admin October 16th, 2012

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admin June 16th, 2012

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What a great article posted by the Fast Company.  All Franchisees take not.  A bite at a time is how to eat an elephant.  See below:

Mornings are a great time for getting things done. You’re less likely to be interrupted than you are later in the day. Your supply of willpower is fresh after a good night’s sleep. That makes it possible to turn personal priorities like exercise or strategic thinking into reality.

But if you’ve got big goals–and a chaotic a.m. schedule–how can you make over your mornings to make these goals happen?

Because I write about time management frequently, I’ve gotten to see hundreds of calendars and schedules over the years. From studying people’s morning habits, I’ve learned that getting the most out of this time is a five-part process. Follow these steps, though, and you’re on your way to building morning habits that stick.

Fore more on this article from Fast Company Click Here.

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admin May 19th, 2012

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Howmany places do you shop at, utilize services from, do business with or purchase
products from that are franchised businesses?  Our guess is that
franchising plays a major part in your life and that you have spent more time
in franchises than you even realize.
You probably pumped gas or had your car taken care of at a franchise recently
(BP, Chevron, Shell, Midas, Jiffy Lube, etc)
You’ve definitely eaten at a franchise recently (McDonald’s, Chick Fil-A,
Subway, Quizno’s, Edible Arrangements)

-
You probably stayed at a franchise recently (Hampton Inn, Marriott, Hilton,
Wyndham, Red Roof Inn)

-
You probably have used franchised services recently (Liberty Tax, ServPro,
H&R Block, Century 21, Jani-King)

-
Most Franchises are groups of companies that you probably have never heard of
that have 50-100 locations and may have utilized their services.

Franchising is a business model used in more than 70 industries that generates more than
estimated $1.5 trillion in U.S. sales annually.  Franchised businesses
operated 1 million establishments in the United States through 2011, counting
both establishments owned by franchisees and establishments owned by
franchisors.  There are over 4,000 franchisors in the U.S. – franchise
systems in the U.S. average opening 32 units in the first five years in
business.

Franchising Works for the Following Reasons:

Speed of Growth – Move quickly,
expand a business and a brand over large landscapes in short time
periods.  Franchise organizations have the capability of expanding by
hundreds of units in a single year if given the right concept and market
segment.

Management – Local franchisees provide caring
management team members who have skin in the game and are motivated to succeed.

Raising Capital – Franchising
allows a business to raise capital without giving up equity in the core
business.

Refinement of Systems – Franchising
perfects and refines systems used in a business model, when a business is
duplicated outside of the corporate operations, the systems, procedures and
operating methods are improved with each new unit.

Maximizing the Entrepreneur’s Skill Set – Many business
owners find themselves “Stuck in the kitchen” of their business – as
the founder of a company, franchising allows for complete utilization of your
skills and talents – you now “coach” as opposed to “work”
in the business.  Franchising allows for the entrepreneur to fully
leverage and take advantage of their unique and valuable skill set.

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admin May 18th, 2012

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This article is being made available from the Bellevue Reporter:

Assisting Hands Home Care has opened an in-home caregiving operation in Bellevue. Adrian Reeder is the franchise owner.

The company will serve the need for non-medical caregiving services provided to seniors, the disabled and temporarily bedridden in Bellevue and the Eastside. The office is located at 1800 136th Place, Suite 214.

Reeder and his family have experienced first-hand the need for such services. Their interest for in-home care giving began with a neighbor who lived alone with no close relatives.

“Helping her really opened our eyes and showed us the value and need of such services,” said Reeder. “This turned into such a special experience for us that we became her surrogate children.”

According to census bureau statistics, demand for such services continues to grow as 10,000 people reach the age of 65 everyday in the United States.

Assisting Hands Bellevue provides non-medical services such as, but are not limited to: personal care, bathing, dressing, companionship, exercise and mobility assistance, medication reminders and assistance, meal planning and preparation (including specialized diets), transportation and errands, coordination of social activities, light housekeeping and laundry.

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admin May 6th, 2012

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Molly Maid Franchise ReSale in beautiful Reno, NV.  Price of $177,000.

77,341 Targeted Households

16 trained employees

3 leased and 5 owned vehicles

24.4% growth in 2011

Call 206-200-3325 for information.

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admin April 30th, 2012

There’s been a flurry of recent coverage praising Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer of Facebook, for leaving the office every day at 5:30 p.m. to be with her kids.  Apparently she’s been doing this for years, but only recently “came out of the closet,” as it were.

What’s insane is that Sandberg felt the need to hide the fact, since there’s a century of research establishing the undeniable fact that working more than 40 hours per week actually decreases productivity.

In the early 1900s, Ford Motor ran dozens of tests to discover the optimum work hours for worker productivity.  They discovered that the “sweet spot” is 40 hours a week–and that, while adding another 20 hours provides a minor increase in productivity, that increase only lasts for three to four weeks, and then turns negative.

Anyone who’s spent time in a corporate environment knows that what was true of factory workers a hundred years ago is true of office workers today.  People who put in a solid 40 hours a week get more done than those who regularly work 60 or more hours.

The workaholics (and their profoundly misguided management) may think they’re accomplishing more than the less fanatical worker, but in every case that I’ve personally observed, the long hours result in work that must be scrapped or redone.

Accounting for Burnout

What’s more, people who consistently work long work weeks get burned out and inevitably start having personal problems that get in the way of getting things done.

I remember a guy in one company I worked for who used the number of divorces in his group as a measure of its productivity.  Believe it or not, his top management reportedly considered this a valid metric. What’s ironic (but not surprising) is that the group itself accomplished next to nothing.

In fact, now that I think about it, that’s probably why he had to trot out such an absurd (and, let’s face it, evil) metric.

Proponents of long work weeks often point to the even longer average work weeks in countries like Thailand, Korea, and Pakistan–with the implication that the longer work weeks are creating a competitive advantage.

Europe’s Ban on 50-Hour Weeks

However, the facts don’t bear this out.  In six of the top 10 most competitive countries in the world (Sweden, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, and the United Kingdom), it’s illegal to demand more than a 48-hour work week.  You simply don’t see the 50-, 60-, and 70-hour work weeks that have become de rigeur in some parts of the U.S. business world.

If U.S. managers were smart, they’d end this “if you don’t come in on Saturday, don’t bother coming to work on Sunday” idiocy.  If you want employees (salaried or hourly) to get the most done–in the shortest amount of time and on a consistent basis–40 hours a week is just about right.

In other words, nobody should be apologizing for leaving at work at a reasonable hour like 5:30 p.m.  In fact, people should be apologizing if they’re working too long each week–because it’s probably making the team less effective overall.

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admin April 29th, 2012

Atlanta, GA (USA), Wednesday – April 18th, 2012 — Welcomemat Services ( http://www.welcomematservices.com ) announced today the signing of three new franchise agreements in the past 60 days, fueling the growth of the Atlanta-based marketing strategies and technology company that provides monthly direct-mail packages to new movers. The franchise agreements are for new markets in Nashville, Tenn., Asheville, N.C. and Bellevue, Wash. Additionally, Randy Rhea, an existing franchisee in Augusta, Ga., became the company’s first multi-unit owner with the recent opening of a second territory serving the greater Charleston, N.C. area.

“One thing that has had a positive impact on our growth is that as the franchise matures, our current franchisees are able to validate the system with their results,” said Brian Mattingly, CEO. “Utilizing their success has been extremely helpful in the recruitment process.”

The Welcomemat ( http://www.welcomematservices.com ) program is designed to target new residents when they move into an area by presenting them with invitations to try various businesses and organizations, helping them to get acclimated to their new surroundings. Unique in the estimated $133 billion local advertising market, Welcomemat not only provides local businesses access to new loyal customers, but its specialized patented technology stores and logs customer demographics for use by the local businesses it supports. It’s the first and only cooperative mail service to employ proprietary technology that enables new resident information to be barcoded onto every gift check, allowing clients to receive free customized tracking and information reports regarding responses to their offers.

Since franchising began in early 2010, Welcomemat ( http://www.welcomematservices.com ) has expanded to locations in Indianapolis; Columbus, Ohio; Wilmington, N.C.; Asheville, N.C.; Hilton Head, S.C.; Charleston, S.C.; Bellevue, Wash.; Nashville, Tenn.; Augusta, Ga., as well as corporate-operated offices in Atlanta, Charlotte, S.C. and Greenville, S.C. Projections call for the opening of 12 franchise locations in 2012 toward a goal of opening 200 locations during the next five years in high-profile, transient markets across the country.

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admin March 21st, 2012

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Please review this excellent article from Paul J. H. Schoemaker, in Inc. Magazine:

In the beginning, there was just you and your partners. You did every job. You coded, you met
with investors, you emptied the trash and phoned in the midnight pizza. Now you
have others to do all that and it’s time for you to “be strategic.”

Whatever that means.

If you find yourself resisting “being strategic,” because it sounds like a fast
track to irrelevance, or vaguely like an excuse to slack off, you’re not alone.
Every leader’s temptation is to deal with what’s directly in front, because it
always seems more urgent and concrete. Unfortunately, if you do that, you put
your company at risk. While you concentrate on steering around potholes, you’ll
miss windfall opportunities, not to mention any signals that the road you’re on
is leading off a cliff.

This is a tough job, make no mistake. “We need strategic leaders!” is a pretty constant
refrain at every company, large and small. One reason the job is so tough: no
one really understands what it entails. It’s hard to be a strategic leader if
you don’t know what strategic leaders are supposed to do.

After two decades of advising organizations large and small, my colleagues and I have formed a
clear idea of what’s required of you in this role. Adaptive strategic leaders —
the kind who thrive in today’s uncertain environment – do six things well:

Anticipate

Most of the focus at most companies is on what’s directly ahead. The leaders lack “peripheral
vision.” This can leave your company vulnerable to rivals who detect and act on
ambiguous signals. To anticipate well, you must:

• Look for game-changing information at the periphery
  of your industry
• Search beyond the current boundaries of your
  business
• Build wide external networks to help you scan the
  horizon better

Think Critically

“Conventional wisdom” opens you to fewer raised eyebrows and second guessing. But if you
swallow every management fad, herdlike belief, and safe opinion at face value,
your company loses all competitive advantage. Critical thinkers question
everything. To master this skill you must force yourself to:

• Reframe problems to get to the bottom of things, in
  terms of root causes
• Challenge current beliefs and mindsets, including
  their own
• Uncover hypocrisy, manipulation, and bias in
  organizational decisions

Interpret

Ambiguity is unsettling. Faced with it, the temptation is to reach for a fast (and
potentially wrongheaded) solution. A good strategic leader holds steady,
synthesizing information from many sources before developing a viewpoint. To
get good at this, you have to:

• Seek patterns in multiple sources of data
• Encourage others to do the same
• Question prevailing assumptions and test multiple
  hypotheses simultaneously

Decide

Many leaders fall pretty to “analysis paralysis.” You have to develop processes and enforce them,
so that you arrive at a “good enough” position. To do that well, you have to:

• Carefully frame the decision to get to the crux of
  the matter
• Balance speed, rigor, quality and agility. Leave
  perfection to higher powers
• Take a stand even with incomplete information and
  amid diverse views

Align

Total consensus is rare. A strategic leader must foster open dialogue, build trust and engage key
stakeholders, especially when views diverge. To pull that off, you need to:

• Understand what drives other people’s agendas,
  including what remains hidden
• Bring tough issues to the surface, even when it’s
  uncomfortable
• Assess risk tolerance and follow through to build
  the necessary support

Learn

As your company grows, honest feedback is harder and harder to come by. You have to do what you
can to keep it coming. This is crucial because success and failure–especially
failure–are valuable sources of organizational learning. Here’s what you need
to do:

• Encourage and exemplify honest, rigorous debriefs to
  extract lessons
• Shift course quickly if you realize you’re off track
• Celebrate both success and (well-intentioned)
  failures that provide insight

Do you have what it takes?

Obviously, this is a daunting list of tasks, and frankly, no one is born a black belt in all these
different skills. But they can be taught and whatever gaps exist in your skill
set can be filled in.

Paul J. H.
Schoemaker: Founder and Chairman of Decision
Strategies Intl. Author, professor, entrepreneur and speaker. Research Director
of the Mack Center for Technological Innovation at Wharton, where he teaches
strategy and decision-making

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admin February 20th, 2012

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“I don’t have one” was Dave’s response when I asked to see his business plan for his new company.

You may think this is normal for a first time entrepreneurial adventure. But what if I told you that Dave has started many companies in his 20-year tenure as an entrepreneur?

And with all the companies Dave started none of them have ever exceeded revenues of a million dollars. Many of them failed and Dave was forced to shut them down within the first year of business.

Does this mean Dave is a terrible businessman?

Not necessarily.

What it means is Dave did not understand the purpose and the value in creating a business plan. And unfortunately this is pretty typical of many entrepreneurs.

They think flying by the seat of their pants and relying on their street smarts and intuition is the spirit behind entrepreneurship. This could not be further from the truth.

If you don’t plan for growth . . .

Now, I know what you are thinking. You are thinking that you and other entrepreneurs you know have never developed a business plan and you are doing “ok” – right?

Well here is the big secret – you can always do better. I know for me – “ok” simply is not good enough!

If you don’t plan for growth you may grow but chances are good you will not be able to sustain it. Planning for growth is essential. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, two thirds of CEO’s of fast growth organizations develop some type of business plan.

It is actually the exercise of drafting the business plan that is important – sometimes more important than the plan itself.

Writing a business plans forces you to focus on the important and essential elements of your business. It makes you think through your next steps and specific strategies and tactics.

But most importantly, it forces you to face the facts. Because the most important element in success is this:

A good entrepreneur/executive has the ability to face the facts!

This does not mean when the facts suit you – it means all the facts all the time. I know so many entrepreneurs and business owners who make excuses forall the failures within their business. Sadly so many of those failures could have been avoided with the construction of a business plan.

The Eight Key Elements Of A Business Plan

1) Executive Summary:

Within the overall outline of the business plan, the executive summary will follow the title page. The summary should tell the reader what you want. This is very important. Clearly state what you’re asking for in the summary.

The statement should be kept short and businesslike. It should be kept to a ½ of a page to 1 full page depending on how complicated the use of funds may be. Within that space, you’ll need to provide a synopsis of your entire business plan.

2) Market Analysis:

This section should illustrate your knowledge about the particular industry your business is in. A market analysis forces the entrepreneur to become familiar with all aspects of the market so that the target market can be defined and the company can be positioned in order to collect its share of sales.

A market analysis also enables the entrepreneur to establish pricing, distribution and marketing strategies that will allow the company to become profitable within a competitive environment.

In addition, it gives one an indication of the growth potential within the industry, and this will allow you to develop your own estimates for the future.

Begin your market analysis by defining the market in terms of size, structure, growth prospects, trends and sales potential.

3) Company Description:

This section should include a high level look at how all of the different elements of your business fit together. The company description should include information about the nature of your business as well as the crucial factors that you believe will make your business a success.

4) Organization and Management:
This section includes your company’s organizational structure, details about the ownership of your company, descriptions of your management team and qualifications of your panel of experts or board of directors.

5) Marketing and Sales Strategies:
This is the lifeblood of your business. Marketing creates customers and customers generate sales. In this section, define your marketing strategies. Start with strategies, tactics and channels that you have used to create your greatest successes. Next, branch out to others that may be working for your competitors. Remember that this section will be constantly updated based on your results.

6) Service and/or Product Line:
In this section describe your service and product. What is it that you are actually selling? Make sure to emphasize the benefits (not the features). Establish your unique selling proposition. This means you have to show not only how your product is different but also why it is better.

7) Funding Requirements:
In this section state the amount of funding you will need to start or expand your business. Include best and worst case scenarios. Be realistic. 

Financials:

Develop the financials AFTER you have analyzed the market and set clear objectives. You should include three to five years of historical data.

A good business plan is never meant to be written once. And a good business person understands that this plan evolves as your business evolves and as your environment changes, as marketing campaigns exceed expectations or fail to meet your assumptions.

Re-visit your plan at least quarterly, monthly is best.

And remember you do not have to go it alone. Bring your plan to lunch with a mentor or colleague. Ask questions and present data accurately.

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Once you start this process you will find yourself looking forward to reviewing and updating your plan.

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admin January 29th, 2012

Buy A Franchise Unlimited

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