Building Your Business Top Ten: Exploiting the Power of Franchise Systems
Building Your Business Top Ten: Exploiting the Power of Franchise Systems
One entrepreneur told me the owner of a pet store franchise tried a home-made dog biscuit herself, then gave pieces to dogs in her store, then placed an order for 200 AND, paid in advance!
9. Leverage. Most franchises have annual get togethers. Thousands of owners talk about the most important thing: what is making their franchise the most money.
An attorney turned gourmet cracker maker told me that all it took was one enthusiastic manufacturers representative to tell some franchise owners who in turn, came to the owner for the crackers and the viral market spread like-well-a virus.
8. No cost. Partnering with a franchisee doesn’t take lots of money. In fact, some franchise owners like ideas so much they decide to fund development.
This starts an actual partnership. Of course, you split profits on the back end, but for accepting development dollars, using their channel and reaping the rewards, it’s a good deal.
7. Penetrate new markets. Traditionally, a product is created for one market. Playing the franchise game means you can supply your product to non-competing franchise owners serving different markets.
One company provided greeting cards to Postal Plus, as well as a florist, cookies and promotional goods product. Each relationship is “an exclusive”, within a specific geographic area to other franchisees of the same system. However, this doesn’t limit visibility or new market penetration.
6. Trades. Franchise owners are notoriously cheap. They have to be. Franchisees pay steep fees every year (and sometimes every month) to the franchise system, regardless of the revenue. Every penny of profit margin is squeezed every single moment of the day. The upside is the tendency to work on trade with other small businesses.
Use this to get your product into the hands of their consumers until you gain a following. Then switch to products for payment with subsequent franchisees.
5. The franchise associations. The two primary franchise associations—the International Franchise Association (IFA) and the American Franchise Associations---love to partner with service providers where they can serve as a distribution outlet. Both have been known to partner with a product or service provider, assemble decision makers from the top fifty franchise systems and deliver a product pitch. This is done in return for joint marketing or even a split of the revenue.
One caveat here. Both require you join their organization, and the cost is a few thousand dollars.
4. Franchise retreats. Even if you have to spend two thousand dollars to join the IFA or the AFA, it’s worth the money to attend the association’s annual retreat. Usually only the top thirty percent of the franchises attend, but this is the cream of the crop. Deals are cut, partnerships made and lots of schmoozing with the who’s who of the industry.
3. Franchise retreats are in great places—Whistler, Palm Springs, Lake Tahoe. ‘Nuff said.
2. Franchises are market aggregators. An aggregator is a term that fits partnering the best, since it really means that through one organization, many other “downstream” companies—vendors—suppliers—and associated partners, benefit from the product line. As aggregators, franchise systems have the ability to penetrate entire markets, doing the marketing and distribution work for you.
Think about the gift shop next door. Once your product is a hit, this gift shop partners with you to sell the product to its corporate accounts, its sub-florists (such as hotel and hospital gift shops)…and each time taking (and giving) you a piece of the pie. In short, your single franchise partner has saved you twelve months of market penetration while fronting the burden of overhead costs, employees and economic risks. All you have to do is supply the product.
1. Start your own franchise system. If your idea is big enough, you know enough about the process, protocols and other people to help you launch your own franchise.
For more information on partnering, visit www.bmginc.com, and for additional entrepeneurial resources, visit www.MyBizHomepage.com.
Building Your Business Top Ten Exploiting the Power of Franchise Systems - To learn more about this author, visit Sarah Gerdes's Website.
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10. Reason: Test a new product. Lot’s of entrepreneurs pitch the local pet franchise store. to test a new dog candy or breath mints. (you think I’m kidding). As independent owners, decisions are made on the spot.
One entrepreneur told me the owner of a pet store franchise tried a home-made dog biscuit herself, then gave pieces to dogs in her store, then placed an order for 200 AND, paid in advance!
9. Leverage. Most franchises have annual get togethers. Thousands of owners talk about the most important thing: what is making their franchise the most money.
An attorney turned gourmet cracker maker told me that all it took was one enthusiastic manufacturers representative to tell some franchise owners who in turn, came to the owner for the crackers and the viral market spread like-well-a virus.
8. No cost. Partnering with a franchisee doesn’t take lots of money. In fact, some franchise owners like ideas so much they decide to fund development.
This starts an actual partnership. Of course, you split profits on the back end, but for accepting development dollars, using their channel and reaping the rewards, it’s a good deal.
7. Penetrate new markets. Traditionally, a product is created for one market. Playing the franchise game means you can supply your product to non-competing franchise owners serving different markets.
One company provided greeting cards to Postal Plus, as well as a florist, cookies and promotional goods product. Each relationship is “an exclusive”, within a specific geographic area to other franchisees of the same system. However, this doesn’t limit visibility or new market penetration.
6. Trades. Franchise owners are notoriously cheap. They have to be. Franchisees pay steep fees every year (and sometimes every month) to the franchise system, regardless of the revenue. Every penny of profit margin is squeezed every single moment of the day. The upside is the tendency to work on trade with other small businesses.
Use this to get your product into the hands of their consumers until you gain a following. Then switch to products for payment with subsequent franchisees.
5. The franchise associations. The two primary franchise associations—the International Franchise Association (IFA) and the American Franchise Associations---love to partner with service providers where they can serve as a distribution outlet. Both have been known to partner with a product or service provider, assemble decision makers from the top fifty franchise systems and deliver a product pitch. This is done in return for joint marketing or even a split of the revenue.
One caveat here. Both require you join their organization, and the cost is a few thousand dollars.
4. Franchise retreats. Even if you have to spend two thousand dollars to join the IFA or the AFA, it’s worth the money to attend the association’s annual retreat. Usually only the top thirty percent of the franchises attend, but this is the cream of the crop. Deals are cut, partnerships made and lots of schmoozing with the who’s who of the industry.
3. Franchise retreats are in great places—Whistler, Palm Springs, Lake Tahoe. ‘Nuff said.
2. Franchises are market aggregators. An aggregator is a term that fits partnering the best, since it really means that through one organization, many other “downstream” companies—vendors—suppliers—and associated partners, benefit from the product line. As aggregators, franchise systems have the ability to penetrate entire markets, doing the marketing and distribution work for you.
Think about the gift shop next door. Once your product is a hit, this gift shop partners with you to sell the product to its corporate accounts, its sub-florists (such as hotel and hospital gift shops)…and each time taking (and giving) you a piece of the pie. In short, your single franchise partner has saved you twelve months of market penetration while fronting the burden of overhead costs, employees and economic risks. All you have to do is supply the product.
1. Start your own franchise system. If your idea is big enough, you know enough about the process, protocols and other people to help you launch your own franchise.
For more information on partnering, visit www.bmginc.com, and for additional entrepeneurial resources, visit www.MyBizHomepage.com.
Building Your Business Top Ten Exploiting the Power of Franchise Systems - To learn more about this author, visit Sarah Gerdes's Website.
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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