There are a few names that are synonymous with the candy that is sold in various retail outlets today, and many of them have been around for years. Hershey is one of them but would have never came into being if it were not for the dream of a humble farm boy from Pennsylvania. Milton Hershey fell into the candy trade by accident but is now king of it, despite the fact that he died over 60 years ago. The entrepreneur has earned legendary status and you can read on to find out how and why.

The Chocolate King Is Born

Milton Snavely Hershey was born on September 13, 1957 in Derry Church, Pennsylvania. His parents lived in a farming community and made a living off the land. However, during the entrepreneur’s early childhood, the family moved a lot. An unsettled Hershey barely managed to attend school and make friends before they were on the move again. As a direct result, he left school after completing the fourth grade, which was early even by the standards of the time.

Milton Hershey was determined to settle down and make a living but his first foray into the world of work was hardly a success. He began an apprenticeship with a printer in Lancaster, Pennsylvania but absolutely hated the business. He persevered for a few weeks before deciding to move on to pastures new. Remaining in the town, the entrepreneur managed to get another apprenticeship but this time with a candy maker. Finding that he loved it, he stayed for four years and then put his knowledge to good use by setting up his own candy business.

The Beginnings Of Hershey Foods

Milton Hershey’s first few ventures into the candy industry were nothing short of a disaster. He did not make any money at all from his first three business ventures and moved home to Lancaster in 1883.

Read More

Television production used to be pretty straight forward.  You had HUGE, HEAVY cameras three people pushed around.  In the control room you had sliders and BAM! magically the signal went over the air. At home you turned on the set.  Had dinner (families ate together then) and a half-hour later the tube was lit and you watched the Sid Caesar or Lone Ranger show.  It was so cool.

For years we all went to the NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) show and the behemoths of the industry dominated the floor.  Big, sexy, expensive cameras.  Big, gorgeous, expensive control panels. TV sets, big/bigger, gorgeous, expensive. Then the cable and satellite folks emerged with “a better TV experience.”   Once you got tired of over-the-air only shows in they “offered” you 50-100 fantastic channels for $100 a month.  Suddenly our wife could watch HGTV, daughter could watch the gut-buster infomercial, and son could watch Telemundo (he’s practicing Spanish and the skirts are short).  According to Nielsen we started watching more TV – 4 hours, 34 minutes a day in 2006-07.  Not bad for the producers, network, cable operators, advertisers. Nielsen found:

Read More

We see the value in Earth Day.  We recognize the importance of World Peace Day. In deference to our wife we think even Mother’s Day is OK. But Twitter Day?  Somehow Oprah coming online and saying “Hello Twitter World.” (or whatever) is not quite up there with the wizard of Menlo Park (Edison) calling one of his assistants for help! For the most part, we don’t really care that Oprah, Shaq,  Parris, Kutcher and a lot of other folks are thinking about or talking about.   Yet a million +/- folks have signed up and track their every 140 character utterance. Our son  – who has an account but is too busy instant messaging with his smartphone and Skyping on his notebook – made the observation that if you Twittered in the real world instead of on the Internet you’d be arrested for stalking! Heck we have people following our updates and all we have is a Twitter account…and we thought we didn’t have a life! But there is a growing Twitter population.  In just a couple of years it has grown to well more than 10 million according to ComScore. As Domino Pizza, Amazon and other firms are quickly realize the mob mentality can be a force to be reckoned with. In the old days you used email, the phone and if you wanted to use the wayback machine you sent a letter.

Hum of Noise

Today people young and old can’t stand the vacuum of silence and we rush to take advantage of every personal and social networking tool that is available.  Twitter and other microblogging tools caught the attention of people everywhere when terrorists attacked the hotel in India and when the US Air plane went down in the Hudson River.  Instantly people around the globe could see the news first hand.  News media incorporated the citizen journalists’ inputs with their coverage seamlessly.

Read More

Is it just me, or does there seem to be a new breed of people out there – I’m noticing them when I’m driving around. Several times over the last few months, I’ve had people crossing the road when my car is coming quickly towards them.  Now, I don’t know about you, but I certainly have no desire to knock these people over, but they don’t seem to have any regard of other people – only themselves. Have you seen them too? So, why am I mentoring this new group of people? 

Well, these reckless people who only seem to think about themselves seem to be spilling out into the business world too. You see, over the last six months or so, a new breed of customers has been emerging – these are more demanding; want more for less; take advantage and more importantly they know how to play the game. And if you don’t know how to deal with these new customers in your business, you’re in trouble. Here’s why. 

In 2009, as a small business owner, chances are your instinct is to grab a new customer everytime one comes along. Nothing wrong with this you might think. But these days instead of taking on the right customers, we’re tending to take on everyone no matter who they are, what they want or what they want to pay. We’re doing this because we have an underlying fear that we might not get customers in the future – “we’d better get them now” – we think. Even if they want loads from us and don’t want to pay for it, they’re still a customer and we should grab them with both hands. The thing is this new breed of customers know that! They know that you want them no matter what – and they know that they can make unreasonable demands and you’ll say ok. 

I was talking to a contact yesterday who told me he’d taken on a nightmare customer who he would have stayed well clear of if things in the economy were ok.

Read More

Ready to Move On
Very few people start a business with the expectation of running it forever.  Although there is always the possibility that your children will take over once you decide to retire, most small business owners are anxious to cash out and live the good life – or else sink some of that newly acquired money into another venture.  Knowing when and how to sell your small business – and doing it the right way by avoiding the obvious pitfalls – can make the difference between turning a terrific profit or a so-so one, and perhaps failing to sell it at all.

Make a List and Check It Twice – And Three Times Is Better
There are many factors to consider once you have decided to sell your small business.  Here is a list of four top-line questions, each of which will be answered below:

Read More

Stability, Benefits and Support
If you share the American dream of running your own business some day, chances are you have given some thought to the challenges that await you.  Since most of us are not independently wealthy or have a trust fund to fall back on—and knowing that it takes time to get a business off the ground and into profit mode—we need to have a reliable income stream.  Thousands of people every year start their own business while continuing to work a full-time job.  A regular paycheck and guaranteed benefits such as health care not only provide financial stability, but also give you enough peace of mind to devote positive energy toward your entrepreneurial goals.

Boundaries and Time Management
Very few companies prohibit their employees from having a business on the side, provided you will not be a direct competitor.  So long as you continue to work just as hard in your full-time position, there is no reason not to make the first move in what may prove to be your best-ever business decision—to become your own boss.  Managing the time you devote to that start-up is crucial, especially if you have other commitments to look after, such as raising a family.  Some companies expect you to tell them when you begin to run a side business, while others make no such demand on their workers.  Your employee handbook is usually a good place to find any such restrictions or requirements.

Read More

If you are looking for an immensely profitable business to invest in that could potentially make you millions then you should look to buy an equipment rental and leasing business. It feeds into a very specific want and need of society because homeowners, businesses and commercial enterprises are continually renting all sorts of equipment to fulfill their own personal wants and needs in term of their homes, their business needs and their hopes and dreams in many ways. The equipment rental and leasing businesses for sale tap straight into that, so why shouldn’t you?

Equipment Rental and Leasing Businesses For Sale: Your Options
Before deciding to buy an equipment rental and leasing business, you should take a look at all of your possible options, of which there will be many. It is not as simple as just finding the equipment rental and leasing businesses for sale on the Internet because there is any number of categories that they can fall into. You can offer sports equipment, office equipment, gardening equipment, electrical equipment, construction equipment or farm equipment, just to name a few. As you can see, they will not be in one definitive category and you will need to decide which one you want to go into, or which one would offer the most profit in the long term if you just want an easy investment.

Read More

Saving the Economy

One of the toughest domestic tasks to face the Obama Administration during its first 100 days involved getting the U.S. economy back on track.  The federal stimulus package has a number of prime elements to it, each one a broad overview designed to repair what many people consider to be damaged fiscal policy.  These factors include:

• Create New Jobs
• Move toward a greener (more environmentally responsible) economy
• Improve the country’s infrastructure
• Improve all levels of education
• Offer greater assistance to the unemployed
• Provide tax relief for 95 percent of Americans
   

Frozen Assets

Major corporations, notably those in the financial and automotive sectors, have received billions of dollars of taxpayer money in the form of loans and outright gifts.  The credit crunch that resulted from the collapse of a number of banks has had a devastating effect on the ability of American small business to conduct, well, business.  These companies rely on short- and medium-term financing to do everything from providing payroll relief to offering bridge loans for ongoing operations to funding new construction or remodeling.  Because so many banks are loaded down with “toxic assets”—loans that are unlikely to ever get paid back—they have no way to free up capital to provide new loans to the companies that need them.

Proposing a Small-Business “Bailout”

Read More

Franchising is hot, and every year the concept seems to grow hotter.  Why build a business from the ground up when, for not much more money – and sometimes less, given all the assistance a franchise company provides – you can operate a well-known brand name with plenty of training and all sorts of support to make your personal investment grow exponentially.

Every year, Entrepreneur magazine closely examines the absolute best franchises on the market, taking into consideration such elements as brand strength, earnings potential, and the financial health of the parent company.

Here are the Top 10 Franchises of 2009:

1) Subway
From its humble beginnings as a single sandwich shop in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Subway boasts close to 30,000 stores throughout the U.S., Canada, and many foreign countries.  Its target market: fast-food devotees who want to consume something healthier than burgers and fries.  The franchise fee is $15,000 (plus an eight percent annual royalty), with a total investment ranging from $80,000 to $240,000.

2) McDonald’s
The 800-pound worldwide gorilla in fast food, the McDonald’s logo is more widely recognized than just about any other corporate symbol.  There are currently more than 12,000 franchise locations in the U.S.

Read More

So You Want to Own a Franchise?
One of the fastest and easiest ways to start your own business involves buying a franchise.  Sure, you can build a business from the ground up, which means doing plenty of market research, finding the right location, and slowly building a solid reputation over the course of months or years.  Or you can gain instant recognition by paying a regional or national company for the right to use their name, follow their well-developed business plan for success, and enjoy knowledgeable feedback from dozens, hundreds or even thousands of franchise owners who operate under the same banner.

It’s Only Money
No matter what kind of franchise you wish to own—a fast-food restaurant, a daycare center, or an auto repair facility—you will need a fair amount of cash to get things moving.  First there is the franchise fee, which the parent company charges to cover a variety of items—training, marketing materials, and maybe even some advertising tie-ins.  Next you will have start-up costs that might include acquiring equipment and inventory, renting or owning a building (or a vehicle, if you’re buying a mobile franchise), and hiring employees.  Finally there are regular fixed costs to consider, as most companies require their franchisees to have at least three to six months of operating capital on hand to smooth over any start-up glitches while you’re waiting to turn a profit.  Clearly, the less money you spend up-front, the more you will have to help make the business successful later on.

Read More

If you own a company and happen to be interested in expansion then you may have considered offering qualified individuals franchise opportunities to achieve your own business goals. Selling your franchise is much easier than it used to be as a result of the Internet and other means of communication but one of the best ways to sell your franchise remains the same – going to a franchise show or a franchise expo.

Why Choose A Franchise Show?

A franchise show or franchise expo is effectively an event at which franchisors can market their opportunities to the individuals that are looking to invest in a business opportunity. Those individuals are often looking to begin an entrepreneurial career with an established brand behind them. Franchise shows can be beneficial to the franchisor in a number of ways but the main one is undoubtedly the fact that it can put the company in touch with franchisees directly.

No matter how much literature a company sends out or how much it advertises when selling a franchise, franchise shows can be more effective as a direct result of the face-to-face contact with those looking to invest.

Read More

As the old adage goes, “anyone who acts as their own attorney has a fool for a client.”  The same is true when looking to buy or sell a business.  If you’re a buyer, you should certainly do your homework by researching what sort of company to purchase.  If you’re a seller, there is nothing wrong with using all sorts of self-help tools to find a willing buyer.  But the actual transaction will go much more smoothly if you engage the services of an escrow company or business escrow broker.

What is Escrow?
In a financial transaction, a trusted third party acts as the middleman between buyer and seller, holding all funds “in escrow.”  When you buy a home, for example, the down payment stays in a secure account until all the paperwork is completed.  When hiring an attorney, the money deposited with the firm remains separate from their operating capital until the hours have been billed to your account.

Escrow Officers and Escrow Companies
At the time of closing, when a buyer and a seller come together to complete a deal, an escrow officer makes sure that all the paperwork is in place and that everything is transferred according to law and the terms of the purchase agreement.  A number of companies specialize in performing escrow functions specifically for people buying and selling businesses, which are oftentimes much more complicated transactions than simply selling a piece of real estate—even though actual property, such as a building or raw land, could also be part of the business deal.

Read More

Vincent Kennedy McMahon is undoubtedly one of the most successful entertainment entrepreneurs of the late 20th and early 21st Century. McMahon is famous worldwide for his alter ego “Mr. McMahon” in World Wrestling Entertainment today, but the way in which he built up the WWE is simply astonishing. Before he took over his father’s wrestling territory, the business was characterised by several companies working within set boundaries. Now, however, the wrestling world is united owing to the actions of the most powerful billionaire to ever work within the business.

Humble Beginnings

Vince McMahon was born in Pinehurst, North Carolina on August 24, 1945. His childhood was anything but spectacular as his mother and father split up before McMahon was old enough to know a family life. As such, the entrepreneur knew what it meant to be poor. This reportedly spurred him on and gave him the determination to succeed in later life. McMahon attended East Carolina University and graduated with a business degree. However, his earliest foray into the business world was as a travelling salesman owing to the fact that he had to prove his business acumen to his father.

McMahon met his father Vince McMahon Sr. at the age of 12. McMahon Sr. was heavily involved in the business that his own father had begun to build up as a wrestling promoter. Although McMahon Sr. was only slightly successful, Vince McMahon Jr. reported that he was determined to get into the business after just a taste. It was apparently in his blood and also provided a great launch pad for his entrepreneurial ventures.

A Wrestling Superstar

Vince McMahon’s first role in the world of wrestling came in 1971. His father assigned him a territory in Maine under the World Wide Wrestling Federation brand.

Read More

In terms of the most powerful women in the retail industry over the past twenty years or so, Anita Roddick is one entrepreneur that has to rank up there with the best of them. The founder of The Body Shop revolutionized the way that consumers viewed the cosmetics and body care products that they bought and has made the world a better place as a direct result of it. Anita Roddick was one of the most forward thinking women of her generation and made a name for herself as a result of that quality. Although her life was sadly cut short on September 10, 2007, her legacy will live on.

Humble Beginnings

Roddick, or Anita Lucia Perilli as she was known then, was born on October 23, 1942 in Littlehampton, Sussex in the UK. Her family were Italian immigrants and had left Naples shortly before World War II broke out. As such, they had little money and worked hard to make ends meet. However, the entrepreneur showed a thirst for knowledge at school and managed to achieve a place at Bath Spa University to train as a teacher. After graduation though, Roddick decided that she wanted to see the world rather than remaining in the UK.

The entrepreneur traveled far and wide for a few years before returning home, which is when she met her husband, Gordon Roddick. Roddick had money and set about building a business empire to help support his new family. The couple opened a hotel and a restaurant but Gordon often had to work away a lot, so the budding entrepreneur decided to open her own business in order to make enough money to support the family in his absence. The Body Shop was born.

The Body Shop

The Body Shop initially stocked 15 products and opened in Brighton in 1976.

Read More

There are a few figures in American history that have legendary status and only a handful of those are businessmen. The businessmen on the legends list all made a lot of money but they revolutionized the American way of life, making it much easier for the public to live their lives. As such, John D. Rockefeller is in good company. He is most definitely one of the entrepreneurs on the list and most definitely deserves the status that he currently has.

Early Life

John Davison Rockefeller was born on July 8, 1839 in Richford, New York. His parents were anything but well off, largely thanks to his father’s ability to follow hare-brained schemes that never quite worked out. He was described as lazy and would do anything to get out of working as a salesman. As a result, the entrepreneur’s upbringing was anything but stable until the family moved to Owego, New York where he was first schooled. However, after the family had moved to Strongsville near Cleveland in 1853, Rockefeller had decided to go into business on his own and work hard to get away from the hardship of his early existence.

At the age of 16, the entrepreneur left school and got a job of assistant bookkeeper for a commission firm. However, he was not happy to continue indefinitely in that position. As such, he resolved to open his own business as soon as he possibly could, and the opportunity arose in 1859 when he founded Clark & Rockefeller with partner Maurice Clark.

Moving Into Business

Rockefeller and Clark enjoyed a great amount of success with their business. The entrepreneurs had the foresight to build an oil refinery in the industrial area of Cleveland. This 1863 development saw them pair up with Clark’s two brothers and Samuel Andrews.

Read More

Chain Leader:

 Meritage Hospitality Group Inc., the nation’s premier franchise operator, today announced the acquisition of 20 Wendy’s restaurants located in Jacksonville, Florida.

Robert E. Schermer, Jr., President and CEO of Meritage Hospitality Group Inc., stated, “We believe the fundamentals in the quick-service restaurant industry remain positive and Jacksonville represents a strong entry point for Meritage in to the Southeastern U.S. market.” The 20 Wendy’s restaurant units make up approximately 35% of the Wendy’s located in the Jacksonville designated market area. “The completion of this acquisition represents a significant step for Meritage in its strategy to re-accelerate growth and geographical diversification in its core business. Today we have significantly increased the breadth of our market concentration. We welcome the more than 600 new employees to the Meritage Family,” Mr. Schermer stated.

The Company plans to immediately begin an extensive thirty-six month capital improvement plan, which includes the installation of operating and accounting systems, as well as exterior and interior re-imaging of the Wendy’s restaurants.

Read More

CSP Daily News:

 7-Eleven Inc. is launching a comprehensive review of its real-estate portfolio in key markets nationwide working with a number of outside real-estate services firms, CSP Daily News has learned.

The project will include analyzing fair-market values for the company’s retail sites and negotiating lease terms, when appropriate, in line with current commercial rental rates. CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) has been engaged by 7-Eleven to conduct the review of the retailer’s portfolio.

While many retailers are going bankrupt, closing stores or canceling expansion, 7-Eleven is aggressively growing and plans to add about 200 to 250 new stores nationwide this year, it said. The company is franchising its U.S. stores and is expanding through organic growth, acquisitions and its Business Conversion Program.

Read More

Bizjournals.com:

 The Polaris Centers of Commerce shopping and office center has a second McDonald’s restaurant beginning Tuesday.

The new McDonald’s at 1074 Gemini Place west of Interstate 71 opened its doors 11 a.m. According to a news release, the 5,000-square-foot restaurant has a contemporary exterior design using McDonald’s Corp.’s latest prototype with an “arcade” design element above the main entry.

The restaurant features a two-sided fireplace, flat screen plasma televisions and a children’s play area that includes video computer games and a television. The site close to the Rave Motion Pictures LLC movie theater inspired a 1920s art deco interior architectural style and Hollywood cinema theme.

Read More

MarketWatch:

 During an economic downturn in 1984, “Papa” John Schnatter tossed conventional wisdom aside to pursue his passion for delivering superior-quality pizza to the residents of southern Indiana. With the money received from selling his beloved ‘72 Z28 Camaro, Schnatter knocked out the broom closet of his father’s tavern, purchased the necessary restaurant equipment… and got to work.

Twenty-five years later, Papa John’s is the third-largest pizza company in the world with more than 3,400 restaurants and 80,000 system-wide employees, all living Schnatter’s founding principle of “Better Ingredients. Better Pizza.” This year, in celebration of Papa John’s 25th anniversary, the company is rewarding others with Schnatter’s entrepreneurial spirit by offering a groundbreaking development incentive to aspiring restaurant franchisees.

This best-in-class franchise program offers new and existing franchise owners…

Read More

Aim168 Real Estate:

 Fantastic Sams, a full service hair salon brand with over 1,300 salons in the US and Canada has been selected as one of the Top 25 Franchises for Hispanics in a PODER Magazine article submitted by the National Minority Franchising Initiative (NMFI).

PODER Magazine (previously Hispanic Enterprise) is considered by most as the premier business magazine for the Latino community. According to the NMFI, companies such as Fantastic Sams, which are on the “25 Top Franchises List,” have demonstrated an exceptional focus on recruiting and supporting minority franchisees.

The NMFI selects companies for the list based on several factors such as historical performance, brand identification, market dynamics, and franchisee satisfaction, the level of initial training, ongoing support and financial stability. “We are proud to be recognized for the growth of our company and achieving significant sales increases over the years with a diverse franchisee base,” said Scott Colabuono, CEO of Fantastic Sams. “Fantastic Sams has a solid system in place with services that are highly recession proof. We will continue to award franchise opportunities to the best candidates, and there are prime opportunities across the country.”

Read More