The Columbus Dispatch:

Pizza shops are warming up their ovens, eagerly awaiting Sept. 22, the start of fall quarter at Ohio State University.

The Columbus Papa John’s franchisee has scored the biggest coup, opening an outlet at Lane Avenue and High Street, just up the street from locally based chain Donatos Pizza’s shop at 2084 N. High St.

Charles Burris, operating partner for Johncol Inc., said his carryout and delivery store at 2108 N. High St. will offer students a number of values and will be one of the first traditional shops in the chain to offer nontraditional 8-inch pizzas at lunchtime and in the evening.

Although Burris touts the chain’s promise of “better ingredients, better pizza” as the cause of his stores’ success, Johncol has made shrewd changes lately, such as moving three of its shops in the city, including the campus location, and “re-imaging” its 19 others in Ohio. It also created “the Ultimate” double-pepperoni pizza that the entire chain now offers.

“We were servicing the campus fine from our Hudson Street location” 10 blocks north, Burris said, “but now, (the new store) is our premier location.”

Food-service strategies consultant Dennis Lombardi understands the move.

“It’s very important to get into the mental phonebook of your customers,” said Lombardi, executive vice president of WD Partners. “Students who want a pizza aren’t going to do any research at 1 o’clock in the morning. You want unaided awareness.”

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Reuters:

* Says to expand Payless into Russia in 2010

* Says will open at least 90 stores in 5 yrs

* Says will open 5 stores in 2010

* Says to open 300 stores in Russia in the long run

Sept 1 (Reuters) – Collective Brands Inc (PSS.N) said on Tuesday it planned to expand Payless ShoeSource into the Russian market in 2010 along with franchise partner M.H. Alshaya.

Collective, which is the holding company for Payless ShoeSource and Stride Rite, plans to open at least 90 stores in about five years, of which 5 will be opened by late 2010, the company said in a statement.

Last September, The Topeka, Kansas-based company had announced its first franchisee deal, expanding Payless ShoeSource into the Middle East with the same franchise partner.

Kuwait’s Alshaya develops and operates stores for retailers and restaurants like Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O), H&M, Foot Locker Inc (FL.N) and Dean & Deluca, among others.

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PR.com:

New Blenz franchisee Frank Scott has joined his partner Sunny Bhayana to operate the 24 hour Blenz Coffee location. Friends and neighbours toasted the store’s suave new store design with free signature beverages and treats at the high-traffic corner coffee shop. The celebration attracted a large crowd of people while club style top-40 music boomed from the DJ booth well into the evening.

“Blenz has successfully operated in this location for over ten years”, stated George Moen, President of Blenz Coffee. “Our ability to rekindle the great vibe in this neighbourhood is perfectly timed with the completion of the Canada Line. We look forward to a positive response from local customers and we’re confident they’ll appreciate the effort made here to give them a great environment to come to.”

Guests at the party were openly pleased with the look and feel of the store. Multi-level dropped ceilings, bamboo cabinetry, digital screens, lots of comfy leather seating, with various changes in equipment and service elements clearly indicate this store is more than a makeover – essentially, it’s a brand new store.

The store also has a new energy. Already an experienced business man, Frank Scott knows it will take dedication to complete the transformation. Having already owned several Pizza Factories and a food manufacturing company, Frank’s plan is to now focus solely on his new Blenz store to ensure the local clientele knows he shares their commitment to the neighbourhood. Frank has also hired a new team of trained baristas to deliver Blenz Coffee’s premium handmade beverages and friendly service.

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 Wall Street Journal:

 PARIS – Starbucks Corp.’s top international executive said the chain plans to continue expanding its modest presence in France after striking a deal to take full control of the country’s operations.

In France, “there is a tremendous opportunity because of the availability [and] quality of real estate for us to continue an aggressive expansion path,” said Martin Coles, the head of international operations.

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Brisbane Times:

El Salvador’s Supreme Court has upheld an order requiring fast food chain McDonald’s to pay $US24 million ($28 million) in damages to a franchise owner who says his contract was unfairly terminated.

The court “confirmed what the second civil court ordered in December 2005″, a Supreme Court source said.

The ruling favours former McDonald’s franchise owner Roberto Bukele, who first filed a suit against the US fast food giant in 1996, after the company terminated its franchise agreement with him.

McDonald’s accused Bukele of failing to follow its quality criteria – an accusation he denied – and in 2005, a court ordered the company to pay the former franchisee $US23.9 million ($A27.95 million) in compensation.

Bukele hailed the Supreme Court’s ruling in a statement on Tuesday.

“The Salvadorian ‘David’ has once again defeated the giant ‘Goliath’ – that is the message that should be taken away by foreign companies that think they can come here and violate and trample on our laws,” Bukele said.

According to Bukele, the “unilateral” suspension of his franchise agreement with McDonald’s caused his company Servipronto around $US48 million ($56 million) in losses and forced him to fire some 300 employees.

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dBusinessNews:

As more and more consumers are realizing the value of refilling and recycling ink cartridges, Cartridge World franchisees are reaping the benefits. The world’s fastest growing ink and toner refilling retailer is reporting double digit increases in same-store sales for the sixth consecutive month, with domestic same store sales increasing 16.3% for Quarter Two over last year.

Despite the tough economic conditions, 55 percent of Cartridge World’s stores have achieved an all time high month at some point during the seven months of the year.

“Our continued success clearly reflects the acceptance of our products from both consumers and businesses alike, as they realize the financial and environmental benefits of refilling and recycling their ink and toner cartridges,” said Steven Yeffa, President of Cartridge World Americas. “We are happy for our franchisees’ success during these challenging economic times and look forward to continued growth throughout the remainder of the year and beyond.”

Voted #1 in the category of toner replacement services by Entrepreneur Magazine’s Franchise 500, Cartridge World is continuing to see significant demand in the market in spite of the current economic climate. With the recession squeezing budgets, the ability to use Cartridge World for high-quality refilled and remanufactured printer cartridges is becoming an indispensable service for businesses and consumers looking to save money on office supplies.

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 Tampa Bay Online:

 An index that tracks publicly traded companies engaged in business format franchising has recovered the losses it recorded earlier in 2009.

The Rosenberg Center Franchise 50 Index had climbed 11.1 percent by the end of the second quarter 2009 with widespread gains in 40 of 50 components, some in excess of 100 percent.

“The tentatively positive economic signs that started to appear by the end of March 2009 were confirmed by a number of economic reports suggesting that the worst of the deepest economic crisis since the Great Depression was behind us,” said Hachemi Aliouche, associate director of the Rosenberg International Center of Franchising at the University of New Hampshire Whittemore School of Business and Economics. “These include improved credit flows, a stabilizing housing market and a slowing rate of layoffs.”

The RCF 50 is down 1.8 percent over the year, compared to an increase of 1.8 percent for the Standard & Poor’s 500. Since its inception in 2000, however, the RCF 50 is up 41.2 percent, compared to a drop of 34.1 percent for the S&P 500 over the same period.

The best performer in the second quarter of 2009 was Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group. DTG recorded a 1,106.2 percent gain. DTG rents and leases vehicles under the Dollar and Thrifty brand names.

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QSR Magazine:

A look at how one young frozen-yogurt brand plans to make it to the top.

“I’ve learned more about yogurt in the last six months than I’ve ever known in my life,” laughs James Franks, vice president of franchising for Red Mango.

Franks is fresh off a franchising event in Washington, D.C., and every now and then stops the interview to wave at one of the 182 potential franchisees that attended the meeting who are also at our restaurant. “Out of respect to our brand and to the franchisees we bring on board, we won’t bring them on board unless we know that we can support them and give them the attention that they need,” he says.

And lately that’s a lot of attention. The two-year-old frozen-yogurt brand finalized a round of development deals this spring with new and existing franchisees that will result in 128 new stores from California to Tennessee. To date the brand has about 50 locations open. Less than a week after the development deal was made public, the company also took a recession-defying step and announced its Store Buy Back Program. To date, no franchisees have tapped it, but the program allows partners to sell their store back to corporate for up to $275,000 if they’re not satisfied within the first six months.

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Business Standard:

McDonald’s cuts prices of extra-value meals to graduate from just a ‘snack joint’ to a lunch & dinner destination.

At a time when food prices are going through the roof, Big Mac is calling you for lunch and dinner that cost 25 per cent less than what you paid yesterday.

Beginning today, the world’s most ubiquitous chain of quick-service restaurants is reducing the prices of its extra-value meals – McVeggie and McChicken – to Rs 85 and Rs 96. The current prices are Rs 110 and Rs 120 respectively for a meal that consists of burger, French fries and soft drinks.

While the USP of McDonald’s all over the world has always been affordability, the move is surprising even by its own standards. But Arvind Singhal, Marketing Director of McDonald’s India (North & South), says it’s designed to increase the footfalls and increase the store utilisation. “Even the company’s board was surprised and asked us whether cutting prices at this point makes sense. But we have been able to convince them,” he says.

The rationale, Singhal says, is that McDonald’s has been known in India more as a snack joint. It is now keen to make its restaurants a lunch and dining option as well. Extensive customer feedback suggested that “people would come to us for lunch and dinner if we tweak the prices of our combo meals”, Singhal says.

All 165 stores will offer the extra value meal at the new prices from today and McDonald’s is ready with a new commercial which will go on air next week. The brief to the creative agency was clear: “Come to McDonald’s for your pet puja at an affordable price”.

Singhal says the basic idea is to encourage customers who come to McDonald’s twice a month to make their third visit.

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CNNMoney:

Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) is planning for a drawn-out recovery in consumer spending, but believes it has right-sized its once high- growth business model with more than half a billion dollars of cost cuts.

“We have shaped our plans assuming there’s a long recovery here and takes a while for the consumer to come around,” Starbucks Chief Financial Officer Troy Alstead said Wednesday at a Goldman Sachs retail conference. The consumer health outlook is still hazy as unemployment approaches 10% and consumers build up their savings, leaving Starbucks preparing for more uncertainty before prosperity. Alstead also said Starbucks would continue to use traditional marketing and social media like Facebook to fight against attacks from competitors that have chided the worldwide coffee shop for being too pricey. “Starbucks will not allow others to continue to define us in the customer’s eyes,” Alstead said.

Starbucks has faced new competition in the premium coffee market from McDonald’s Corp. (MCD). Earlier this year, a McDonald’s billboards in Seattle, Starbucks’ home turf, proclaimed: “Four bucks is dumb.” McDonald’s Corp.’s (MCD) premium coffee launch, McCafe, may not be giving the chain the boost it wanted. Earlier Wednesday, McDonald’s posted disappointing August same-store sales results, including a 1.7% increase in the U.S., a figure Research Edge LLC analyst Howard Penney says reflects consumers not taking to McCafe as much as thought.

Starbucks shares got a lift in recent trading, rising 79 cents, or 4.1%, to $ 19.99. Shares have more than doubled this year, and have bounced from a low of $ 7.06 last November.

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emediawire:

Nearly one year ago USA Baby, Inc. was forced into an Involuntary Bankruptcy. This past July, CCLP the primary secured creditor acquired the Intellectual Property and assets of USA Baby through a foreclosure sale. Details of the Lone Star Baby & Kids acquisition were not immediately available.

Michael J. Schaul, President of Lone Star Baby & Kids stated, “We are extremely pleased with the outcome today and look forward to growing both the USA Baby and Lone Star Baby & Kids Brand nationwide through franchising.” Schaul added, “There are approximately thirty five (35) stores nationwide currently operating within the USA Baby Franchise System. We plan to offer these stores the opportunity to join our Franchise System and return the USA Baby Brand back to the predominant juvenile specialty store chain it once was.”

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Pizza Marketplace:

For those interested in getting into the pizza business, there may be no better time than the present.

A number of pizza chains are offering discounts on franchise fees or royalty payments as a way to fuel growth and attract quality operators.

In July, Marco’s Franchising LLC, which operates Marco’s Pizza restaurants, launched a number of financing tools to assist current and potential franchisees.

To help with store down payments, Marco’s introduced a private equity fund that can invest $50,000 to $100,000 per store. The company also is developing a $50,000,000 private equity fund that would finance up to $250,000 of a new store’s cost, depending upon the franchisee‘s investment.

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Atlanta Business Chronicle:

Roark Capital Group completed its $131 million deal to buy Canada-based pet food and pet supplies retailer Pet Valu.

Markham, Ontario-based Pet Valu had $208.4 million in system sales across 356 franchised and corporate stores in Canada and the United States.

The deal is Atlanta-based Roark’s 15th franchise investment and the second major acquisition since the private equity firm secured $1 billion in its second institutional fund last year.

“The Pet Valu acquisition is consistent with our strategy of investing in value-added franchises that have strong brands and market positions,” said Ezra Field, Roark Capital managing director, in a statement. “The concept is right down the middle for us in terms of being a franchised specialty retail and distribution business with an experienced management team and a loyal customer base. And the demand characteristics of the pet sector are attractive.”

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Dallas News:

The operator of the Chili’s Grill & Bar at American Airlines Center hastily closed the restaurant down late Thursday, less than two weeks before the Dallas Stars’ preseason opener.

Base Holdings LLC, a company launched by entrepreneur Gilbert Aranza, shuttered the 10-month-old restaurant, removing furniture and equipment, after an ongoing dispute with Center Operating Co., according to Richard Pullman, the attorney for Base.

Center Operating serves as the landlord for American Airlines Center.

“Of course, we are disappointed that the franchisee has closed the store that everyone hoped would attract new customers to Victory Park,” Brad Mayne, president of Center Operating Co. said in a statement. “COC has been working diligently for several months to assist the restaurant operator and continue the Chili’s operations. Therefore, we were surprised that this action was taken and especially that it occurred in this manner.”

Pullman painted a picture of a beleaguered franchisee who, along with other investors, sunk $2.8 million into opening the Chili’s on the ground floor of American Airlines Center, only to be hamstrung by a host of logistical issues.

One key concern, Pullman said, was that on nights with no events scheduled, Chili’s patrons could not park in the lot closest to the restaurant, though going into the lease, Aranza believed that they could.

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This may not be the first time that your CEO has sliced your training budget and I am sure it will not be the last. If you already run a lean and mean training function, then congratulations on your efforts. You may find, though, that your previous good management will not slow the CEO from asking you to shed some more expenses. Whether you have already optimized your training function in the past or you realize that you have a long way to go, here are ten practical steps that you can take to weather any financial storm.

1. Provide more self-help workbooks and on-the-job aids.
Replace some of the high cost training sessions with materials and aids placed where people do the work. Laminated procedures, checklists, tips’n’tricks, lists of shortcut keys, ready reckoners, and so on, may be effective replacements for full-blown training sessions. If somebody is having difficulty handling angry customers or using Microsoft Excel, check out your local training publishers for self-paced workbooks.

2. Conscript local experts or coaches to take the place of some training sessions.
If people have some knowledge and skills about the subject, identify one or two local experts in each area to act as a central point for all questions. Make sure that the experts and coaches you nominate have the required communication and interpersonal skills.

3. Cut training sessions that do not add value to the organization.
Does your organization really need that assertiveness skills training course? What tangible benefit did your organization achieve from it? Drop courses that do not show a demonstrable advantage to your organization. I’m not saying that these kinds of courses are never worthwhile. During difficult periods is the time to review whether they are of real benefit to your organization now.

4.

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We all want that sense of achievement that comes with reaching our goals. Whether we are working for ourselves or working within a larger organization, we get a deep sense of satisfaction when we accomplish what we set out to do. Some people seem to achieve their objectives without much effort. Others never quite seem to get there. Have you experienced frustrations such as these?

• Only half of your managers are using the new system after spending over one million dollars on its implementation.
• The incidence of customer complaints continues to rise even after the latest product redesign.
• Members of your department continually change focus so nothing gets finished.

If so, then you may need to revisit how you set goals and plan for their accomplishment. From my years of working in a number of organizations and on a variety of projects, I have condensed the lessons I have learned into a simple five step process. I call this process the Five Cs approach. This approach does not use any rocket science, just the basics needed for getting things done in your organization. By using the Five Cs process steps you will improve the chances of achieving your and your organization’s objectives.

The Five Cs approach can be used for activities as basic as organizing your team’s leave calendar to the more complex planning and rollout of your organization’s annual fundraiser. The approach consists of these five basic steps:

Create   >>   Commit   >>   Communicate   >>   Carry Out   >>   Check

The steps in the process are essentially sequential, meaning that you will need mostly to complete an earlier step before proceeding to the next. Shortcutting steps in the process will only increase the amount of rework that you will need to do later on.

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Many organizations muddle through change. How is your organization progressing at implementing that new accounting system or moving to a new employee performance management process? Are your managers nodding approval in public but sabotaging the initiative in private? Are your employees shell-shocked and just giving up? Do you have no money left over for post-implementation support?

Whatever change your organization is trying to implement, knowing about and working through the necessary steps will go a long way to making your change initiative a success. I have distilled these crucial steps into a process model for change. The model is called the CHANGE Approach, with each letter signifying a step in the process. I have summarized below the key features of each step leading to a successful change transition.

Create tension
With this first step, articulate why change needs to happen and why it needs to happen within the planned timeframe. Many change programs start with a big bang, but then peter out ending in a whimper. Other programs struggle to develop the initial momentum. Think about the immediate force that will get your people moving in the right direction. This could be impending legislative changes, new entrants to the market, high levels of customer dissatisfaction, etcetera. Think also about the impacts of not changing, such as loss of market share or fines from regulators. To prepare your company for the impending objections, collect as much data as you can to back your assertions.

Harness support
Next, get on board the key decision makers, resource holders and those with the potential to subvert your change process. Start by identifying the key stakeholder groups; the people with something to lose or gain from your change proposal. Include in your analysis the end receivers of the new products or services, such as suppliers, customers and end users of software.

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Businesses For Sale By Owner (FSBO)
Existing businesses are being sold all the time, but many sellers elect to use the services of a business broker.  This saves them time and effort, although a broker – no differently than a Realtor in the housing market – is paid a fairly substantial commission for handling the transaction.  There are advantages to the seller when it comes to businesses for sale by owner (often abbreviated FSBO in a sort of business shorthand), but there are even more advantages to the buyer of a business for sale by owner.

Advantages – Let Us Count the Ways
With a business for sale by owner, the buyer can expect to benefit in the following ways:

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I was at a networking event the other day, explaining to someone what we did. In response, I received a smile back and the comment “well, marketing doesn’t really work anyway does it?” Interesting question! And I can completely understand why he said that. For a lot of small business owners, that’s exactly what they find – that marketing doesn’t work. The result is that many business owners feel frustrated with marketing and give up on the process, choosing to rely instead on referrals and word of mouth. But actually the answer to the question “Does marketing work?” is yes, absolutely. In order to make it work for you though, it’s important to understand why marketing doesn’t work. There are three main reasons why marketing doesn’t work for small businesses:

1. Whenever you do some marketing, it’s important to understand that not everything you do will get you business. What I mean by this is that most of the marketing methods you use will be great a making people aware of what you do and will also be good for building your reputation as an expert. However, there are very few marketing activities that are just good at getting you customers. There’s something else you need to do to accomplish this which I’ll come onto in a minute.

2. The second reason is that most business owners don’t follow up with people. They do a marketing activity just once and when they don’t get the results they’re looking for, they just drop that and move onto something else. Marketing though requires persistence and once you have contacted someone, you must follow-up in order to properly see results.

3. The final reason is just not doing marketing. Marketing can be very frustrating especially if you’re not seeing results.

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Buy Business, Profit Now – Get MBA, Profit Later?
Recent college graduates and those contemplating the completion of their studies in the near future – specifically those majoring in business – are often torn between two disparate choices.  The question asked most often is, “Should I stay in school and earn my MBA (Master’s of Business Administration), or head out into the world and buy a business?”  There are four factors that come into play when buying a business or continuing in school – the money one needs, the amount time to be expended, the potential return on that investment, and the state of the market.  Most people who go on to do a MBA do so under rather stressful circumstances.  They work part-time at low wages, making just enough to get by while taking classes full-time.  They use up personal savings, borrow from relatives, and go into debt via student loans.  At the end of the two- or three-year process, they have a substantial educational advantage over their peers who did not take the MBA path, but they’re also that much behind the curve in the professional world.

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