What Is a Home Based Franchise?
It should be obvious to everyone that a home based franchise is “a franchise business you operate from your home.”  But there is more to it than this simple explanation.  By combining the elements of working from home (no outside office expenses, no commuting time, flexible hours) and the benefits of running a franchise business (instantly recognizable brand, tried-and-true business plan, extensive training), people who purchase home based franchises join 500,000 other franchisees and gain a share of the $813 billion in annual sales, which represents 35 percent of all U.S. retail business.

Benefits of Owning a Home Based Franchise
Working from home is the dream of many prospective entrepreneurs.  It allows you to spend more time with your family and oftentimes arrange your business schedule around family type events that you would have otherwise missed by working in an office or a retail location.  Many franchisees begin on a part-time basis before gradually seeing their business grow into a full-time enterprise.  It is also a more personal way of operating, since you end up living with your franchise much more than the average small business owner.

Read More

Thank You For Your Service!
Veterans of the U.S. military are coming home these days to a fairly bleak economic climate.  Jobs are tough to find, which means that more and more people are looking into entrepreneurship as a legitimate path to personal financial success.  Many veteran business opportunities are available that use the unique skills of leadership and technology that today’s military imparts on its members.  The recent revival of the G.I. Bill, which mirrors educational benefits extended to the men and women who returned from WWII, is one area where veterans are being given the break they deserve.  The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has a special lending plan for vets, and many franchising companies offer discounts to veterans who are interested in that aspect of small business opportunities.

Veteran Business Opportunities - Veteran Franchise Opportunities
Among all the business opportunities for sale, the ten listed below are especially appropriate for individuals who have prior military service.

Read More

The Female Entrepreneur
More people than ever, it seems, are interested in starting their own business, and women are helping to lead the way.  One survey showed that women owned businesses in the United States grew nearly 15 percent over a five year period.  Business opportunities for women have never been greater, especially with the plethora of online companies springing up and the ability to work from home in just about any field.  Among the countless business opportunities for sale – whether as a franchise or a start-from-scratch situation – many are especially suited to be operated by women.  Because the female is the nurturing half of the species, far more women than men remain at home to raise a family.  Even those who are employed outside the home bear the brunt of the duties when it comes to looking after the children.  In recognition of this, here is a list of the top 10 business opportunities that women might find especially attractive.

Small Business Opportunities
Given the financial and time constraints of the average household these days, small business opportunities for women are nonetheless abundant – limited in many cases only by one’s imagination.

Read More

Read More

“Destiny is something we’ve invented because we can’t stand the fact that everything that happens is accidental.” – Annie Reed – Sleepless in Seattle (Tristar Pictures, 1993)

Recently, we emailed Dr. Jon asking if a rumor we’d heard was true. His response … “IF you would have read my blog and my Tweet, you would have known the answer!” That’s what we like; a simple, straightforward answer to a simple question! Hey … we’re pretty much like everyone else … well, pretty much. Hop out of bed, check the office voicemail, check our email, check text messages, check a few very high-priority “gotta see” web sites, have a cup of coffee, head for the club for a workout. Then, to the office to finish up the 24 “must-check” sites, scan a dozen “important” blogs, wade through a couple of hundred emails that accumulated overnight (o.k., 60+percent were garbage but …). After that, there’s a little work to be done. At the end of the day, the process is reversed so the inbox is clean, emails are handled / filed / passed along and we can sleep with a clean conscience. That pretty much sums up a typical day … round the clock, round the calendar.

We’re far from alone in this always-on state. Two billion plus computers, four billion plus plus mobile devices, a gazillion (and growing) web sites, blogs, social nets and instant in-touch services have shrunk the world and the clock to fit nicely in our screen(s). We’re all (actually about 20 percent of the total world population) are connected.

World Connected – With Internet connectivity virtually everywhere, it’s no wonder when you tap into your smartphone, notebook, netbook almost any time of the day, you can find something important or interesting. In addition, the global Net lets you keep in touch with friends, family, colleagues anywhere, any time.  Source – Intel

Read More

Start a Small Business
Owning their own business is a dream many Americans share, and learning how to start a business is not that difficult.  There are certain steps that must be taken for legal and financial purposes, and other aspects that need to be addressed to ensure that you will be successful.  The following start business checklist should serve as a rough guideline; your specific needs may vary depending upon the type of business you plan to operate.

How to Start a Small Business

Read More

Finding Franchise Financing
Individuals or groups looking to buy a franchise rarely have the kind of cash it takes to pay for everything up front.  When you take into account the initial franchise fee – anywhere from $25,000 to $50,000, or more – plus money for equipment, inventory, supplies, advertising, and possibly even real estate, you are easily talking about anything from a low- to mid-six-figure number up to a million bucks, or more.  That’s a pretty expensive neighborhood.  As a result, you will be looking for a franchise loan to accommodate at least part of that figure, and most likely a large chunk of it.  Franchise loans are tough enough to secure in relatively good times, but what about during a recession?  One report estimated that 2009 could see as much as a 40 percent reduction in franchise financing, due to the current economy.  Is this bad news for the prospective entrepreneur?  Not necessarily.

Read More

History of Dunkin’ Donuts … A Most Successful Business
In 1946, William (Bill) Rosenberg started a company he called Industrial Luncheon Services, whose operation involved delivering meals and snacks to workers in and around the Boston area.  After two years of success, he opened a place called the Open Kettle, a coffee and doughnut restaurant in Quincy, Massachusetts.  In 1950, Rosenberg changed the name of his place to Dunkin’ Donuts, and the rest is, well, history.  It took him only four years to open four additional locations in the greater Boston area, and the growing popularity of franchising convinced him that this was a terrific way to expand further and faster.  His philosophy was a simple one: “Make and serve the freshest, most delicious coffee and donuts quickly and courteously in modern, well-merchandised stores.”  Thanks to his efforts, Dunkin’ Donuts has become the world’s largest chain serving coffee and assorted baked goods – the menu has expanded from donuts alone to include bagels, muffins, and assorted breakfast sandwiches.

Read More

In Business For Yourself
A franchise is a license granted by a company that allows you to operate essentially what is a branch office of the parent organization.  For people who are interested in going into business for themselves, this is a common path they take to achieve financial prosperity.  While one can always start a business from scratch, owning a franchise provides a tremendous number of benefits with relatively little downside.  If you have the desire to own a franchise, here are some of the reasons why it can be a great way to reach your fiscal goals.

Read More

The Search for Recession-Proof Franchises
When contemplating the purchase of a franchise, it makes sense to seek out an opportunity that has the ability to resist market fluctuations and faddish trends.  Imagine where you’d be today if, back in 1995, you had sunk ten grand into becoming a Tamagotchi dealer.  Does anyone even remember those digital pets from Japan?  But real pet franchises have proven to be one of the most recession resistant industries, and that trend is expected to continue for many years to come.  One advantage of this field is that a pet franchise can take so many different forms, as we will explore below.

America Loves Its Pets
Whether economic times are good or bad, sales at pet franchises across the United States continue to grow.  Last year alone, a leading pet industry organization estimated that Americans spent more than $43 billion on their pets, with more than half of that revenue being accounted for in food and accessories (the balance was made up of services and health care).  Growth is expected to increase by an average of at least 13 percent per year through 2013, no matter which direction the U.S. economy moves.  This figure should not be all that surprising, since close to two-thirds of every U.S. household has at least one pet – in other words, around 71 million homes.  As recently as five years ago that number was 64 million, so you can see that the industry has fairly exploded over a relatively short time.  The elderly matron who spends $300 on Christmas gifts for her two toy poodles is no longer the exception to the rule.

Read More

The Mysterious Call of the Colonel
Say the magic words, “a secret blend of eleven herbs and spices,” and any fast food aficionado worth his or her salt will immediately recognize the famous marketing pitch of KFC.  Known for many years as Kentucky Fried Chicken, Colonel Harland Sanders started the company way back in 1939, having opened his first restaurant in a gas station in Corbin, Kentucky.  After awarding his first franchise in 1952 to an enterprising individual in Salt Lake City – the royalty Sanders charged his initial franchisee was five cents per meal – he subsequently became the world’s largest seller of ready-to-eat chicken.  The company eventually became part of Yum! Brands and changed its name to KFC to reflect a more varied menu.  The parent company also owns such iconic restaurant brands as A&W, Long John Silvers, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell.

Read More

What is the first step one must take when thinking about buying a business or going into business with family or friends?  STOP – and allow yourself careful consideration.  I think the concept of going into business with a life long friend, or a good buddy from college, or your brother, dad, sister is a fairly common thought process.  Family run businesses are prevalent throughout the business communities.  There are many successful family businesses, so they must be a good idea – right?  My short answer is I’m not so sure.  Businesses that have the ability to sustain over long periods of time – 10 years, 20 years or more to me are classified as successful businesses.  But do the businesses sustain at the expense of breaking apart family values, feelings, or structure?  Are holidays at the dinner table among the “family business associates” enjoyed as a family or another business meal, or worse? 

I think there are many success stories of family businesses or buddies that go in together to buy a business.  But, I also think the number of family / ”friend partnership” businesses that fail are large, and the number of businesses that are bought, started, or run by buddies or family members that adversely affect those important relationship may even be larger.   Why is it so easy to come up with the idea of asking your buddy to go into xyz business with you?  I think a big part is the feeling that you know your buddy or your brother / sister.  But the missing link here may be that you know a certain part of that person real well, and the other part- the business part, – you may not get to know until it is too late.

Read More

If you’re going to take the time and trouble to write an article, I’m a big believer that you should try to re-use it as many times as you possibly can. Apart from the reason you’ve written it in the first place, which presumably one of the reasons is to help your build your credibility as an expert, here are eight other things you can do once you’ve completed your article:

1.  Put it into your blog
Blogs or on-line diaries are a great place for you to express your opinion or publish views and news. You can set one up for free using Blogger or WordPress and then once you’ve got one, you’ll be able to copy and paste your article in here to help you build your credibility throughout the internet.

2.  Publish it on-line
If you type “free article websites” into Google, you’ll come up with thousands of sites where you can publish your article for free. Not only does this help build your credibility on the internet, but if you include a link back to your site, it will help bring new visitors to your website.

3.  Use it in your newsletter
If you have a newsletter, you can use the article you’ve written in there to save you having to come up with something new.

4.  Send it out as tips to your contacts
If you don’t have a newsletter, you could just use the article to send to your contacts. Giving your contacts free tips and items of value is a great way to build a relationship with them and convince them that they might want to work with you in the future.

5.  Use your article in other people’s newsletters
I’m sure you’ve got several contacts that already publish a newsletter. Why not ask them if they’d be willing to use your article in their newsletter?

Read More

Small business owners often ask me if I could pick just one marketing method what would it be. Well, don’t worry I’m not going to say to you that it depends on your target market or on what you do. I really do have just one marketing method that I would pick above all others. Do you want to know what it is?

This marketing method is following up with people. Surprised? Did you expect me to say cold calling or leaflet dropping or something else? The reason that I’ve picked this marketing method above anything else is because no matter what you do, if you don’t follow up it won’t result in business.

Let’s imagine you go to a networking event. You pick up business cards and maybe the attendee list. And then you get back to your desk and you’re selective about who you contact so you only touch base with one or two people. How do you know that the ones you haven’t followed up with aren’t the ones that could give you business?

Another example could be if you’ve been talking to someone about doing some business with you. You’ve sent them a proposal and spoken to them a couple of times after you’ve sent it over. But, they haven’t come back to you and it’s gone a bit quiet. If you don’t follow up with them now, you’re missing a massive opportunity to get more business.

The same could be said if you’ve just done some cold calling and the person you needed to speak to wasn’t there. If you don’t keep chasing them and following up, you’re likely to miss out on some massive profits.

Following up is THE one thing that small business owners don’t like doing that could really pay off if you make it one of your daily jobs. You need to be following up with:

Read More

August is traditionally a time when things go quiet for a lot of businesses as potential customers get back into the swing of things. When you need customers fast though, knowing that is no help at all. So, here’s my top simple and quick ways to get customers fast. 

1.    Talk to your past clients – Have you kept in touch with your past clients? Maybe they’re looking for your products and services right now. Drop them a line (either by phone, email or post) just to see how they’re getting on. When you’re looking for customers fast, your past clients are often a great source of leads. 

2.    Analyse what’s worked in the pastWrite down a list of your current and past customers and next to each name, write down where this customer came from. Be specific – if it was a networking event, which one; if it was a referral – who sent it to you? Analysing your marketing in this way should give you a very clear idea of which marketing methods are working for you and which are not. Then you can go out and do more of the methods that are working for you. 

3.    Offer your customers something special in return for referralsI’m sure in your business, you’ve had at least one referral in the past and when you need customers fast, referrals are a great quick source. Approach your current customers and past ones and offer them something in return for a referral – it could be a free e-book with quick tips; a bottle of wine; discounts of your future products and services. Try it, you might be surprised. 

4.    Go where your customers goIf you’re stuck for marketing ideas and want to find customers fast, one of the best ways is to look at your customers and have a think about where they would naturally congregate i.e. it might be at conferences; at the gym; on Facebook etc.

Read More