Blog Hotspot for Franchise News ...

It is easier than ever to develop your franchise into a top global business, thanks to Franchise Direct. The Atlanta-based, world-leading franchise portal recently compiled its rankings of the Top 100 Global Franchises. After a number of insightful follow-up interviews with ranked franchisors, Franchise Direct can now shed some light on what takes to grow a business into a top global franchise.

As recent reporting in the Wall Street Journal shows, international development is now a profitable course for many franchises seeking new markets, as economies around the world have been somewhat slower to introduce the franchising model than the US. With its inaugural rankings of the Top 100 Global Franchises, Franchise Direct not only listed the best-performing global franchises, but it provided a blueprint to other franchises eyeing similar growth.

Interviews with franchisors with businesses on the Top 100 list showed that there is no one path to successful international expansion. Selling a master license is a common strategy, but by no means the only route, as Coffee News USA discovered.

“In those countries that are doing well, we will leave them alone. If we take back countries we will run them from here for awhile and then sell them once we have someone who can do Coffee News well there,” said Bill Buckley of Coffee News USA.

Other companies like PakMail have tailored a business model that can be easily reshaped into different foreign economies.

“We are open to further international expansion and prefer to establish master licensees outside of the U.S. The Pak Mail operating concept is pretty easy to adapt to foreign markets as evidenced by the success of our franchises in Mexico,” says PakMail’s Sandy Lasky.

There will be many cultural roadblocks for the franchisor to overcome when opening in a foreign market. “Knowing the culture, language and business processes, as well as ensuring successful product distribution,” are some of the problems that PuroClean encountered when it launched its Canadian operation. However, it found a solution that changed the way it did business in the country.

“By having a native Canadian manager running operations in Canada, PuroClean has been able to overcome typical obstacles faced when entering a foreign market,” said PuroClean’s Natalie Zupo.

Launching a franchise on a global level takes time and patience. But the rewards can be limitless, as the success of Franchise Direct’s Top 100 Franchises has shown.

So, about 10 days later, exactly what effect has President Obama’s statements on the small business sector had on stabilizing confidence among entrepreneurs?

The answer seems to be mixed. If you’ve been following developments over on the You’re The Boss blog run by the New York Times, you’ll know that success in passing the new small business laws are not guaranteed. Initially, it seemed that the President might have to struggle to get his plan through the House and Senate after disquiet from members of both parties.

Now much of the debate has turned to the perspective of Rep. Sam Graves, who is the ranking member on the House Small Business Committee. He had initially announced his disdain for President Obama’s plan. But in an interview with the NY Times, Karen Mills, the head of the SBA, described Graves as “extremely supportive”. Now Rep. Graves’s office has taken exception to this statement, but it is unclear exactly where he stands on the President’s plans. Rep. Graves has declared himself to be an ardent supporter of small business, so it will be interesting to see where he comes down on this legislation.

All of that said, no matter what roadblocks the Republicans throw up, the Democrats will have the votes to pass the bill and it seems that now that support is there for the plan. This is important because there are a number of lingering political issues that are eating into the confidence of small business owners.

The Wall Street Journal recently issued another report on the difficulties facing small business owners. It framed the story around three big political concerns of small business owners: the impending health care legislation, the looming expiration of Bush-era tax cuts and the possibility of green taxes.

With all of these issues looming, it is really time for consensus. The President’s small business plans have to come into effect, and they should only the beginning. For those who doubt the President’s commitment to franchising and small business, here he is again, talking up the importance of entrepreneurship to the American economy:

No generation in American history is quite as celebrated as the Baby Boomers. They might not have changed the world like they promised in 1969, but by being the first generation to grow up with pop culture, it seemed like they would never get old. But, lo and behold, this year, Baby Boomers find themselves on the verge of the golden years. The question that many people exploring business opportunities are considering right now is this: how can I best service this huge demographic?

Anyone launching a business will want to be targeting a very defined market. But why not pitch that tent as large as possible? That is the argument of Susan Ward, who outlined ten possible areas to succeed with business via the baby boomer sector.

Some proposals are not surprising and have been proposed before on this blog. For instance, health and senior care franchises are only going to get more popular, given America’s rapidly-aging population and the recent rumpus over health care. Equally, fitness franchises stand to do well, as elderly people will need to preserve their health.

One of the most interesting suggestions comes in targeting the pet sector. According to Ward, baby boomers have elevated pets to near-human levels.

Baby boomer pets eat, sleep and do things with their people. They watch TV, they get dressed up, they have their own friends and their own doctors. They are a multi-million dollar industry!

It makes sense, too. Their children have grown up long ago, and pets fill that void. All in all, it’s a demographic that every entrepreneur needs to consider. There are many opportunities to take advantage of with this sector.

We blogged this week about IFA chaimwoman Dina Dwyer-Owens’ recent visit to Capital Hill and hoped that the Government would seriously take on board the needs of the small business community. Well, it looks like President Obama has taken notice.

The President yesterday told the small business community that “America is standing behind small business”, as he announced a range of measures aimed to help small businesses and franchises. Joined by SBA administrator Karen Mills and Treasury boss Tim Geithner at the home base of Metropolitan Archives, President Obama announced a number of initiatives aimed to spur lending and revive the small business sector. Watch his speech here:

President Obama’s plans include:

• Letting community-based banks (ie those with assets under a $1billion borrow money at a lower rates via the TARP program)
• A rise in the SBA loan caps from $2million to $5million.
• Community groups that issue loans in poorer areas can borrow relief loans at 2 per cent for 8 years.

IFA president Matthew Shay yesterday welcomed the President’s plan, saying that Mr Obama directly taken on board an IFA proposal.

“We thank President Obama for his support to enhance the SBA’s loan program,” said IFA President & CEO Matthew Shay. “We urge Congress to take the next step and pass legislation to increase the loan limits and make other important changes to the SBA loan program.”

It’s exciting to see the Government finally responding to needs to small business owners, but we hope this will not be the end of its support. What more do you think the Government can do to help franchisees and small business owners?

These days, every penny counts. The days when a business could throw money down the drain are long gone. If anything, businesses must strive to make their money they go further than ever before, which is why we’re offering a very simple, but essential money-saving tip today to franchisees.

Franchising Times has a thought-provoking story on an unexpected place to save money: the post office. Did you know that the United States Postal Service offers discounted rates on pre-sorted mail? Mastery of this seemingly-trivial subject can save a business lots of money down the line, according to Joel Vogel, the author of the piece.

Vogel provides this obscure tip on ‘saturation mails’:

  “A saturation mailing needs to meet certain requirements set by the USPS. For example, the mailing must be addressed to at least 90 percent of residents or 75 percent of all mailboxes on a route.”

But the beauty of a saturation email is that you don’t have to carpetbomb neighborhoods with your post. You can specifically target a range of demographics including ZIP code, route number, city, average income, average home value, average age, and percentage of homes with children.

And best of all you can do this for as low as .139 cents per stamp. Certainly franchises that rely on mass mailings need to implement this advice to save their business money. For franchises looking to draw in new customers, this is certainly an attractive, and cheap, advertising tactic. Mail is still a hugely reliable way to reach new markets.

It’s seemingly a simple tip, but for many franchisees the mail can deliver big results.