Food Franchise

Frequently asked question number one is usually how much does it cost to buy a franchise? Well that is going to depend on the type of franchise you would like to own. Some franchises will cost as little as $10,000 to $15,000. Others can run a quarter million dollars or more. But when you are looking into the startup costs of a franchise you need to watch out for two things. One is the franchise fee that the franchising company will charge you for the right to use their company name, logos, and reputation. The other is the estimated build out costs of such a franchise.
Some franchises have no real build out costs because they are home based. But most will require either equipment or vehicles. Some even go so far as to need a whole building built

Frequently asked question number two is where will you get your supplies or products? Most franchises will supply you with a list of vendors that you are allowed to usewhen purchasing certain things. As an example a restaurant franchise will require you to have the same look as all the other locations of their company. This includes pretty much everything in your store. Things such as tables, chairs, posters, dishes, silverware and everything else the restaurant will need. Often the franchising company will purchase those items themselves and resell them to you often marking them up and making a profit. Many companies depending on the industry will probably allow some leeway though depending on the items you need.

The third most frequently asked question is whether you are required to advertise? This question is extremely important as the cost of advertising can be very high. Especially if you have no idea what you are doing. Well if you happened to be wondering where those monthly franchise fees and royalty payments were going to go here is your answer. Some percentage usually will be used to cover the cost of advertising. One thing to keep in mind though is that the smaller the franchise company is the smaller their advertising budget is likely to be. Without a lot of franchises you won’t collect much in the way of franchise fees or royalties.

Of course there are always going to be many more questions about buying a franchisebut these questions are the most often asked about the industry. And although owning a franchise can be a very rewarding and successful experience we highly suggest that you be very careful when choosing a franchise as it can be very expensive to choose the wrong one for you.

Chicago is world-renowned for it’s deep dish pizza, which was invented in early 1940s. Deep dish is also sometimes referred to as “stuffed pizza” or “Chicago-style pizza.” Pizzeria Uno is widely accepted as the first to come up with the deep dish pizza. It’s debated whether owner Ike Sewell or chef Rudy Malnati were responsible for coming up with the pie.

If you want great thin crust pizza, you’re in the wrong city. New York has long held the title as thin-crust capital of the world. In Chicago, you have to get the deep dish.

So who’s got the best deep dish in town? Some would say Pizzeria Uno, now just “Uno,” has been doing it the longest and the best. Other say Lou Malnati’s (founded by Rudy Malnati’s son Lou). You’ll find the occasional Chicagoan singing the praises of Gino’s East or Edwardo’s, both favorites of the downtown Chicago lunch crowds.

But if you ask this humble Chicagoan, the can’t-miss deep dish pizza is Giordano’s. The crust somehow defies physics by being both crispy and soft at the same time. The cheese is stringy, delicious, and plentiful. Giordano’s is not afraid to use the toppings. The pizza is stuffed to the gills with delicious toppings – so much so that one piece of the deep dish will typically fill a person up. Of course, that never stops me from going back for a second. And if you like sausage on your pizza, Giordano’s has the tastiest in town.

With locations in all over Chicagoland, it’s hard to be far from a Giordano’s. Some would argue that there’s just too many locations for the franchise to maintain quality control. But I say, if you got a great thing, go with it.

Planning for your 2009 franchise opportunity

Franchise business is headed for big opportunities coming their way, as franchisers look to establish and deepen their presence. From a franchiser’s perspective, it helps in expanding business, as franchisees can dig deep and provide local market knowledge.

For somebody interested in franchising, who takes back handsome perk at the end of the month, but needs a change. How would you guide him? Firstly, try and find your inclination towards a certain business. Opting for a home based networking business can be cheap, less monetary needs; you can operate from the confines of your home. Deposit a fixed amount with the franchiser, and a franchiser in return looks after the product that has to be sent, and also looks after the services that should be rendered. He trains, provides regular updates and prepares you for the task at hand.

Planning to have a kiosk at a mall could be expensive; the deposits with the franchisers are higher. You could buy this idea, if your franchiser runs a popular brand. You could partner with its brand, products and services and sell at your outlet. Having a retail franchisee helps, as SBA loans are easy to get, franchisers are wiling to extend their support, and the venture itself has low risk intensity for the franchisee.

Kidzart, Gymboree, along with FasTrackids, are best options for a franchisee, very popular educational global brands, and venture capitalists are willing to go for in-house franchise finance. If you get space on up market location, northing’s better than a Kidzart banner in front of your kiosk. You can start your franchise without shelling out any thing from your pocket. Though, there might be a hitch here, you would be interviewed and asked for a strong educational background from the franchiser.

Lifestyle products continues to be a profitable option for a new franchisee, the demand never dies. Choose a popular lifestyle franchiser, as it becomes easy to negotiate a loan from the financer, runs on low risk and your business would have more opportunities to get picked by the onlookers. Opting for a food franchisee is never a bad idea, McDonald’s, Kentucky

food chicken, Pizza hut have enormous presence. A franchise option for high ended, it’s highly profitable, if you manage to convince an in-house financer for your food project, your career stands to take huge leap.

Most entrepreneurs know that setting goals is crucial to business success. If you don’t know where you’re going, how will you know when you’ve arrived? Or, more importantly, when you’re heading in completely the wrong direction?

If you’re the owner of a small business, what is your goal? To make it to the end of the month with enough money in the bank to cover the compensateroll? To take a holiday for the first time in five years?

Every small business owner should have the same goal – sooner or later, to become independent of the business. Small businesses turn into big businesses only when they are able to operate smoothly without the owner being present. When you can stay away for a week, or a month, or a year, and return to find the business running better than before you left, you have the opportunity to do whatever you like – sell the business and start a new one, retire, buy a yacht and sail around the world.

True financial independence is the ability to live your life doing what YOU want to do. Do you really want to show up for work an hour early every day, leave late at night and never take a holiday, for the rest of your life? Surely not.

What is the key to being able to walk away?

It’s simple. You need a system in place so that everyone in your business knows exactly what’s expected of them.

When you take on a new employee, how do they learn what they’re expected to do? Does an existing employee take them in charge, explaining how things work? How can you be sure that the new employee is learning what you want them to know?

As the owner of the business, it’s your job to ensure that a system is put in place as the business grows. The system will ensure that everyone knows what they need to know to do their job effectively.

How do you think companies like McDonald’s are able to manage thousands of restaurants across the planet? McDonald’s Head Office doesn’t sell hamburgers. They sell franchises, and their customers are the franchisees. The most valuable asset they have is their system. It regulates what employees wear, the words they say to customers, how many seconds a patty is left on the grill. to variables within their business, every contingency is dictated by the system.

The system makes it possible for new employees to fit in. They are educated on ‘how we do things around here’. They are taught the specifics of their job. They may be required to sign a performance agreement.

In a well-designed system, there is still space for individual creativity. Better ways of doing things should always be sought out and encouraged – and written into the system for the future.

The system provides the framework for ensuring that the business is never entirely dependent on any one person. If you own the business, your future depends on the quality of your system.

Readers share their first jobs:

Of course, I did the babysitting thing when I was a preteen, and at fourteen, I stuffed newspapers, but they were typical jobs that many preteens do when they are young.

My first real job:

At the age of fifteen, it was 1975, I wanted a car when I turned sixteen and so I started working at an ice cream parlor. Swensen’s Ice Cream was in the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas that is where I am from.

Swensen’s was so busy there were only seventeen tables and a short cone line. That is where I started for $1.45 an hour and all tips split among the crew. I usually got about $15-$20 a night in tips. For a fifteen year old, that was good money. I liked working in the MGM; some of the stars that were performing at the hotel would come down and get ice cream. Some of them were snobs, but most of them were nice and the comedians would entertain the crowd of people waiting to get their ice cream cones.

I wanted to do more than just scoop cones, so I learned to work behind the fountain, which is where everything that was served in the restaurant was made. There were specialty sundaes, banana splits, fountain sodas, the old fashion kind with the scoop of ice cream on the side and a small menu of sandwiches.

The next step for me was to be a waitress; I loved being a server at that time. I talked to people, laughed all night, and enjoyed it very much. Swensen’s was located in front of a theater that showed old MGM films. When the movie let out our little restaurant was so busy and the time flew by. Before you knew it, it was time to close.

I worked at Swensen’s when the MGM burned in 1980, though the fire did not touch our shop, the smoke, and water damage was very bad. We were not allowed into our shop for over 2 weeks after the fire and the ice cream had molded and spilled everywhere. The ice cream parlor had to be remodeled, after the fire; the business was never the same for Swensen’s in the MGM.

I ended up being a manager for Swensen’s Ice Cream Parlor, helped train franchise owners, worked at different locations for the company. My first real job turned into a fifteen-year experience. I totally enjoyed working there, and the job I had gotten to get my first car ended up being the beginning of my career in restaurant management.

Burger King is the second largest fast food chain in the world, following behind the mighty McDonalds. Burger King was founded in a Miami, Florida, suburb in 1954 by James McLamore and David Edgerton, following a visit to the original McDonalds in San Bernadino, California. Sensing that Dick and Mac McDonald were on to something big, the partners created their own version of the fast food genre and named it Burger King. By 1959 they had five stores in the Miami area; by 1967 their company had grown to 274 restaurants in the United States.

The Pillsbury Company bought Burger King and its parent company, Burger King Corporation, in 1967. At that time, Burger King had only one restaurant outside the continental United States, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The purchase by Pillsbury allowed the company to go international: Canada in 1969, Oceania in 1971, Europe in 1975, and Central and South America in the late 1970’s. Because the name Burger King was already a trademark in Australia, the franchises there took the name of Hungry Jack’s, after a popular Pillsbury pancake mix. This was the only time they were forced to changed the name.

In the 1980’s, Burger King entered into a contract with the Army and Air Force Exchange Service to place franchises on bases around the world. Today, almost every base has a Burger King restaurant.

In 1989, Pillsbury sold off its restaurant holdings to Grand Metropolitan PLC, a British alcoholic beverage manufacturer and distributer. Under this stewardship Burger King acquired many locations of the Wimpy’s franchise in England, giving Burger King a larger market share in the country. In 1997, Grand Met merged its holdings with Guinness to form the company Diageo.

Diageo sold the company to a group of investors in 2001, for $1.5 billion. By this time Burger King’s market share and revenues were declining, some under performing stores had been closed, and some franchises were in bankruptcy. The new owners reorganized and brought new life to the company. They also decided to take their privately owned company public. The first trades were on the New York Stock Exchange on May 18, 2006, with the ticker symbol BKC. The initial IPO generated $425 million, the largest IPO for a US based restaurant on record.

Throughout the years, Burger King has also had its share of problems. After a good advertising campaign in the 1970’s, when the original Magical Burger King was introduced, their advertising became less focused and had no catchy phrase or mascot. In 2003, they brought in the Miami advertising firm of Crispin Porter + Bogusky to revitalize their image. The firm brought back the old Magical Burger King, which is still being used today.

Burger King has also been the target of PETA over the treatment of the animals it uses in preparation of its ingredients. Burger King has agreed to change its suppliers.

Many have also faulted Burger Kin for its super-sized meals, citing that they contain too many calories and too much trans fat. To help counter this image, Burger King has joined The Council of Better Business Bureaus Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, a self regulating program designed to offer healthier eating tips and better menu choices to children.

The company also has several charitable organizations it supports, including the Have It Your Way Foundation that focuses on alleviating hunger and disease and promoting education. The McLamore Foundation provides scholarships to students in the US and its territories. Burger King franchises individually also partner with various charitable organizations in their individual cities.

Ramada are a large hotel franchise organisation. they have many Ramada Hotels in North America and across the world. Where I live in England they are called Ramada Jarvis. They are part of a very large conglomerate called Wyndham Worldwide who also own Travelodge, Amerihost, Super 8 and Days Inn among others.

The Ramada brand offers a good standard of hotel on the whole; only some are excellent though their quality control is usually good enough to expect at least a reasonable standard; beds are always clean (in my experience) rooms pleasant and bathrooms modern. Some standardised features can be a little annoying. Every breakfast seems quite similar and it might be nice for their to be more regional specialities on the menus. Many Ramada hotels tend to have restaurants and they can be pricey.

Certainly if I were traveling somewhere unfamiliar I would be happy to stay at a Ramada hotel. I’d figure it would be at least adequate. To assist the discerning traveler further Ramada have coded their hotels by name, so you can have a good guess what you’ll be getting.

In the US they do it like this:

“Ramada Limited” is the name for the value product, but they say most hotels will have swimming pools and rooms are inclusive of continental breakfast. One example is the Ramada Cherokee in North Carolina – it costs about $80 a night for a largish room with wi-fi, cable TV, a refrigerator and microwave (gosh how odd that seems from a British perspective!), coffee maker and that breakfast.

“Ramada Inn” is the name they use for their mid-price hotels. Rooms might be more like $100-$120 a room per night in the USA and Canada, but you will get an in-house restaurant to add to the facilities of the other type of Ramada.

“Ramada Plaza” is the name given to their 4 star hotels and premier hotels. These are always great in my experience and I make a bee line for them, especially when looking for airport hotels in unfamiliar cities etc. They are also expensive, though reasonable value for money as you can still often get a room for $100 a night, but only if you try hard. They tend to be quite modern in their dcor and the service is good. They always have business facilities as far as I am aware.

Ramada hotels are nearly always comfortable, but as they are a franchise, quality control especially in far flung corners of Europe can be a bit of an issue. I’ve stayed in one that shall be nameless where the paint was peeling off the windows, though they’ve refurbished

The Opportunity. Is it for real? Can I really make money in vending? he big picture here is that Yes, it is real. You can do it. It’s a business. It is just like any other business. There is money to be made; there are companies out there that need your help. Believe it or not, you might think that you are living in your community in your area and you might think, “Wholly, there are fifty other people that are doing vending in my area. How am I going to actually do something that is different than them?” Or, How am I going to get accounts when they already have all their machines and these accounts? What it really comes down to is your strategy. Your marketing and how you actually look at your business and how you want to really build this business.

When I looked at this business, yes I saw my competition and I saw them doing what they were doing. You know what? In the beginning I was jealous, I was like, What are they doing that I am not doing? and What do they have that I don’t have? or Why do they have these accounts and I can’t seem to get them? I was knocking on people doors. Some people, they were receptive to me. Some weren’t. They were like, Oh, we already have machines. But the trick is, it’s not even a trick, it’s really the drive of you. Can you actually work through those kinds of obstacles? Sure you can! There were days where people said to me No. No. No.

Do you know how many times people have said no to me? There were days that are discouraging and I thought, This is not going to work, but I realized by keeping to move forward and that I would find the people that would say, “You know that sounds interesting. Can you give me more information? I would like to know more about that.” Part of this business when starting out without advertising you have to work the numbers because in your community There is too much, I will tell you right now! There is too much to give up here.

There is so much business out there. There are so many businesses out there. You can do this. There is as true opportunity here to do this. There is as lot of vending operators out there, but some of them are not doing the job the way they should be doing it. So there is an opportunity for somebody like you, when you approach someone at the right time and they are having a problem and you seem like you are coming across as a solution to their problem. Then that is going to be helpful to them. They are going to be receptive to you. They are going to want to know more about what you are doing and what you can offer them.

To answer that question, the big picture is Yes, it is a real opportunity to make money in vending. You can do it. But you do have to do it right and you have to structure it properly. You don’t want to spend all your money. There are a lot of companies out there that just want to sell you machines and that and they charge you a lot of money. They hype things up that the vending business, like it this big thing. Which it is. But they want you to invest a lot of money. You don’t need to invest a ton of money because like I said earlier, the trick is to make your money back so you can build this business up.

You don’t want to be stuck paying loans and loans and loans off for ever and ever and ever, and wondering, Hey when is this thing actually going to start making me money? Don’t go down that road because some people have gone down that road. The homework end of things and research is important.

Vending Scams – What to Watch out For. I am going to make this real plain and simple for you. What I just talked about a minute ago about the vending scams you have to watch out for is just simply these opportunity shows where a company wants to sell you a bank of vending machines. They want you to draw out $20,000, $30,000 or $10,000 or whatever it is. They do a presentation and make it look like it is just a big thing where everyone is just in a great mood, and everyone is going to make money in vending and stuff and they just simply want you to slap down your credit card, buy this bank of machines, we are going to help you to find locations and all that stuff.

You have to watch out for some of that because number one “All they want to really do is sell you machines in my opinion.” That is all I can really say because I have been to one in the past. It was just a franchise show here in Toronto just a couple of weeks ago. A friend of mine and I decided to go. One of the main reasons that I decided to go was because one of my website providers actually had a booth there. What they are doing now is they are staring to teach people in the classroom, in community colleges, and universities and that. How to actually build and internet business properly and make money and all that.

I wanted d to go and see what their booth was like, talk to some of the people, and just sort of network with a few people that might be of interest there. My friend and I went to the show and walked around to a lot of these booths. Just think how much money people want for franchises. Some of them were the big hitters. Where it was like the restaurants and the bigger businesses that you would spend a lot of money on getting into. Some of them were smaller home based business and then there were a few vending franchise opportunities there.

I went up to one gentleman at the booth and I said, I was completely honest with him, I just said, I am a vending operator here in Toronto and what are you offering today? They basically gave me to scoop on what they were doing. At the end of the conversation they wanted to sell me a franchise opportunity where I would be using their franchise name, and I would be buying two vending machines.

The price was some astronomical price like $40,000 to really get this thing started. For $40,000 you got some signage, you got to use their name, they handed out maybe a thousand flyer’s in your community and you bought two machines. That is a lot of money for two machines. I was nice to the guy and that, but at the end of the day I can’t justify dropping $40,000 on two vending machines. It just doesn’t work like that for me.

Maybe they found some people that will. Maybe they worked the numbers and they find the people that will do that. We don’t want to go that route. That is what I am going to sort of tell you about that today. Doing your research and homework is definitely essential.

The single item that often takes the biggest bite out of any business budget is advertising. Building an image, increasing your name recognition, engraving your business on the minds of your customers – promotional products are an excellent means to do any of the three, and more. If you own or manage a Bed & Breakfast or small inn, you can’t dip into the deep pockets that franchise owners can access. You need to find economical ways to

1. increase your bookings
2. bring customers back again and again
3. fill your inn on typically slow weeks and seasons
4. increase name recognition
5. thank your customers for their patronage
6. Promotional products can be used to further many of these aims. When you take the time to work out a marketing plan for your business, you can take steps toward making it the successful business you always dreamed it would be.

The first step toward making your bed and breakfast more successful is to define your goals. Break them down into achievable steps. You may decide, for instance, that you can increase your profits by booking weeks that your facility is usually vacant, or that your goal is to get at least 80% of your customers to book again next year.

Once you’ve decided exactly what you want to achieve, you can start brainstorming ideas and ways to make them happen. In many cases, you can turn for ideas and help with those aims to a company that specializes in creating marketing and promotional products. They have the experience and the knowledge to offer suggestions and advice. Here are a few thoughts and ideas about using promotional products for different purposes to get you started brainstorming.

Increase your bookings with promotional products
Bed & breakfasts and inns are popular destinations for honeymooners. Reach out to that market by advertising in bridal magazines, or make partnerships with other businesses that provide wedding services. Offer a special for honeymooning couples – perhaps a chilled bottle of wine with your own promotional label for their first night. At the same time, don’t forget those that make referrals to your business. Reward those important partners with a remembrance or small token of your appreciation.

Increase repeat bookings.
Repeat bookings are the bread and butter of the hospitality industry. Guests will return if they fondly remember their time with you – and if you let them know that you value the relationship with them. One of the best ways to promote those good feelings is to touch base with them between stays. Holiday remembrances are one effective way to remind your guests of their stay with you and get them started thinking about another visit. One very effective promotional product of this type – a holiday calendar that features photos of the attractions around your area.

Fill your inn on typically slow weeks with promotional products.
Off season prices are one way to encourage guests to book rooms during the off season. Promotional products can also serve as an incentive, both for early bookings and for booking during off season weeks. Choose promotional business gifts that can be used during your guests’ stay – and then taken home with them. Embroidered terry robes with the inn crest on the pocket or a picnic basket packed with lunch for an afternoon picnic are two ideas that you could use.

You can use small promotional products as thank you gifts when your guests leave, or to increase name recognition – often with the same gift. When your guests leave at the end of their stay, for instance, send them off with a fresh coffee for the road in a promotional travel mug – and a promise to always have the coffee on when they return.

For additional information on advertising gifts, corporate gifts or promotional items then why not check out the leading promotional gift suppliers online today and start to make big savings.

With Japan rated as the third largest coffee consumer in the world, it comes as no surprise that coffee shops (kissatens) abound, with Tokyo alone home to over ten thousand. Shops come in all sizes and styles, but the smaller versions usually include only a counter and a few tables that are often sole proprietorships run by a husband and wife team who are helped by a part time waitress. These establishments also often double as a small restaurant which offer sandwiches or a light meal during lunchtime. For breakfast a “morning set” is often available which usually consists of juice, coffee, eggs and toast. These mom and pop businesses are gradually being replaced by the bigger chain shops such as Detour, Tully’s, and Starbucks, which offer over the counter coffee, more spacious seating arrangements, and in the case of Starbucks a no smoking environment. This has proven to be a big selling point in a nation that currently has very few restrictions in regard to smoking in public restaurants and bars.

Others have striven to develop a unique theme to distinguish themselves from the competition. Music coffee shops for example featuring jazz, classical, or rock, have always been a favorite hangout for the younger crowd since their inception in the early 1960’s. Less mainstream but proving to be quite popular are the manga (comic book) coffee shops that have sprung up in recent years in Tokyo. Coffee is served gratuitously, and the customer pays only for the duration of time spent reading the thousands of manga provided on library type shelves lining the room. On a similar theme, “Maid Kissa” coffee shops feature beautiful young waitresses donned in maid costumes that resemble characters from famous Japanese comics.  As the customer enters the premise he or she is greeted by an alluring  “welcome home my master”. In addition to the verbal role play offered, maids pour coffee and tea for patrons, or engage in a game of cards upon request. Many of these coffee shops are decorated in the style of an English Mansion to simulate feelings of truly being “master of the house”. Some shops are subtly veering from the coffee shop image by referring to their place of business as cafes, often reflecting the owners personal taste in interior design and music, and emphasizing a European atmosphere where home style food and a great cup of coffee can still be enjoyed.

Despite the various themes employed by owners to attract customers, the main feature of the menu is still coffee. For purists looking for an exotic blend or a special roasting method, a growing number of shops are now offering patrons fresh ground coffee using in house percolating techniques they hope will lure customers away from the instant coffee shop franchises that have come to dominate the market in recent years. Whether you’re searching for a temporary sanctuary from the clamor of the city, or a quick pick me up first thing in the morning, coffee shops in Japan have something for everyone.