Food Franchise

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For aging baby boomers, the decision on where to retire is made difficult by so many beautiful North American venues. Historically, many have chosen to buy Florida property, particularly in the Tampa, Clearwater, and St. Petersburg Florida marketplace because of the warm climate, beautiful beaches, friendly people, fine health care, no personal income tax and a variety of other reasons.

Yes, the City of St. Petersburg has experienced periods of glory, disrepair and now, revitalization. In 1875, Detroit resident General John Williams purchased 2,500 acres of land on Tampa Bay. The General had visions of a grand and vibrant city with elegant parks and broad streets, which today are the trademark of St. Petersburg’s cityscape.

Within a dozen years, the Russian aristocrat Peter Demens brought the Orange Belt Railway to St. Petersburg. The first train arrived on June 8, 1888. Shortly thereafter Demens named the city after his birthplace, St. Petersburg, Russia.

Florida’s love affair with baseball soon brought professional baseball’s spring training to St. Petersburg, Florida in 1914. Al Lang, the city’s former mayor, convinced Branch Rickey to move his St. Louis Browns to the Sunshine City for spring training.

The state’s first big growth boom in the 1920’s resulted in an invasion of tourists arriving by auto, railroad, and yacht. The Gandy Bridge opened in 1924, reducing travel time to Tampa by more than half and positioning St. Petersburg to become Pinellas County’s largest city. The 1920s also brought beautiful architecture to downtown St. Petersburg and adjoining neighborhoods. The city’s architecture reflected a Mediterranean Revival motif. Snell Isle, a 275 acre subdivision was the result of Perry Snell’s love of the Tampa Bay area. Snell Isle owes its existence to Snell first visiting St. Petersburg on his wedding trip in 1898. Upon returning the following year, his first purchase was the waterfront property located at First Street and Fourth Avenue North, now known as North Shore Park.

St. Petersburg’s makeover is evident in several Mediterranean Revival buildings including The Vinoy Hotel, the Princess Martha, the Snell Arcade, and the Jungle Country Club Hotel. Others can be seen in the Spanish castles and homes along Coffee Pot Bayou and in the Jungle Prada neighborhood.

St. Petersburg continued to have strong tourist years through the 20s. Like many other areas of the state, the real estate boom crashed during The Great Depression. But, St. Petersburg recovered, with the help of large Public Works Administration projects in the 1930s, bringing $10 million in new investment. St. Petersburg’s City Hall was built with New Deal federal funds in 1939.

The city experienced phenomenal growth throughout the 1940s. St. Pete was home to the U.S. Coast Guard Station on Bayboro Harbor as a training base for World War II troops. Anti-submarine air patrols were made over the Gulf of Mexico during WWII. The War Department later selected St. Petersburg as a major training center for the Army Air Corps. More than 100,000 pilots and trainees occupied every hotel in the city. As a result, the population grew fast and created a housing shortage with families of military men looking for a place to live. Post war, many of the soldiers stationed in the Tampa Bay area returned to live with their families or to visit as tourists until their retirement.

The 1950s and 60s were notable for the wide spread use of air conditioning, which resulted in a considerable amount of housing for retirees. Mirroring national trends, the Central Plaza and Tyrone Gardens shopping centers attracted local businesses to relocate from the downtown area. The population grew beyond 200,000. As the automobile became the prime mode of transport, streetcar tracks were removed to make way for better roads. The 1960s experienced building of the municipal marina, the main library, the Bayfront Center and the Museum of Fine Arts.

St. Petersburg’s quest for a Major League Baseball franchise began in the 1970s. It was not until 20 years later that the arrival of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1998 saw the team move their permanent home to downtown’s Tropicana Field.

Today, the downtown core is experiencing a period revitalization with municipal projects that include retail shops, restaurants, and movie theaters. More than 900 community events bring millions of people each year to experience yacht races, triathlons, baseball, basketball, cycling, cultural exhibits, motor racing and music. Seven museums in the downtown district attract tourists. A state university, 10 marine institutes and more than two dozen galleries attest to the city’s commitment to education and health care. Much movement into the historic neighborhoods continues as residents invest in their communities with a great source of pride.

Ray Kroc knew this in 1955 when he established the first McDonalds franchise restaurant. Take a look at that location and youll realize that the famous golden arches go all the way back to the inception of the chain. The McDonald brothers, who operated the original restaurant had a good product and fast service, but it was Krocs vision that made a humble burger joint into a globe spanning corporation that has served millions of burgers.Business Card Printing – A neat, color business card is not only inexpensive, but effective on a personal level. You dont need anything more to make a good impression than your company logo, your name, your companys name, contact information, a smile and a firm handshake. Also, many local restaurants even have display areas at the entrances where you can leave your business cards. The key is to get your name and logo in the public eye.Flyer Printing – Your names established and youve displayed your products. Next youll want to promote your products. Flyers are a versatile tool for spreading the word to your customers about your sales or offerings. Hand them out at local schools, concerts, trade shows or just post them on local community bulletin boards and your message will spread like wildfire.Visit these pages for more information on brochure printing (http://www.printplace.com/printing/brochures-inserts.aspx), full color brochures (http://www.printplace.com/printing/full-color-brochure-printing.aspx) and business card printing (http://www.printplace.com/printing/business-card-printing.aspx)

Even though the grocery store carries a wide variety of ice cream flavors, nothing can ever replace the experience of standing at the counter of your local ice cream franchise and being handed a fresh cone of your favorite flavor. Owning an ice cream franchise is not only a lucrative business, but also a fun way to be your own boss.

In the U.S. today, ice cream is a $20 billion-plus industry, with 90 percent market penetration. The industry is mature, meaning any gains from one competitor or segment will be scooped from another. It should come as no surprise, then, to learn that U.S. consumers spend up to one-third of their food and beverage budget on products consumed for pure enjoyment, rather than nutritional value, according to a July 2005 report

Dippin’ Dots Franchising, Inc., founded in 1988 and which began franchising in 2000, is another hot new concept, topping Franchise Times magazine’s Fast 55 list, and ranking #2 in Entrepreneur magazine’s Top 50 New Franchise Companies. Dippin’ Dots are tiny beads of ice cream, yogurt, sherbet, and flavored ice, cryogenically frozen, and are served at movie theaters, theme parks, and other entertainment venues nationwide.

Recently announcing a new s’mores flavor, Dippin’ Dots combine old favorites such as marshmallow, chocolate and graham crackers, to delight fans with more frozen goodness.

Become part of the Dippin’ Dots franchise and get onboard with this great ground floor opportunity. Dippin’ Dots has a loyal fan base, and who can blame them? You, too, can participate in providing the Dippin’ Dots loyal fan base with iced goodies! Market research shows Dippin’ Dots outperformed some of the top franchised ice cream brands 2:1 among kids and young adults.

What You Need to Know:

There are multiple product offerings (ice cream, yogurt, flavored ices, ice cream cakes, iced drinks, shakes and more!)

The store investment, labor costs, transaction time and cost of goods are all lower then the national average.

Gain international exposure and brand awareness from appearances on Oprah, The Travel Channel, and The Food Network.

Dippin’ Dots is one of the hottest franchises and is growing at an aggressive pace throughout the United States.

Don’t miss out! Become the first in your area to bring Dippin’ Dots to its loyal fan base!

When something gets done with passion, it means that the person does it with the greatest dedication and commitment. It also means that the person gives more than one hundred percent and makes it appear that he/she was/is the benchmark for all others to follow, at any given point in time.

Passion has a great reason to be celebrated in business too. It all takes the will to understand the exact needs of customers, get the chemistry right, and then deliver. When this happens, the organization prospers and the entire society stands up and takes notice.

This can possibly be illustrated with a number of examples from India, where I work and live. We can also draw a number of lessons, and extrapolate such lessons to form a sort of a baseline for all to adopt and advance.

Chennai is India’s fourth largest metropolis. It is often called the Gateway of South India. Some fifteen years ago, there was no single good vegetarian restaurant in this city. This gave birth to one Mr. Rajagopal, who came from a small village from the Southern tip of the Tamil Nadu State (Chennai is the capital of Tamil Nadu. He understood that if he brought in the best quality raw materials, and the best cooks from his own native place, he can simply make money.

The passion with which he made money in those days, is still discussed. He scouted for specific places where he could get the best quality raw material, and all the South Indian dishes were prepared under close supervision. Since the quality was so good, his small restaurant started bringing him record profits. He opened a few more in different parts of the city, and today, there are more than sixteen of them in Chennai city alone. Not content with being confined to Tamil Nadu, he has gone as far as New Delhi, the capital of India, and hs made history there too. Yes, the food sold in Saravana Bhavan is very costly, but one can always rest assured that he/she would never fall sick at any point in time. The customer service is good, the quality is excellent, and the most important point is the passion with which the entire chain makes money.

Today, Saravana Bhavan has a presence in New York, Canada, Malaysia,Singapore and a few other countries as well. Though there are franchises that run these restaurants,the same quality is maintained in each one of the outlets, and the standard of business excellence has attracted many a B-school graduate to understand the nitty-gritty of understanding what it takes to operate

Marketing you Franchise or Business Opportunity can be a daunting task at times because of the costs involved along with the timeless efforts. Marketing your opportunity is important to stay in front of your customers while also gaining exposure in the industry. It takes countless hours to find and develop the ideal places to market your opportunity. In develping your marketing efforts keep in mind: advertising, having credibility in the industry, and the creation of new ideas for further growth and development.
Advertising your franchise or business opportunity is crucial for the success of your company. Franchisors will usually do a big part of the advertising, however a little extra on the franchisees part will never hurt. Keeping in mind the new generation of advertising; you must hit your target market with more than just one advertisement. Using not only print media, but also online portals and media avenues with exposure will aid your conversion rate. The Business Market is an online portal that can market your franchise opportunity. The costs are minimal with maximum exposure.
Having credibility within your industry is important for word of month advertising, but also SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and quality information. Almost every company should have a website for their business. The Internet is becoming such a predominate way to find information. For restaurant businesses, it would also be customer service to be able to book a reservation online. SEO for your website is critical to show up on the first page of search results. SEO is hard to build; it takes thousands of links coming back to your site for any difference to be made. A common practice when advertising your website is to keep good quality of information for the customers.
New ideas for marketing are always a must. Marketing and advertising changes over the years and you must change with it. Continuing with print media and television advertising makes sense for right now, but over time with the economy changes so does the advertising. Keep up with news in the advertising industry as well as constantly making changes to your campaigns. You don’t have to be a mile ahead of your competitors with advertising; you only have to be an inch ahead.
In conclusion, running a successful marketing campaign for your business or franchise only takes a little bit of work. By investing in your advertising you can make a significant different of sales. Use different avenues to market your product or service. Once per week is a good metric for customers.
Resources

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Imagine yourself suddenly immersed back into the late 1940’s. As lunch time approaches you are getting pretty hungry. You walk into a restaurant with a self-service counter and decide to order some food. The menu is limited to only nine items: hamburger, cheeseburger, three soft-drink flavors, milk, coffee, potato chips, and pie. You decide to order a hamburger and get it for a great deal of just 15 cents.

Back to present times now, you would very likely be surprised to learn that the old fashioned hamburger place in reality was the first McDonald’s built by Dick and Mac McDonald.

As Dick and MacMcDonald renovated the place, they added more extras, such as the option of ordering milkshakes and fries. Their kitchen and assembly lines were made more efficient and able to handle mass production orders. Sooner than later, their business began to strive, with more than 150 customers standing by their counter at a time. Their success was claimed sensational once they reached $350,000 in annual revenues.

A man named Neil Fox, for the amount of just one thousand dollars became the first franchiser to open a drive-in McDonald’s in Phoenix, Arizona. This was the first restaurant to display the red and white tiles along with the famous “Golden Arches”.

After various projects, McDonald’s kitchen was built more efficiently than ever, for the purpose again of accommodating the largest amount of orders as possible.

However, the company did not expand until a certain 52 year old Ray Kroc stopped by to sell his famous multi-mixer milkshake machines. Ray Kroc was simply amazed by this restaurant’s efficiency as he was watching more and more people in line moving with their orders in hand.

Thanks to his determination and selling capabilities he became McDonald’s franchising agent and founder of the franchising company, McDonald’s System Inc.

Ray Kroc believed in serving customers quickly, providing limited but good quality assortment of foods and maintaining great cleanliness. As of today, his principles are still applied as QSC & V, in other words, quality, service, cleanliness and value.

Sales boomed quickly afterward, as more and more people were attracted to the growing fast food industry. If we take a look at numbers, we may be surprised to learn that in late 1956, McDonald’s 14 restaurants reported total sales of $1.2 million and more than 50 million hamburgers were sold. These astounding numbers continued to grow since more and more McDonald’s were being opened across the nation.

Returning to the past, that little late 1940 hamburger shop has truly gone through an enormous transformation. At present, McDonald continues to strive as it stretches worldwide and continues to serve America’s best hamburgers and fries. Future wise, we surely cannot predict what to expect from McDonald’s, but in my own fast food lover mind, my prediction is that we loved it, we are loving it and will continue to love it!

During the German occupation in World War II 1940 1944, Lyons was the capital of the French resistance movement.

As Lyons has a deeper history than anywhere else in France, it is one of the most historic, fascinating, and exciting towns to visit. Lyon is one of the most famous cities in France for its artistic and cultural activity. Once the capital of France, it is a blend of modern and old.

Lyon Bron is the second airport of the second city in France, all the regular commercial activities were transferred to the Lyon-Satolas Airport in 1975.

It leads Europe in silk and rayon production, it has important clothing, metal, and chemical industries, a river port, a stock exchange which was founded in 1506 and is the oldest in France a university and several fine museums.

Lyon is a big, noisy, coloured and sometimes pleasant city of France, Europe, Earth. Its main drawback is to be inhabited by almost one million of the so called Lyonnais.

You will find one of the largest pedestrian here, stretching across the entire Presquile, by Rue Victor Hugo and Rue de la Republique, where the majority of franchised stores can be found. With its department stores and pedestrian precincts, its luxury goods shops and fashion boutiques not to mention one of the largest shopping centres in Europe Lyon is a shoppers paradise.

Its narrow winding streets are filled with Bouchons small Lyonnais Restaurants for which the city is famous as well as street performers, cafes, pubs and the workshops of local artists, craftsmen and sculptors. Its flea markets, antique stores and second-hand shops are perfect for those who like to take their time to track down that elusive little item. You can explore the past and sniff out ancient objects, jewellery or furniture, restored or to be restored. More than 650 antique shops are in Lyon city centre and the surrounding area.

At nightfall, Lyon is illuminated with a thousand lights and 100000 projectors illuminate highlight the citys heritage and create an enchanting backdrop for night birds.

In the heart of the city, life does not stop at nightfall for those who want to whirl in its nightlife it holds number two among French cities for the nightlife.

Old Lyon if called Fourviere and is situated at the foot of the Fourviere hill. Today the hill is home to many ecclesiastical communities who live near the famous Basilique de Fourviere.

Quick, convenient and low cost. This is what consumers want wherever they go. Have you noticed how many fast lube shops are available everywhere one goes? Some have oil changes with a carwash, a coffee house or even a diner. Location is key to any business, especially an oil change franchise.

Thinking about opening an oil change franchise? Start searching online or speak with a realtor. Location is the number one priority for a fast lube business. A shop should have easy access both in and out, be noticeable with easy to see services and prices.

Another consideration is urban development. Will the oil change franchise receive adequate business? Will traffic be a problem? Is there a street hindrance such as a median or no U-turn nearby which prevents future customers from entering your business or exiting into traffic patterns?

Once a site is established, the shop design is next. There are two ways to design, depending on the city’s building codes and land development: basement or use mechanical lifts to access cars for servicing. Some owners say a full basement is better because lifts slow services, and customers may choose another fast lube instead.

If a basement is used, the designer must decide how many bays the shop will include. Shop owners must research the building size before offering ideas to the building designer. More efficient oil change franchises have multiple bays to service more than one car at a time, offering the ability to service more customers and offer more services. Full basements with catwalks also serve as storage for supplies, bulk oil, cleaning supplies and a break room.

However, to minimize safety hazards, precautions must be installed. Since a basement has open pits, install easy-slide pit covers so customers and employees do not accidentally fall through. The sliding covers are four feet long and slide over each other down to the pit so mechanics need only open the area they are working on. When the automotive service is completed, the covers slide back into place, closing the pit.

Floor type is another safety issue, and should be included in the planning of any oil change franchise. A floor should have rough resistance and have an abrasiveness texture to it. Keeping an organized and clean shop is also just as important. Small spills should be mopped immediately, while a thorough cleaning of the shop should be done every day after business hours.

Convenience and efficiency work hand in hand for the most successful oil change franchises. The flow of traffic in and out of the shop should be an owner’s next consideration. The design of the shop should be convenient for the customer as well as the city traffic. The most efficient and convenient set up is the “one way in, one way out” design. Cars pull into the entrance of the bay and drive out the other side.

After the structure of the oil change franchise is finalized, the next consideration is organization of supplies. Air and oil filters, oil bins and transmission fluids, rags and cleaning supplies can all be stored so it maximizes time on task. Utilizing a basement for all supplies is most efficient. Shelving installed near the mechanics work area will maximize time spent gathering oil and supplies to service the vehicles. Label all shelves with the specific air and oil filter types. This will not only save time for mechanics, but also for restocking items and taking inventory.

Store bulk oil in overhead tanks to pump oil out using gravity; it helps to use all the oil in the tank. Buried tanks tend to waste more oil and need to be filled more often. Tanks that are above ground should have a secondary containment area around it as well.

Although there are many ways to design oil change franchises, efficiency and convenience should be at the top of the list.

“Hi! How are you today?!” the woman asked as I walked up to the restaurant counter.

By the tone of her voice, I could tell she was genuinely glad to see me as a customer. It wasn’t faked or forced, and to be honest it caught me a little off-guard as I ordered. You see this was a fast-food restaurant, where usually the focus is to rush the customer through the line as soon as possible and sometimes without the possibility of direct eye contact. By the time I got my food at this restaurant however, the service was also faster than I expected.

Due to the service I received that day, I’m going to go back to that restaurant more often, even though another restaurant in the same franchise is closer to my home. The concept of going above what people expect can be applied to any business, often not with more money but with a change in attitude.

I would say that the woman that greeted me at the counter didn’t make any more money than employees at other locations, but she certainly seemed to enjoy her work more. Long-term the attitude promoted by that restaurant going to turn into greater life success for the employees, success for the business, and great relations with customers. All it took was just small changes and the goal of wanting to provide quality service to customers.

As consumers, we’re almost used to being treated like numbers in many areas. All other things being equal, if a business wants to get an edge on their competition they can do it by treating people better than what they’re used to being treated. It really can be as simple as employees just being friendly and just seeming happy to see you. Customers like to feel appreciated as well. If you have the ability, learning repeat customer’s names can also begin to establish a loyal relationship. In short, when people become more than “just a customer,” your business becomes more than “just a store.”

This also applies to how you handle problems that occur within your business with existing customers. In other words, never assume you can treat a loyal customer any way you want and expect them to stick around. I recently had an error with a bank where I’d been a customer since the age of 3. In normal situations like this, it’s hard to mess up that kind of loyalty on a single mistake. In this case however not only did the manager have an “I don’t really give a care” attitude about the issue, but the problem was only half-fixed. The end result is they’ve now lost what would have been a lifetime customer, not because of the error itself but how it was handled.

In reality, customers know you’re human and don’t expect things to always be perfect. When customer issues come up however, businesses really need to listen. The situation isn’t “the customer is always right,” because they may not be in some cases. It should be more like “the customer is always respected.” Making the extra effort just to explain why a situation happened can go a long way. Often customers are just confused about policies and procedures businesses take for granted, and that’s frustrating.

In conclusion, going beyond what’s expected to serve your customers will not only impact your bottom line but help your reputation grow as well in relation to your competitors. Doing the right thing when it comes to people does pay off financially compared to cutting corners and watering-down the quality of your product or service.

Shopping is a procedure in which goods and services offered by the retailers are examined with the intent to buy or shop. An activity of purchasing some goods after proper selection is termed as shopping. Basically, it is considered as a leisure activity. In this recreational activity, one visits a range of stores while shopping in search of a desired or a suitable produce to buy. Whereas the activity in which shoppers engage themselves in browsing different products through glass and windows of various shops just for entertainment and enjoyment is window shopping. In this activity, the shoppers only imagine to buy these items without purchasing them in reality, probably to pass their time.

For others, shopping is truly a vexation and an inconvenient task. Shoppers going through extensive hours while waiting in long queues to buy one popular product as specifically observed with initial holiday shoppers and early adopters. Sometimes, shoppers feel ripped-off due to the inability to get one what they have paid for and end up in asking for money back. Sometimes buyers also get trapped in scam. Recently, shopping activity has been identified as an addiction, commonly consigned as shopping addiction, compulsive shopping, formally Oniomania or Shopaholic, these shoppers possess a spontaneous uncontrollable requirement to go for shopping so as to attain high or rush.

Normally, various people called merchants, salesman or vendors who sell wide variety of products in commercial zone, a zone commonly found in every town or city, sell out the products. These days the shopping phenomena is characterized by various shopping malls, flea markets, bazaars or town squares which has large collection of diverse shops at every shopping center or shopping hub.

For the ease of shoppers, every shop sells the particular or selected set of commodities or services to the consumers. The products can be leveled from cheap to extremely expensive. Various retail stores specialize in selling of products related to only one theme including candy shops, bookstores, apparel stores, footwear stores, hardware stores, gift shops, liquor stores, pet stores, hobby stores or supermarkets. The shops either owned by a company or may be a franchising company, which has franchising contracts with the owners of the shops, for instance chain restaurants.

Other kinds of stores are big-box stores, convenience stores, dollar stores, hypermarkets, or department stores that sold off a broad range of products regardless of having any similarity to each other. With the advent of modern technology like telephone, television and Internet, the shopping has become much easier and is often referred as home shopping. Electronic commerce in combination with the business-to-consumer commerce schemes has made the system of home shopping possible for everyone in which a buyer can make purchases via online shopping, mail order and shopping channels, etc. Sometimes ice-cream trucks and peddlers pass through your neighborhood also offer goods and services to you. There are some shopping seasons especially on the eve of Christmas, during which each and every person likes to go shopping for various needs and purposes.