing to fork over some of your hard-earned dollars, almost every home maintenance-related item can be handled. Like;

Landscaping
Lawn Care
Painting
Cleaning (Maid services)
Cleaning (Decks etc.)
Repairs
Remodeling

And of course, a lot of the service providers for the items listed above are local franchise businesses. And, that’s good, because you don’t want just anyone traipsing through your house.

You want reliable workers that are bonded and have been thoroughly vetted by the franchisee. In other words, you want to make sure that anyone that’s allowed in your house…on your property, has had a background check. (And have passed it with flying colors!)

 

 

The Home Services Industry

This sector of franchising is huge, and I know it well. I’ve been able to personally help a good number of people learn about home services franchises; some of them have gone on to be very successful franchisees.

My friends at Franchise Direct have just put together a great review on the home services franchise sector. If you’re interested in franchise ownership, and you feel that it’s important to stay up on the latest franchise industry trends, check out this comprehensive home services business review.

 

 

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Franchise Business Opening Steps

My friends over at Franchise Direct recently put together a valuable post detailing the “11 Key Steps in Opening a Franchise.”

Before I magically transfer you to the Franchise Direct site, I need to share my feelings on one of the steps they suggested; it pertains to attending a Discovery Day.

Here’s what the editors at FD wrote;



4. Attend “Discovery Day”

“Discovery Day is an in-depth meeting between the franchisor and one or more franchisees. It can take place at a local outlet, but most likely will happen at the company’s corporate office. Often, the franchisee, or franchisees, in attendance will see presentations about what the franchisor can offer in terms of support, and can ask questions. If done at the corporate office, a tour of the different departments and introductions to franchisee training and support personnel are common.”

That is what a franchise Discovery Day entails. However…

I don’t think you should attend one. (Well, not too early)

For example, when I was a franchise broker, I worked with a franchisor that insisted on having franchise candidates attend a Discovery Day after only 2 weeks or so after first talking with them. Really? Really. That’s not the way to do it, people.

You should only attend a Discovery Day after you’ve done your due diligence, and have talked with and/or visited current franchisees of the chain you’re interested in becoming an owner with. You should be pretty much done with your research. You should have started one of these. You may have even contacted a franchise attorney.

Attending a Discovery Day is a crucial part of the franchise buying process. But, it needs to happen towards the end of it.

Not at the beginning.

Check out this Franchise Direct article-which includes a cool infographic.

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Are You Looking To Become A Many-Unit Franchisee?

Sit back, close your eyes, and visualize owning many franchise business units. How does it look?

Owning many-units, (or multi-units as they’re more commonly called) of a franchise concept is the goal of a fair number of today’s would-be franchisees.

It can be like building your own little empire.

 

A Many-Unit Kingdom

I’ve been able to help several franchise buyers become multi-unit franchisees. Becoming the owner of a multiple location business can be downright exciting.

While it’s not for everyone-especially because of financial reasons, for those that do venture into multi-unit franchising, the rewards can be great.

But, they’re not guaranteed. You still have to do your homework.

Once you’ve selected a franchise business concept that you feel is right for you, and have done the due diligence needed to make an intelligent, fact-based decision, you’ll need to put a comprehensive plan into place. This business plan isn’t going to be just for your banker…it’s for you, too. Doing the financial projections for a single unit franchise has it’s challenges; doing spreadsheets for several franchise units that will be opened year after year brings with it a whole new set of challenges. But, you can do it.

And, if you need help putting your plan together, get it!

You can buy this great tool- and return it within 60-days if it doesn’t do the job for you. You can also work with a CPA that is familiar with multi-unit business ownership.

Here’s one more thing you can do, if dreams of owning many-franchise-units are dancing in your head;

Read this Entrepreneur.com article featuring a gentleman that owns many-franchise-units.

22 of them.

 

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A Tip For Future Retail Or Restaurant Franchise Owners

(Courtesy of Lyris F’s Flickr Photostream)

 

If you’re looking at some of the more popular franchises, I’m assuming that you’ve noticed a common theme; they all require employees.

While the actual amount of employees needed varies from one business to another, the bottom line is this; you’re going to want to find ways to keep the best ones.

 

It’s Not Just The Money

 

Most of us think that it’s always about the money when it comes to retaining good employees. Not always. Your retail franchise or your restaurant franchise employees like money, that’s a given. But, they also like other things, and if you’re lucky enough, (or smart enough) to figure out what they are, you may be able to reward them with perks that they actually want.

 

The #1 Reason Your Employees Will Stay

 

So, if your employee retention activities aren’t going to be about offering your employees more money in the way of cash bonuses or even raises, what is it that will get it done?

Lucky for you, I have connections. I was one of the first to read the particulars of the GrowBiz Media Small Business Hiring and Retention Survey for 2012, and I found out what the #1 thing is that you can do to keep your employees happy. (And, working for you)

Find out what the survey revealed about retaining employees.

Surprised?

Remember it.

 

If you’d like some help figuring out which popular franchises you should be looking at-as well as which ones you need to avoid, check out my guaranteed franchise ownership advisory services.

 

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Future Franchise Owners; Wipe Your Slate Clean

From Forbes.com: Should Veterans Look Into Franchising?

Veteran writer, Carol Tice , just wrote an interesting column over at the Forbes.com website, and if you’re a military veteran who’s been leaning towards franchise ownership, it’s worth a read.

Carol’s article isn’t the first one to question whether or not today’s military veterans should investigate opportunities in franchise ownership; but, it’s the first column I’ve seen written on a major website like Forbes.com that uses a specific franchise opportunity as an example of bad stuff that can happen to a veteran. (Don’t you think that our military men and women have experienced enough bad stuff?)

I’ve said this before and it’s worth repeating;

Franchise ownership is not for everybody. As a matter of fact, it’s not for most people. 

Now, that’s not a slam on my industry. It’s just that most people don’t have a high tolerance for risk, and buying a franchise can be risky. There are certainly ways to lower risk, and it’s what I specialize in when I consult with potential franchise owners.

Please spend 5 minutes, and read Carol Tice’s article on how franchise chains recruit veterans over at Forbes.com.

What do you think? Should veterans take a serious look into franchising?

Don’t Sign It.

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Military Veterans And Franchises: A Fit?

Five Security Measures New Start-Ups Need To Implement

 

There’s so much to do when you start a new business, but it’s important to implement security measures from the start. Everything from Trojan viruses to opportunistic thieves can threaten your company, so here’s how to keep everything safe.

1. Asset tag your belongings

If you’re looking to protect your workplace with some added security measures, you may have considered looking at some of the security labels available from asset tags providers. It has to be said; these small adhesives can improve the health and safety of your premises significantly and will sit neatly on a whole range of valuable equipment. The idea is you buy them in bulk, label your gadgets and scan the serial number into an asset tag based inventory management system. This will help you keep track of all items and will allow you to report anything that’s lost or stolen.

2. Set up burglar alarms

According to the latest police figures, published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for the first time, thefts from homes and other businesses went up by five per cent between 2010 and 2011. As a result of these worrying crime rates, it’s wise to buy an array of burglar alarms and CCTV cameras that’ll deter intruders. Position them near alleyways, car parks and entry points and always report anything suspicious. If you decide to buy a dummy CCTV camera, ensure it’s got an LED flashing light and a sliding sunshield for added authenticity, so that nobody can tell it’s fake.

3. Hire a consultant

When it comes to protecting your IT equipment, it’s a good idea to hire a consultant who will be able to find the best security solution for your business. Look for a consulting group with a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CIISP) engineer and ensure they’ve a CompTIA Security+ Certification, as this proves they’re reputable. You’ll also need a company who provides antivirus installation and support, firewall installation, intrusion detection and security audits – so check which services they offer.

4. Back up data

As a new company owner, you must get into the habit of backing up your essential files, documents and confidential data. Losing client information or deleting spread sheets could prove disastrous, so burn information onto a CD-ROM, or save it to a second hard drive – and make sure your colleagues do the same. You can also copy crucial documents to a shared folder on your network (but make sure employees can’t see confidential facts and figures).

 

Affordable online backup for your small business. Only $59.00/year for unlimited backup. Try it free!

 

5. Use the internet safely

A virus or a worm can cause serious damage to your computer, so browse the web sensibly. Don’t open unfamiliar emails and never download free screensavers from untrusted sites as these may contain malicious software. Start-up companies can be easily targeted by larger attacks (such as a mass worm break out) and can be easily hacked, so do all you can to keep your equipment clean and secure.

Starting a business is exciting! Now, do what you can to keep things safe. Hopefully the security measures mentioned above can do just that.

(Guest post from Matt Hornsby from whatishealthandsafety.co.uk)

 

This Can Happen in Franchising

I don’t want to be a Donald Downer today.  But, in our non-perfect world, things regularly happen that are out of our control.

Like when a franchisor goes under.

In my experience as a franchise advisor, I’ve found that the number #1 cause of sleepless nights for people that are about to become franchise owners is what I call, The Mistake Factor, or TMF.  It’s fairly common for franchise buyers…especially ones that have made the choice to figure things out all by themselves. These buyers tend to make a lot of mistakes. And, they are always thinking that they’ve missed something.

In a nutshell, TMF has a direct correlation with high-levels of paranoia. And this paranoia is usually the result of one thing:

Plain, old-fashioned fear 

Now, it’s completely normal for people that are about to embark on something big, like buying a franchise for example-to be fearful. But, there are different levels of fear, as well as different causes of fear. Most of the causes of fear with regard to buying a franchise have to do with loss; a fear of losing money, which again, is completely normal.

As for levels of fear, I’d put not being able to sleep at night pretty darn close to the top of the range, and heavy daytime sweating a tiny notch down from it.

Of course, there are ways for you to become less fearful, and they have to do with your research-and how well you do it. It’s amazing what facts can do to reduce fear. And even risk. And prevent mistakes. Sometimes.

I’m obviously a huge proponent of great franchise research. In my book, I provide the top 40 questions to ask current and even former franchisees of the concepts you’re looking into. Some of the questions are very difficult to ask. But, as you’ll see in my 40-part series of blog posts  that feature these questions, you will be able to sleep better at night if you have lots of facts.

 

The Non-Perfect World

 

You’d think that being armed with the best franchise research questions ever assembled in one place would prevent disaster. In a perfect world, yes…they should will. The questions that I’ve put together are designed to prevent financial disaster. They are designed to turn you into a serious franchise fact-gathering machine. But…

Stuff happens. Franchisors do file for bankruptcy.

If the franchise concept that you ended up investing in goes under a year or two after you’ve become a franchisee, you need to know what your options are. According to a franchise attorney that I interviewed recently for an article I wrote for Small Business Trends, you do have options if your franchisor goes under.

You’ll probably sleep better at night after you read the article.

 

Mobile Franchises: Do You Like Cars?

 



 

(Ed Callow torquespeak photostream-flickr)

 

Some franchise business opportunities are easier to visualize owning than others. There are several reasons for it, and one of them has to do with history; your history. Let me explain…

In case you didn’t know, I was in franchising before I was in franchising.

In 1990, I was in one of my many career funks, and a few different people suggested that I look into becoming a salesperson at an automobile franchise. I hesitated-for lots of reasons, but ended up joining the sales staff at a . That move turned into a win-win for me.

I quickly became the top salesperson there, and it had to do with two things;

My willingness to learn everything I could about the art of sales
My laser-sharp focus on being the top dog

(And, my love of cars)

I learned a lot about sales in my time there, and also learned a thing or two about franchising.

Auto dealerships are franchises. The owners of automobile franchises have to sign a franchise contract, and have a myriad of rules and regulations that they must follow, so that they can stay in good graces with the suits at corporate headquarters.

Every dealership department has shelves and shelves of training manuals, operating manuals, and now because of technology, internet-based programs that all employees can utilize to stay up to date with the constantly changing automotive technology.

 

Car Nuts

 

A certain percentage of the population is obsessed with cars and /or trucks. These people buy lots of automotive magazines, and some of them love automotive accessories.

100% of these people love really clean cars. (Like me.)

 

(I had a very clean 1973 Dodge Challenger similar to this one)

 

An Opportunity

 

 

Because of my automotive background-and my mild (ahem) obsession with having a clean car, the Ultragloss franchise opportunity is really easy for me to visualize as a needed business.

And, speaking of people who are obsessed with things, there’s one person in every automotive franchise that’s really, really obsessed with clean cars. Can you take a guess at who that might be? (Hint; they’re in management.)

The Used Car Manager

Used car managers tend to focus on one thing; profits. Do you know what the one thing is that has the biggest impact on used car profits?

Answer: A clean vehicle. That’s right; it’s the fastest way to a used-car buyer’s heart.

Dealerships with bright, shiny used cars and trucks on display attract serious buyers.

Buyers will pay more for a vehicle that’s in great shape-clean, than they will for a vehicle that’s “kind of” clean.

Franchisees of Ultragloss make their money by making the used car managers at automotive franchises look good.

 

Who is This Mobile Franchise For?

 

Almost anyone, actually. As an Ultragloss franchisee, you can choose to be the one doing the actual work-refurbishing cars and trucks on dealership lots. Or…

You can be the leader, and hire people to do the work, while you’re out and about getting new accounts, and keeping your current ones happy. You’ll have an opportunity to have a multiple vehicle business-a fleet if you will, servicing your accounts-and making used car managers all over your protected territory happy. Which will make you happy.

If you’d like to learn more, and find out if a low-investment mobile franchise like Ultragloss may be for you, go to their franchise website, and request information.

 

(Ultragloss is a franchise marketing client of mine)