Eat Fresh - Eat at Subway
Sandwich shops can be found around the world, but few such establishments have the kind of name recognition enjoyed by Subway.  In 1965, two young men opened just such a shop with only a thousand dollar investment between them, hoping they could earn enough money from the venture to help pay their college tuition bills.  After struggling for the first couple of years, as many small businesses do, sales took off and the name was changed from “Pete’s Super Submarines” to the one we know today.  Subway franchise opportunities came about in 1974, and today it is ranked at or near the top of every franchise rating service - in categories such as customer loyalty, franchisee satisfaction, value ROI (return on investment), best training regimen for new owners, and many others.  Having carved out a niche in the sandwich world, the company continues to expand its menu within a fairly narrow range, with its fresh salads accounting for an ever-increasing share of overall revenue.  That initial thousand dollars sure went a long way!

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First Coffee & Donuts - Now, A World of Food Items
The Tim Horton’s franchise chain began with a single location in Hamilton, Ontario [Canada] in 1964.  The restaurant was named after one of its ownership partners, National Hockey league star Tim Horton.  Tim Horton’s franchises originally sold only coffee and donuts, growing especially popular with its Canadian clientele after developing two specialty donuts, the Apple Fritter and the Dutchie.  Items were continually added to the menu throughout the 1970s and 1980s - mostly treats but eventually soups and sandwiches.  Even after Horton lost his life in a car accident in 1974, the franchise continued to grow exponentially under his name.  Franchises were eventually opened in the United States as well as across Canada.

Tim Horton’s Franchise Review
There are more than 350 Tim Horton’s franchise locations in the United States, plus more than 2,750 stores in Canada.  The company’s Canadian operation is said to be more than 95 percent franchise-owned, with a similar goal in mind for operations south of the border.  In 1995, Tim Horton’s merged with Wendy’s International Inc., which is what helped spur growth in the United States.  Nearly every U.S.

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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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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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Buy Business Today - Profit When?
There’s an old saying that states, “Free advice is worth [only] what you pay for it.”  While this is true in many situations in life, how does this homily apply to buying a business?  After all, anyone who wants to buy a business will need some serious advice on the matter.  They will want answers to such questions as, “What kind of business should I buy?” and “What’s the advantage of a franchise over an existing business?” and “How do I know it’s a good price?” and so many more.  Additional concerns arise once the reality of buying a business starts to sink in.  Then buyers will want to know, “How much money do I need to operate the business properly?” and “When will I start to show a profit?”  The novice may not even know which questions to ask, not to mention having a clue about the answers.  In this situation, free advice is both available and worthwhile.  Even the cost of paying for such advice is nominal.

Advice on Buying a Business
So do you settle for free advice, or pay someone for it?  In either instance, where do you turn to learn more about buying a business?  There are a number of resources available to prospective business owners.  You simply have to know where to look.  Here are some places to start:

• Entrepreneur Forums at GlobalBX.com - Our business forum is for entrepreneurs and small business owners.

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Let the Buyer (ALWAYS) Beware
As a proper thinking entrepreneur, you have decided that the pizza place that’s been on the corner of your street for 15 years - and is now for sale by its original owner - would be the perfect business to buy.  You have some cash on hand, you know that the owner is willing to provide a loan for the balance (at a below market rate), and you have worked your way up through the fast food jungle from counterperson to assistant manager. All the stars appear to be properly aligned, so what could possibly go wrong?  Well, let’s think about the asking price for a minute.  Pay too much and you may find that it will take a lot longer to reach profitability.  Pay too little and…well, that almost never happens, does it?  How do you value an existing business for sale?

How to Value a Business For Sale
Any existing business has some intrinsic value, even if it’s on its last legs.  Maybe the equipment can be pawned or resold, or perhaps the brand name still pulls in a few customers.  There are many ways to calculate the fair value of an existing business - successful or otherwise - but it rarely makes sense to take the owner’s word for it.  At the very least you will want to apply your own metrics to the process.  It usually makes good fiscal sense to get a business valuation done by a professional or, at the very least, by a trusted yet disinterested third party.  Sad to say, there are literally dozens of methods that people use to determine the value of existing businesses for sale.  Not all of them will apply to the company your eye is on, but there are some basic rules worth following.

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Look Out - Businesses For Sale!
Thanks to the Internet and its worldwide audience, information on anything imaginable (and hardly believable) is only a few clicks away.  If you are an entrepreneur on the lookout for a new business opportunity, scanning the Web can prove worthwhile.  It can also be an immense waste of time, since search engines tend to force you to look at as many as a thousand tangentially related pages before you find something of value.  There are better sources and more sensible ways to uncover new business opportunities, especially those that offer greater local appeal.

How to Find Business Opportunities in Your Locale
There are no fewer than six major sources of information for finding a new business opportunity that suits your interests, your particular financial situation and your location.  While it helps to have at least some glimmer of an idea as to the type of industry you’d like to explore - more on that below - it’s not a deal-killer if you’re just starting out and haven’t a clue.  Believe it or not, the more you read and the more you learn about a particular field, the easier it is to accept or reject operating in that area.  Here are those six broad categories:

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Are There Cheap Franchise Opportunities Out There?
There are three aspects to coming up with the kind of money it takes to buy a franchise - coughing up the initial franchise fee, finding a place from which to do business, and paying for supplies and inventory.  Cheap franchises are an especially hot commodity in a down economy.  But don’t be fooled by a low price tag.  The cost of entry for an inexpensive franchise is only one element of potential success.  There are definitely cheap franchises out there, so let’s do a little exploring.

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