FRANCHISING USA OCTOBER 2015 3#12

Franchising usa T he ma g a z ine for franchisees

VOL 03, ISSUE 12, oct 2015

$5.95 www.franchisingusamagazine.com

boUlder designs working hard for franchisees

9 Steps

Proven to Build a Successful Sales Team special

Food and Franchising

supplement - part 1

Technology

And The Changing Workforce LATEST NEWS

FINANCIAL ADVICE FROM THE BANKS

TOP LAWYERS’ ADVICE

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Franchising usa T he ma g a z ine for franchisees

FRANCHISING USA VOLUME 3, ISSUE 12, 2015 president: Colin Bradbury. colin@cgbpublishing.com

Publisher: Vikki Bradbury. vikki@cgbpublishing.com

Advertising Sales: Kimberly Kutnick kimberlyk@cgbpublishing.com

Editorial Department: editor@cgbpublishing.com

Editorial team: Rob Swystun Gina Gill

Production: Diana Cikes usaproduction@cgbpublishing.com

DESIGN: Jejak Graphics. jejak@bigpond.com

COVER IMAGE: boulder designs

CGB PUBLISHING Canadian Office: 676 Wain Road, Sidney B.C Canada V8L 5M5 U.S. Office: 800 5th Ave, #101 Seattle, WA 98104-3102 Sales: 847 607 8407 Editorial: 778 426 2446 www.franchisingusamagazine.com Proud member of the IFA:

SUPPLIER FORUM International Franchise Association 1501 K Street, N.W., Suite 350 Washington, D.C. 20005 Phone: (202) 628-8000 Fax: (202) 628-0812 www.franchise.org

from the

Publisher Welcome to the October issue of Franchising USA. This month we aim to help you achieve success with stories that will inspire you to work hard, stick to your goals, and stay on track with plenty of common sense Expert Advice.

Our cover story this month is on Boulder Designs/Border Magic, which features a Franchisor who Promises to Work Hard for Franchisees. See pages 10-11 to read more about this unique business and franchise opportunity.

Our Special Feature this month is the first of a 2 part series on Food Franchising, which contains advice and insights into this thriving and ever-evolving franchise industry. On the Cover is Fresh to Order, which Aims to Identify with Their Franchisees, and we also include expert advice from Ted Milburn, Al Cave and

Renae Scott, who offer insights and tips for franchisees in this booming yet competitive industry.

Do you love the outdoors? Our main Veterans in franchising supplement this month features Outdoor Living Brands, which offers outdoor loving veterans plenty of opportunities to put their passion to work.

As always, we feature some great advice from our industry Experts, including Chris Conner, who talks about Closing a Franchise Sale, while Irv Geslewitz discusses a Controversial New NLRB Ruling that Could Force Changes to Franchise Model. Eliot Burdett shares his Blueprint for Success and 9 Steps Proven to Build a Successful Sales Team, while John Waldmann looks into New Technologies and the New Ways to Work.

You’ll also find the latest in industry news on pages 6-9, as well as the popular A-Z franchise directories listed at the back of the magazine.

Happy reading!

Vikki Bradbury Publisher

The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are, first, hard work; second, stick-to-itiveness; third, common sense.�

- Thomas A. Edison

The information and contents in this publication are believed by the publisher to be true, correct and accurate but no independent investigation has been undertaken. Accordingly the publisher does not represent or warrant that the information and contents are true, correct or accurate and recommends that each reader seek appropriate professional advice, guidance and direction before acting or relying on all information contained herein. Opinions expressed in the articles contained in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher. The publication is sold subject to the terms and conditions that it shall not be copied in whole or part, resold, hired out, without the express permission of the publisher.

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Contents

october 2015

On the Cover

Boulder Designs Working Hard for Franchisees

52 New Technology and the New Ways to Work,

32

John Waldmann, Homebase

12

54 9 Steps Proven to Build a Successful

Sales Team

Eliot Burdett, Peak Sales Recruiting

59 Special Food Franchising Supplement

74

10 Cover Story:

In Every Issue

Women In Franchising

06 Franchising News Announcements from the Industry

80 Clarissa Windhsm-Bradstock, Any Lab Test Now

37 Veterans Supplement News and Information for Veterans in Franchising

Question Time

68 Feature Article

Food Franchising Part 1

22 Jeff Oddo, City Wide Franchise

88 A-Z Franchise and Services Directoy

Spotlight on Service 24 ScerIS

Franchisee In Action 16 Huntington Learning Center 28 Launch Trampoline Park 56 The Little Gym Franchising USA

86 Ken McAllister, Suite Management Franchising

12 How Integrated Marketing Can Take Your Franchise

to the Top of the Line Matthew Jonas, TopFire Media

48

Expert Advice

14 Franchise Your Business: Closing a Franchise Sale Chris Conner, Franchise Marketing Systems

20 Why Franchising is a Viable Option for Families David Pursell & Mike Kirk, U.S. Lawns

26 Mining for Your Clients Using Groupon George Knauf, FranChoice

32 Controversial New NLRB Ruling Could Force Changes

to Franchise Model Irving M. Geslewitz, Much Shelist

54 Blueprint for Success: 9 Steps Proven to Build a

Successful Sales Team from Scratch Eliot Burdett, Peak Sales Recruiting

82 6 Reasons Entrepreneurs Must Go Further Than

Simply ‘Marketing to Millennials’ Trung Pham, AXIS

52

52 New Technology and the New Ways to Work John Waldmann, Homebase

Food Franchising Supplement (Part 1) 62 What’s New! 66 Cover Story Fresh to Order 68 Food Franchising Feature 72 Diversifying Your Franchise Portfolio Ted Milburn, Wienerschnitzel

3 Reasons Why Mobile Apps are Essential in the Restaurant Business Renae Scott, Chief Marketing Offier, Togo’s Eateries, Inc.

76 Rebranding: How to Take Your New Brand

from Concept to Execution Al Cave, RAMMP Hospitality Brands

74

74

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what’s new!

The Joint Corp. Announces Plans for Aggressive Corporate Expansion California, the second largest metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the country. The opening of these clinics will bring the total number of franchised and corporate clinics to approximately 24 in the Los Angeles/ Orange County market by the end of 2015.

In addition, the Company has signed four leases and expects to open four company-managed clinics by the end of 2015 for its entry into the Chicago market, the country’s third largest MSA. These clinics will open in concentrated clusters consistent with the Company’s strategy to maximize market and brand impact and increase operational efficiencies.

The Joint Corp. (NASDAQ: JYNT), a national healthcare operator and franchisor of chiropractic clinics, today announced plans for further aggressive corporate expansion in.

This initiative is in accordance with the Company’s strategy to expand its brand

presence nationally by developing and operating company-owned or managed clinics in concentrated clusters.

The Joint Corp. signed six new leases and expects to open approximately 12 new company-managed clinics by the end of 2015 in Los Angeles/ Orange County,

Frank Joyce, chief financial officer of The Joint Corp., commented, “These planned clinic openings, together with previously opened and acquired clinics in Los Angeles; Orange County, California; San Diego; Tucson and Phoenix, mark significant milestones in our initiative to open new corporate clinics in 2015.” www.thejoint.com

Franchise Marketing Systems Included in Inc. Magazine’s 34th Annual List of America’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies—the Inc. 5000 Inc. magazine today ranked Franchise Marketing Systems No. 891 on its 34th annual Inc. 5000, an exclusive ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies.

The list represents the most comprehensive look at the most important segment of the economy—America’s independent entrepreneurs. Companies such as Yelp, Pandora, Timberland, Dell, Domino’s Pizza, LinkedIn, Zillow, and many other well-known names gained early exposure as members of the Inc. 5000.

Chief Operating Officer, Tom DuFore,

Franchising USA

was ecstatic about the recognition. In a statement, he said, “Our accomplishments are based on client relationships and our client’s success. It has been a goal of ours from the start to be listed in Inc. 5000 and I’m excited we made it a reality.”

When asked to comment, Vice President, Alan George stated, “It’s simple economics, we saw a need in the market place and filled that need with our marketing knowledge.”

The 2015 Inc. 5000, unveiled online at Inc.com and with the top 500 companies featured in the September issue of Inc. (available on newsstands August 18 to

September 22) is the most competitive crop in the list’s history. The average company on the list achieved a mindboggling three-year growth of 490%. The Inc. 5000’s aggregate revenue is $205 billion, generating 647,000 jobs over the past three years. www.franchisemarketingsystems.com

RedBrick Pizza Amps Up Menu to Offer Better-ForYou Pizza Selection In a study conducted by The Center for Generational Kinetics, 68 percent of pizza lovers exercise twice or more per week.

In the same study, people under the age of 35 thought factors involving perceived health and environmental issues were important, such as gluten-free options.

As Millennials continue to dominate consumer spending and decision-making, more companies are moving to accommodate their inclination towards living healthy, active lifestyles. RedBrick Pizza is amping up its menu to better serve a wide variety of dietary trends with a menu aimed at offering a better-for-you pizza selection, including their popular gluten-free pizza.

RedBrick Pizza has always been about giving pizza lovers a healthy pizza baked in a traditional brick oven in 3 minutes or less. Today, RedBrick Pizza continues to be committed to

accommodating all dietary preferences and needs with made-toorder vegan, dairy free, vegetarian options, multi-grain options and more. As gluten-free continues to boom in the restaurant industry, RedBrick Pizza is creating delicious gluten-free pizza using top-quality all natural ingredients and organic tomato sauces.

RedBrick Pizza’s quality menu offerings centers around the idea of creating pizzas that reflect the increase in demand for healthy eating options customers can get fast and at a good price. http://redbrickpizzafranchise.info/

Anago Cleaning Systems Celebrates Expansion into Colorado Anago Cleaning Systems, a leading a commercial cleaning franchise system with over 35 Master Franchises and 2,400 Unit Franchisees in the U.S. and internationally, announced the signing of a sales and customer relations expert to spearhead expansion in the Denver market.

Anago is pleased to welcome new Master Franchise Owner Fred Ingham, who will open Anago of Denver. The new business will

be located in Greenwood Village, Colorado and will service the Denver metropolitan area.

“Anago provides great opportunities for its Franchisees and really treats its clients like family,” said Ingham. “I chose Anago because the support that is offered to Anago Franchisees ensures that each Owner has the tools and resources to run thriving, successful businesses. I’m looking forward to bringing that same level of service to Denver and continuing to give back to the community that I love.”

Specializing in all aspects of commercial cleaning, including nightly janitorial services, hard surface floor maintenance and carpet cleaning, Anago uses innovative cleaning techniques and constantly tests new methods to improve systems. Through its SmartClean™ program, Anago clients receive a rotational, systematic service ensuring the highest level of cleanliness for the health of employees and clients.

The new opening highlights the growth of the commercial cleaning segment, which is a top business sector in high demand.

Master Franchisees, many of whom use their strong background in sales, marketing, or business operations, have the potential to create many small businesses within their community through the Unit Franchise concept.

To learn more about franchise opportunities with Anago visit www.AnagoMasters.com.

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what’s new!

SpeedPro Imaging Relocates Corporate Headquarters from Phoenix to Denver allows our team to serve our studios and franchise partners more efficiently and effectively,” said Katsnelson. “This allows us to focus corporate resources on building and enhancing our business now and well into the future, and provides us the flexibility and capacity to continue to grow our network across North America.”

SpeedPro Imaging, the nation’s leader in large-format imagery, has relocated its corporate headquarters from Phoenix to Denver.

After acquiring the company a little more than a year ago, President and CEO Boris Katsnelson has aggressive plans including

opening 20-25 new studios annually and having over 200 locations by 2020.

SpeedPro Imaging currently has 117 studios located in 30 states, nearly a third of which have opened in the last three years alone.

“It was a smart business decision, as it

The new space houses a training and technical support center, the latest printing and production equipment available throughout the SpeedPro network.

The center offers training to new and existing franchisees across the country, and introduces them to cutting-edge technology that they will use in the field to provide the highest printing quality for customers.

With more than 20 years of experience, SpeedPro Imaging specializes in highquality products including wall murals, event graphics, tradeshow displays, vehicle wraps and window graphics. www.speedpro.com

Pro Food Systems, Inc. Selects Ascentium Capital as its Preferred Finance Partner Pro Food Systems, Inc. (PFS), known for providing Champs Chicken®, Cooper’s Express® branded hot food programs and foodservice equipment for supermarkets, convenience stores and retailers, announced it has selected Ascentium Capital as its preferred financing resource.

“Our number one goal is to assist our customers in operating profitable locations.

To ensure success, we’re offering the best financing options available that enable retailers to acquire all the proper equipment. After vetting several companies, we chose Ascentium Capital

Franchising USA

as our primary finance partner. Ascentium has proven they can provide high levels of service and they have been very flexible in meeting our business needs. We are confident in the benefits Ascentium is able to provide our retailers,” said Trevor Monnig, CFO at PFS. Ascentium’s finance solutions will assist PFS and their national client network to drive growth by enabling retail locations to acquire the foodservice equipment that maximizes return on investment and optimizes space and operational efficiencies. “Through the convenience of financing and Ascentium Capital’s

consultative approach, finance terms will be tailored to the clients’ specific cash flow needs. We look forward to many shared successes,” said Len Baccaro, SVP of Sales at Ascentium.

Media Contacts: Pro Food Systems, Inc. Amanda Wagner, Brand Manager Phone: 573-632-3377 amanda.wagner@PFSbrands.com Ascentium Capital Monica Bruegl, SVP Marketing Phone: 281-902-1925 monicabruegl@ascentiumcapital.com www.ascentiumcapital.com

Innovative Smartphone and Tablet Accessory Retail Concept Announces U.S. Expansion The KASE is rapidly becoming a globally recognized brand and the leader in fashion accessories for smartphones and tablets.

Serial entrepreneur Steven Rosenblum originally launched the concept in 2012 in Paris. In just a few years, The KASE has caught on like wildfire in many parts of the world. Apart from operating its own stores, The KASE has signed up master franchisees in in Europe, the Middle East, Indonesia, Morocco and South Africa, totaling more than 95 locations internationally.

The KASE, an international retail concept specializing in customizable fashion accessories for smartphones and tablets, recently announced its aggressive franchise growth plans in the United States.

With nearly 100 locations in several dozen countries worldwide, the brand aims to capitalize on the $50 billion accessory market.

“This is truly a remarkable opportunity for aspiring business owners here in the United States,” said Richard Basch, Vice President of Franchising for The KASE U.S. and a franchise industry development veteran. “In all my years of franchising, I have rarely, if ever, come across a concept that is so well poised to help people to take control of their lives and live the American dream.”

From site selection to store opening and marketing, The KASE’s U.S. franchise model provides support to franchisees every step of the way. According to Basch, “Based on The KASE’s upscale look and feel, some people jump to the conclusion that the concept is beyond their reach.

We’ve found that most people, however, are very pleasantly surprised when the see what it actually costs to own and operate a The KASE location.”

To inquire about franchise availability in the U.S., please visit the website: franchise.thekase.com.

Pet Supplies Plus to Open Public Dog Park at Seymour, Ind. Distribution Center Pet Supplies Plus, the nation’s largest and most trusted pet retail franchise with more than 300 locations in 25 states offering food, equipment, toys and more, has opened a public dog park named, Pet Supplies Plus Canine Crossroads, situated on the grounds of the brand’s internal distribution center in Seymour, Ind. The rapidly expanding franchise opened the 760,000-squarefoot wholesale operation in 2013 to ease the process of product distribution for its partners across 25 Eastern states. The company is now happy to transform part of the grounds into an area where local neighbors can relax and play with their beloved pets.

“We are thrilled to be able to take part of our distribution center and turn it into a slightly different operation that serves the needs of our loyal neighbors and their pets in a more playful way,” said Chris Rowland, Pet Supplies Plus CEO. “Opening this dog park to

local community members aligns with our core pet-centric values that include providing the best product and experience for these very special furry friends.” www.petsuppliesplus.com/franchise

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cov er sto ry

B oulder Desig ns

Boulder Designs franchisor

promises to work hard for franchisees Some life lessons come the hard way and that’s exactly the way that Boulder Designs owner Butch Mogavero built his own success story.

After a rough childhood and basically raising himself in his single-parent household, the franchisor moved out when he was just 15 years old to strike off on his own. However, Mogavero was as fortunate as he was hard working.

When he was just 20, he was working in a Rainbow International carpet cleaning business that was about to go under.

The then-owner convinced Mogavero to purchase it, paying it off in instalments.

That franchise did well and the young Mogavero’s performance running it caught the eye of the late Don Dwyer, then-owner of The Dwyer Group, which owns the Rainbow International brand.

Dwyer moved him into the the head office of The Dwyer Group in Waco, TX and Mogavero learned a lot about franchising from his time there, going from a sales position to vice-president of sales at the company.

From there, he became interested in curbing and started a successful landscaping business. He then he saw the potential in the Boulder Designs concept and purchased that company just a few months ago.

Franchising USA

Having endured a rather harsh upbringing that involved overcoming many obstacles, Mogavero knows the kind of hard work it takes to succeed and he wants future Boulder Designs franchisees to know that he will continue to work hard for them, too.

“I pretty much built everything I have on my own and worked hard for it, and that will continue on with Boulder Designs’ franchisees,” he said during a recent interview with Franchising USA magazine.

Rock Solid Headquartered in Waco, Boulder Designs builds solid, man-made boulders from the ground up with a combination of sand and concrete mixture. They are meant to be as close to a real, natural boulder as possible and can be used for a variety of purposes.

Mostly, the boulders are used for company signage.

While Mogavero just recently purchased the company, it’s actually been around since 2008 and together with a curbing company Mogavero owns — Border Magic — currently has around 96 franchisees.

Although he had a rough childhood himself, Mogavero prefers his franchisees to be well-established. Most franchisees that find their way to Boulder Designs are people who are tired of their corporate careers and who are looking for more freedom in their lives.

And franchising has certainly afforded Mogavero a lot of freedom throughout

his life, with the franchisor pointing out that he and his wife have been able to take an active role in their children’s lives, including coaching them in the various sports and other activities they’ve been involved in.

Another aspect of franchising that Mogavero likes is that the amount of money one makes is dependent on how hard one works. In a lot of other careers, the Boulder Designs owner said, a person will hit a ceiling at their position and will be unable to earn more money regardless of how hard they work. But, being a franchisee means being in control of how much one makes, Mogavero said.

Boulder Designs has lots of territories available right across the country, he noted, just waiting for hard working franchisees to make them successful.

Franchisees who are interested in Boulder Designs should like working with people, Mogavero said. They don’t need past experience in any certain area, as the franchise has a system developed that allows anyone to master it in a short amount of time.

Although it’s not necessary for the franchisees to work outside, someone who enjoys being outside would especially enjoy the business. In addition to the uniqueness of its product, Boulder Designs offers a unique way to get into business ownership.

While many other franchises will require a leap of faith into full business ownership, franchisees can transition into business

ownership at their own pace with Boulder Designs, Mogavero said.

It’s common for Boulder Designs franchisees to keep another full-time job and slowly transition into running the franchise on a full-time basis, he said, allowing them to become business owners at their own pace.

One person can effectively run a Boulder Designs, meaning it can be just an owneroperator outfit unless a franchisee opts to expand it into a larger business with employees.

“We have a much easier transition than most franchises,” the business owner said.

Learning to Succeed Training is at the company’s corporate headquarters in Waco and consists of four days of hands on training about how to make the boulders, how to conduct sales and how to market the product.

After that, franchisees go home and set up their shops. Boulder Designs supports them throughout that process and will go to their location if necessary.

“Most guys find they are able to get going right away with the tools we give them during that initial four-day training,” Mogavero said.

With a franchisor who has had first-hand experience overcoming obstacles in their corner, Boulder Designs franchisees are poised right from the start for success. www.boulderdesigns.net

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ex per t advice

Matthew Jonas, President, TopFire Media

How Integrated Marketing Can

Take Your Franchise to the Top of the Line Starting a new franchise could be compared to zip-lining for the first time.

The experience is new and exciting, but you also have this gut-dropping feeling and countless thoughts racing through your mind right before you start.

Suddenly, you begin to ask yourself questions like, “How will I get the best franchisees to join my system? Will the new franchise locations attract a strong

Franchising USA

customer base? Am I doing the right things to ensure this business venture is a success?”

But, once you take that leap into franchising, you are on the ride of your life!

Through this “business-lining” adventure, you’ll encounter twists and turns as they relate to franchise development and marketing. Web design, pay-perclick advertising, social media, content development and public relations are just a few of the many things you’ll face when marketing your franchise. Plus, so many franchise concepts are fighting for the same thing – to attract the best franchisees and become the best in their industries.

But, how can so many franchises fighting

for their voices to be heard actually rise above the tree-line?

The short answer is integrated marketing.

It can employ numerous tactics, including content marketing campaigns, social media advertising, and search engine remarketing. This all may sound foreign, and even intimidating, to some start-up franchisors, which is why many seek outside guidance and education to help them navigate this new field of play.

Keep in mind that, for most franchise companies, it is very easy to get lost in the fray. There is a lot of competition out there and a franchisor, as well as the system's franchisees, have to make every effort to make a lasting impression on the public.

A fully integrated marketing campaign

“The important thing is to start getting your message heard and your brand recognized in as many unique ways as possible in order to bring in prospective franchisees and build a strong customer base.”

Matthew Jonas

capture a digital lead. But PPC is just part of the equation; a smart franchisor knows that brand awareness and engagement is also crucial and can also influence website traffic – and this is where PR, social media, and other tactics come into play.

Integrated Marketing Generates Buzz You want to get people talking about your company. But, they have to have something to talk about, right? Combining public relations, content marketing and social media is a key part of generating that buzz.

In addition to amplifying the franchisor’s marketing initiatives, an integrated approach that includes these tools gives the company more positive media exposure, which can help in securing credibility and, ultimately, public trust.

can give a company the kind of brand recognition it needs to stand out in the crowd.

Integrated Marketing Increases Chance of Franchise Leads Integrated marketing can help create program awareness and attract prospective franchisees to a particular brand and system – with tactics and media options varying based on whether the target audience is single-unit mom & pop owner-operators, or sophisticated, wellcapitalized multi-unit investors. Services like pay-per-click (PPC) advertising and remarketing can be used to direct traffic to a system’s franchise recruiting websites and form fills, which, in turn, help to

Blogging about your company’s efforts and/or securing a thought leadership piece in the media can ensure public exposure.

Also, developing press releases about new franchise locations, creating a social media contest, or sending out a monthly newsletter to your network with company news and industry insights are great ways to stir up conversations about your brand.

And, of course, landing a coveted feature article about your franchise in a trade publication or national news outlet only further elevates and exposes your concept to a wider audience.

Integrated Marketing Means Creativity and Variety Any company can distribute a press release or buy print ads. It takes creativity and thoughtful use of all the marketing tools—such as developing an interactive and mobile responsive website, delivering brand messages through social media and promoting services through mobile marketing—to really make an impact in

today's competitive franchise industry.

The important thing is to start getting your message heard and your brand recognized in as many unique ways as possible in order to bring in prospective franchisees and build a strong customer base.

That “business lining” ride might feel like it will last forever as you stand at the top of the line. But when you see the other end of the rope—which I like to call “success”— you’ll definitely have a feeling of relief, as well as a reward. Much like zip-lining, fear of the unknown in franchising can be very real the first time; but after riding the line a while, you’ll be well prepared for whatever comes down the line. And when you’re armed with solid, integrated marketing strategies, you’ll be well on your way to developing a stand-out brand and system – one that ultimately will help you sell more franchises, and help your local franchisees perform better in their local markets.

Matthew Jonas is the President of TopFire Media, an award winning integrated public relations and digital marketing agency specializing in franchise marketing and consumer branding. Together with the leaders of iFranchise Group and Franchise Dynamics, Matthew established TopFire Media to provide a strategic and synchronized method for digital marketing in the franchise industry.

As a digital marketing strategist with over a decade of in-depth experience in SEO & PPC, social media publishing, conversion based marketing, inbound marketing, sales management, and online lead generation, Matthew has built a career dedicated to delivering an integrated marketing approach that achieves client success and long-term relationships. www.topfiremedia.com

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ex per t advice

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ex per t advice

Chris Conner, President, Franchise Marketing Systems

Franchise Your Business:

Closing a Franchise Sale When you franchise your business, your brand enters the dating game. You might have positive memories of being single again or if you are like me, negative memories of going on lots of blind dates, meeting completely incompatible partners and spending lots of time in awkward situations.

Franchising USA

Franchise sales has many similarities to dating, when you are offering a franchise of your business, you are looking for the right fit in a long term relationship.

Similar to getting married, where you hopefully didn’t marry the first date you went on, franchise sales requires a bit of selection. For any variety of reasons, some franchise candidates just don’t make good franchisees for your brand.

In a recent call with a client, he lamented about the fact that he had pushed too hard to get the first one sold for a computer repair franchise in Minnesota. The first franchisee was spending more time enjoying day time talk shows and relaxing than focusing on building the business.

The difficult part of this scenario is that

my advice to the client was that first, they hadn’t done anything wrong and second they needed to kick support and oversight of that franchisee into high gear.

Franchising is a game of momentum, energy and excitement and again, much like dating, people want to date the person who have more options for a date. By selling the first franchise, our client had proven to the franchise market that their concept could be sold. If they are able to keep this franchisee in business, even if not overly successful, they now have a reference point and person they can use as a reference. In my experience, the first franchise might take 3-9 months to close from the time a franchise brand is launched, after the first unit is sold,

“Franchising is a game of momentum, energy and excitement and again, much like dating, people want to date the person who have more options for a date.”

the second franchise will take 2-4 months from that closing. This speed of acquisition will continue to increase in most cases in that new franchisees are seeing, hearing and finding more validation for why they should consider purchasing a franchise of your brand.

The key to this scenario is that we don’t let the franchisee fail for a couple of reasons - one, we don’t benefit from improved validation of the brand and franchise platform if their business closes - second, we need to disclose in the Franchise Disclosure Document any franchisees who have closed or ceased operations. The key to this process is to get momentum with the franchise brand and show others that the concept is working in new markets.

I distinctly remember the time period where I got better at dating. My process, questions, ability to cut through the nonsense and just ask questions as to whether someone might be a fit for my needs and me a fit for theirs became second nature. The same happens in franchising. As a new franchisor, your qualification process gets better, more fine-tuned and ultimately you will begin to understand who makes a good franchisee and who makes a bad franchisee. Mature franchise brands with 50 units or more are extremely critical of who is allowed into their franchise system. This could mean a variety of things depending on the qualification factors. First, does the buyer have enough money to operate the business successfully - not just hard operating costs, but also working capital the franchisee can use to truely build the business and manage the slow cash flow months of a new company. Second, a franchisee should be screened for skill sets and qualifications as a franchise owner.

If you are in the restaurant business your franchisee probably needs to have an eye for detail, operational capabilities and an eye for service. A service business such as epoxy flooring most likely needs someone capable of sales, marketing and business development. The point is as the franchise system grows, a Franchisor should become more critical of who they are letting into the brand.

We have had success with using duplicate franchise evaluation forms, a minimum of three calls and a required discovery day visit before someone is awarded the franchise. This puts the franchisee through an inevitable screening process where they many times will “weed out” themselves by not participating in the stages needed to move through the buying process. It also provides the Franchisor with more information, insight and detail on each candidate so that you may make decisions related to a candidates ability

Christopher Conner

to work in the franchised business. Great franchise systems are extremely critical of who is provided the opportunity to buy in.

This is also made easier as the franchise system expands and royalty revenues increase to support profitability of the organization which in turn makes it easier for a franchisor to say “NO” to the wrong buyer.

Franchising can be a lot of fun....like dating.....but it is important to know who you would consider being a good date and where you are in the evolution of your franchise brand. As your brand and ability as a franchisor grows, you should be more critical of who you go on dates with.

Christopher Conner is the President of Franchise Marketing Systems. Mr. Conner has spent the last decade in the franchise industry working with several hundred different franchise systems in management, franchise sales and franchise development work.

His experience ranges across all fields of franchise expertise with a focus in franchise marketing and franchise sales but includes work in franchise strategic planning, franchise research and franchise operations consulting.

Christopher has worked with multiple International franchise and licensed organizations throughout the United States, Middle East, India and Europe.

He has an MBA in Finance and Marketing from DePaul University in Chicago and a Bachelors Degree from Miami of Ohio.

For more information visit: www.franchisemarketingsystems.com

Franchising USA

ex per t advice

Page 15

fr anchisee in action

H unting ton Lea r ning C enter

Huntington Learning Center franchise owner finds his decision

financially & personally rewarding

“The support is really phenomenal…I’d invest in Huntington again in a heartbeat.”

Bob Harms

Franchising USA

For one Florida franchisee, becoming a business owner wasn’t the only goal he had in mind. He wanted his business to have a positive effect on the world and Huntington Learning Center gave him that opportunity.

Bob Harms bought his first Huntington location in Pembroke Pines, FL in November of 2007 and purchased his second location in Plantation, FL in January of 2010.

Although Harms knew he wanted to own a business and he knew he wanted to have a positive impact, he wasn’t completely sure what industry or specific concept would be the best fit. After hiring a business consultant and looking at a variety of different opportunities, Bob determined that the Huntington Learning Center system gave him what he was looking for.

“It really kind of fit into my wheelhouse of something I could do very well at financially, while also making a difference at the same time,” Harms said during a recent interview from his home in Florida.

“Just owning a business and making money wasn’t exactly what I was looking for. I was looking to own a business, earn strong profits and have the opportunity to have a positive impact, whether it is on kids or another community. Huntington just really fit who I was and what I was looking for.”

Previous corporate America experience The majority of Harms’ prior professional experience comes from a privately owned company on Long Island in New York.

He was there for 21 years, starting out in the mail room and working his way up the corporate ladder while also expanding his education. By the time he was done with college, Harms had earned an undergraduate degree in Marketing and a master’s degree in both Management and International Business.

“I was looking to own a business, earn strong profits and have the opportunity to have a positive impact, whether it is on kids or another community. Huntington just really fit who I was and what I was looking for.”

Bob was eventually promoted to a supervisory role for one of their product lines and then later to operations manager for approximately 50 customer service team members. Later, he made his way into new business development where he grew two existing divisions and had the opportunity to start two new ones as well.

Going into business for himself Once Bob decided to go into business for himself and identified Huntington as the right fit, he went through the initial training program, which consisted of in depth work at the main office in New Jersey where he learned all the key components of Huntington—everything from the student lifecycle to customer service excellence to what differentiates top performers from the rest of the

pack (the secret, he says, is following the system). “They do a really good job of taking you through the whole process, showing you how to manage in this environment, teaching you the business model, walking you through the key performance indicators and how to improve them, all of those key components,” Harms said.

With two highly successful centers today, Bob is now also one of 5 franchise owner members of Huntington’s Ad Fund Board.

On the board, Bob has the chance to work closely with the marketing department which he finds to be highly effective and experienced—from the VP of Marketing, Beth Lawrence, who is over 30 years into her career of leading high impact marketing for everyone from Fortune 500 companies to nimble start-ups to

Franchising USA

fr anchisee in action

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fr anchisee in action

H unting ton Lea r ning C enter

the Director of Digital Marketing who has executed best in class social and search strategies for multiple household name brands. Bob also highlighted the company’s significant investment in innovative educational technologies that come at no extra cost for the franchise owners and are driving improved student outcomes and big time savings for his teams.

“For anyone who has a passion for kids, changing lives, owning their own business and making a positive difference in the world, Huntington is definitely something they should look into.”

“The support is really phenomenal, from the call center in New Jersey that handles all new customer calls to the coaching department that you can call to help you with any tricky instructional challenges.

I’d invest in Huntington again in a heartbeat.”

Improved Life Beyond it being financially and personally rewarding business, Harms said his quality of life has improved drastically.

While there’s a serious initial effort that’s required by the owner to get the business up and running, Harms now has teams in place at his two locations that enable him to spend more time with his family. He’s doing better than ever financially, Harms

Franchising USA

explained, but more importantly, he is helping to change lives. His two locations have kids that come in as D students and leave as Honor Roll students—it really opens up new opportunities for kids, he says.

Harms was quick to give full credit to his phenomenal staff, who he said has his two locations running smoothly.

“For me, it really has worked out

extremely well,” he said.

For anyone who has a passion for kids,

changing lives, owning their own business and making a positive difference in the

world, Huntington is definitely something

they should look into, the franchise owner said.

It’s certainly worked out well for Bob. www.huntingtonfranchise.com

Page 19

We all have dreams.

Achieving them starts with a single step.

Do you have the drive to lead a dynamic and prosperous business? If so, becoming a Spherion® franchise may just be the most rewarding business move you can make!

As the business landscape evolves, the demand for skilled talent continues to increase. Spherion Staffing offers you a strategic opportunity to meet that need in a rewarding business with high-growth potential. Founded in 1946, Spherion is regarded as a leader in the recruiting and staffing industry with a passion for placing the right people in the right jobs. Backed by a $2 billion staffing leader and operating through a nationwide network of franchise locations, Spherion is poised to prosper in an industry projected to grow in 2015 and beyond. Join forces with a company that’s positioned to help people and businesses thrive— and your success soar!

© 2015 Spherion Staffing Services LLC

Franchise markets available nationwide.

To inquire about this exciting opportunity, contact:

billtasillo@spherion.com | 404.964.5508 | spherion.com/franchise Franchising USA

ex per t advice

David Pursell & Mike Kirk, Franchise Owners, U.S. Lawns

Why Franchising Is a Viable Option for Families Resources

Justin Kirk & David Jr. Purcell

70 percent of familyowned businesses fail or are sold before the second generation gets a chance to take over, according to a 2012 Harvard Business School study.

There are several reasons why familyowned businesses fail, including a power struggle among family members, emotions getting in the way of business, or the first generation’s inability to let go.

While this statistic might discourage families from going into business together, they can reach success with the right framework and systems in place.

As franchise owners of U.S. Lawns (a leading commercial landscaping management company) we have not only built a successful business, but also have

Franchising USA

accomplished the challenge of having more than one generation joining the business—as both of our sons now work with us.

But before we share our sons’ transition into the business, it’s important to take a look at why franchising is a viable option for many families who are looking to start their own business together.

Strong Foundation One of the biggest motivating factors of buying into a “successful” franchise is that there’s no need to re-create the wheel—you’re immediately equipped with a proven business model that can help you grow your business at an exponential rate.

And unlike going into business by yourself where there’s high risk of failure within the first few years, due to poor operation/ economic decisions, franchises provide their franchisees with a set of processes to ensure that their businesses’ foundation is set up correctly.

Investing in external initiatives like marketing and training programs can result in severe setbacks for many business owners—particularly new business owners who aren’t fully aware of all of the costs.

However, because franchises want to keep their brand’s message consistent and reputation high, they will equip your team with the marketing collateral and training your team needs, so that you can continue to focus on the operations of your business. It’s also important to point out that building brand recognition within a competitive market is another area in which many business owners spend countless time and money, so the fact that the franchise has already established this, gives you an advantage in the sales process. Franchises also have many connections to vendors who can help you purchase equipment at discounted rates.

Expertise Having access to the franchise’s knowledge bank is just another perk of joining a franchise. The franchise’s main goal is to ensure the success of their franchisees, which is why if you ever have a question or concern, they are there to provide you with an accurate answer quickly.

In addition to the franchise, you also have instant access to a large network of fellow franchisees to help you make educated business decisions. There’s a sense of camaraderie among franchisees, and because each franchisee is at a different point in their business, they have experienced many of the same challenges that you will have or most likely will face in the future. This network is extremely beneficial, as your fellow franchisees can

decrease the risk of potential downfalls, and give you advice if you’re experiencing a problem.

Joining a franchise can reduce an immense amount of stress and pressure that starting a business from the ground up can put on a family, as it provides a clear path for families to build and sustain a healthy business.

Joining the Family Business

David Pursell

Mike Kirk

Our Story It can be difficult for many parents to work with their children. Likewise, it can also be challenging when you realize that your child doesn’t want to work for the family business. While our sons had always shown an interest in eventually joining us, they also expressed curiosity in establishing their own careers (David’s son, David. Jr. worked as a full-time police officer, while Mike’s son, Justin, worked in sales and marketing).

Since we had encouraged them to follow their own paths and never pressured them into joining the business, we believe that their passion for the business was cultivated organically. Justin stated that although he ventured away from the family business for a couple of years, he never lost interest in it, and the marketing and sales skills he acquired translated seamlessly into our business. Similarly, as a full-time police officer, David Jr. was dedicated to making a difference in his community, and now he’s still able to make a difference while also having the opportunity to help his father.

While David Jr. and Justin’s transition into the business was successful, we recognize that this might not be the case for every family. However, with the right organizational structure and mentality, it can be accomplished. Below are few simple best practices that can help other parent/child partnerships work well together.

Establish Job Roles Competition exists in every family—

“It’s important to remember that while there are highs and lows in any business, family comes first. By looking at the bigger picture, rather than harping on each individual setback, it will help to keep the business moving forward.” particularly if personalities resemble one another. To reduce the level of competition among family members and to optimize and strengthen the company as a whole, it’s important that each person has his or her own role within the company.

Depending on the nature of the business, dividing roles and responsibilities based on the person’s expertise (i.e. marketing, sales, human resources, operations, etc.) can help prevent family members from stepping on each other’s toes.

Learn From One Another Segmenting job roles is also another way to fully embrace new skill sets, and in turn, optimizes the overall health of the business. We have both learned that keeping an open mind, practicing selfawareness, understanding that more than one person can be right, and that nobody is perfect, has helped our families embrace change and accept each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

Stay Focused It’s important to remember that while there are highs and lows in any business, family comes first. By looking at the

bigger picture, rather than harping on each individual setback, it will help to keep the business moving forward.

Foster Passion Because David Jr. and Justin, weren’t forced into the business, their desire to learn about the franchise and drive to work for it never diminished. Even today, as full-time employees they’re able to go to work everyday and enjoy what they do. They’re both eager to deepen their knowledge about the operation of the franchise as a whole, and create new relationships. Being a part of something bigger than themselves, and contributing to their father’s success is a core value they both share.

While starting and running a family business may have its challenges, joining a franchise where the structure is created for you, can make the experience a long-term success for many years to come. If you can maintain a passion for what you do, be respectful of one another, and embrace change, you can be sure that your family will weather multi-generational transitions. http://uslawns.com/franchise

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Page 21

question time

Jeff Oddo, President, City Wide Maintenance & Founder and President, City Wide Franchise

with Jeff Oddo Our team at Franchising USA had a chance to sit down with Jeff Oddo, president of City Wide Maintenance and the founder and president of City Wide Franchise.

We discussed everything from City Wide’s beginnings as a cleaning company to Jeff’s current goals for the industry’s best building maintenance management company.

Our questions are in bold. Hope you enjoy reading.

What is your professional background?

City Wide is a family business, so my background has always been growing up in the business and doing every position we ever had, from accounting, to warehouse work, driving the delivery trucks, cleaning - you name it, I did it.

After graduating from Kansas State University with my B.S. in construction

Franchising USA

“The best way to motivate franchisees is to understand what they want to achieve and give them the tools they need to succeed – whether this is mentorship opportunities, feedback and encouragement, or specific support.” science engineering, I started in sales at City Wide Chemical Company, which was a chemical manufacturer and distributor of janitorial supplies. I worked my way up in that company and eventually took over as president of City Wide Maintenance in 1999. During my years leading City Wide Maintenance, I transformed the business from a traditional janitorial company to a management company for the building maintenance industry. Our primary focus became sales, management, and providing a world-class client experience. We were having so much success, we started franchising our concept in 2001.

Why did you start franchising City Wide?

I’ve seen the great things that business

ownership has done for my family throughout the years, and I have a burning desire to help other people become successful business owners. I believe that helping other families will create a ripple effect and positively influence more people in the community – contractors, employees, and other small business owners. Franchising allows me and my team to make a real difference in the lives of others.

Where do you see City Wide in the next five years?

Right now, we have an established presence in more than 40 major markets nationwide, but there’s still room to grow.

In five years, we believe we can increase our footprint so we have offices in every

major city coast-to-coast, giving us a truly national footprint. Our ten-year plan is to be a billion-dollar organization, and in five years, we will be well on our way.

What is your advice for those exploring franchise opportunities?

When choosing a franchise, the most important thing is finding an organization that is in alignment with your passions, values, and goals. There are hundreds of concepts out there – it’s incredibly important to choose the one that fits best for you and your family.

Buying into a franchise looks different for different people and different companies – there are opportunities where you’re essentially buying a job, others where you’re a passive investor, and yet others where the focus is leadership and teambuilding. Any one of these is good, but you need to begin your process by asking yourself why you’re getting into franchising. Once you decide this, it should be easier to weed out the categories that don’t meet your needs.

Additionally, there are many different types of concepts. In my opinion, the best concept is the one that meets your business objectives as defined above, as well as one who you feel really good about and 100 percent trust their senior-level leadership.

At the end of the day, your trust in the ownership group is every bit as important as the franchise concept itself.

How do you motivate your franchisees?

The best way to motivate franchisees is to understand what they want to achieve and give them the tools they need to succeed – whether this is mentorship opportunities, feedback and encouragement, or specific support. At City Wide, we provide multiple types of coaching and support positions because the talent of each party really varies. We strive to provide sales coaches for those who have sales needs and operations coaches for those who want to improve their operations. Helping our franchisees find success as quickly as possible is a great way to motivate others!

In addition to these franchisee consultants,

we have support centers for HR, IT, accounting, and marketing. Every aspect of business ownership is covered through specialists in each area. We invest a lot in our franchisees – time, energy, and money – because we truly believe that our success is dependent upon one another.

Jeff Oddo is the president of City Wide

Do you have any hobbies or interests?

The 10 Kidmandments, a parenting

My family is my number one priority, hobby, and interest! I love spending time with my wife and three daughters.

Watching them grow up has been a true blessing. When I’m not with the family, I enjoy spending time with my friends, running, reading, and playing the guitar.

speaker.

Maintenance and the founder and president of City Wide Franchise. City Wide is a management company for the building maintenance industry with more than 40 locations based throughout the United States. Jeff is the author of book. He is also an accomplished public To learn more about City Wide, visit www.gocitywide.com.

To learn more about available franchise opportunities, visit www.citywidefranchise.com.

Franchising USA

question time

Page 23

spotlight on serv ice

Scer IS

Unparalleled Business Opp

No Fran

No Lic

No R

Have you ever imagined building your own company, but lacked the funds to do so? ScerIS is helping individuals turn their passion capital, personal drive and endless energy into a thriving business reality.

After years of refining this opportunity, ScerIS is helping individuals build a business with the potential for up to

$300,000 to $500,000 in annual income.

Actual income is based on results.

The ScerIS Business Partnership is a

business opportunity offering the potential for significant income without franchise, licensing or royalty fees.

Franchising USA

Background Jim Walckner, ScerIS CEO, recalls seeing an ad on the back cover of a magazine showing a man claiming to have earned $25,000 for a referral that resulted in a commercial roof sale. That was about 35 years ago and at the time $25,000 was probably more than Jim earned in a year.

Seeing the amount earned for just a referral got his interest but he didn’t believe that generating such referrals was anything he was qualified to do. Plus it seemed risky. Who was the vendor?

Would they really pay the referral fee?

How much effort might it take to find someone in need of a roof? Don’t roofs last a long time? How big of a deal did it need to be to justify a $25,000 referral fee? Where would he find commercial roofs that needed to be reroofed? Jim talked himself out of learning more, but eventually learned that those roofs were everywhere.

The ScerIS story isn’t about roofs, but the point remains. This was an opportunity that required little or no financial capital and could have presented Jim with significant fees for his referrals if he had the confidence at that time to act on his instincts.

About the Company ScerIS was founded in 1993. Today the company serves clients in healthcare, business and government.

The company’s software is helping organizations of all types improve business processes which lead to reduced costs and increased profits. Some companies have invested in many nonScerIS software products, each designed to attend to a specific business process.

ScerIS software is eliminating the need for all of these products as well as eliminating manual processes and the change can be significant. But, ScerIS is anything but a typical software developer. The

portunity

nchising Fee

censing Fee

Royalty Fee

company provides professional services, outsourced services and hosting services making it a resource for its customers – one stop shopping for business process improvement for nearly any purpose.

Nearly every organization of every type with 20 or more employees is a candidate for ScerIS products and services, however ScerIS Business Partners focus on companies with 100 or more employees.

ScerIS Business Partner Program ScerIS launched its Business Partner Program in 1997, a business referral and sales management program. Since then, ScerIS has partnered with corporations and individuals to secure new business in which all three entities; the customer, the partner and ScerIS benefit. This Business Partner model at ScerIS has evolved into a business opportunity for entrepreneurial individuals who can recruit, train and mentor a B2B lead generation staff and

“Alternatives are what we are excellent at. We don’t want to leave a prospect without finding somewhere we can help them improve a process.” - Kevin Grooms, Marketing Director facilitate the sales process. Structured much like a real estate office, all parties in the Business Partner’s office are on straight commission with results-based earnings. And ScerIS employees are a part of the Business Partner’s TEAM helping them and their associates secure new clients and win new business.

The Business Partnering model is unique but business referrals are anything but unique. Companies of all sizes and in most types of business reward individuals for referrals, but ScerIS has taken it a big step further with structured lead generation and sales facilitation model that provides significant financial recognition for new orders. In this model the ScerIS Business Partner enjoys revenue sharing which reflects the mix of software, hardware and services in any transaction in a way that is fair for all parties and the business partner shares their portion of the transaction with their sales associates.

Different from real estate, there’s always a supply of products and services. Like real estate, there is a need to find the buyers. As a Business Partner the primary responsibilities include building a team that provides lead generation and facilitation of the sales process.

The portion of revenue applicable to the Business Partner for an individual sale is up to $4,000 to $50,000 or more. In one notable transaction the business partner portion of the sale was $468,000.

Does Building a ScerIS Business Partnership Take a Rocket Scientist?

A ScerIS Business Partner doesn’t have to be a rocket scientist, but they need to have recruiting, training and mentoring skills and be able to manage a sales process through to contracts. It’s helpful if they know about various business processes and have an aptitude towards learning

about optimizing business processes using technology platforms and various services provided by ScerIS. “Part of what we enjoy so much about our work is that every prospect’s needs are different, even those within the same industry or using the same financial or ERP systems” says Jim Walckner, ScerIS CEO. “A ScerIS Business Partner is primarily responsibility for securing an introduction to a new prospect and they’re joined by ScerIS employees to help identify needs and facilitate an eventual sale.”

Each prospect has many departments and could have hundreds of internal processes.

The goal of ScerIS is to provide enterprisewide platforms for the development of business process optimizations to improve those internal processes, but in the event that enterprise-wide licensing isn’t in the cards, to have alternatives for the prospect to consider. “Alternatives are what we are excellent at. We don’t want to leave a prospect without finding somewhere we can help them improve a process. It could be in accounts payable, contract management, time and attendance, HR, IT or some obscure area of their business like managing material test report documentation,” says Kevin Grooms, Marketing Director. “The point I want to make is that it’s all about identifying any business process that the prospect wants to improve or get under control.”

Jim never did provide referrals for the roofing company, but he never lost the vision to the possibility of helping scores of individuals build their own referral businesses. ScerIS’s revenue sharing business model provides an excellent opportunity for developing high performance business referral teams.

To learn more about this partnering opportunity visit www.sceris.com/salespartners. To learn more about ScerIS visit www.sceris.com.

Franchising USA

spotlight on serv ice

Page 25

ex per t advice

George Knauf, Senior Franchise Business Advisor, FranChoice

Mining for Your Clients

Using Groupon While there are a number of old school and new tech options out there, one name keeps popping up when we talk to franchisors and ask them what their franchisees are doing to build customer base fast and that name we keep hearing is Groupon.

There are a few ways we see it being used: • Retail and restaurant George Knauf

As we work with our franchise candidates the question often comes up of how they will go about building their customer base from scratch.

Franchising USA

• Higher ticket services like automotive and home repair • Membership services like fitness and spa services In the retail and restaurant business your goal is to use Groupon to get a new customer in so they can “Discover” your food, service or product line if retail.

In some cases you could pull back old customers that have wandered off to other restaurants or retail stores to remind them how they liked your offering. Since these

are one time purchases with a pretty clear cost of goods, you want to make sure you are pricing the offer so that you will cover costs unique to that guest, food cost for example. You may assume in your pricing that your staff and other business costs would be incurred even if that customer did not walk through the door.

With your cost of goods covered you are now in a business development mode where the goal is to win over the guest and keep them coming back. Make sure you capture their email, as you should be doing with most guests, so that you can follow up with direct offers in the future. This is your opportunity to build a long term relationship.

In the high ticket service arena, operations like automotive or HVAC service, an offer for a big repair can be challenging to anticipate so aim for the lower cost ongoing services that don’t require hard

“If you venture down this path just keep in mind that the businesses using this tool most effectively don’t see a Groupon ad as a way to make some quick short term profit as much as they do a way to build long term fruitful revenue streams.”

to anticipate parts. In automotive this could be an oil change or radiator flush. In the HVAC business you could put out an offer for that Spring or Winter Checkup and Filter check. Since these entail more labor than product cost you can often fit appointments in between full fare customers to balance the numbers a bit.

Again, the goal is to build relationships and win over customers long term.

In these types of businesses, along with gathering emails, also work on a plan to get referrals from them. We have seen some service providers working neighbor referrals prior to their Groupon service call to service multiple clients on one stop. If you have one deeply discounted Groupon visit but gain another 3-4 slightly discounted referral visits that can be a big win!

One of the biggest places we see Groupon hitting home runs with their marketing

platform is in the fitness, wellness and beauty categories. These are high margin offerings that often have some sort of membership or multi-visit package offering. Fitness, for example, is possibly one of the best places to apply a Groupon offering as it does not typically involve products that have a defined cost. The staff that you would use on any given day will not be impacted by Groupon customers coming in, might as well fill those boot camp, kickboxing or cycle classes!

month to keep his mature operation at full capacity.

With incremental costs in a fitness class being so low, offer a multi-class experience at the lowest price you and Groupon can agree upon and go win over some new customers. There will be an attrition rate, which is just fine since you always had one. The goal is to have a plan in place to keep as many of your new visitors coming back as possible. Engage your new guests when they come in, make it a comfortable and rewarding experience. Don’t forget to introduce them to your long term clients so they can validate value and have someone to look for next time they come in.

Summary:

It is important to brief your staff on the program and to make sure they are looking for the Groupon guests. Make sure your new guests get the most value out of the experience, get their feedback and keep inviting them back.

We see many fitness businesses offering Groupon presales of their classes and memberships before construction is even under way in their operation. As they open they do a big marketing push using the same methodology they did before opening and when the classes or seats are full then they back off and do occasional offers. I spoke to the owner of one gym recently that now spends less than $500 a

You will want to track Groupon users to know how often they visit your business and how long you retain them if it is a class or membership offering.

If you venture down this path just keep in mind that the businesses using this tool most effectively don’t see a Groupon ad as a way to make some quick short term profit as much as they do a way to build long term fruitful revenue streams.

• Use Groupon to capture long term clients, not one time or short term profits • Cover your cost of goods • Have a game plan for your staff to maximize each visit for a Groupon user • Capture their email and keep in touch with updates and offers • Track visit frequency and retention • Create a long term game plan with ongoing campaigns to counter attrition Go build great guest relationships!

Mr. Knauf is a highly sought after, trusted advisor to many companies; Public, Independent and Franchised, of all sizes and in many markets. His 20 plus years of experience in both startup and mature business operations makes him uniquely qualified to advise individuals that have dreamed of going into business for themselves in order to gain more control, independence, time flexibility and to be able to earn in proportion to their real contribution.

Contact the Franchising USA Expert George’s Hotline on 703-424-2980 or at www.FranGuide.com

Franchising USA

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Page 27

fr anchisee in action

L aunch Tra mpoline Pa r k

Family fun night

launches Delaware franchisee to success When one Delaware woman took her family out for a night of family fun, she wasn’t expecting it to lead to a lucrative business opportunity, but that’s just what happened.

Launch Trampoline franchisee Stephanie Eldridge got her start with the company when her family went to the grand opening of the first Launch location.

She knows Launch co-founder Ty Law and thought it would be fun for the entire family to go. And was she ever right.

“My family and I attended the grand opening of the first Launch Trampoline Park in Warwick, RI and we had a great time,” Eldridge said from her home in Middletown, DE. “It is the one entertainment outing that my entire family — and I have kids that are 19, eight and five, and my husband — thoroughly enjoyed.”

After the visit, the couple decided they needed a trampoline park in Delaware and

“I didn’t feel like I was buying into something that would be considered a fad. I felt like I was buying into safe, fun, and ever evolving family entertainment.”

Franchising USA

purchased their franchise in February 2014 and opened on August 16, 2014.

However, prior to deciding to go with Launch, the couple did their due diligence and talked to other trampoline park franchises in nearby states. Just because she knew one of the co-founders didn’t mean that she wanted to invest a considerable amount of money in his company, she explained.

But, as it turned out, Launch Trampoline was the best option to go with for the couple. The difference with Launch, the franchisee explained, is their focus on safety and providing family fun beyond just the concept of the trampoline park.

Eldridge said she asked all the trampoline park franchises what they planned to do to keep their offering fresh for people and many of them simply held the belief that trampolines would never go out of style and didn’t really have a plan to keep their

“The difference with Launch is their focus on safety and providing family fun beyond just the concept of the trampoline park.” businesses fresh for customers.

Launch Trampoline, however, had a strategic plan in place to keep rolling out new family entertainment concepts to add to the parks.

“I didn’t feel like I was buying into something that would be considered a fad,” she said. “I felt like I was buying into safe, fun, and ever evolving family entertainment. Family entertainment will always be relevant.”

An engineer by education who also holds an MBA in Technology and Operations, Eldridge, who currently works as an Executive Director in the financial industry, has been used to dealing with strategic plans almost her whole life. So, the fact that Launch had one to keep their

family entertainment offerings fresh was comforting to her.

Her experience with strategic planning also influences her life outside of work, as she and her husband had planned for several years to open their own company so they wouldn’t have to work their whole lives.

They knew they wanted to do something with a family aspect and when they went to the first Launch location grand opening, it was the turning point, as they had found something that resonated with them.

Getting Started As Eldridge’s Launch Trampoline Park was one of the first Launch franchises, she and her husband were privy to a lot of

Franchising USA

fr anchisee in action

Page 29

fr anchisee in action

L aunch Tra mpoline Pa r k

attention from co-founders Law and Rob Arnold, who actually came to Delaware to look at buildings with them. That turned out to be extremely helpful because it’s not easy to find a building that will house a trampoline park.

Even though Launch has more locations now, Eldridge said, she is still able to easily speak to the heads of the company.

In fact, just the evening before, Eldridge was driving home from work and received a phone call from Arnold asking how everything was going with the park.

Eldridge said she quickly found out from other franchisees that it’s not common for the CEO of the company to call and keep in touch a few times per month.

As for training, she and her husband went through Launch’s owner training in New England and learned about the individual positions in the park. They also underwent operational training and learned about inventory, reporting, customer service, understanding their customer base and working through the seasonal changes of the business.

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“My family and I attended the grand opening of the first Launch Trampoline Park and we had a great time, it is the one entertainment outing that my entire family — and I have kids that are 19, eight and five, and my husband — thoroughly enjoyed.”

Their general managers were also trained

by Launch and worked at the corporate location before working at the Newark location.

Ongoing support includes having a dedicated relationship manager that is assigned to their store who they can speak with any time. Plus, they have a monthly franchise call with head office where they go over strategy, receive operational information and news on what’s in development and have a Q&A session between franchisees.

Planning Ahead When their location first opened, Eldridge said, she and her husband were heavily involved in the park, but that dropped off to a few times per week after a while and the prior evening was actually the

first time she had been at the park in a couple of weeks, and she was only there specifically so her kids could jump.

The reason she and her husband are able to take a step back from the daily operations of the park, the franchisee said, is because the managers they’ve hired are so good at what they do.

The couple is looking at opening two additional parks and Eldridge said with such a great system in place and with a company so willing to listen to ideas from their franchisees, she would encourage anyone to go for it.

For Eldridge and her family, it turns out that family fun night can open some pretty impressive doors.

For more information visit: http://launchtrampolinepark.com

Dr. Smart Phones 201 S. McDonald St Suite A McKinney Texas 75069 972.548.7905 Franchise@drsmartphones.com www.drsmartphones.com

smartphone & tablet repair experts Franchising USA

ex per t advice

Irving M. Geslewitz, Principal (Labor & Employment), Much Shelist

Controversial New NLRB Ruling

Could Force Changes to Franchise Model Over an impassioned dissent by two of its five members, the National Labor Relations Board (the NLRB) has issued a decision against Browning Ferris Industries (BFI), in which it jettisoned several decades of precedent and imposed a new standard for determining when a business will be considered a “joint employer.”

Under the previous standard, a business had to exercise “direct and immediate control” over another entity’s workers to

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“The new test focuses more on whether the business has the potential to exercise control over workers’ wages and working conditions, even if that control for the most part is not exercised.” be considered a joint employer. The new

test focuses more on whether the business has the potential to exercise control over workers’ wages and working conditions, even if that control for the most part is

not exercised. The NLRB justified its new standard by claiming that the previous standard was “increasingly out of step

with changing economic circumstances”

How the NLRB Applied Its New Standard in the BFI Case BFI had a contract with Leadpoint, a staffing services company, to supply workers at a BFI recycling facility. A union election was conducted among the workers. At issue was whether BFI was a joint employer and thereby obligated to recognize and bargain with the union.

new standard could also be applied to

BFI and Leadpoint kept separate supervisors and lead workers at the facility, as well as separate human resources departments. The contract between BFI and Leadpoint designated Leadpoint as the sole employer and stated that Leadpoint should not assign workers to BFI for more than six months.

relationships.

Critical to the NLRB majority, however, was that the contract gave BFI the power

and did not sufficiently account for which party held true economic power in these relationships.

The BFI case involved a company using a staffing supply contractor.

But, as illustrated below, the NLRB’s

franchisor-franchisee and other business

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ex per t advice

Irving M. Geslewitz, Principal (Labor & Employment), Much Shelist

“Some of the factors considered by the Board in the BFI case are also present in many franchisorfranchisee relationships. Franchisors often do retain certain powers that, if exercised, could affect the wages and working conditions of the franchisee’s employees.” to tell Leadpoint to fire a worker and to decide the operating hours of the facility. In the NLRB’s view, these and other factors enabled BFI to effectively dictate working conditions and therefore “indirectly control” them, even if BFI only occasionally exercised those rights. BFI therefore was found to be a joint employer and obligated to recognize and bargain with the union of Leadpoint’s workers.

Implications of the NLRB’s Decision for Franchisors Some of the factors considered by the Board in the BFI case are also present in many franchisor-franchisee relationships.

Franchisors often do retain certain powers that, if exercised, could affect the wages and working conditions of the franchisee’s employees. The BFI decision therefore may not augur well for franchisors. Indeed, the franchise model already is under review by the NLRB as a result of a series of unfair labor practice complaints issued by the NLRB’s General Counsel seeking to hold franchisor McDonald’s, USA, LLC liable for unfair labor practices alleged to have been committed by its franchisees.

This development may have practical consequences: If franchisors feel they will be liable for actions committed by their franchisees, they may decide to exercise tighter control over them, such as requiring personnel actions to be reviewed and approved by their human resources departments. But this would go against the grain of the franchise model. It is precisely the freedom from such interference in the day-to-day control of their operations that attracts aspiring franchisees.

Some franchisors, already motivated by

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other regulatory developments, may find other ways to adjust how they do business.

For example, fast food franchisors may be encouraged to follow McDonalds’ lead in rolling out self-service kiosks to avoid labor costs and exposures.

Some Hope for Franchisors On the other hand, there are indications that there may be ways franchisors can adapt to the NLRB’s new standard. In the course of its opinion in the BFI case, the NLRB majority did acknowledge that the user/staffing agency business model is distinguishable from the franchisor/ franchisee model. It stressed that its application of the new standard was limited to the facts and circumstances presented in the BFI case.

Also, a non-binding memorandum issued in May 2015 by the NLRB’s Division of Advice may provide some guidance to franchisors for avoiding joint employer status. The Division of Advice concluded that fast food franchisor Freshii Development LLC was not a joint employer with a franchisee. The memorandum relied on the fact that Freshii’s franchise agreement gave it no role in its franchisee’s hiring or firing decisions or wage and hour matters. At most, Freshii’s control was limited to ensuring a standardized product and customer experience.

In the meantime, the NLRB’s BFI decision may not be the last word on the matter. It likely will be appealed. It also remains to be seen how the NLRB will address the many fact patterns and issues that the BFI case did not address. In the interim, it is clear that the legal landscape has shifted dramatically.

Irving M. Geslewitz

Irving M. Geslewitz is a Principal in the Labor & Employment practice group at Chicago-based law firm, Much Shelist.

He represents clients in a broad array of matters related to employment laws and labor relations, and has extensive experience representing employers and executives on issues or disputes arising out of the employment relationship.

Irv speaks frequently on a wide variety of employment law topics at seminars for industry, trade and professional groups, as well as for continuing education organizations and academic institutions. He has also prepared articles for a number of professional journals, including Practical Lawyer, the Commercial Law Bulletin, and the Labor Law Journal.

Irv is a member of the American Bar Association (Section of Labor Law and Committee on Employee Rights and Responsibilities) and the Chicago and Illinois State Bar Associations.

His professional accomplishments have been recognized by Martindale-Hubbell, which has awarded him an “AV” rating, the highest rating available. Irv has been recognized by the Leading Lawyers Network as a top Illinois lawyer in the areas of management-side employment and labor law (2003-2014). He has also been designated an Illinois Super Lawyer (2006-2015), an honor given to the top 5% of attorneys in the state.

Irv can be reached at: 312-521-2414 or igeslewitz@muchshelist.com

Welcome to the Nutty Scientists

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Nutty Scientists® is a leading global provider of scientific activities for children of all ages, and we’re an ideal franchise opportunity for all types of people. If you want to make a difference in the way children perceive and learn science and you have the ability to market the service and programs we offer to the schools and families in your community – a Nutty Scientists franchise could be a perfect fit.

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The “nutty” is what makes us memorable

Do you have what it takes?

Nutty Scientists has franchised locations in more than 40 countries across the globe and our reach continues to expand every day.

Nutty Scientists unique methodology is internationally recognized and awarded.

It uses these various educational techniques: s 402© 4OTAL 0HYSICAL 2ESPONSE Method

4HAT SAID YOUR ABILITY TO DELIVER THE unique Nutty Scientists experience in your market hinges on a few concrete factors: s 9OU DON T NEED TO HAVE A BACKGROUND in science but rather a strong sales and marketing background with the ability to develop and grow a thriving business.

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www.franchisingusamagazine.com

Page 37

october 2015

Veterans in Franchising www.franchisingusamagazine.com

Outdoor Living Brands offers

outdoor loving veterans plenty of opportunity

is your

resolution calendar on your

50% off to all Veterans

Dr. Smart Phones 201 S. McDonald St Suite A McKinney Texas 75069 972.548.7905 Franchise@drsmartphones.com www.drsmartphones.com

smartphone & tablet repair experts

V eterans in F ranchisin g S upplement october 2 0 1 5 Our Veterans in Franchising special supplement has become a regular feature of Franchising USA. To share your story in the next issue, please contact Vikki Bradbury, Publisher Phone: 778 426 2446 Email: vikki@cgbpublishing.com

Contents Cover Story

News & Expert Advice

40 Outdoor Living Brands

42 St. Joseph’s University Commitment to

Veteran-Entrepreneurs

Profile 44 Snap Fitness

Franchisor in Depth

47 Salon Suites: A New Era for Salon Pros Stacy Eley, MY SALON Suite

50 Is Your Resolution on Your Calendar?

Darcella K. Craven, Veterans Business

Resource Center

48 Dr. Smart Phones

Franchising USA

Veter ans in Fr anchising

C over S tor y - Outdoo r L i v ing B r ands

Outdoor Living Brands offers

outdoor loving veterans plenty of opportunity A true love of the outdoors and helping people better their living spaces are the two most important characteristics a franchisee needs to prosper with Outdoor Living Brands.

Factor in veterans’ ability to successfully execute policies and procedures, and that’s a combination for franchising success.

Outdoor Living Brands is the parent company for Archadeck, Mosquito Squad, Outdoor Lighting Perspectives and Renew Crew, Chris Grandpre, who serves as Chairman & CEO for the company, explained during a recent interview from the headquarters in Richmond, VA. Archadeck started in 1980 in Richmond as a company that designs outdoor living spaces and oversees the construction of those spaces. A family member of one of the company founders ran it. The first franchisee was a builder in Boston who was looking to diversify his business.

Mosquito Squad, meanwhile, is a

Franchising USA

subscription based franchise where people will subscribe to the service of having a mosquito treatment applied on their property every 21 days.

A full-service company, Outdoor Lighting Perspectives designs and installs outdoor lighting for residential and hospitality locations. They use low voltage products, Grandpre said, and also design, install and store holiday lighting displays for their clients.

Renew Crew is an environmentally friendly outdoor surface cleaning and restoration franchise.

Across all four of the brands, 336 franchisees call Outdoor Living Brands home, with approximately 32 percent of those being veterans. In fact, the company has just added five more veterans to the family this year, said Grandpre.

Deals for Veterans The company launched a veteran’s awareness program several years ago, offering VetFran discounts for qualified military personnel. That first year with the vet discount, they added 12 veteran-run locations across all four brands. A year later, they doubled the discount.

They continue to double the discount

during May, which is Military Appreciation Month, and November in honor of Veterans’ Day. They’ve also partnered with GI Jobs, Recruit Military, Corporate Gray and other veteran organizations to help highlight opportunities for veterans. They’ve also done seminars for veterans to tell them about these various opportunities.

“We’re always looking for new ways to educate military professionals and recruit them to be a part of our family,” Grandpre said.

Veterans make great franchisees because they can take policies and procedures and implement them with great success, he added. This is in addition to the great leadership qualities they have and it’s an honor to bring them into the Outdoor Living Brands family.

Renew Crew specifically has announced up to 100 percent financing for qualified candidates for the initial franchise fee at three percent above the prime interest rate.

Plus, the brand will waive payments until franchisees are up and running.

Ideal Franchisee It’s no surprise that the ideal Outdoor Living Brands franchisee is someone who

For Archadeck, a corporate team will prepare 3D renderings, photo realistic drawings and building plans to ensure projects meet the brand’s codes and standards. They also send out a field support team that does a pre-training and post-training visit.

Weekly and monthly webinars to discuss different tactics the company is thinking of doing with the various brands, plus discussions of new national marketing campaigns, products and services are also a feature of the company’s support systems.

Training

“We’re always looking for new ways to educate military professionals and recruit them to be a part of our family.” – Chris Grandpre loves not being stuck in an office and who enjoys being involved in their community.

“Typically, our ideal franchisee is someone who absolutely loves the outdoor living category and they love being outdoors and interacting with clients,” Grandpre said.

“They have great personal skills and can manage several moving parts at any given moment.”

Archadeck franchisees tend to be more executive types, he said, while Outdoor Lighting Perspective franchisees are more owner-operators who want to be involved in the day-to-day running of their business.

A lot of Mosquito Squad franchisees run other businesses or have their other jobs, he said, including active duty firefighters or police officers. The franchise also tends to attract families.

Renew Crew has been around since 1993 and franchisees usually work in their business.

Getting on Board Each brand has its own educational discovery process, Grandpre said, and they will answer any questions franchisees

have at any time. The onboarding process involves having potential franchisees watch a series of videos that present what their brands and business models are all about. After that, they go through the brands’ core offerings and marketing and lead generation. After each video, they’ll have a conversation with the candidate to answer any questions.

Every franchisee has their own dedicated ad agency, Grandpre said, which consists of two dedicated marketing managers to focus on inbound and outbound marketing tactics in the franchisee’s territory. They also have a brand strategist, in-house graphic designer and copywriters to help franchisees.

Outdoor Living Brands has dedicated individuals to help franchisees launch their businesses and help them as they grow in the future. They also offer franchisees the latest technological tools to help them promote their businesses.

“Every franchisee has a dedicated support team,” Grandpre said. “Whatever they need, we have dedicated professionals here in Richmond, Virginia for their specific brand.”

Archadeck has a three-week training program in Richmond and the other three brands have a one-week training program there.

They also have regional and mid-year training classes for brands and Outdoor Lighting Perspectives has a holiday training session in August. The annual meeting for all brands is in January and involves four days of preparing franchisees for the coming year.

The four brands have locations across the country. Outdoor Lighting Perspectives has 52 locations in the U.S., but also has locations abroad in Canada, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Archadeck has 52 locations mainly in the U.S. with one franchisee in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.

Mosquito Squad has over 175 locations in the continental US and is working to expand internationally. Renew Crew has 33 locations concentrated on the east coast and the mid-west.

Territories are available everywhere, Grandpre noted. And although Mosquito Squad is more sold out than the other brands, there are still many attractive territories left that the company is eager to develop with new franchisees.

For veterans who love the outdoors — and they basically all do — Outdoor Living Brands offers them the opportunity to join a family based around a mutual love of the outdoors and helping others enjoy it as much as they do. www.outdoorlivingbrands.com

Franchising USA

Veter ans in Fr anchising

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Veter ans in Fr anchising

Jim Mingey, Founder & Managing Director, VBS’

St. Joseph’s University

Commitment to Veteran-Entrepreneurs “The VEJ program has secured some additional funding, and we intend to host a Cohort in the Fall of 2016 – and it will be open to all veterans, regardless of disability.”

Over the course of the last six months Veterans Business Services has been able to form a business relationship with St. Joseph’s University to both promote their Veterans Entrepreneurial Jumpstart (VEJ) and EBV program and to work together to show Veterans who enroll in their programs the full scope of business opportunities available including small business and franchising opportunities.

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Ralph Galati, the Director of Veterans Services at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, leads the Entrepreneurial programs which are aligned with, the Erivan K. Haub School of Business, a nationally recognized and fully accredited business program. The Veterans Services team at St. Joseph’s University is dedicated and committed to helping veterans, especially through their newly developed entrepreneurship programs that is designed to help veterans start their own business or franchise.

In the Spring of 2012 an alum/donor approached Joe DiAngelo, the Dean of the Haub School of Business about an opportunity for veterans. He had just seen a 60 Minutes program that featured Syracuse University and their Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities program (EBV). His family was energized with this approach, and wanted St. Joe’s to join their Consortium of schools. They applied to join the Syracuse program later that year, and waited. While Syracuse was very pleased with their submission, they were not quite ready to admit new schools to their Consortium. Finally, in the Spring of 2014, we approached our alum/donor

with a proposition. While we continue to wait for a Syracuse decision on EBV, why not develop a program on our own!

This would surely give us the necessary experience and background to jumpstart EBV once selected. He agreed, and the Office of Veterans Services was born.

Along with Ralph’s teammate – Andrew Colket, an Army veteran who served in Iraq, they began their development efforts.

The Office of Veterans Services at St. Joseph’s University has just celebrated its first anniversary. It is staffed by two, full-time, combat-disabled veterans, and have three distinct missions: Develop and deliver Entrepreneurship Programs for Veterans, with specific focus on disabled veterans; Support our student-veterans and dependents with programs and support services; and Align ourselves with veteran-friendly companies in the region so that we can provide career development and job placement opportunities for our veterans.

During this past year, they have been rewarded with several recognitions that have made them more “veteran friendly.”

These include: U.S. News & World Report; MilitaryFriendly.com; and designation as a

Purple Heart University.

Ralph Galati, a 1970 graduate of St. Joe’s, was commissioned in the United States Air Force through their ROTC program.

During his eight years of active duty, he served as an F-4 Weapon Systems Officer, Flight Instructor, and Pentagon Staff Officer in the Office of Legislative Liaison. During his tour in Southeast Asia, he was shot-down over North Vietnam, captured, and spent 14 months as a Prisoner of War in Hanoi. As a combatdisabled veteran, he knows what it means to serve and understand the challenges of our veteran community – especially the issues surrounding transition and readjustment to civilian life. Ralph has also spent 30 years in the business sector, working at IBM and SAP. Additionally, he has 30 years’ experience as an Adjunct Faculty member at several local colleges.

St Joe’s has had a strong commitment to veterans for many decades. During WWI, they were a government war barracks and Military Training School, called the Students’ Army Training Corps. The President of St Joe’s placed the school at the disposal of the War Department. In 1949 they dedicated the Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse to the memory of our graduates who served and died in World War II. St. Joe’s has had an Air Force ROTC Detachment on campus since 1954. And now we have a strong Office of Veterans Services dedicated to serving those who have served our nation.

Ultimately the program was called the Veterans Entrepreneurial Jumpstart (VEJ). In order to satisfy the wishes of our alum/donor, the program followed the parameters of the Syracuse EBV – specifically, to offer a program for disabled veterans who had interest in starting their own business. Over the period August 2014 to January 2015, we accomplished the following: • Designed and developed a 3-phase program, including Self-Study preparation, on campus residency, and business plan execution and mentoring • Aligned with the faculty and staff of the Haub School of Business

• Received support from Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA), who endorsed and advertised our program • Built a support team of over 95 people (lecturers, guest speakers, panelists, mentors, etc), including members of the Entrepreneurs Organization, SCORE, and the Small Business Administration • Received inquiries from 160 veterans who were interested in our first Cohort – scheduled to start Phase I in March 2015 • Built a cadre of In-Kind Services to support our veterans during their Phase III execution VEJ Cohort I was a great success and our 19 veterans graduated in May 2015, and are now in Phase III as they work with mentors to build their dream.

In February 2015, Syracuse notified us that we were accepted into their EBV Consortium – and both St. Joe’s and our alum/donor were ecstatic. Our efforts with VEJ have been instrumental in preparing us for delivery of the Syracuse EBV Program.

Our first Cohort of EBV is scheduled to

begin Phase I in March 2016, with the on-campus segment (Phase II) scheduled for April 9-17, 2016. We have already met with the Syracuse Team, and have had dialog with several of the Consortium schools. Their input has been invaluable, and we are ready to being our career as an EBV Consortium school.

The VEJ program has secured some additional funding, and we intend to host a Cohort in the Fall of 2016 – and it will be open to all veterans, regardless of disability. So ideally, we hope to conduct two entrepreneurship programs per year: • EBV every Spring, with specific focus on veterans with disabilities • VEJ every Fall, with expanded opportunity for all veterans The Saint Joseph’s University Office of Veterans Services in pleased with our success, and is fully prepared for the next stage of our program development.

If you need more information on our Office, or want specific information on our Entrepreneurship Programs, please visit us at www.sju.edu/veterans

Franchising USA

Veter ans in Fr anchising

Page 43

Veter ans in Fr anchising

Snap Fitness

Snap Fitness Donates $15K

to Folds of Honor As America’s Fitness Brand, Snap Fitness is committed to supporting and recognizing veterans for the service they’ve provided to our country. Its latest philanthropic effort went to benefitting Folds of Honor, an impactful organization that provides scholarships to the families of soldiers, as part of its “Snap Serves” campaign.

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Snap Fitness launched the campaign this past January to celebrate reaching 300,000 likes on its Corporate Facebook page.

The fitness provider pledged to match that amount in hours of community service and involvement over the course of the year while tracking its progress on social media.

This summer, the campaign became more focused on giving back to veterans. Snap Fitness pledged to donate $1 for every 30-day trial pass purchased between Memorial Day and Labor Day to Folds of Honor. The campaign empowered people around the country to start their fitness journey while honoring those who served

and their families through educational support.

Through the campaign and the generosity of Snap Nation, Snap Fitness raised $15,000 to support the spouses and children of America’s fallen and wounded soldiers. Snap Fitness Founder/CEO Peter Taunton called these efforts “outstanding and a strong reflection of our brand’s core values.”

“As America’s Fitness Brand, we wanted to run a special campaign that not only encouraged people to start their fitness journey, but helped those who have put their lives on the line for our country,” Taunton said.

Snap Fitness recently hosted a check presentation ceremony to celebrate its $15,000 donation. Perry and Anne Schmidt, president and director of the Folds of Honor – Minnesota Chapter, visited the Snap Fitness Corporate Headquarters to accept the check and speak on behalf of the foundation. With this donation, Snap Fitness will provide

“As America’s Fitness Brand, we wanted to run a special campaign that not only encouraged people to start their fitness journey, but helped those who have put their lives on the line for our country.” – Founder/CEO Peter Taunton scholarships to three military families.

“This isn’t just an accomplishment for Snap Fitness; it’s an accomplishment for the thousands of people who signed up for the 30-day trial pass this summer,” Chief Marketing Officer Steele Smiley said.

Snap Fitness also showed its patriotism with Landon Cassill and Hillman Racing’s No. 40 racecar during the Bojangles’ Southern 500 Labor Day weekend. Its throwback NASCAR paint scheme paid homage to Sterling Martin’s iconic “God Bless America” design that originally ran weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

To see how Snap Fitness continues to

transform people’s lives inside and outside its gyms, visit its Facebook page.

About Snap Fitness With more than 2,000 clubs open or in development in 18 countries, Snap Fitness is one of the world’s largest 24/7 fitness franchises. Founded in 2003 by Peter Taunton, Snap Fitness is dedicated to providing members with more value than any other health club and entrepreneurs an opportunity with turnkey systems, financing options with low investments, and world-class support.

For more information, please visit www.snapfitness.com.

Franchising USA

Veter ans in Fr anchising

Page 45

Veter ans in Fr anchising

Stacy Eley, Director SALON Suite Jim Mingey, Founderof&Operations, Managing MY Director, VBS’

Salon Suites: A New Era for Salon Pros

Salons and beauty services are a growing franchise sector – in fact, economic reports have shown that the industry is growing at a clip of 8.5 percent annually. This is a huge opportunity for entrepreneurially minded individuals who are looking to either grow their current business ventures or exploring franchising as an option.

Stacy Eley

Franchising USA

Within the salon industry, however, there are trends too – namely, salon suites are

becoming very popular. The simplest way to explain the difference between a salon suite

“The salon suite atmosphere helps empower stylists to share who they are as individuals and connect deeply with the type of clients they wish to attract.” with the stylist, this is a big selling point.

In a traditional salon atmosphere, there is a lot of hustle and bustle, with multiple chairs and mirrors in a row where clients can see what’s going on around them.

Appointments

and a traditional salon is ownership – in a traditional salon, the stylist doesn’t own anything, but pays a commission to the salon. In a salon suite, the stylist is simply renting out a private space in a salon complex, meaning that he or she has 100 percent ownership and takes in 100 percent of revenue.

Privacy Salon suites are very private, and each suite has four walls and its own door. For clients who appreciate the one-on-one interaction

Entrepreneurial goals The creative and entrepreneurial individuals who thrive in the salon suite atmosphere are just that: entrepreneurs. They have discovered within themselves a desire

to create an experience larger than them

and serve their community with the best

salon, grooming and styling services on the market. Everything from their equipment

to the atmosphere of their suite reflects who they are as stylists.

These stylists are artists who have been

dreaming of their own businesses for years.

Stylists in salon suites are given the flexibility to book appointments that fit into their schedules. For example, if your salon suite is situated near a hospital and many of your clients are nurses, you can accommodate their night schedules by opening your suite during nontraditional hours. This is one example of the many ways salon suite stylists can tailor their business to fit their desired clientele, which helps deliver better results and build stronger client relationships.

They’re passionate about visual elements

Retail space

their dues to the salon. Eventually, their

and they are connected to their space.

They’re interested in creating their own

brand – whatever it may be. The salon suite atmosphere helps empower stylists to share who they are as individuals and connect

deeply with the type of clients they wish to attract.

They’ve often worked themselves through the ranks, beginning at a budget-friendly

salon in a more collaborative environment, renting out a chair and focusing on paying

Stylists in traditional salons are often incentivized to sell products and retail items on a very small commission – sometimes 10 percent or less. In a salon suite, stylists make 100 percent commission by selling products they truly believe in.

They can recommend products for their clients on a more personalized basis without the pressure of the sales environment.

skills begin to speak for themselves and

Customization

Ratner, president of Salon Plaza, says – it’s

A traditional salon often has an overall theme, which is apparent to the clients from the time they walk through door, as well as throughout the styling and grooming experience. Individual stylists may have the option of customizing their respective stations with the support of the property manager. In a salon suite, each stylist has complete control over the look and feel of his or her suite. From the equipment and tools used to the paint color, decals and wall décor, each stylist has the opportunity to express his or her creativity in his or her surroundings. In essence, they’re taking the first step in building their personal brand.

they develop even more passion for their craft. This sort of entrepreneurial ladder leads straight to salon suites. It’s not for everyone, but many have found great

success as part of the salon suite concept.

Whatever your background in the salon and beauty services industry, there’s plenty of

great franchise concepts out there. As Gary important for a stylist to find a partner that’s on your side when it comes to your success and independence as a business owner and that’s the core of our business.

Stacy Eley is the director of operations at MY SALON Suite, part of Suite Management Franchising based in New Orleans. Founded in 2012, Suite Management Franchising’s brands, which also include Salon Plaza, offer more than 60 salon suite locations in the United States and Canada. More than a thousand salon owners have joined the movement and own their

Franchising USA

Veter ans in Fr anchising

Page 47

Veter ans in Fr anchising

D r. Sma r t Phones

Dr. Smart Phones:

Control Your Own Future in an Exploding Market Dr. Smart Phones, a recognized leader in cell phone repair, has continued to grow rapidly since the company’s inception. Multiple new locations are being opened regularly throughout the county.

Franchising USA

After 20 years in the cell phone business, our founder’s vision of creating a franchise group of tightly knit personnel and stores providing consistent high quality, yet economical, cell phone repair services, came to life as Dr. Smart Phones.

Our corporate goal is to provide stateof-the-art service and repairs not only to consumers, but to corporations with more extensive service needs as well.

Dr. Smartphones is a nationwide service provider for major phone insurance companies, Fortune 500 companies, as well as fulfilling service contacts to over

150 schools and school districts.

Much of our overall success has been gained through establishing ongoing, productive corporate partnerships. These partnerships begin with the recognition that any company utilizing outside sales force, regardless of size, must rely heavily on mobile devices to maintain contestant contact with their team. Mobile device downtime is not only and inconvenience but can result in revenue loss and demisted profit potential.

A successful business runs on timing,

speed and the quality of information its field force has available to it. With a key business partnership dedicated to meeting those same demands, the chances of successes are greatly enhanced.

Ownership of a Dr.SmartPhones franchise has never been easier

“The cell phone repair market is exploding as more than 50% of Americans now have a Smartphone. Dr. Smart Phones is a simple, niche concept with limited direct competition.”

Life is best controlling the shots, which is exactly what makes a franchising opportunity with Dr. Smart Phones, Inc so exciting. You have the opportunity to control your own future and security by building a business in which your family can participate, contribute to your local community, and make a difference in the lives of your customers and employees. Starting a franchise gives you the opportunity to own a business without many of the risks, expenses and frustrations of starting from scratch.

The cell phone repair market is exploding as more than 50% of Americans now have a Smartphone. Dr. Smart Phones is a simple, niche concept with limited direct competition. Our specialty is providing fast guaranteed service while you wait.

Ready to proceed?

Let’s talk. We’ve made the process of taking the first step, and each of the following steps, simple. Please complete the Get in Touch form on our website so that our team can reach out to-to get you started on your way to owning a Dr. Smart Phones Franchise. www.drsmartphones.com/get-in-touch

Franchising USA

Veter ans in Fr anchising

Page 49

Veter ans in Fr anchising

Darcella K. Craven, Director, Veterans Jim Mingey, FounderExecutive & Managing Director, VBS’Business Resource Center

Is Your Resolution on Your Calendar?

Alright. It is nearing the end of one year and the beginning of another.

Many of us will soon embark on the routine tradition of reviewing our lives over the last 12 months and making a decision to do something, say something or be something better or different.

May) we throw those resolutions out and

We are excited about the opportunity to start again in this New Year and by March (or maybe some are more disciplined by

Army National Guard Veteran, is owner of

Franchising USA

decide to try again next January. Here is the deal. Creating resolutions is a strong and solid activity and it has a place. The

act of thinking through what you want to

accomplish is an excellent tool to faciltate and define accomplishments in our lives.

But many small business owners get so caught up in running the business that

those resolutions are not a priority and is

one reason we do not keep them for longer than a few months.

I reached out to one of the most organized Veteran small business owners I know

and asked for her advice on setting and keeping resolutions. Christine Zika, an

CZ Concierge Services. Here is what she had to say about setting resolutions.

Is your Resolution on your calendar?

If you are one of the 45% of Americans who have made a New Year’s Resolution, let me ask you a question: is your resolution on your calendar? Whether your resolution is to eat healthy, be a better parent (sister, daughter, community activist), to grow your business or be a better boss, make it a part of your to-do list to schedule it on your calendar!

Just as every business meeting or children’s activity gets inscribed on your calendar, so should the goals you set for yourself. How else will you remember or more importantly- find the time to work on your goals?

Let’s say we have resolved to eat healthy.

Buy vegetables and lean meat, cook and

Darcella K. Craven Christine Zika “Never think that your resolution for positive change is any less important than what wants to interrupt it.” to work through your ideas is very important.

Getting non-emotional perspective on your business allows you to identify roadblocks or opportunities that you did not notice.

4) Remember, these conversations can take several days’ even weeks to complete.

Set a beginning and an end date for the conversations and hold yourselves accountable to those dates.

Darcella K. Craven

Christine Zika

“Just as every business meeting or children’s activity gets inscribed on your calendar, so should the goals you set for yourself. How else will you remember or - more importantly - find the time to work on your goals?”

VIOLA you are eating healthy. And then the week comes and you were really busy that you weren’t able to buy groceries and what would you make tonight anyway and ohhhh look, there’s the McDonald’s (Long John Silvers, Hunan Wok). From there you slide into, the “well it’s just this week”, which leads to “let me get through the month” and the next thing you know it is the New Year and you are resolving to dobetter - AGAIN.

“Insanity is doing the same thing

over and over again and expecting different results.” - Albert Einstein

This year, plan out the success of your resolution! Take an hour and start blocking the time you will need to make your resolution a reality. Look at your calendar and decide where you can block time for grocery shopping, going to the gym or whatever task you need to do. Don’t schedule anything else during that time.

If someone wants a meeting at that time, explain that you are already committed and that they will need to choose another

time to meet. Stay firm; you wouldn’t schedule two meetings at the same time, would you?

Use this concept with your 2016 business goals. Do you want to make more sales calls? Market at specific times of the year?

A few tips from an organizing expert.

1) Plan on working on your 1, 3 and 5 year goals. You want to have both short term goals that you can see immediately and long term to give yourself something to strive to achieve. This is also a great way to measure your previous year’s accomplishments and adjust as you may need.

2) Set a date for you to work on your plan alone. Getting your ideas out of your head an on to paper, without the distraction of a team, is the best first step. This allows you to understand your intentions for the company and articulate them to others for the next step.

3) Set a date for your team to work on your plan. Whether the team is internal or external having the minds of others

No matter what it is that you want to do, make sure you know when you are going to do it and stick to it. It takes 21 days to create a new habit so put those days on your calendar TODAY! Interested in how you can provide this service as a benefit for your employees?

Call us at 314-779-9495 to discuss how we can start to create a great place to work.

CZ Concierge Services provides Virtual and Personal Concierge Services for business and their employees in the St. Louis, Missouri Metropolitan area.

Weare a proud to be a woman/veteran owned business.

Darcella K Craven has over 20 years of experience in corporate, government, non-profit and military organizations.

She is currently the Executive Director of the Veterans Business Resource Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to assisting Honorably Discharged Veterans, National Guard and Reservist and Active Duty personnel and their families with transitioning back into civilian life with starting and expanding businesses.

An Army Veteran, she holds a Masters of Arts in Management from Webster University and is currently pursuing her Doctors of Management focusing on impact of military experience on small business decision making. Darcella has been featured in numerous articles for her transition from the military and the welfare system to an accomplished business woman and is actively involved in many civic organizations. www.vetbiz.com

Franchising USA

Veter ans in Fr anchising

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ex per t advice

John Waldmann, Founder & CEO, Homebase

New Technology and the New Ways to Wo The first internet boom brought us incredible access to information; the rapid growth of smartphones has put that information at our fingertips. But a recent wave of technology is giving us something even more valuable: time.

Through new marketplaces and software, the internet is changing how we work, and granting us productivity superpowers. We can accomplish more in 24 hours than we ever could before.

Perhaps no one can benefit more from this than the busy small business owners. As a wise restaurant owner jokingly told me, “I love owning my own business: I get to decide which 20 hours a day I work.”

While technology may not reduce this to 20 hours a week, it can help you make better use of the time you’re spending.

Here are a few ways to incorporate technology into your business to accomplish more every week.

“Building a high-performing team and empowering them to act can help translate your vision into every customer experience, and scale your impact as a leader.”

Franchising USA

Work Outsource your tasks The highest leverage activity you can do as a manager is delegate. It moves an activity off our to-do list and on-to someone else’s.

Previously this meant hiring an employee, training them, and managing them—or working with an expensive external firm.

Today, it is easier than ever to outsource tasks, eliminating work for you and bringing skills into your company when you need them.

Like Uber, these new “marketplace” companies have removed the friction of connecting you to someone who can complete the work, without the paperwork or hassle. Need some repairs done or extra help cleaning up after an event?

Try Thumbtack; it allows you to hire professionals across a range of common activities. (I’m never building Ikea furniture myself again.) As a customer, I use DoorDash to get meals delivered from my favorite restaurants when I’m short on time; these restaurants love it because it allows them to outsource delivery.

But the services are not just limited to common tasks. UpWork allows you to easily hire for a range of creative and technical services, like designing and building that new website you’ve never got around to. The service is not perfect—you may find yourself spending a lot of time filtering respondents and managing the tasks—but it can be inexpensive and can bring technical expertise into your company quickly. Mainstreet Hub is a one-stop shop for outsourced social media marketing. For one monthly fee, they’ll manage your online profile and even respond to customers on your behalf.

“Through new marketplaces and software, the internet is changing how we work, and granting us productivity superpowers.”

Empower your Team While these services can be great for taking some tasks off your plate, they’ll never give you the leverage of a higher performing team. Building a highperforming team and empowering them to act can help translate your vision into every customer experience, and scale your impact as a leader.

A new wave of cloud-based technology can help in two ways. First, online communication tools can help you stay organized as a team so that everyone is working towards the right goals. Trello and Asana are two popular options that allow you to manage goals and tasks remotely, monitoring the status of a project from your phone without going back-andforth on email.

Second, technology can help your team make decisions on their own. New cloudbased point-of-sale (POS) systems like Clover, Square, Revel, and Lightspeed provide elegant dashboards to track your sales and inventory wherever you are.

With Homebase connected, you can even view your labor cost percentage in realtime. Instead of needing central guidance on budgets and staffing every day or week, you can train your GMs and front-line managers on their targets and let them execute against their goals.

Automate your activities In his autobiography, the famous restaurateur Danny Meyer talks about his initial resistance to bringing technology into his restaurants. He was worried he would lose the human touch he worked so hard to create with his staff. But he soon realized that technology was an enabler: “Every time somebody makes a reservation on the internet, that’s one less telephone call our reservationist has to

handle.” Instead of spending their time on the phone, his staff could spend more time researching the guests and creating a warm environment in person.

Technology creates the opportunity to move up the “Mazlow’s hierarchy” of work: to stop spending the time on the admin activities required for your business, and to spend more time on the activities that make a difference to your customers. Many of the new online software tools can help you improve your workflows and even automate some tasks.

I founded the company Homebase with this goal in mind. We’ve built free online tools to help streamline the employee scheduling and time-tracking processes because we knew that every time you answered a call from an employee asking “when am I working” you were not helping a customer. Mailchimp and Constant Contact can help automate marketing activities, and TaxJar can even automate tax tracking. Many of those new software tools are designed to be user-friendly and easy to learn, so that you can further gain time by granting access to your team.

Given the number of new technologies available, the challenge may be finding the time to implement them. Remember that every transition takes time; it is often easiest to roll software out in stages, and give your time team to adapt. With luck, the second biggest challenge may be deciding what to do with your new free time.

John Waldmann is the founder and CEO of Homebase, Homebase’s free, cloud based software helps thousands of small businesses eliminate the paperwork of managing hourly and freelance employees. www.joinhomebase.com

Franchising USA

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ex per t advice

Eliot Burdett, Co-Founder & CEO, Peak Sales Recruiting

Blueprint for Success

STEPS

PROVEN TO BUILD A SUCCESSFUL SALES TEAM FROM SCRATCH Building a sales team from scratch is one of the most difficult and important tasks of a CEO. Generating revenue through sales,

especially as start-up capital diminishes, can make or break a company’s success.

However, hiring the wrong salespeople costs dearly in time and treasure.

Fortunately, there is a well-defined formula for success.

Franchising USA

CEO of Peak Sales Recruiting Eliot Burdett has spent 25 years building sales teams and has 9 steps proven to build a successful sales team from scratch:

1

DON’T BUILD TOO SOON:

Any entrepreneur yearns for revenue streams but if the product is not ready, the offering is shifting, the budget for an industry leader is not there or the appropriate management support is not in place, hiring salespeople can be a waste of limited resources. This is because the salespeople won’t have enough stability

to be successful. Furthermore, prospects will want to speak to founders that have high domain knowledge and the authority to reduce the fear of risk associated with a young company. When these conditions stabilize, the time is right to start the recruiting process.

2

DEFINE SALES TEAM STRUCTURE:

Before hiring can commence, clearly defining the structure of the sales team is critical. Will a rep handle everything from prospecting to closing or will there

“The right DNA is the biggest predictor of sales success.” be separate teams for new business versus inbound leads? It is critical to define the process in advance so selling behaviors are aligned with the sales structure and strategy.

3

ASSIGN TERRITORIES:

Defining sales territories focuses selling efforts and prevents employees from targeting the same accounts and cannibalizing their efforts. Territories can be defined by geography, sector, or business size.

4

MAP OUT INDIVIDUAL SALES GOALS:

Identify the goals used to measure success for each sales rep. These should include not only revenue goals but also the sales activity required to achieve the revenue. To derive these, work backwards, start from the desired output divided by the number of sales to arrive at the target number of sales wins, then determine the number of prospects, calls and amount of time required to win each sale. It is important to be realistic.

5

DETERMINE BASE AND COMMISSION:

Sales compensation plans vary widely across industries and companies, but as a rule of thumb, new business development positions pay a 50/50 split of base salary and commission. The compensation plan may need to be adjusted to provide fair reward for the effort and risk assumed by the salesperson, but more importantly, make sure it is high enough to attract the right sales people from competing employers.

6

HIRE BASED ON SALES DNA AND NOT RESUME:

Ideally, hire a candidate that has a proven track record of selling in start-ups.

However, more important is to measure their sales DNA which we define as key traits of successful sellers such as ambition, perseverance, confidence, optimism, sense of urgency, desire to influence others, flexibility and ability to deal with uncertainty. The right DNA is the biggest predictor of sales success.

7

FOCUS ON THE THINGS THAT ATTRACT TOP SALES TALENT: With limited funds, attracting top salespeople is difficult for start-ups, but not impossible. The key is to make eye catching job ads, offer a viable and well defined career as opposed to just a job, get compensation offers right, and focus on attracting gainfully employed sales people, since the best of the best are always progressing well in their career.

8

IMPLEMENT A STRUCTURED ONBOARDING PROGRAM: The first 90 days of a sales rep’s employment is a critical time. Each day should be mapped out in terms of training on the product/service, the market and customers, and the selling approaches, systems and tools. Territory and account plan development and various other tests should be used to gauge learning progress and knowledge retention. Companies that take the time to invest in on-boarding reap the rewards down the road.

9

MEASURE SUCCESS:

It is critical that a new sales hire’s performance be monitored and measured closely. This is easy to do in companies with a shorter sales cycle, where it will be reasonable for a sales person to generate sales very quickly. In companies with a longer sales cycle, the focus needs to be on activities such as calls, meetings and

Eliot Burdett

pipeline of qualified opportunities. In either case, failure to monitor the activities can lead to poor habits, poor results and a failed hire which has awful consequences.

Building a sales team from the ground up is no easy task, but when done properly, it will lead to a powerful sales force that delivers strong and consistent revenue.

Eliot Burdett is the Co-Founder and CEO of Peak Sales Recruiting, a leading B2B sales recruiting company launched in 2006.

Under his direction, the company leads the industry with a success rate 50% higher than the industry average, working with a wide-range of clients including boutique, mid-size and world-class companies including P&G, Gartner, Deloitte, Merck, Western Union and others.

Prior to Peak, Eliot spent more than 20 years building and leading companies by recruiting and managing high performance sales teams. He co-founded Ventrada Systems (mobile applications) and GlobalX (e-commerce software) and served as Vice President of Sales for PointShot Wireless.

Eliot received his Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce from Carleton University and has been honored as a Top 40 Under 40 Award winner. He co-authored Sales Recruiting 2.0, How to Find Top Performing Sales People, Fast. http://www.peaksalesrecruiting.com/

Franchising USA

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fr anchisee in action

T he L it tle Gy m

Post Graduation Job Turns into

Lifetime of Success for Franchisee Chad Mussmon’s original goal with joining The Little Gym as an employee in 1996 was just to get some experience working with children, as he was fresh out of college with a brand new elementary education degree.

That was 19 years ago and today, his six locations makes him the largest single operator in the country for The Little Gym.

Franchising USA

At first, he became a part-owner at the original location where he started working and in 1999, he became a full-time franchise owner. All six of Mussmon’s locations are in the Washington DC metro area.

Entrepreneurship in His Blood Mussmon was inspired to become an entrepreneur from watching his uncle build and run his own business.

“I’ve always wanted to be my own boss based upon watching my uncle and knowing his destiny was in his own hands,” Mussmon said during a recent interview with Franchising USA. “Whether he made it or failed, it was him that was going to decide that and that always appealed to me. “ While his original intent was just to gain some experience for a planned teaching career, The Little Gym’s philosophy and the concept of building confidence in children spoke to Mussmon, as his own teaching philosophy lined up well with the company’s curriculum.

“I really think we make a difference on a daily basis for a lot of children throughout the world and I don’t know if I would get that from another concept.”

The Little Gym offers classes for kids from the ages of four months to 12 years that focus on three areas of development: physical, mental and social. The classes include sports skills, developmental gymnastics, dance, and karate. It also has parent-child programs for kids under three where children come with a parent or caregiver and take the class together.

Each class is designed with a specific curriculum to build off the classes that come before it, just like how it would work in a school. The classes, which were all developed by early childhood development experts, are broken into short four-week Learning Units over the course of a school year.

Mussmon said he fell in love with both the business and with franchising because of the ease at which success can be

duplicated due to the systems that are in place.

For example, going from one to two units was a big learning curve. As a single unit owner, it was easy for Mussmon to be involved in the business. With two locations, however, he had to use the systems that The Little Gym had in place so he could run his locations without necessarily being there. Having these systems in place to follow appealed to him.

“It was a lot easier to duplicate success with the franchise model,” he said.

Finding the Right Place and Offering the Right Training The Little Gym helps their franchisees with a demographic analysis of various areas. This is especially important for The

Franchising USA

fr anchisee in action

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fr anchisee in action

T he L it tle Gy m

“I would say it is a franchise that has rewarded me not only financially, but with fulfillment.”

Little Gym franchisees because they have to know approximately how many children are in the area they want to set up shop.

The franchisee works with a local real estate broker so he knows what’s coming a few years in advance, but The Little Gym has comprehensive processes in place for helping with site selection.

Mussmon said The Little Gym franchisee training is in-depth and includes a twoweek boot camp that fully immerses franchisees in the culture and the curriculum of The Little Gym. At the company’s headquarters in Scottsdale, Arizona, they have a The Little Gym training location that is set up to look just like a real, operating location.

Here, franchisees will receive business and curriculum training. Then, they are assigned an internship at an existing location where they will spend another few days working prior to their own opening.

When they do open, The Little Gym will send someone out to assist them as they launch.

As for ongoing support, franchisees participate in a weekly call with a

Franchising USA

Business Consultant, which is a staff member at The Little Gym International.

Owners will also be assigned a field consultant, which is another The Little Gym franchise owner that works with them. This means franchisees are privy to support from both the franchisor and a fellow franchisee.

The Little Gym International also provides opportunities for franchisees to receive additional training and support, both on-site and at special training events throughout the year. For example, The Little Gym International team hosts regional workshops, traveling curriculum boot camps, and virtual trainings on an as-needed basis.

While he appreciates that The Little Gym

offers plenty of opportunity for success — such as finding new ways for franchisees to generate revenue like The Little Gym’s recent partnership with Kindermusik — it’s not the financial success that is the best part of being involved with the franchise for Mussmon.

“I would say it is a franchise that has rewarded me not only financially, but with fulfillment,” he said. “I really think we make a difference on a daily basis for a lot of children throughout the world and I don’t know if I would get that from another concept.”

For Mussmon, that post-graduation job is paying off in more ways than one. http://www.thelittlegymfranchise.com/

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FranchisingFeature spo FO OD rts - PA & fitnesss RT 1

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food fr anchising - pa rt 1

what’s new!

Restaurant Industry Sees Growth in Fast-Casual Mexican Sector The fast-casual Mexican segment of the restaurant industry is growing faster than any other restaurant category.

Consumer research identifies the drivers of fast casual’s growth to include “better – than – quick service food, an upscale ambiance and fresh made for you appeal.” Now is the most opportune time to become a Baja Fresh franchise owner.

Baja Fresh offers a unique restaurant franchise opportunity and you’ll join a growing family of over 165 thriving locations across 23 states, plus international locations in Singapore and Dubai.

Right now Baja Fresh is looking for new franchisees who are energetic, motivated and have an unrelenting commitment to customer service, quality and freshness.

You’ll be empowered to grow and achieve success, with the right tools and marketing support from an iconic, established brand.

And you’ll be able to take pride in what you serve your customers every day with our commitment to quality, healthy ingredients and hand-made freshness and flavor.

To download your free franchise success kit and learn more about U.S. and international opportunities, real estate submittal and more, visit www.Bajafreshfranchise.Com

Huddle House Wraps Up its 50th Anniversary with Strong-Year of Growth year and new construction starts finished 140 percent ahead of the previous fiscal year.

Chambers will continue this successful expansion for the brand.

In addition, Huddle house will continue to offer incentives to new franchisees who take over and remodel existing stores.

“The results continue to prove that the remodeling program as well as other initiatives introduced over the past few years are paying off both in the performance of our restaurants as well as franchise growth,” said Huddle House CEO Michael Abt. “Demand for Huddle House franchises has never been stronger.”

Huddle House recently wrapped up its 50th anniversary with one of the chain’s strongest years of growth ever, signing 21 new franchise agreements, opening eight new restaurants, completing 41 remodels and adding four new company operated restaurants through the acquisition of existing locations.

In addition, as the 2014-2015 fiscal year closed in May, Huddle House recorded its 17th consecutive month of positive same store sales increases. Overall, new franchise and development agreement signings were up 23.5 percent over the previous fiscal

Franchising USA

Typically open 24-hours, Huddle House serves breakfast, lunch and dinner all day. The menu offers a mix of Southern inspired comfort food, including signature Big House breakfasts, crispy hash browns, creamy grits, golden waffles and fluffy omelets, all made to order. Other favorites include Big Bold Burgers, Big House sandwich platters, country fried steak with green beans and marinated grilled chicken with sweet potato fries.

The core values on which Huddle House was founded – serving quality food in a warm, friendly environment that brings the community together – remain intact today. huddlehousefranchising.com

THE SPICE & TEA EXCHANGE® SETS SAIL FOR EXPANSION Favorable Spice, Tea Industry Trends Leads to Growth The U.S. tea industry topped $10 billion last year, while the spice industry was calculated at $5 billion.

Enter The Spice & Tea Exchange® the franchise at the forefront of both growing industries, providing more than 140 spices and 75 exclusive hand-mixed blends, naturally-flavored sugars, salts from around the world and more than 30 exotic teas to guests of all 40 locations across the country. Looking to spread its unique eighteenth century trading post concept and reputation as a leading provider of gourmet spices, seasonings and teas, the franchise named on Entrepreneur Magazine’s 2015 Franchise 500® is now

targeting expansion nationwide.

The Spice & Tea Exchange® was created by a group of five talented individuals with a passion for life and food. Their vision, to create a one-of-a-kind shopping experience, brought the 18th Century Trading Post concept to life, providing guests with more than 140 spices and 75 exclusive hand-mixed blends, naturallyflavored sugars, salts from around the world and more than 30 exotic teas. The Spice & Tea Exchange® currently has 40 locations across 24 states and the District of Columbia.

For franchising information, visit http://franchise.spiceandtea.com/.

Philly Pretzel Factory set for growth Philly Pretzel Factory Creates a System and Infrastructure to Grow into a 500-Unit Chain by 2020 The first Philly Pretzel Factory opened its doors in 1998 with a concept to serve a soft pretzel “Hot Outta the Oven” to consumers as they walked through the door.

This was the vision of the CEO & Co-Founder, Dan DiZio who started selling pretzels at age 11 at the busy intersections throughout the city.

In 2004, Philly Pretzel Factory started franchising has grown to over 150 units located in 12 states and boasts 7 consecutive years of same store sales increase! Philly Pretzel Factory has created the system and the infrastructure to grow into a 500-unit chain by 2020.

“Each location is a factory, in addition to the retail customers there are wholesale opportunities at schools and businesses” said Marty Ferrill, President of Philly Pretzel Factory. “There is so much efficiency in the menu” stated Tom Monaghan, Chief Development Officer, when talking about how many different menu items are on the menu. These include Pretzel dogs, Cheesesteak Pretzels, Pizza Pretzels (with or without pepperoni) on top pretzels, rivets, mini pretzels and the always popular pretzel party tray to name a few.

Philly Pretzel Factory features a traditional bakery that can be a

Store in store model inside a Walmart in suburban Atlanta, GA.

stand-alone store or inside strip center. Other models can also be found at Airports, Train Stations, Amusement Parks and more.

We have partnered with Walmart for a store in store model that could be located inside your local Walmart.

If you are interested in becoming a Philly Pretzel Factory franchisee, visit our site at: www.phillypretzelfactory.com/ franchise.

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what’s new!

World of Beer Announces Opening of New Location in Chelsea, New York City “World of Beer has experienced rapid growth over recent years, which is a true testament to our unique concept and enthusiasm for the craft beer industry,” said World of Beer CEO and President Paul Avery, “We are proud to offer unparalleled experiences for every guest that visits our taverns and look forward to expanding the World of Beer brand to new markets nationwide and overseas.”

World of Beer, a craft tavern featuring the best local craft beers, is thrilled to announce the opening of its newest location in New York City, and its first in Chelsea.

This marks the rapidly growing franchise’s fourth tavern in the state of New York.

This year, World of Beer has opened 14 taverns and is projecting 12 more taverns by the end of the year.

With Avery spearheading the brand’s future growth, World of Beer plans to have more than 100 locations opened across the country within the next year. Since opening the doors to its first location in Tampa, Fla., in 2007, World of Beer has grown to 71 locations in 19 states across the U.S. Those interested in World of Beer franchising opportunities may visit World of Beer’s franchising website. www.worldofbeer.com/franchise.

Zaxby’s Opens 700th Location Fast-Casual chicken restaurant concept, Zaxby’s Franchising, Inc. (ZFI), opened its 700th restaurant on August 17, 2015, in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The new restaurant is operated by ZAX, Inc.—the largest franchisee in the Zaxby’s organization—and joined 5 existing Zaxby’s locations that serve the Greater Charlotte area.

“Although Zaxby’s is expanding outside of the Southeast, we’re excited to continue adding locations in the Charlotte market, especially because it’s close to home,” said Zaxby’s co-founder and EVP Tony Townley. “This area has been very good

Franchising USA

new and existing markets in 2015, which

The company plans to continue this momentum as it introduces the brand to new regions outside its established Southeast footprint. Zaxby’s currently has locations in 16 states.

marks its 25th year in business.

www.zaxbysfranchising.com

to us, and we’re proud to serve these loyal customers and their communities.”

Zaxby’s is on track to open 80 stores in

Mobile Technology for the Food Service Industry “Many of our franchise and restaurant customers use mobile technology across their operations, and they saw Zenput’s integration with BlueTherm probe thermometers as an easy way to access their most important field data and employee assignments all from one dashboard.

Now, chains that offer food service can instantly measure and log temperature readings for all prepared foods.”

“Together, the thermometer probe and Zenput’s mobile solution eliminate the need for food service workers or managers to manually log temperatures, guarantee exact readings every time, and ensure customers receive quality food in accordance with Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) guidelines.”

“By instantly logging and recording food temperatures, which previously was done manually and tracked by pen and paper in each store, corporate officers, district managers and others can now monitor their locations via the phone app without having to travel to each store to review the physical records. This makes it easier to ensure compliance is met and fix noncompliant food lines before they become problems.” - Vladik Rikhter, co-founder and CEO, Zenput www.zenput.com

Chicago-Area Gastropub Launches Franchise Expansion Program Tap House Grill Addictive Food/Creative Brews, an eclectic gastro-pub with a unique twist on American comfort food and an exclusive, rotating selection of local craft beers on tap, launched its new franchise program to be rolled out in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan, with national expansion to follow.

Launched in 2006, Tap House Grill has seven locations across the Chicago suburbs and several franchise agreements in the works. “We have been developing our imaginative concept for a decade and are now primed to aggressively grow our brand through franchising,” says founder Scott Ward.”

With 50 years of combined experience in restaurant management and restaurant operations, founders Scott Ward and Mark Zych have opened and developed dozens of restaurants. The two worked together at Bar Louie, where Ward served as Chief Operating Officer for more than a decade.

“There is a high demand for craft beer and

it is still growing,” says Zych. “Tap House Grill aims to match the creativity and quality of craft brewers with an inventive menu. That’s how we became known for addictive food and creative brews.”

Tap House Grill Addictive Food/Creative Brews is designed to capitalize on the growth in the craft beer market, providing franchisees with a strong support system and customers with a welcoming environment and food and drink that delivers on the concept’s tagline.

“We believe the collective experience of our executive team and the products, service and philosophy of Tap House Grill provide us an unparalleled foundation,” adds Ward. “We are looking for franchisees who embrace this concept and are dedicated to providing customers with a totally satisfying experience.”

To learn more about franchise opportunities with Tap House Grill Addictive Food/Creative Brews, please visit www.thgfranchise.com or call the franchise team at (847) 496-7054.

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C over S tor y - fr esh to o r der

Growing at Right Pace

Seen as Key for Franchise’s Success

Fresh To Order aims to identify with their franchisees in their own unique way.

In order to better understand what their franchisees have to face when they’re

opening and running a Fresh To Order

restaurant, the company plans to open one

“It’s elevated service experience, elevated food quality preparation methods closer to fine dining than fast casual in a more upscale than typical fast-casual environment.” – Pierre Panos, CEO corporate store for every franchise they open.

“We plan on growing roughly on a 50/50 basis,” CEO Pierre Panos said in recent interview with Franchising USA. Having roughly the same number of corporate

stores as franchises will help the company be a better, more effective franchisor, he added.

When changes to the restaurant market happen — like the price of beef jumping, for example — the company wants to be able to figure out how best to handle these challenges so they can have solutions figured out for franchisees to help them overcome these bumps in the road easier.

Currently, Fresh To Order has 15 locations and another two will be open by the end of the year. Of the current 15, seven stores are corporate and eight are franchises. In total, the company has 30 restaurants under development at various stages.

Fresh To Order has locations in Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, North Carolina, and has commitments to open new locations in Chicago, Philadelphia and Dallas. They are looking to get into markets east of Dallas and southeast of Chicago down to

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Florida and they especially want to expand further in states where they currently have a presence.

Pioneers

Panos started Fresh To Order nine years ago, the first restaurant of its kind.

“When we opened our first store in 2006, no one was doing very elevated fast casual, which I call Fast Fine,” Panos said.

With Fresh To Order, Panos wanted to bring quality food preparation and freshness to the restaurant market at around the $10 per plate price range.

Essentially, he wanted people to enjoy the quality and service of a $25 per plate restaurant, but for a price that he says is just 50 cents to a dollar more than the average fast casual restaurant.

At Fresh To Order, guests can expect to be greeted at the door, see their food being prepared in front of them and having their drinks refilled.

“It’s elevated service experience, elevated food quality preparation methods closer to fine dining than fast casual in a more upscale than typical fast-casual environment,” Panos explained.

flavorful food. Today, fast casual is a big trend, especially among ethnic foods, but Panos considers Fresh To Order to have been far ahead of the current trend.

Now, people want flavorful food and Fresh To Order can attract people who have specific calorie counts in mind, as the restaurant has meals from anywhere between 200 and 600 calories.

getting it built takes time. So, to keep that initial excitement going, Fresh To Order sends their franchisees little gifts each month that will keep them engaged with the company as they look for suitable sites and wait for the buildout to finish. These items include books that explain the Fresh To Order culture, hats, t-shirts and branded gifts for the franchisee.

Growing at the right pace

Training

Panos says the brand is specific about where they award franchises. They receive a healthy number of applications, but want to grow responsibly and methodically and in specific target markets only.

Franchisees, along with their key operators, go through training that lasts for about six weeks. They are trained in all areas of running the business in existing Fresh To Order restaurants.

They also only want franchisees who meet specific criteria, one of which is to have been a restaurant operators for at least five years. They also must open the restaurant in the city where they live.

The company also helps a lot with the opening. For the first week, there can be a team of six to eight people from the company helping with the opening.

Over time, as the franchisee gets more established, these corporate representatives will leave one by one until the franchisee is running the restaurant themselves.

“We like the idea of local knowledge,” Panos said. “Fresh To Order is growing at the right pace with the right franchisees.”

Keeping the Excitement Going

He opened his first Fresh To Order in 2006 and his first franchise in 2012.

When entering a market, Fresh To Order already has a strategic real estate plan drawn up that shows suitable trade areas.

Franchisees identify potential sites within their trade area and the company will visit and evaluate each site and give final approval. They also help franchisees with research on the locations by giving them access to their comprehensive neighborhood profiles of the sites.

At that time, healthy eating had just started to become a trend, but Americans weren’t quite ready to embrace that caliber of

Franchisees are always excited to open their restaurant once they’ve been awarded a franchise. But, choosing a location and

With Fresh To Order, Panos wanted to offer flavorful, healthy cuisine where people could be in and out in 30 minutes, and where everything is fresh instead of frozen.

Once they’re open, the company will help with franchisees with a step by step marketing plan that is rolled out in stages.

The company also inspects the franchises to ensure everything is running smoothly and to liaise with franchisees.

With a comprehensive growth plan that favors quality over quantity, and with a desire to meet the challenges of running a restaurant head on and figure out solutions for their franchisees, Fresh To Order is poised for success at just the right pace. www.freshtoorder.com/franchiseopportunities/

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Featu re

b y G i n a G i l l Fr a n c h i s i n g U S A

food

franchising

e r u t Fea

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Franchising is synonymous with the Food industry. It’s the first concept anyone considers because it’s one of the most successful forms of multibusiness known in the economy.

“Food is the safest and most popular franchise option, because it is always in demand. In order to survive we need food and everyone depends on the market to supply this necessity.”

Throughout the history of business, restaurants have been a staple part of the franchise industry and nowadays food has extended far beyond a meal. People know what they want and they want choice. The food industry now has to create numerous options for food and service to help keep up with the many demands of the many very busy and knowledgeable customers.

Food is the safest and most popular franchise option, because it is always in demand. In order to survive we need food and everyone depends on the market to supply this necessity.

Vending Machines People need to eat, all day, every day and a way to keep up with that demand is through vending machines. It’s sometimes an overlooked piece of furniture, but once that tummy starts grumbling, people will search to great lengths for the snack dispenser.

In the office, the hospital, the university, the airport- people are on the go and they want to have access to food at all times.

They seek snack vendors, coffee vendors and though unrelated to food, there are now vendors offering electronics for the immediate demands of people.

Becoming a franchisee for a vending machine company allows for a lot of freedom and simplicity. Owners are usually provided clientele and it’s a form of automatic retailing- no employees, no schedules and no fuss.

However, with people having a better understanding of their health, the vending machine has come under scrutiny in the

last few years. For the most part vending machines have unhealthy options and usually only accept change. In a world of plastic, that really limits the customer base.

However, with change comes adjustment.

Vending machines with healthy and fresh options are becoming a franchise in itself and a preferred source of quick and easy satisfaction for towns and schools across the country.

The vending machine is easy, quick and a low maintenance option into the food industry. It’s a great consideration for those who want to continue a good work life balance while also being in control of their own schedule and profit to a certain extent.

A bakery usually offers bread products, dough pretzels, cupcakes, cookies served up with some coffee. The bakery appeals to the masses, with a usual sit down area for their customers, while also offering catering and delivery services.

Though the baking industry focuses on one area of food, according to the American Society of Baking, the commercial baking industry brings in an annual revenue of close to $100 billion in 2012.

The baking industry can curve to any consumer needs by either making products more healthy, adding certain flavors, changing treats and beverages and providing options for certain diets and allergies.

Baked Goods industry

Full- Service Restaurants

This type of franchise gives a mom and pop feel as soon as you walk through the doors. The smell of fresh bread can lure any customer and make them feel truly at home.

Some may say restaurants are the very beginning of franchising, with one of the first business models to duplicate and create chains, it is well-known in the world of franchising.

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Featu re

b y G i n a G i l l Fr a n c h i s i n g U S A

In this case, the supply is relevant to the demand. Sales of full service or table service restaurants were forecasted to reach 219.69 billion U.S. dollars by the end of this year and that number has been increasing since 2009.

The average family is busy and working, they don’t have a lot of time to prepare a meal but they enjoy a break with their family. In fact, on average 194 restaurant meals are served per person in America annually. That is a whole lot of burgers.

Restaurant chains are found within a lot of institutes- offices, malls, theme parks because everyone has to eat. There are so many different restaurants, with different themes, foods and flavors making the choice a personal perk for any franchisee.

Though no background is necessary to become a franchisee, an interest in the food industry and a background in the business would be useful. Unlike other franchises, restaurants may take a bit more hard work and personal time from owners. That being said, for the most part well-established chains provide a lot of support through training both staff and franchisees, marketing and building.

Though full-service restaurants rely heavily on marketing, for the most part the brand and name are well- known and already well-liked. Keeping the product and layout consistent helps create a reliability and huge consumer base, but it also limits creativity for the franchisee.

Health food stores and supplements The internet has provided a lot of information to a lot of people. With it has come a lot of health crazes that provide new markets. Whether gluten-free, organic or clean eating is actually healthier or not, it has help strengthen and build the health food industry.

Restaurants are ever changing and evolve with the many demands of the consumer but one thing has never changed- people like a night out and everyone enjoys a visit to a restaurant.

together, restaurants are where memories

From a fancy evening to a family get

of consumers.

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are made and have become a part of

American culture. Walk down a busy

street in the States and there are a wide

variety of restaurants for the many choices

Americans are concerned about their health, but a lot of people do not want to work hard for it. Health food franchises provide people with quick fixes, easy access while fulfilling their needs.

Once something is labeled as healthier, people want it. In fact, organic food sales

“Americans are concerned about their health, but a lot of people do not want to work hard for it. Health food franchises provide people with quick fixes, easy access while fulfilling their needs. ”

increased 11.5 per cent in 2013. When the trend first took off, it grew 21 per cent in 2000. This decrease in sales proves that health trends are fickle and risky. Once something easier comes along, a business may become irrelevant. Health food stores can and should keep up with all the latest trends and appeal to the masses if possible.

It’s a great opportunity for someone who is passionate about health and enjoys a fast paced field that is always changing.

The food industry reaches far beyond the dinner table. Though most food franchises are well established and marketed, it can sometimes be high paced and demanding.

Most franchisees have a lot of passion and love the industry, which creates a successful outcome. However, there are so many venues available that whatever the person’s interest, there is likely a similar market with food.

Whatever your palette, the option is there.

Bon Appetite.

About the author: After receiving an English Degree, followed by a Journalism Diploma, Gina became a freelance journalist in 2008.

She has worked as a reporter and in communications, focusing on social media. She currently works as a community information officer with Epilepsy Society, while pursuing her writing career at the same time.

Look out for our next special feature:

Food Franchising Part 2

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Ted Milburn, Director of Franchise Development, Wienerschnitzel

Diversifying your Franchise Portfolio

Exploring a Second Brand With the trend of multiunit franchising continuing to drive the industry, many progressive franchisees are looking for the next logical step in their business progression. Many more are finding that next step is through diversifying their franchise portfolio and exploring a second brand.

As a multi-unit franchise operator, you understand the trials of success in building your store count with solid business

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practices. Franchising works when you’ve validated the right opportunity and you’ve followed a rigorous training program day-in and day-out. Wash, lather, rinse, repeat. This takes at face-value, a brand and concept with staying power, strategic marketing and corporate support – right down to stellar execution and top-notch customer service. The numbers work, and with the right resources in place, you’ve found your niche and are fulfilling your market development schedule. The alternative may be a saturation of your brand with little or no room to grow.

Either way, the notion of expanding your empire with another franchise brand is a natural next step. So, where to start?

Well, that’s fairly easy if you’re willing to take the time to turn over many rocks in your next franchise discovery process.

There are a ton of resources out there.

From numerous franchise publications

and multi-unit brand rankings, to the experience of fellow colleagues, the IFA, and several multi-unit conferences throughout the year for networking and exploration. You have been successful for a reason and likely stay current on industry trends and business climate. However, giving necessary time to thoroughly explore your next franchise is often glossed over in favor of, “what is the AUV and the average net profit of this brand?”

Understandably, this is typically going to be your first consideration before all else.

Unfortunately, it is also the reason why many candidates looking at a second brand get stuck on this critical topic. They often don’t go any further than asking this same question again-and-again to every new opportunity they’re exploring. Yes, we are all in business to make money and build wealth, but it’s not as simple in round two of “discovery” as one might expect.

As many franchises as there are out there, take the time and commit to learning about three new franchise opportunities.

Why three? It is imperative to compare and contrast opportunities with one another – and not just with the current franchise you own. Narrow the field down based around your goals, needs and expectations as you would for any business opportunity. Your strengths should parallel successful business models that are seeking the same operational skill set. Staying within your current industry i.e. restaurant, automotive, retail, etc., can lend itself to making use of your existing resources. Just make sure early on that you are not exploring a brand that would fall into the non-compete clause of your current franchise agreement.

One suggestion I offer to franchise candidates is to write down your questions and ask the same of each franchisor.

Where are you growing? Do you offer market exclusivity? What makes this a successful brand, and why will you be relevant 20 years from now? Are you flexible and easy to work with? (Ask “for example” questions). Have same-storesales increased over the past 5 years?

What specifically has changed to affect your sales? What innovations have you made to improve the brand? The list goes on, but ask the same of each.

Every franchisor has its own process for qualification, discovery and franchise award. Keep an open mind in understanding that each follows its own system for granting a new market or multiunit deal. The exception is that we must all follow the laws of FDD disclosure.

The process for obtaining sales, profit and expense information must be obtained in validation with current franchisees of that brand. This takes time and research.

Be willing to complete applications, review FDDS, and speak with multiple franchisees from each brand. There are no short-cuts. You will be better off in the long-run if you are thoroughly educated on multiple opportunities, and can be rest assured that you made the smartest selection for your next franchise venture.

“Franchising works when you’ve validated the right opportunity and you’ve followed a rigorous training program day-in and day-out. Wash, lather, rinse, repeat.”

Also, keep an eye out for franchises that have been around for decades but have retooled for the future. These are typically golden brands that can demonstrate a steady increase in sales with a resurgence and commitment to new growth. They know how to remain relevant and have the experience to open stores and sustain.

These brands often provide the best opportunities to open in new markets and grant exclusivity with very attractive entry terms.

Guest editorial shared by Ted Milburn – Director, U.S. Franchise Development at Galardi Group, Inc., franchisor of Wienerschnitzel, Tastee Freez and Hamburger Stand. Milburn has over 25 years of successful sales, marketing and public speaking experience – the past 12 years, holding leadership positions on a select few franchise development teams of internationally recognized brands.

Wienerschnitzel, the world’s largest hot dog chain, hired Milburn to lead their domestic franchise efforts and, under his direction, the company is overhauling its franchise marketing tools and increasing its industry trade presence as the company pursues new national growth.

exponential growth, both domestically and internationally. With a refreshed marketing focus, Wienerschnitzel has received tremendous media attention and accolades including Franchise Times’ “20 to Watch” and voted Best Fast Food in Southern California by the readers of Los Angeles Daily News for five years and running. Additionally, the company recently introduced a unique next generation store design featuring a smaller footprint and a lower cost of entry; while the simple menu allows for easy execution and lower food costs. As a family owned and operated company, Wienerschnitzel is in a unique position to always put its franchise partners first and is actively recruiting passionate franchise candidates to grow with the brand during this very exciting time.

For more information on owning a Wienerschnitzel/ Tastee Freez co-brand, visit franchising.wienerschnitzel.com or contact Ted Milburn - Director, Franchise Development at franchising@wienerschnitzel.com.

About Wienerschnitzel Founded by John Galardi in 1961 with a single hot dog stand in Wilmington, California, Wienerschnitzel (www. wienerschnitzel.com) is a bona fide pioneer of the limited-service food industry. Today, Wienerschnitzel is the world’s largest hot dog chain and home of America’s favorite Chili Dog. Based in Irvine, California, the parent company, Galardi Group, franchises restaurants throughout the U.S., including Wienerschnitzel, Hamburger Stand, and Tastee Freez. An iconic American brand with a devoted following for over 50 years, Wienerschnitzel is poised for

Ted Milburn

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By Renae Scott, Chief Marketing Officer, Togo’s Eateries, Inc.

Reasons Why

Mobile Apps are Essential in the Restaurant Business We take it for granted now that major consumer brands have mobile apps, but do they make sense for restaurants?

If you own or manage a restaurant franchise, what exactly is the value of going mobile?

I’d sum it up this way: you build a mobile app so you can be on hand, on demand and on everyone’s mind. You do these three things so you provide better service, attract more visitors and sell more food.

With the creative license to describe my ‘dream’ restaurant app, I’ll discuss what we can expect from restaurant apps in the coming years and illustrate why a restaurant would be foolish not to have one.

1On Hand

On the Internet, your restaurant gives up control over information for greater visibility. Customers usually know more about you than you know about them.

Mobile apps level this playing field.

The most basic purpose of the app is to give customers accurate information about your restaurants. You provide the menu, hours, nearest locations and perhaps even a button that pulls up driving directions.

Customers will use this because Yelp and Google searches sometimes lead to false information.

In exchange for this service (and many others we’ll talk about), you get

Franchising USA

y

ssential usiness information about your customers that is only available because mobile devices are ‘on hand’ at all times. With permission, you learn about where they live, when they are near your restaurant and how often they visit. This mine of information becomes rich and detailed as we weave in the next two aspects of an app.

2

On Demand

When Millennials want something, they want it now. This is no attack on their character – this is just the norm in society where information, goods and services are available with one click or tap. Restaurants have to adapt to this expectation, and a mobile app can help you do it.

Let’s focus on the experience inside a restaurant first. Customers hate lines, and the cash register is the bottleneck.

Particularly after new EMVco standards go into effect this October, checkout will become slower. This is the perfect time for restaurants to integrate web-based payments into their app, as if it were an online store. A customer could checkout on the app while waiting in line, order food and skip the cash register.

Outside the restaurant, the app should enable one-tap deliveries. Most restaurants used to avoid deliveries because maintaining a delivery staff is expensive.

Today, third-party services rely on independent drivers who supply their own vehicles (a la Uber), which brings down the costs dramatically. They can provide instant gratification for customers without hurting your bottom line.

By baking orders and payments into an app, your restaurant will be able to track what customers order, when and how

“You build a mobile app so you can be on hand, on demand and on everyone’s mind. You do these three things so you provide better service, attract more visitors and sell more food.” often. The app is a fast lane to getting what techies call a “single view of the customer.”

3

On Everyone’s Mind

To be on someone’s mind, you have to be relevant. When you combine a good rewards systems with a mobile app, being relevant is easy.

At Togo’s, we use a point system. For every dollar a person spends, they earn a point, and 50 points is worth $5 at our restaurants. There’s no one right way to do rewards, but points systems get people excited to check their balance, which means they’ll spend more time on the app and interact with the brand more often.

In previous two sections, I talked about information you can gather about customers. The rewards system is where you put it to work. For instance, if a customer orders the same sandwich nine out of ten times he visits your restaurant, it would make sense to surprise him with special offers for that sandwich. It would be even better to send that offer as a push notification, during lunch or dinner hours, specifically when he is within two miles of one of your locations. You can also tie offers to current events. If the 49ers win a big game, why not invite local customers to celebrate at your San Francisco restaurants?

Renae Scott

customers. Today, there are over 1.5 million apps available to smartphone owners, and each one demands some level of commitment, time and trust. If you’re going to put your brand in peoples’ pockets, be worth it. Be on hand, be on demand and be on everyone’s mind.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of features a restaurant app should have. You can build social sharing, referrals, gift cards and much more.

Renae Scott joined Togo’s as vice president of branding and marketing in December 2008 and oversees new product development, marketing and advertising. A visionary and strategist, Renae supervises all aspects of brand management. She has led Togo’s brand-rejuvenation efforts working to redesign the company’s logo, menu boards, uniforms and packaging. In addition, Renae has developed a new store prototype and remodel package for franchisees, and has been instrumental in launching new and limited time offer marketing promotions and public relations campaigns. Renae is an experienced executive and strategic marketer, having managed several nationally recognized brands within the restaurant, food and beverage, consumer products and non-profit industries.

Whatever you do, empathize with your

www.togos.com

Being on the customer’s mind works. At Togo’s, we find that our mobile rewards users visit one to two times more per month than the average guest and spend an average of $10 more each time.

Be Worth It

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Al Cave, Partner, RAMMP Hospitality Brands

Rebranding, really:

How to take your new brand from concept to execution So you’ve branded your company. You have a vision, you’ve articulated the key elements that your brand represents, and you’ve created your logo and other brand materials. Now you have to implement the brand elements in your franchise.

it into the present and will enabled it to expand into the future.

heritage, and uses other touchpoints to create a casual atmosphere.

When we came up with “steakhouse casual” branding, we wanted to create the un-steakhouse steakhouse. MR MIKES SteakhouseCasual breaks the traditional rules of dark lighting, tablecloths and fancy plates. It’s a, casual come-as-you-are environment.

The physical design of your building — interior and exterior — has to tie into your brand.

It’s one thing to have a brand, and it’s quite another to bring that brand to life.

My partners and I at RAMMP Hospitality Brands bought and rebranded the heritage Canadian steakhouse brand MR MIKES. Blending the beloved elements of the brand with new elements that brought

Inside and out, our new MR MIKES SteakhouseCasual locations exude the new “steakhouse casual” brand identity.

They have a feel of approachability, family, and community alignment. Every restaurant has branding that connects it to the community it is in, shows the brand

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Once we had developed that conceptual branding vision, we got down to the nuts and bolts and rolled out the brand.

Here’s how we did it.

Create your space

Proper flow is important, too. Your guests should experience your brand seamlessly from the moment they roll into the parking lot to when they sit at the table. Everything they touch and see should align with your brand message.

Study up When you educate your staff about the brand, they can carry that knowledge into everything they do in your business.

Team knowledge and buy-in is incredibly important. We provide extensive online training about the brand and process for our products in the kitchen.

We train all levels of staff: servers, back of house, host or hostess, managers, shift

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Al Cave, Partner, RAMMP Hospitality Brands

supervisors, franchisees. Everyone needs to go through an online training program, with different modules they need to pass to progress. We also train franchisees in an eight-week training program. We can monitor who has completed their online training modules and provide additional materials when required.

This way all our staff are trained to deliver consistent information and service.

They’re also trained to become trainers themselves.

Design your menu with purpose The next major touchpoint guests experience is the menu. The menu itself needs to look and feel like your brand, as do all the items on it and their descriptions. At MR MIKES SteakhouseCasual, our menus put an irreverent twist to the traditional formal menu you’d find at a steakhouse.

Make back-of-the-house magic There’s an elaborate system that goes on behind the scenes in our purchasing, prep and cooking. We’ve designed every detail of delivery to make sure our customers get a consistent, great product that looks and tastes great, and reflects the MR MIKES SteakhouseCasual brand.

From the back of the house, the idea is to have consistent product across the chain.

The first element we look to in order to accomplish that is our ingredients. We have a very focused ingredient deck with quality ingredients from our trusted suppliers.

A consistent product is very important.

Every business is going to have a different way of creating this, but we do it using systems to sequence our food preparation.

For instance, if you order a medium steak with fries, the steak is going to take 15 minutes to cook, so our system lets the back of the house know when to cook the French fries so that they are done at the same time as the steak. This way, the customer gets hot steak and hot fries, both perfectly cooked.

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“Understand who your target market is and don’t try to be everything to everybody, differentiate your brand.”

Brand the product itself Beyond excellent ingredients and great flavour, we really wanted our food to visually embody the MR MIKES SteakhouseCasual brand as much as possible, so the guest experiences the brand in the flavours, aromas and visuals when their meal arrives at the table.

For instance, we serve certain dishes in signature dishes rather than on plates. You might get your beer in our customized stein rather than a beer glass.

Those touchpoints give you a differentiation from the guests perspective.

Al Cave

Distinctly brand the different areas or products you offer At MR MIKES SteakhouseCasual, we don’t just have a bar. We have an Urban Lodge.

It provides the ying to the yang of our steakhouse casual dining area. The design is distinct — a rustic lodge mixed with more urban chic. Our use of board games and music programs might make you wish the Urban Lodge were your own rec room, and our liquor, wine and beer program reflects the Urban Lodge’s mix of sophistication and relaxed irreverence. It is not a sports bar, but a place where people can socialize and enjoy themselves.

Market Yourself Ensure your messaging both internally and externally aligns with and reinforces your brand position. Understand who your target market is and don’t try to be everything to everybody, differentiate your brand. Know where you can intersect with your customer in all forms of media.

Connect to the bigger picture Whatever brand attributes you want to embody, connect to the community in ways that make sense for your brand.

We specifically went into communities that would connect with the MR MIKES SteakhouseCasual brand.

One of our biggest attributes is our franchisees that embody the brand in their communities. They’re locals that actually live in the areas where our franchises are based, so they know everyone and they genuinely want to build those communities, supporting through many different sponsorships and events. Our community involvement is something we’re really proud of.

Al Cave is a partner in RAMMP Hospitality Brands owner of Mr Mikes Steakhouse Casual, Al has extensive experience working with start-ups and leading restaurant brands in the franchise industry. http://www.mrmikes.ca/

JOIN THE

FASTEST GROWING

PIZZA CHAIN IN AMERICA! *

SELECT AREAS STILL AVAILABLE! NON-TRADITIONAL OPPORTUNITIES ALSO AVAILABLE!

Visit LittleCaesars.com or call 800-553-5776 *Based on 2013 U.S. store growth. ©2014 LCE, Inc. 50232

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food fr anchising - pa rt 1

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women in f ra nchising

Nancy Bostrom, PR Catalyst, 919 Marketing

Clarissa Windham-Bradstock: Veteran business woman changing the way families access health care Born to lead, Clarissa Windham-Bradstock specializes in making order out of chaos. The Chief Executive Officer of the national franchise Any Lab Test Now is equipped with the tools to run the nation’s first directaccess lab testing service while balancing life as a wife and mother.

The CEO’s success dates back to her teenage years when she first realized what it takes to lead. Clarissa says, “I learned in high school, if there is a void in leadership, take over. I started with the Key Club.”

Her first job was at age 14 at Dot’s Country Kitchen in Jasper, AL. “I am very proud that the position actually started me on my career path, says Clarissa, I learned the importance of treating a team with respect and making the most of every day.”

In just a few years, Clarissa started attending Auburn University. She studied hard and got her Bachelor of Arts in English and Speech Communication, then off to the business world. First, she joined the hospitality industry. She wasted no time moving up into management.

Clarissa says she enjoyed the level of energy and fell in love with business. “I recognized the importance of allowing

Franchising USA

people to complement each other, a diverse team is better as a whole.”

Clarissa did not waste much time moving up into the executive branch of the business world. By age 26, she earned a Vice-President title at a startup point-ofsale company. “The experience managing others, including men, helped me build the foundation I needed as my career continued to grow,” says Clarissa.

After reaching success in small business technology, Clarissa migrated into the health care industry. She developed quite a name for herself as an executive, helping companies walk through integration. “At InforCure I was the VP of Client Services working on the mergers and acquisition team. The experience evaluating various business models, culture and financial plans serves as a great foundation for my current role with Any Lab Test Now,” Clarissa says.

In 2007, one of Clarissa’s former bosses hired her at Any Lab Test Now. As Chief Operating Officer, Clarissa worked diligently to help grow the brand.

Company investors recognized her value and appointed her acting CEO, before making her role permanent in 2014.

Among her many duties, she is responsible for strategic planning. It is her goal to increase franchising revenues while focusing on ways to keep the Any Lab Test Now engine running smoothly.

Clarissa enjoys playing a big role in the franchise community and encourages other women in the franchise business to do the same. “As a business owner you can feel isolated at times. Get involved with others in the franchise world; it can help you create a solid support team.”

Clarissa has served as a guest speaker at many franchise conferences and acquired important positions with the Southeastern Franchise Forum and the International Franchise Association Women Franchise Committee Atlanta chapter.

Any Lab Test Now provides direct access health care to all of its customers. In 1992, it opened in Atlanta as the first company to provide direct-to-consumer

“As a business owner you can feel isolated at times. Get involved with others in the franchise world; it can help you create a solid support team.” lab tests, ranging from clinical to paternity to drug and alcohol testing. Any Lab Test Now guides patients to choices and empowers them to take control of their medical care. “We are people oriented, versus transactional, “ says Clarissa. “It’s all about the customer experience. We walk them through the testing process all the way to the delivery of the test results.”

Clarissa stresses Any Lab Test Now does not treat or diagnose. It is always recommended to patients that they discuss their test results with their physician.

Any Lab Test Now also offers convenience to its clientele. Most locations are open six days a week. Customers are generally in and out in only 15 to 20 minutes. The franchise locations now top 150. Each one offers multiple types of lab tests, including but not limited to:

About the Author

Now at the top of the corporate ladder, Clarissa also must juggle her family life.

She and her husband have four daughters, ages 12, 15, 20 and 23. They contribute their experience to a blog focused on parenting. Clarissa says she is always working to keep a balance. “When working with franchisees, it’s important to be available when it’s convenient for them, but it’s also important to focus on special time with the family. A sense of balance is critical.”

Nancy Bostrom is a PR Catalyst for 919 Marketing, a national marketing, PR and social media agency that creates and executes hard-hitting Social Relations™ programs on behalf of emerging and established franchise companies. Bostrom is a passionate, driven and energetic account executive. For more than 20 years, Bostrom worked as a news producer for some of the top television news organizations in the country, including WSB in Atlanta and WFAA in Dallas.

Bostrom helps franchise clients share national and local stories that increase franchise sales lead flow and in-store traffic for franchisees. As a member of the 919 Marketing team, Bostrom is part of a powerful collection of Emmy award winning journalists, nationally recognized marketing strategists, creative content marketing gurus and savvy digital marketing analysts who have proven experience delivering powerful, revenue generating results for emerging and established franchise brands.

https://www.anylabtestnow.com/

www.919marketing.com

• Allergy, Sensitivity and Intolerance Tests • Clinical Blood Tests (all encompassing) • Hormone Tests • Diabetes Lab Tests • Drug & Alcohol Tests • Paternity & other DNA Tests • Vitamins, Minerals & Nutrition Lab Tests

Franchising USA

women in f ra nchising

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ex per t advice

Trung Pham, Founder & CEO, AXIS

6 REASONS ENTREPRENEURS MUST GO FURTHER THAN SIMPLY

‘MARKETING TO MILLENNIALS’ Why Entrepreneurs Should Launch New Businesses Specifically Targeting Millennials cars, and traditional media outlets are transitioning into the 140 character world.

The only problem is that reaching the 83 million members of the “selfie” generation can be a difficult proposition. They are the first generation not following the script of education, marriage, house and then family, leaving advertisers perplexed.

Trung Pham

Upon the realization that the 83 million Millennials possess $1.3 trillion in annual buying power, and are set to inherit $30 trillion more from their Generation X and baby boomer parents, Fortune 500 companies have been investing heavily in ‘Marketing to Millennials.’

These companies are complementing their “core” business model and trying to tap into the now largest population in the U.S. For example, fast food giants are adding healthy items to their menu, automobile companies are offering energy efficient

Franchising USA

They have a world of information at their fingertips allowing them to form their own opinions about brands, are the most educated generation in history and are highly diverse -- white, black, brown, Asian, and on top of all that they like being ‘Green.’

While many of these big companies have been making significant gains, they may not be nimble enough or focused enough to fully adapt to the constantly changing needs of this market.

This creates an enormous opportunity for the entrepreneurs of today and tomorrow.

Those that can cultivate a business model from scratch that will specifically target Millennials and figure out their diverse needs, will have the opportunity to change the world.

Trung Pham, CEO of AXIS, a company that designs do-it-yourself (DIY) home products for a generation of Millennials that are tech-savvy but not handy, offers six reasons entrepreneurs should not simply ‘Market to Millennials,’ but should make it the primary focus of their business.

1

SOCIETY FOLLOWS THEIR LEAD:

The entire world is following the lead of the current youth generation (See Facebook). While conventional wisdom suggests an entrepreneur should target the widest group of people possible, it is even more brilliant to focus on the trendsetting Millennials. Those who can resonate with this group will then have the rest of the population following suit.

2

APPEAL TO THE TECHSAVVY BUT NOT HANDY:

The younger generation is between a rock and hard place when it comes to being handy. Our parents were able to build and fix things, where increasingly the current generation is not. While young people prefer to do a lot of things virtually, there will always be a need to develop physical products that function as seamlessly as their Apps do.

3

BENEFIT FROM SPEAKING THE SAME LANGUAGE:

While entrepreneurs can be any age, the majority of entrepreneurs are young and hungry. In fact, many of them are Millennials. The ability to speak the same language as their target market offers a huge competitive advantage and will yield impressive results.

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FRANGUIDE.COM 703-424-2980 FIND YOUR FRANCHISE WITH FREE GUIDANCE FROM INDUSTRY EXPERTS Franchising USA

ex per t advice

Trung Pham, Founder & CEO, AXIS

4

ENJOY TWO TYPES OF ‘GREEN’:

Targeting Millennials offers the opportunity to enjoy two types of green; the type that has a positive impact on society in addition to the type that lines pockets. While often characterized as lazy and self-absorbed, the Generation Y truly element to it cares about going green.

Whether their concern is creating green jobs, global warming or getting away from foreign oil addiction, they will feel better about supporting you if there is a social responsibility. This gives young CEO’s the chance to do good things for society.

5

CONSIDER THEIR LIFETIME VALUE:

Baby boomers are certainly still a big market. However, they can be seen as getting a little long in the tooth. If the Millennials develop brand affinity, they will stay with you for life. It provides an

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“Targeting Millennials offers the opportunity to enjoy two types of green; the type that has a positive impact on society in addition to the type that lines pockets.” opportunity to grow and evolve as they do and makes for a sound business model for the next 50 years or so.

6

BE GLOBAL, MOBILE AND SOCIAL:

The key to doing good business is reaching consumers wherever, and whenever they are. Current and future generations will be increasingly global, mobile and social. By creating something viral, a business in Boston can sell to a consumer in Beijing or Belgium. This ability to overcome geographic barriers should excite entrepreneurs and give them license to think really big.

Trung Pham is the Founder and CEO of AXIS. The company designs unique do-it-yourself (DIY) home products

for a generation of Millennials that are tech-savvy but not handy. DIY has long been associated with a world of buy-andbuild products, complicated manuals and uninspired design. With a set of products initially focused on window treatments, AXIS is redefining the DIY space around simplicity, convenience and design.

Pham founded AXIS after encountering the common headaches of a young professional renter furnishing his apartment and found the DIY products on the market to be not so DIY friendly after all. He is a graduate of the Schulich School of Business at York University and previously co-founded an online event management platform. http://www.axis.life

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question time

Ken McAllister, President, Suite Management Franchising

with Ken McAllister Our team at Franchising USA had a chance to sit down with Ken McAllister, president of Suite Management Franchising, the parent company of MY SALON Suite and Salon Plaza franchises, to learn more about the growth and success of the company.

Our questions are in bold.

Hope you enjoy reading.

What were you doing before you became involved with Suite Management Franchising?

My background is in engineering.

However, for the past 20 years, I served in key executive-level management positions for companies in the oil and gas industry.

Throughout my career, my focus has been to drive business expansion and create

Franchising USA

jobs. I have had the unique opportunity to help hundreds of small businesses and corporations meet and achieve their nationwide growth goals.

Most recently, my family and I relocated to Houma, LA. When my daughter entered high school, my wife expressed an interest in returning to work. However, she wasn’t interested in working a traditional 9-to-5. In 2010, we built our first MY SALON Suite, which offered my wife an opportunity to own and operate her own business, while maintaining her current lifestyle. The success of the first location compelled us to add a secondary location six miles down the road and we haven’t looked back since!

How are you leveraging your professional background in your current role with Suite Management Franchising?

Engineers are natural problem-solvers.

Throughout my life, I have been committed to finding solutions to problems that I have identified in my community.

With Suite Management Franchising, I wanted to help salon professionals achieve their dreams of business ownership, which

has always been a challenge for those in the beauty industry. In the process, we designed a co-working environment that offers salon professionals privacy, independence and the opportunity to own and operate their own business.

My background as an engineer has also been essential in building-out our salon suites. I have used my expertise as an engineer to create spacious, functional, high-end salon complexes for our franchise partners and their members. My in-law’s background in the hair care industry has been equally important in helping us build attractive and efficient salon suites.

Why is MY SALON Suite’s strategic alliance with Ratner Companies/Salon Plaza a significant development for the brand?

Ratner Companies is the largest familyowned and operated chain of hair salons in the country, operating nearly 1,000 salons in 16 states. Its diverse brands include Hair Cuttery, BUBBLES, Salon Cielo and Spa, ColorWorks and Salon Plaza.

Our strategic alliance with Ratner

Companies/Salon Plaza is beneficial for several reasons. For one, Ratner Companies’ four decades of experience in the salon industry deepens our understanding of the sector to better serve our members and our franchise partners.

In addition, through our partnership with Ratner Companies, we were able to secure an alternative in-house financing program for qualified franchise partners.

The Ratner Companies see our background in franchising and business development as a way to drive the expansion of their Salon Plaza brand. As the established franchising subsidiary of MY SALON Suite and Salon Plaza, Suite Management Franchising’s calculated growth strategy calls for adding more than 200 franchise partners, 300 salons and 7,500 members in the next five years.

How has the companies’ new alternative financing program become a major differentiator for the brand?

In 2014 the Small Business Administration (SBA) stopped lending to Salon Suite concepts because of the real estate nature of our business. This change had a significant impact on our entire industry.

By establishing an alternative financing program, our brand and franchise partners are able to continue to grow their MY SALON Suite and Salon Plaza franchise locations. The program has already helped reignite franchise sales and drive the opening of new locations. Since the partnership formed, one third of existing franchise partners are securing real estate and opening their second locations.

Can you discuss the support that Suite Management Franchising offers its franchise partners?

Suite Management Franchising is committed to giving our franchise partners the best people, processes and product on the market. From our proven processes and systems to our upscale suites and knowledgeable support staff in the areas of marketing, operations, real estate and sales, we guarantee these three elements

“We give our members the tools they need to succeed in business ownership including high-end equipment and ongoing training and support.” go hand-in-hand to build a bigger, better stronger franchise system.

In addition to focusing on our people, processes and product, we are equally committed to our members and their customers. We give our members the tools they need to succeed in business ownership including high-end equipment and ongoing training and support.

About Suite Management Franchising Founded in 2012, Suite Management Franchising, LLC, is the established franchising subsidiary of MY SALON Suite and Salon Plaza. Suite Management Franchising looks to add 200 franchise partners and 300 salons within the next

five years. Offering ongoing training and support, as well as an alternative financing program, Suite Management Franchising seeks to award franchise opportunities to individuals looking for a lifestyle business that is scalable, requires a minimum number of employees and offers owners the opportunity to keep their day job while building a business.

For more information about Suite Management Franchising, visit www.suitemanagementfranchising.com/.

To learn more about MY SALON Suite and Salon Plaza, visit www.mysalonsuite.com/ and http://salonplaza.com/

Franchising USA

question time

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fr anchise & serv ices di r ecto ry

7-Eleven Franchising with the world’s #1 convenience store is easier than you think.

It also might be the smartest business move you’ve ever made.

It’s turnkey – we provide the store, land and equipment.

Start-up is fast (3-6 months). You get extensive training and support from 7-Eleven pros.

As a 7-Eleven Franchisee, you’ll be partnering with a brand known and loved around the world. We’re consistently ranked as a top-five franchisor with more than 54,200 stores worldwide.

Our field consultants and operations teams offer a wealth of support and information. Leveraged vendor relationships mean national buying power.

World-famous brand. World-class opportunity.

Take a second and learn why franchising with 7-Eleven could be the career changer you’ve

9Round 9Round is a 30 minute circuit training workout that incorporates boxing, kickboxing, dumb bells, kettle bells, jump ropes, and a whole lot more.

Phone: 1-800-782-0711 Fax: 972-828-5017 Website: Franchise.7-Eleven.com Email: Franchise.Inquiries@7-11.com

chance of getting bored. The best part is there is a trainer included each and every time to motivate and encourage. With over 200 locations open in 38 states and five countries, 9Round will be coming to your community soon.

This program solves the four problems in the fitness industry. There are no scheduled class times - a client can work out at any time; each session is only 30 minutes and is full body.

Franchise opportunities are available worldwide.

The workouts change daily so there is no

Website: www.9round.com

All About Loving Care, Inc.

The clients we service range from those newborns to the elderly and with conditions ranging from Autism to Alzheimer’s.

All About Loving Care, Inc. is designed to assist people maintain an independent lifestyle.

We provide the means for all our clients to remain in the privacy of their own home.

We believe in treating each client with respect, compassion, and dignity, and strive to meet each client’s physical, emotional, and financial needs.

We offer non-medical home care for those in need of assistance with their day-to-day activities.

Apex Fun Run This unique franchise is experiencing at a nearly rocket-propelled growth since their inception in 2011—with over 56 franchisees in 16 states this company is reshaping the school fundraiser model.

Gone are the days of hawking cookie dough and wrapping paper—Apex Fun Run earns on average $23,000 per school per Fun Run event held.

Phone: 864-962-4601 or email: jeff. mathews@9round.com

We are a non medical home care agency specializing in Senior care. Our services include but are not limited to 24 hour care, hospice care, personal care, respite care, meal planning and preparation.

Phone: (877) 822-0211 Fax: (310) 301-0004 Website: www.allaboutlovingcare.us

The concept is simple, Apex Fun Run collaborates with school PTO/As and faculty, and produces a meaningful and “hassle-free” school fun run that is financially successful and builds leadership and fitness values in the students who participate.

For more information, contact Jeremy Barnhart: Email: Jeremy@apexfunrun.com Phone: 480-347-0243 Website: www.apexfunrun.com

Beef Jerky Outlet

• Freedom from major contracts

With 1000% growth over the past 20 months The Beef Jerky Outlet franchise system is simple in comparison to other popular retail franchise concepts. We offer an easyto-follow business model with little or no competition in the specialized market of beef jerky sales.

• Personalized interaction with the hands-on owners of the overall outlet franchise

The Beef Jerky Outlet franchisees enjoy: • High quality product with extended shelf life • Low outlet franchise operating costs • Inventory that sells quickly, offering no need for warehouse storage • A business with only a small amount of payroll and other general retail paperwork

Franchising USA

Been looking for. Your earning potential is as big as you want to make it. We offer a gross profit split, which means your success is as important to us as it is to you.

• Contact with one centralized, knowledgeable product team

• Continuous, ongoing support • Higher than average sales per transaction Many of our best retail franchise opportunities are now available and we are searching for qualified individuals to become part of our growing, dynamic jerky franchise team.

Please visit www.beefjerkyoutlet.com and fill out the request for more information form.

Big O Tires® BIG O Is Your BIG Opportunity.

With more than 50 years in the tire and automotive maintenance industry, Big O Tires® is proud to be a worldclass leader. As we continue to thrive in an ever-expanding market, we invite you to be a part of the exciting opportunities as a member of the Big O Tires® family.

Big O Tires® is proud to be one of the most progressive tire and automotive service franchises in the nation. When you join our family, we supply you with a powerful set of tools to help bring your business to the front of the pack: This website and any request for information or forms are not a franchise offering or an offer to sell a franchise.

Bin There Dump That Bin There Dump That is a mini disposal container system and we’re FRANCHISING IN YOUR AREA! This is a franchise business that can be up and running quickly. We invite you to imagine yourself operating your own successful mini disposal business, providing cost effective solutions to customers who appreciate your service.

The time is right for Bin There Dump That. We are a low-tech business whose systems are recognizable and repeatable.

We offer services that are systematic. The process is easy to teach and easy to learn. In no time you will be answering customer’s requests for bins and building a strong, robust client base.

Come and get your piece of this SIMPLE TO OPERATE business that has a reasonable entry cost, offers exclusive

Boulder designs If you are looking to own your own business, or add a new product line to your existing business; then Border Magic® may be what you’re looking for.

Border Magic® provides durable continuous concrete landscape edging, walkways, and decorative stepping stones that have the look and feel of real brick or stone. If you are looking for a rewarding career, Border Magic® may be what you’re looking for.

Boulder Designs is a simple system with low entry cost and minimal inventory requirements. Our signage can turn any business, park, memorial, or

Cardinale Enterprises Cardinale Enterprises is a leading real estate investment and development company that has built a solid reputation in the New York and New Jersey commercial real estate marketplace.

For more than 25 years, our company has

Clayton Kendall Clayton Kendall provides a simple, easy to use e-store platform that connects your franchisees to Clayton Kendall’s integrated front-to-back inventory management system allowing for the creation, production, fulfillment, distribution and shipping of all your marketing and sales materials (uniforms, signage, branded merchandise) to be controlled with a

• Leading name-brand recognition.

• Experienced franchise system.

• Competitive marketing strategies.

• Dynamic and perpetuating consumer engagement • Comprehensive start-up training.

• Sales guidance from a network of retail experts.

• Multiple warehouses stocked to meet inventory demands.

• National and regional meetings/conventions.

• Access to exclusive marketing resources.

• On-site visits and strong support from Franchise Business Consultants.

Contact us today! www.bigofranchise.com

territories, full training, marketing materials, lead programs and offers you over 100 years of experienced franchisor support!

Enjoy the benefits of non-competitive relationships with other Bin There Dump That dealer/owners across North America. Share in a pool of knowledge that will assist you in maintaining competitive market advantages.

Learn key success factors from the pioneers of the mini roll off container systems. Create an organization designed to maximize productivity while controlling costs.

Contact: John Ferracuti Phone: 905-823-8550 Email: john@BinThereDumpThat.com Website: www.BinThereDumpThat.com

subdivision into a landmark. In addition, the flexibility of Boulder Designs allows you to transition from your job into business ownership gradually as you do not need employees or a store front to start off like other opportunities.

If you are looking for a rewarding business, or developing a niche market, Boulder Designs® may be what you’re looking for.

Contact: Butch Mogavero Phone: 844-247-2632 or Email: info@bordermagic.com -info@boulderdesigns.net Website: www.bordermagic.com -www.boulderdesigns.net

established a track record of excellence by developing, marketing, managing and investing in retail properties and mixed-use developments throughout the Northeast.

Phone: 732-747-7846 or Email: Leasing@cardainaleenterprises.com You can also visit our website: www.CardinaleEnterprises.com

simple click of a mouse.

Clayton Kendall is the single source marketing solution for national franchises such as Massage Envy, Orange Theory Fitness, European Wax Center, and Blaze Pizza.

Contact: Dan Broudy, CEO Email: dan@claytonkendall.com Phone: 412-798-7120 (1-888-799-4757) Website: claytonkendall.com

Franchising USA

fr anchise & serv ices dir ecto ry

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fr anchise & serv ices di r ecto ry

Coverall® Founded in 1985, Coverall offers motivated entrepreneurs the right to independently own and operate commercial cleaning franchised businesses using the Coverall® brand and system.

In 2008, the company launched its Coverall HealthBased Cleaning System® Program with an emphasis on helping to improve the cleanliness, health and wellness of facilities.

This unique Program combines environmentally friendly and innovative cleaning technologies and tools, hospital-grade disinfectants, professional training programs, customer support and

Discovery Point With almost 50 locations throughout the Southeast, Discovery Point Child Development Centers® provides safe, educational and nurturing environments for growing children.

Discovery Point embraces a three A’s approach – Attention, Affection and Approval – and partners with Teaching Strategies in using the nationally recognized early childhood education program, Creative Curriculum System® for Preschool.

Since opening its first location in an Atlanta suburb in 1988, Discovery Point has been a leader in

Dr. smart phones Dr. Smart Phones is a recognized leader in the electronics repair industry. With over 60 new licenses sold in the past 6 months, Dr. Smart Phones is poised as in industry disrupter offer a lifetime parts warranty to all customers.

We are nationally known to many phone

Fastsigns® Now more than ever, businesses look to FASTSIGNS for innovative ways to connect with customers in a highly competitive marketplace. Our high standards for quality and customer service have made FASTSIGNS the most recognized brand in the industry, driving significantly more traffic to the web than any other sign company.

We also lead in these important areas: • #1 Ranked Sign Franchise in Entrepreneur Magazine Franchise 500 three years in a row • Franchise Business Review FBR50 Franchisee Satisfaction Award 2006-2015 • Franchise Research Institute World Class Franchise 2011-2015 ®

FRANFUND FranFund provides a comprehensive set of funding solutions for your new or expanding business including business loans, securities backed financing and our proven capitalization solution, the FranPlan™.

The FranPlan™ allows you to use an existing retirement account to fund your new business debt, tax and penalty free.

Franchising USA

communication, and a passion for healthy cleaning to do one thing – remove the maximum amount of dirt and germs as efficiently as possible.

Today, the Coverall® Program, implemented by independently owned and operated Franchised Businesses, is the first choice of offices, medical offices and healthcare facilities, ambulatory surgery centers, schools, daycares, retail businesses, restaurants, manufacturing plants, auto dealerships, religious centers, fitness centers and other businesses This offering is made by prospectus only. See Franchise Disclosure Document for details.

Website: www.coverall.com

childhood enrichment and care, expanding beyond its Georgia roots into Florida, North Carolina and Tennessee with plans under way to reach new markets nationwide.

Discovery Point Child Development Centers® was recognized by Entrepreneur Magazine in its “Franchise 500” and ranked #22 on its “Red-Hot Franchise” list for 2013.

More information about Discovery Point and Discovery Point franchise opportunities is available by calling (800) 418-3990 or visiting discoverypointfranchise.com or discoverypoint.com.

insurance agencies and have quickly become an authorize retail repair center which is now offered to all our franchisees.

Contact: Ken Rich Email: ken.rich@dspcorp.com Phone: 972.548.7905 Website: www.drsmartphones.com

• Franchise Research Institute #1 Rated Sign & Graphics Franchise 2014-2015 • CFA Franchisees’ Choice Designation 2004-2015 • FASTSIGNS is one of only a handful of franchises approved for $21 million in SBA financing for approved franchise candidates FASTSIGNS has over 400 markets approved for development in the US and Canada and is also seeking Master or Area Developer expansion in markets worldwide.

For more information: Phone: 1-214-346-5679 Email: mark.jameson@fastsigns.com Or visit our Website: www.fastsigns.com

Our team of funding experts are here to work with you to create a customized capitalization solution for your specific situation, including obtain a pre-qualification so that you can conduct your franchise investigation with confidence.

Phone: 817-730-4500 Fax: 817-546-1291 Website: www.franfund.com Email: info@franfund.com Contact: taseiber@franfund.com

Fresh To Order (f2o) Founded in 2006, Fresh To Order (f2o) combines the quality of food found in finer casual dining with the operating platform and price point of fast casual.

With a mission to serve “Incredible Food in under 10 minutes for around $10”, we offer a menu of recognizable favorites with a flavorful twist, such as chef-inspired entrees, Panini sandwiches, soups and Perfect Bite Salads©.

GameTruck Founded in 2006, GameTruck is the first and most recognized mobile gaming and entertainment franchise in the United States. GameTruck today has 70+ franchise locations throughout United States, servicing 35 states. Taking advantage of the massive video game industry, GameTruck brings a one of a kind experience right to

Combine Fresh to Order’s focus on healthier, flavorful menu choices with its open-kitchen set-up and commitment to great guest service, and you have an experience like nothing else in the category.

Contact: Franchise Development Phone: (888) 877-6188 Website: www.freshTOorder.com Email: Please complete Inquiry form on website

service to customers and franchise owners alike.

During that time GameTruck has been recognized in Entrepreneur.com’s Franchise 500 list and also their top home based and new franchise lists.

GameTruck’s mission is to Deliver Excitement to its customers and franchisees.

Reach out today to learn more about franchising with GameTruck!

Contact: Ryan, Sr. Franchise Development Manager

customers’ doorsteps. Due to this demand, GameTruck has experience 6 consecutive years of growth and continues to offer best in class

Phone: 480-303-7212 Email: ryan@gametruck.com Website: gametruckfranchising.com

honkamp krueger

Our depth and level of franchising expertise along with our track record for providing independent and objective franchise advisory/consulting services clearly differentiates HK from all other franchise advisors across the country.

Honkamp Krueger & Co., P.C. is a Top 100 CPA and business consulting firm and the eight-fastestgrowing CPA firm in the U.S. (Accounting Today, 2015) Specializing in franchise services, HK offers 40-plus forward-thinking, innovative solutions to franchise organizations in all 50 states.

In addition to our tax, accounting and consulting services, HK offers total hire-to-retire solutions through our human capital management affiliate, HKP. Through our HK Financial Services affiliate, HK offers world-class wealth management solutions.

Huntington Learning Center Huntington Learning Center is the #1 revenue producing tutoring franchise, with an average earning of 61% more revenue than our closest competitor.

Huntington was founded in 1977, began franchising in 1985 and has grown to be one of the most established and well-respected brands in education.

Today, Huntington operates nearly 300 centers in 38 states from coast to coast as a recognized pioneer and leader in the tutoring industry, providing quality instruction to tens of thousands of students through our national network of franchised and company-

International Franchise Professionals Group

When you partner with HK for your franchising needs, you will always have easy access to one of our owners who will walk in your shoes with you and who has a unique perspective on being an entrepreneur and business grower.

Phone: 888.556.0123 www.honkamp.com

owned tutoring centers.

For over 37 years, Huntington Learning Center has been the leader in the tutoring and test prep industry with an established reputation of providing highquality, individualized programs for students of all ages and in all subjects. As a Huntington franchisee, you will inherit our reputation for excellence and be recognized in your community as an industry leader and premier brand of tutoring services.

For more information, contact Gina Elliott at: Email: Franchise@HLCmail.com Phone: 800.653.8400 Website: www.huntingtonfranchise.com

IFPG to power their business. All of these individuals understand the value of being associated with IFPG.

The International Franchise Professionals Group (also known as IFPG) is a membership based organization that has over 700 members. Our members consist of Franchisors, Franchisor Brokers, Lenders, and other Franchise Professionals that help potential candidates in the process of buying a franchise.

The IFPG is a strictly membership based organization that does not participate in any referral fees from our franchisor members or our brokers, thereby allowing all of our members to work freely together.

Our long-term success is predicated on retaining our members and providing all the tools needed to help you sell more franchises, and close more deals.

Hundreds of nationally recognized franchise companies have chosen the IFPG and its members to represent their brand; hundreds of experienced franchise consultants and brokers have chosen the

If you’re a franchisor, franchisor broker, or another profession that serves the franchising industry call us today at (888) 977-IFPG to learn about membership opportunities.

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jani-king Jani-King - The world’s largest Commercial Cleaning Franchise Opportunity. This Franchise Opportunity has over 9,000 unit franchise owners in 14 countries.

Franchise Owners are professionally trained to provide services to customers in Commercial Buildings, Healthcare Facilities, Schools & Universities, Hotels/Resorts, Casinos, Sporting Venues, etc.

For 44 years Jani-King has perfected a method

Johnny’s Pizza House Johnny’s Pizza House: Shakin’ & Bakin’ Since 1967!

Founder Johnny Huntsman opened our first store in 1967 in Monroe, billing it as “the only link in the world’s smallest pizza chain.”

We offer a great menu of delicious pizzas, appetizers and sandwiches – and fresh is the word. Fresh dough made daily. The freshest of vegetables. The highest quality meats – and every pizza topped with Johnny’s Pizza House’s

Kid to Kid For over 20 years, Kid to Kid stores across the country have given parents an affordable (and enjoyable!) shopping experience with huge selections of new and gently used children’s apparel, toys, shoes, baby gear and maternity wear.

Our inventory changes every day, as trained buyers hand select and pay CASH to customers for their great-quality kid stuff, and sell those items at 70% off regular mall prices.

Our customers love the savings they receive on their favorite labels and brands from Kid to Kid’s trusted inventories.

kz companies KZ Companies is a full service commercial & residential real estate development and investment company.

Our Franchise Services Division specializes in directly integrating with franchise operators to lead in all aspects of new store development and new store roll out programs.

We provide an unparalleled access to capital and manage our client’s development process from start to finish. Our in-house resources and well capitalized company provide turn-key capabilities that deliver stores quickly and economically.

incomparable signature sauce and 100% real creamy mozzarella cheese.

All made the Johnny’s Pizza House way for that unique taste that has made us the market leader in all of our markets. Year after year, we’ve been voted the “people’s choice” for favorite pizza in every reader poll conducted by independent media outlets!

Contact: Dennis Wills Email: info@johnnysph.com Phone: 318-807-1358 Website: johnnysph.com

As our partners, our franchise owners receive industrybest support and a leading support-to-store ratio. Kid to Kid’s proprietary buying software and inventory management systems, robust employee training, branded marketing, on-call computer support, and cloud-based reporting tools help owners manage their stores at optimal levels of sales and profitability.

At Kid to Kid, our success is YOUR success, and we’ve proven that through 20 years and 110+ stores of uninterrupted growth.

For more information, contact Dave Martell: Email: david.martell@bcfranchise.com Phone: 801.359.0071 x101 Website: www.kidtokid.com

Since the inception of our company in 1994, we have successfully built over 200+ projects for national and regional retailers across the country and developed an extensive foundation of relationships with tenants, homeowners, landlords and municipalities. Through our relationships we pride ourselves on a proven track record of delivering all our projects on time and on budget. Our long history of successful projects can be attributed to a grounded belief that our success depends on our clients’ and partners’ success.

For more information: Phone: (949) 476-2700, Email: info@kzcompanies.com Or go to Website: www.kzcompanies.com

Launch trampoline

birthday parties, fundraisers and corporate events.

Launch Trampoline Park is an indoor family entertainment center that focuses on family, friends, fitness, and fun.

Safety is the #1 priority, and we are continually working to ensure a safe environment through superior structure, staff training, research, education and planning.

Founded by Rhode Island entrepreneur Robert Arnold and retired New England Patriot cornerback and threetime Super Bowl Champion Ty Law in 2012, there are currently three corporate-owned parks and eight owned and operated by franchisees from New Hampshire to Delaware with more opening soon.

Launch generates revenue through several departments; trampoline use, arcade, and concessions. Launch is very community oriented, hosting regular fundraisers for local organizations, and Joey, the 7’ tall green kangaroo mascot, can always be spotted at local events.

Our parks range from 19k to 42k square feet with over 50% of the square footage covered in jumping surfaces, making Launch the perfect place for social gatherings,

Franchising USA

of operation in the commercial cleaning industry.

Known as “The Jani-King System”, new franchise owners are trained using the most up to date technologies, procedures, tools, and equipment.

They are able to grow their business and succeed with the expertise and support of a local regional office, in addition to numerous Jani-King International resources.

For more information: Phone: 972-991-0900 / 1-800-JANIKING or Email: csturdivant@janiking.com Website: www.janiking.com

Ph: 401-738-1259 or Email: PMobley@launchri.com, RArnold@launchtrampolinepark.com Web: www.launchtrampolinepark.com

Liberty tax service Founded in 1997 by CEO John T. Hewitt, Liberty Tax Service is the fastest-growing tax preparation franchise in the industry and has prepared almost 18 million income tax returns in more than 4,400 offices and online.

Liberty balances strong growth, best business practices, social responsibility, and a fulfilling life experience for our franchisees. We’re committed to creating a business system and environment that will be held up as the model for all other tax preparation franchises to emulate.

Liberty Tax is a company to watch, not just in tax preparation franchise terms, but in the business world as a whole. Our corporate team, Area Developers, and franchisees are accessible and down-to-earth. We provide a supportive network and a culture that is progressive and fun.

You can join one of the top franchise opportunities in the world. Just fill out our request franchise information form to find out more about Liberty Tax. www.libertytaxfranchise.com/request-franchiseinformation.html

Little Caesars

continue to receive support, expert analysis and consultation from corporate as their business grows.

Little Caesars offers strong franchisee candidates opportunities in select locations across the country. As America’s fastest growing pizza chain, Little Caesars provides candidates an opportunity for independence with a proven system, a simple operating model and strong national brand recognition.

Little Caesars’ requires candidates desiring to open one store to have a net worth of $150,000 with a minimum of $50,000 in liquid, unencumbered assets (such as cash).

Franchisees must also be able to obtain financing to cover the total costs of opening a franchised location.

Franchisees benefit from a comprehensive training program that focuses on all aspects of the business, including training, architectural and construction services to help with design, preferred lenders to assist with financing, the ongoing research and development of new products, and effective marketing programs. Franchisees

The Little Gym International With more than 300 locations in 30 countries, The Little Gym is the world’s premier enrichment and physical development franchise for kids four months through 12 years.

Our owners are backed by more than 35 years of experience nurturing happy, confident kids through programs including parent/child, gymnastics, dance and sports skills, plus enjoyable extras like camps, Parents’ Survival Nights and Awesome Birthday Bashes.

Each week, structured classes and a positive learning environment create opportunities for children to try new

For the sixth year in a row, Little Caesars was named “Best Value in America”* of all quick-serve restaurant chains.

Phone: 800-553-5776 Email: USdevelopment@LCEcorp.com Website: www.LittleCaesars.com

things and build self-confidence, all with a grin that stretches from ear to ear.

To make it even easier to become a franchisee, we’re offering special reduced pricing! For a limited time, we have reduced the initial franchise fee by up to $40,000 (locations and savings may vary) and are honoring veterans by offering 50% off the franchise fee to Veterans and Active Duty Military, Reserves, National Guard and Coast Guard.

Contact: Leo Smart, Director of Franchise Development Email: sales@thelittlegym.com Phone: 480-948-2878 Website: www.TheLittleGym.com and www.TheLittleGymFranchise.com

LivePOS

franchisors with the ability to run a successful and very profitable business, with ZERO upfront cost.

Technology is changing the way we shop. Social Media, targeted advertising and repeat customers can make the difference between a successful business and failure. If you are still using outdated, dinosaur like point of sale system, you are leaving money on the table.

Real-Time sales and inventory reports, employee time and attendance, commissions, payroll, promotions and over 1,000 other features makes LivePOS the market leader in this space. The LivePOS FMS Dashboard provides direct access to store sales, royalty remittance, franchise wide SKU control and many other tools to ensure consistency throughout the brand, regardless of state or location

Enters LivePOS, a Cloud Point of Sale Solution designing exclusively for multi-location, chains and franchises owners. With over 20,000 customers worldwide, LivePOS provides both franchisees and

Midas Midas, a recognized brand throughout the world and highly renowned name in complete car care, is proud to be one of North America’s original franchise opportunities – and one of its best.

With Midas, you experience the best of both worlds - the support of an experienced franchise organization and the satisfaction of operating your very own auto service enterprise. As a Midas franchisee, you become a trusted name the day you open your doors for business. Building consumer trust is at the heart of our brand. We work every day to earn that trust by providing expertise, responsiveness, and the best value to every customer every time.

Benefit from nearly 60 years of “The Midas Touch”

Website: www.livepos.com Email: info@livepos.com

Midas has built a stellar reputation in the automotive service and repair industry nearly six decades. We want to help you succeed. Before you open a location and as you continue to operate your shop, Midas will help you with the following: • Business management system for your shop • New franchisee orientation • Ongoing training and training resources • Operational support.

• Development support • Optimizing and marketing your business: Join Midas today by calling 1-800-365-0007 or visiting www.midasfranchise.com!

This website and any request for information or forms are not a franchise offering or an offer to sell a franchise.

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Mint Advertising Founded in 2002, NJ-based Mint Advertising is an award-winning ad agency with a strong history of helping franchise organizations like Domino’s, CENTURY 21, Wendy’s, and Lawn Doctor accelerate growth and engagement on a number of different fronts.

Minuteman press Serving the business community for over 40 years, Minuteman Press’ customer service driven business model provides digital print, design and promotional services to businesses. Today we are much more than just print, we can provide anything you can put a name, image or logo on!

Minuteman Press is a number one rated

murphy business Murphy Business Northwest gives you the best of two worlds: our office is a small, local business closely connected to the community here in Puget Sound, specializing in personal service to our clients; yet, we are affiliated with one of the largest business brokers with offices throughout North America. Our experienced professionals can offer an unsurpassed range of brokerage services: • When Selling a Business or Buying a business, • Business Valuation Services • Commercial Real Estate Brokers

Naturalawn of america NaturaLawn of America offers organic-based lawn care services to customers across the United States seeking safer alternatives to traditional chemical lawn care.

They pioneered the breakthrough into environmentally responsible lawn care back in 1987 (before “going green” was the norm). While chemicalbased companies continued to randomly spray unnecessary pesticides, NaturaLawn of America developed an Integrated Pest Management System (IPM), which was unprecedented in lawn care.

Nutrition Zone Nutrition Zone is in the business of changing lives.

That includes the Franchisees who join us on this incredible and noble journey. At Nutrition Zone, we do not only take great pride in creating stronger, smarter and healthier clients through the best stores and business model in the industry, we take great pride in identifying and developing successful, determined entrepreneurs providing them the tools and opportunities to reach their financial goals along the way.

Nutrition Zone was founded to serve, educate and empower the community by improving the quality of our

Franchising USA

From online to offline advertising for franchisors as well as franchisees, to sales materials, conference marketing, media and direct mail — you name it and we’ve probably done it.

Contact: Scott Robinson, VP Client Service Email: scott@mintadv.com Phone: 908-238-1500 Website: www.mintadvertising.com

business service franchise that offers world class training and unparalleled ongoing local support. Prior experience is not necessary to own and operate a successful Minuteman Press franchise.

For more information Contact: Al Sanders Phone: 800-645-3006 Email: asanders@mpihq.com Website: www.minutemanpressfranchise.com

• Best Franchise Opportunities for buyer • Equipment Appraisals Our professional business brokers all have past experience as business owners and managers. We apply that business sense to help match buyers to an appropriate business.

Visit the website www.yourfranchiseadvisor.com/home/our-franchiseadvisors/curt-maier/ For more information contact Curt Maier Office 425 679 6627 or Cell 425 505 3649 you and also email curt.maier@murphybusiness.com

By creating natural lawn care programs specific to the needs of each individual lawn and through its use of organic-based lawn care products, NaturaLawn of America continues to give customers nationwide, the healthier, greener lawns they desire while protecting people, pets and the environment.

Headquartered in Frederick, Maryland, NaturaLawn of America provides business opportunities to individuals wishing to own their own franchise.

For more information Phone: (800) 989-5444, Email: info@naturalawnfranchise.com Or go to Website: http://naturalawnfranchise.com/

clients’ lives.

From inception, Nutrition Zone’s customer service and sincerity has been at the forefront of our growth. This is realized through highly educated team members who share our goal of making a positive, meaningful impact in our communities. Nutrition Zone provides premium service and premium products at extremely competitive prices.

SERVICE - QUALITY -COMPETITIVENESS - EXCELLENCE NUTRITION ZONE – A FORCE BEHIND A BETTER YOU!!

www.nutritionzonefranchise.com

NUTTY SCIENTISTS® Nutty Scientists® is a leading global provider of scientific activities for children of all ages, and we’re an ideal franchise opportunity for all types of people.

If you want to make a difference in the way children perceive and learn science and you have the ability to market the service and programs we offer to the schools and families in your community – a Nutty Scientists franchise could

One Stop Tax One Stop Tax is a professional tax preparation services provider offering personal and business income tax returns catered to the low and middle income brackets.

As a franchisor we offer state-of the art tools that help make the entire business run efficiently and intelligently because of our proven business system.

Our Town America For over 40 years, Our Town America has been providing new movers with traditional hospitality by mailing warm housewarming gifts from local businesses in a premium welcome package.

It is Our Town America’s mission to welcome new movers into their communities, to help local businesses gain new loyal and long-term customers, and to provide franchisees with an excellent business opportunity.

Thousands of satisfied business owners throughout the United States attest to the success and effectiveness of the Our Town America program

Oxi Fresh Carpet Cleaning

be a perfect fit.

Nutty Scientists has franchised locations in more than 40 countries across the globe and our reach continues to expand every day.

Each franchisee plays a special role in their community, but their main responsibility is to enhance children’s lives by making science fun.

For more information, visit https://nuttyscientists.com/franchise or contact info@nuttyscientists.com

Our services are sought year after year despite economic condition and regardless of demographics and income levels.

Contact: Charles Kinuthia Phone: 855.408.2937 or Email: franchise@onestoptax.com You can also check out our website: www.onestoptax.com

while dozens of locally owned franchises validate the Our Town America concept as a viable business opportunity. Franchisees are neighborhood marketing consultants, showing local business owners how to target their best prospects with enticing offers via direct mail.

Since beginning to franchise in 2005, Our Town America has been consistently ranked a Franchise Business Review Top 50 Franchise making them the only Advertising brand to land a spot in the 10-year Hall of Fame and the sole company to be crowed Franchise Business Review’s Top Company.

Website: http://www.ourtownamerica.com Email: franchising@ourtownamerica.com

fastest dry times possible: one hour on average.

The home-based concept’s innovative carpet cleaning system uses environmentally friendly cleaning solutions, leaves no sticky residue and is safe for children and pets.

Recognized as one of “America’s Best Franchises,” according to Forbes magazine, Oxi Fresh has more than 280 carpet cleaning locations in 45 states and Canada, with many more in development. Company plans call for awarding 50-75 additional franchise opportunities to qualified candidates over the next 12-18 months.

In addition, Oxi Fresh’s innovative cleaning method only requires two gallons of water per home – as opposed to the 40-50 gallons that many other carpet cleaners use – and consequently offers one of the

Contact: Kris Antolak Phone: (720) 963-6193 Email: kris@oxifresh.com Website: www.oxifresh.com

Persona Wood Fired Pizzeria

You can choose from one of our chef inspired specialty pizzas or create your own with over 30 toppings to choose from. Our expert pizza makers will create your pizza just the way you like it. Your imagination and creativity is the only limit!

Founded in 2006, Oxi Fresh Carpet Cleaning has established itself as one of the nation’s fastestgrowing carpet cleaning companies.

Persona Wood Fired Pizzeria is the only “Create Your Own” concept of its kind that was developed by two Chefs— one classically trained and the other an Italian Pizzaiolo and World Pizza Champion.

Persona’s exceptional quality starts with our fresh and extremely high quality ingredients. We craft an authentic Neapolitan pizza from imported “00” flour imported from Naples, Italy. The vine ripe plum tomatoes grown for our tomato sauce are sourced from the San Joaquin Valley. Our hand-made meatballs, sausage and sauces have all won gold medal acclaim worldwide, and we think your taste buds will agree.

Once your pizza assembly is complete, we bake it in one of our imported Italian Marra Forni wood fired ovens. At 800 degrees, 90 seconds is all it takes to produce a pizza that is crispy and chewy in the Neapolitan tradition.

Craving something from the garden? Our freshly tossed salads are a great complement to your wood fired pizza. Our award- winning dressings are all made from scratch. Complete your experience with our rich gelato handmade locally by an Austrian-trained gelato chef.

For more information visit www.personapizzeria.com or Email: info@personapizzeria.com

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pillar to post Pillar To Post is North America’s leading home inspection franchise.

We have been named a Top 50 Franchise for franchisee satisfaction in 2013, 2014 and 2015 by Franchise Business Review. #1 Home Inspection franchise for 2013, 2014 and

pinot’s palette Pinot’s Palette is a pioneer of the paint and sip experience – a revolutionary way to enjoy art and wine, meet new people and bond with friends. #1 paint and sip for franchisee satisfaction – Pinot’s Palette is a unique, art-inspired entertainment concept catering to adults, corporations and kids.

By combining art and wine into a single concept, Pinot’s Palette now offers an inclusive, social activity for guests to enjoy with friends, family or work team members.

PrimoHoagies PrimoHoagies specializes in gourmet, Italian Specialty Sandwiches. Their entire menu is built around quality. PrimoHoagies uses only the finest Thumanns meats and cheeses on the market to its signature Italian bread baked in the stores throughout the day. Quality will never be compromised in a PrimoHoagies restaurant. This one of the reason we have become ranked in the Franchise 500 by Entrepreneur magazine.

Because we have built our reputation on the

PROSHRED Security PROSHRED pioneered the mobile paper shredding and recycling industry in the mid 1980’s in Canada and is recognized as a North American leader. ®

PROSHRED® shreds and recycles confidential documents and proprietary materials for “fortune 500 companies”, “large”, “small and medium sized enterprises” as well as “home based business” and “residential consumers” in all industry sectors. PROSHRED® combines

Redrhino REDRHINO isn’t just another flooring company – we are a premium epoxy coating supplier and installer committed to doing the industry’s best work on every project.

That one philosophy sets us apart from our competitors, and has helped us grow into a nationwide leader in epoxy flooring since 2005.

There are a lot of businesses and independent contractors offering epoxy coating for concrete floors, but when precision, quality, and real-world

Franchising USA

2015 by Entrepreneur Magazine, as well as a Top Low Cost Franchise, Top Home Based Franchise and among the Best of the Best listings with Entrepreneur magazine in 2013 and 2014.

Contact: Brian Wieters Phone: 1-877-9633129 or Email: franchise@pillartopost.com Website: www.pillartopostfranchise.com

Pinot’s Palette’s entertaining environment, expert guidance from trained local artists and exceptional customer experience creates strong word of mouth, community recognition and a loyal customer base.

Pinot’s Palette looks for franchisee partners who love to entertain and values that fit comfortably within the Team Pinot culture. Not art experience required!

Franchising since 2010 with more than 130 locations in 33 states, Pinot’s Palette is an established, awardwinning concept leading the paint and sip industry.

Website: www.PinotsPalette.com/Franchise or Email: Franchise@pinotspalette.com

quality of our products, our brand has become iconic in all of its markets. We experience a level of brand loyalty that in rarely seen in the sandwich franchise marketplace. Our neighborhood Deli feel has made us welcome in communities up and down the East Coast. This is why our products have won hundreds of awards.

Visit our website at www.PrimoHoagies.com or Contact Mike Aruanno at mike@primohoagies. com to learn how this brand has created such a stir in the sandwich marketplace.

unparalleled customer service with absolute security and is the only company to receive both ISO 9001-2008 and NAID AAA certification.

PROSHRED®’s explosive growth is a result of increasing concerns with regard to “identity theft” and the “environment”. PROSHRED® is a GREEN business opportunity.

Contact: Shelley Gable Phone: 416-490-8600 (116) Email: shelley.gable@proshred.com Website: www.proshred.com

guarantees matter, clients turn to us. That’s because we have a reputation for being customer-service centered, and being able to manage projects and timelines that other epoxy flooring companies can’t.

When you need flooring that’s beautiful and durable, applied correctly the first time on your schedule, REDRHINO should be your first call.

For more information contact Michael D. Kenealy | CEO 1 (310) 435-4153 or 1 (888) 292-6478 email: info@redrhinoflooring.com Or visit our website www.redrhinoflooring.com

Renew Crew

weak the economy is, thereby providing a recession-resistant

Renew Crew is proud to be North America’s most trusted

Every day we continue to refine our products and systems

choice for exterior surfacecleaning and protecting. We are the leading national brand with a proprietary 3-step process that

revenue stream. to maximize your expertise and optimize your chances of exceeding your goals for your business. Our corporate team

works wonders. We call it Renew Crew Clean™. You’ll call it

is committed to supporting you as you start and build your

the path to achieving your personal and business goals!

enterprise locally. From sales and operations, to marketing

Renew Crew is undoubtedly the leader in exterior surface

and accounting, you’ll have access to support staff for all

cleaning and protecting. Cleaning and protecting outdoor

aspects of your business

surfaces is an important part of home ownership and a

Contact: Shemar Pucel

segment of an estimated $476 billion home maintenance

Phone: 804-214-3021

market. Even better for our franchisees, these homeowner

Email: spucel@outdoorlivingbrands.com

maintenance obligations remain regardless of how strong or

Website: www.renewcrewfranchise.com

ScerIS

majority of your time generating more revenue. Your success is our combined success.

We offer an exciting opportunity for entrepreneurs and sales professionals to use their business skills and/or proven sales experience to build their own sales organizations. Perfect for those with a general understanding of business processes and the application of technology to improve those processes such as automation, workflows, content management and more.

Established in 1993, ScerIS is a Microsoft Gold Application Development Partner, consulting services and business process outsourcing company and a resource to clients across healthcare, financial, business and government markets.

Contact us to learn more about this exciting opportunity.

We provide comprehensive training and support, marketing and advertising support, back office support and an on-line support website. We are here to do the majority of the back office work, so you can spend the

Contact: Kevin Grooms Email: kevin.grooms@sceris.com Phone: (978) 218-5023 Website: www.sceris.com/sales-partners

service brands international

franchisees to experience ease of operation and success.

One Company. Multiple Brands.

We’ve created life-changing opportunities as a privately-owned company with a distinctive culture of community service and hundreds of successful business owners nationwide.

With over 30 years of franchising experience, SBI provides the leadership, business systems and franchisee support that allow our

smokes poutinerie Smokes Poutinerie is the Worlds Largest & Original Poutinerie; inventing and leading the quick-serve Poutine industry, offering over 30 types of Gourmet Poutine.

The exclusive Poutine menu plays a very significant role with its Signature Gravy, Fresh Hand-Cut Fries, Squeaky Cheese Curds and an unlimited combination of toppings like double-smoked bacon, flat iron steak, grilled chicken, caramelized onions, sautéed peppers and many more mouthwatering options.

For more information contact: Steve Lajiness, V.P. of Franchise Development for SBI Tel: 734-822-6110 or Email: steve.lajiness@servicebrands.com Website: http://franchise.servicebrands.com/

There is no slowing down the Gravy Train, with Smoke’s Poutinerie expanding exponentially since its debut on the Franchise scene in 2009. Boasting a whopping 100 locations Coast to Coast in Canada and kicking it into high gear with its expansion into the U.S., Sports & Entertainment and International Markets.

The first official U.S. location recently opened in Berkeley, California where customers were lined up around the block anxiously awaiting their first bite! Next up, Smoke’s Poutinerie Las Vegas, Hollywood, New York City and numerous other states and cities.

Phone: 905 427 4444 Website: www.smokespoutinerie.com Email: franchises@smokespoutinerie.com

SOLDIERFIT

on personal service, member connections and teamwork, members are made to feel like they belong to something bigger than themselves.

SOLDIERFIT is different from other fitness companies in that character building is the number one priority, not aesthetics. By focusing

Business Partner At ScerIS, information is alive!

We are: Molly Maid, Mr. Handyman and ProTect Painters. Our mission is to help owners quickly reach their profit goals and realize their dreams.

The Smoke’s Poutinerie goal is to bring this authentic, quality Canadian dish to the rest of the World in their own original and unique way.

SOLDIERFIT is a military inspired fitness franchise with centers and gyms specializing in large group boot camp training, personal training and kids’ fitness programs. It offers a functional fitness gym set in a family environment for all fitness levels.

SceriS

The business is founded on community, patriotism, and the American dream. Since launching in 2007, SOLDIERFIT has expanded across Maryland with locations in Gaithersburg, Frederick and Columbia and will be opening a franchise location in Virginia in fall 2015.

Website: soldierfitfranchise.com

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Spark mobile video Spark manufactures promotional trucks with integrated digital video screens.

Trucks range in size from pickup-truck based models with 4’ x 6’ digital screens up to large box-style models with 8’ x 14’ video displays.

The trucks are used as mobile billboards for any business and also as ordinary delivery

Spherion Staffing Services Join the ranks of an established recruiting and staffing leader!

As a Spherion franchise owner, you will be well-positioned to create a successful future for yourself and you’ll have a stake in helping others make a better life for themselves through rewarding employment opportunities. This is the passion that drives our business every day and the financial rewards are just as exciting. One of the fastest growing industries, staffing is projected to grow six percent annually and reach $115 billion this year. Spherion owners produced more than $500 million in annual sales last year alone. It’s an ideal opportunity for an entrepreneur to step into and begin building a thriving business.

Since 1946, Spherion® has been supplying flexible, tempto-hire and direct-hire talent to companies of all sizes and

Sports Clips Established in 1993 and franchised in 1995, Sport Clips is one of the nation’s leading franchises with close to 1,400 stores nationwide. Founder and CEO Gordon Logan is a pioneer of the unique sports-themed haircutting franchise, including the development of the Sport Clips All-Star haircutting systems, operating procedures, and marketing programs. It’s a great recession-resistant business that’s all cash, no receivables, and no haircare industry experience is necessary.

Contact: Robert Tarabella Phone: 844-SPARK-44 or Email:info@sparkmobilevideo.com Website: sparkmobilevideo.com

industries. Specializing in administrative, light industrial, contact center, non-clinical healthcare and professional placements, we offer a comprehensive range of workforce solutions to fit the unique needs of our clients. Operating through a network of 175 franchise locations, Spherion has distinguished itself as a local staffing partner providing personalized service, backed by the resources and breadth of a $2 billion workforce leader. Last year, we connected more than 170,000 job seekers to 3,000 companies nationwide, and the numbers continue to grow. We are a strong community of owners that genuinely love what we do and it has earned us a reputation of excellence in our industry.

To learn more, please contact Bill Tasillo on our Market Expansion Team at 404/964-5508 or go to www.spherion.com/franchise

FORBES as a “Top Ten Best Franchise” to buy for its investment category.

Qualified veterans who are interested in owning a Sport Clips are eligible for a 20 percent discount off of Sport Clips’ franchise fee of $59,500 through participation in the Veterans Transition Franchise Initiative, also known as VetFran, which was created in 1991 during the Gulf War. At Sport Clips, it’s good to be a guy but it’s great to be an owner! Visit sportclipsfranchise.com to learn more.

For more information, contact Karen Young:

Sport Clips is ranked by Entrepreneur Magazine as one of the top 20 “Fastest-Growing Franchises” and in the top 40 in the “Franchise 500.” It is also ranked by

Email: franchise.recruitment@sportclips.com Phone: (800) 872-4247 x. 1 Website: www.sportclipsfranchise.com

The Interface Financial Group – IFG 50/50

• No storefront to own, lease, or maintain • No Inventory or stock to purchase • No extensive travel because IFG franchisees do business locally • Business-to-Business, professional environment with regular business hours of operation • Flexibility to relocate for part of the year or permanently and continue doing business Our franchisees are excellent communicators, relationship builders with decision-making and problem-solving skills, and much more sales & marketing oriented. IFG has been in the ‘invoice discounting’ business since 1972, and employs its franchise network in the US, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, the UK, Ireland, Australia, Mexico and South Africa.

The Interface Financial Group – IFG 50/50 is an affordable home-based franchise that provides short-term working capital to small and medium-sized businesses by purchasing current, quality invoices at a discount, thus accelerating the client’s cash flow and growth.

All transactions are syndicated 50/50 with the franchisee and the franchisor, and that means less working capital required to fund transaction: IFG does the bulk of the due diligence and the ‘paperwork’ for the transactions, and IFG 50/50 franchisees will concentrate their efforts on building the referral relationships – they do the ‘people work’.

Key advantages of being an IFG 50/50 franchisee include: • No staff to hire, fire, or manage

The Joint Chiropractic The Joint Chiropractic is reinventing chiropractic care by making quality alternative healthcare affordable for patients seeking pain relief and ongoing wellness.

Our membership plans and packages eliminate the need for insurance, and our no-appointment policy, convenient hours and locations make care more accessible.

The Joint performs more than two million spinal adjustments a year across 250+ clinics nationwide.

With a proven franchise model in a $12 billion dollar

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vehicles. Financing is available with payments averaging $2000 per month. Often payments can be reimbursed through franchise co-op marketing programs.

www.interfacefinancial.com

industry, The Joint is making quality healthcare affordable, approachable and convenient for patients—while simplifying business operations for chiropractors and franchise owners.

Our plans and packages eliminate the need for insurance, and our no appointments policy and convenient locations make care more accessible.

The Joint performs more than two million spinal adjustments a year across 250+ clinics nationwide.

For more information, visit thejoint.com/franchise or Email: franchise@thejoint.com

the patch boys The Patch Boys fills a gap in the construction field that is gravely needed and its unique niche will provide you leads from many directions, craftsman, sub-contractors and home owners alike. When joining The patch Boys team, you will automatically receive instant credibility and be exposed to an entire array of people that need our service and trust our approach, thus leading you quickly to a fast start right out of the gate and a bright future to get your name out there in lighting speed.

exclusive professional system that guarantees you success in every aspect of the business. We foster an atmosphere of passionate customer service pooled with an environment of professional and skilled people that have a history of decades in this field and have pin-pointed specific features that will benefit you as an owner and broaden your approval among potential clients and your reputation will be sky-high.

Contact Leo via Phone: 844-997-2824 Email: info@thepatchboys.com

At The Patch Boys we have implemented our own

Website: www.ThePatchboys.com

TopFire Media

Our integrated approach combines our public relations and franchise SEO service prowess and is designed to generate brand awareness, drive consumer engagement, and build credibility for your company.

TopFire Media is an integrated digital marketing and public relations agency, specializing in the franchise industry.

Our clients benefit from our years of experience in franchise SEO service, public relations, media relations, content writing and management, social media marketing, and web design. We work to bring all of these elements together to achieve a common goal – our clients’ success.

UFood Grill UFood Grill is an award-winning franchisor of fast-casual food service restaurants, offering consumers a better-for-you menu to meet the growing demand for healthy options made with fresh ingredients that taste great.

Known as the place where “delicious meets nutritious,” UFood Grill offers traditional

Veterans Business Services Veterans Business Services provides the most advantageous franchise acquisition terms for Veterans and provides innovative entrepreneurial training for qualified Veterans seeking grants under the VA Vocational Rehabilitation Program.

Veterans Business Services (“VBS”) specializes in entrepreneurial opportunities for Veterans and has an extensive reach into the Veterans community and can generate significant interest from qualified Veterans who wish to start a franchise or small business.

VBS offers multiple marketing methods that have proven effective with helping franchise organizations with their expansion plans. Utilizing custom email marketing

WELLBIZ BRANDS, INC WellBiz Brands, Inc. is headquartered in Highlands Ranch, Colo. and is one of the largest health and wellness companies in the United States. The company owns three separate franchise entities: Elements Therapeutic Massage, Inc., which franchises massage studios, providing custom therapeutic massage to meet clients’ individual needs, Fitness Together Franchise Corporation, which franchises one-on-one and semi-private personal training studios, and Fit 36, Inc., which franchises high intensity interval training studios, with workouts done as a group.

Phone: (708) 249-1090 Fax: (708) 957-2395 Website: www.topfiremedia.com Email: info@topfiremedia.com Contact: Matthew Jonas

and non-traditional restaurant designs to franchisees for expansion across the U.S. For more information, please contact: Bob DiBartolomeo, VP of Franchise Development Email: bobd@ufoodgrill.com Phone: 617-787-6000 Website: www.ufoodgrill.com

campaigns, news press releases, and online franchising e-magazine articles, VBS gets the message to qualified Veterans who are invested in starting a franchise.

VBS supports service disabled Veterans who are enrolled in the self-employment track within the Veterans Administration and provides outreach efforts to transitioning military through TAP and ACAP programs. As a graduate business of the Entrepreneurial Bootcamp for Veterans (“EBV”), we also assist other graduates of EBV and provide coaching support through mentoring programs. VBS is where Veterans turn to make their franchise dreams a reality.

Contact: James Mingey Phone: 202-349-0860 Email: info@veteransbusinessservices.us Website: www.veteransbusinessservices.us

Elements Therapeutic Massage, Inc. began franchising in 2006 and has approximately 210 Elements Massage™ locations. Fitness Together Franchise Corporation began franchising in 1996 and has approximately 175 Fitness Together® locations across the United States. Fit 36, Inc. began franchising in 2014 and has a single FIT36™ location in downtown Denver.

For more information Websites: wellbizbrands.com, elementsmassage.com, fitnesstogether.com, fit36fitness.com

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