(International Franchise Association)
On March 22nd, The International Franchise Association released numbers from their Franchise Business Index, an economic index reading of the franchise industry’s health. The FBI increased to 107.7 in February 2012: this is the sixth consecutive month the index has increased. IFA has said the index was up 1.4% from February 2011.
There are a multitude of things that a franchisee has to worry about. One of the most common things put on the back-burner is what your employees really want from the job. Although getting a raise is great, it’s not always what an employee is looking for.
Finding and keeping employees with the right work ethic, experience, and commitment should be your number one priority as far as staffing goes. But what about once you hire the perfect employee: how do you keep them at your business for the long haul?
Check out Gator alumni Brad Aronson’s new blog for great advice on how to get ahead in business and get updates on his upcoming book release… Uncommon Sense.
Did you know that more than 20 million veterans have shown an interest in starting a franchise? This number is expected to grow in 2012 with many veterans having returned home for the first time in months. Franchisors are excited to help veterans interested in franchising, the chance to become an independent business owner. More than 400 franchisors are currently part of the International Franchise Association’s VetFran Initiative. The VetFran Initiative helps veterans become franchisees through incentives and discounts on fees or royalties.
Running a franchised business can be extremely stressful. There are people asking you questions all day and on top of that, you’ve got to get all the paperwork, HR, marketing, etc finished before you go home. How can someone be productive, while still finishing everything? Easy…stay on task, but that’s easier said than done. Here are 3 sure fire ways to help you be more productive during business hours.
If you want to get things done during the day, don’t constantly check your email or Facebook. Set aside time each day to go through your emails, maybe once in the morning, lunch, and evening. This will keep you from getting off task every ten minutes to sift through emails. As far as social networks go, set up your tweets or status updates ahead of time with apps like TweetDeck or Hootsuite. These web apps allow you to organize your social networks ahead of time and also allow you to keep track of mentions.
One of the most basic principles of becoming organized and productive in business, is to create a schedule. A great practice is set up an agenda for each week on Monday mornings. This agenda would include meetings and project deadlines.
Each day before doing any work, set aside 10 minutes to write down your daily agenda, based on importance. Set your schedule in 60-90 minute intervals. This allows time for breaks or snacks. Constantly working for hours on end can cause a burnout and make you feel tired.
Switching back and forth from one task to another can cause distractions. Focus your attention on one thing at a time. This goes allow with the fact that you should create a schedule. There should be an allotted time in your day for everything that has to be done, whether that’s budgeting or interview a new hire. So stop multi-tasking throughout the day and make room for everything one at a time.
Although there are tons of questions that you should keep in your arsenal, here are 5 questions we think you should ask before investing money into a franchise.
Investing time and money into a franchise opportunity is a major decision. Taking the time to sit down and thoroughly research each business is very important. Find something that you could see yourself happy doing. Same issues could turn into big issues, so finding one that has little to no conflict with you and your life is of the utmost importance.
Considering the Brand name could be, but doesn’t always have to be, a question you should discuss. A recognizable brand name, such as NAPA Auto Parts, is easier to recognize than lesser known brands. Having a business with a recognizable trademark/brand name makes marketing and connecting to customers that much easier.
You should also stop to think about how the brand will be received in the territory you want to do business in. Take for example the protests you may hear about concerning Wal-Mart or McDonald’s in smaller towns. Although Wal-Mart isn’t a franchise, it helps demonstrate that even though you may think people will want/need a certain type of business in their city, that’s not always the case. People are very vocal when they disapprove of a business.
Success rates are one of the easier ways to find out how healthy a business opportunity is. How many businesses are continuing to thrive? How many had issues and had to close their doors? Another great way to look into success rates is to talk with existing franchisees. When you meet with an existing franchisee, try to get their opinions on how the business is run. What is relationship like with the Franchisor? What kind of issues did they run into during their first year?
Almost all franchisors offer some type of training and support. It’s imperative to find a franchise that offers some kind of training program and support. You wouldn’t want to jump into a business opportunity without having the knowledge to make a profit would you?
There are many fees in business and knowing which ones you’ll be paying in important. Some of the fees involved are royalty fees and franchising fees. You’ll need to find out if these are by month, quarter, or year. Theses extra fees should be included when making a budget estimate for your first year in business.
Being an entrepreneur isn’t something that a person typically learns. Being an entrepreneur is all about a state of mind and how a person reacts to different situations. Almost every situation in life has multiple outcomes, entrepreneurs are those that find the best alternative and run with it, even when someone is yelling “No!” Being an entrepreneur is all about taking an idea, a business, or a service and making it into a viable solution. Does this sound like you already?
The WSJ released an article recently about the growth forecast for the franchising industry next.
Here’s a summary of what was said:
2011 forecast was 2.5% growth but in reality there was only a 1.9% growth.
2012 forecast is set at 1.9% growth and was issued by a new research firm, IHS Global. 2011’s report was issued by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Quick–service restaurants, which make up the bulk of the franchising industry, are expected to continue growth. These businesses are also expected to continue providing of 35% of jobs to all franchise industries. Stephan Bronars, an economist with Welch Consulting in Washington D.C., believes the IHS study is “overly optimistic” because these business are directly tied to consumers discretionary spending.
Most franchisors, 55%, are expecting a moderate improvement as far as credit access is concerned. This is an improvement from 53% in 2010.
What do you think is the outlook for 2012? Let us know!
The main focus of all for-profit businesses is to get a service or product in front of the customer and sold, right? But more often than not, this leads to businesses ignoring the needs and wants of the customers they have. More money can be made is you stop and take a second to listen to your customer’s needs.
If you’re currently running a business, I’m hoping you’re staffed and ready for the holiday rush. Holidays, like for example Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Hanukah, are critical in having a successful business. A large portion of retail shops revenue will come from these shopping days and the weeks prior. Planning for these rushes should start months in advance; it’s advantageous to be prepared when shoppers start coming in hoards.
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