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Browse our selection of franchise articles and features to help further your knowledge in opening and operating a franchise business. Our exclusive features cover the , , , , , , and site of the franchise business. Written by the editorial team that produces Franchise Update Magazine and Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine, the franchise industries premier magazines.

There are tweets and pokes, posts and check-ins, mayors, fans, friends, and likes. It seems as though every social media network has its own language and users--yet all of them are grouped together as the "shining light" of marketing for the year to come. Well, here's the truth. While social media is now a cornerstone for branding, sales growth, and PR, for multi-unit franchisees to successfully use social media to drive business into stores, you need to get the facts.
  • Lisa Wehr
  • 8,082 Reads 33 Shares
Gina Puente learned about hard work, tenacity, and the power of cash at the knees of her father, "working" in his office equipment business from the age of eight... when she wasn't busy with commercials and pageants.
  • Debbie Selinsky
  • 5,805 Reads 1 Shares
Spread across the following pages of our annual Dominators issue are the rough-hewn tales of seven multi-unit franchisees who have worked smart and played hardball to create large, successful franchise organizations. These operators are not afraid to take risks if the payoff means a bigger slice of the market pie. We interviewed these seven savvy operators and asked them to share their strategies, philosophies, and personal approaches to running their organizations.
  • Kerry Pipes and Eddy Goldberg
  • 7,588 Reads 1 Shares
Often when I speak at franchise shows and conventions a tenant will ask me, "What is the best lease length?" The term, or length, of your commercial lease is an important part of your franchise business plan and ensuing lease negotiations. However, most franchise tenants do not take enough time to consider that one day they will eventually want to sell the franchise. Alternatively, they may want to expand/downsize, relocate, or close and so do not give the term of the lease the attention and consideration it truly deserves.
  • Dale Willerton
  • 12,185 Reads 717 Shares
Top-performing employees exhibit a number of key characteristics critical to Dave Melton's franchise operations strategy. For example, as he has previously explained, they are not only happy and productive, but they also make fabulous team recruiters. But it doesn't stop there. He believes his top team members should even be involved in the interviewing process for new hires.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 3,147 Reads 1,023 Shares
Greg Hamer, Sr., worked in the oilfield service industry for two decades before dipping his toe into franchising. He knows about hard work and about managing assets. Today, he is the largest Taco Bell franchisee in the state of Louisiana. Hamer has operated B&G Food Enterprises out of Morgan City, La., since opening that first Taco Bell unit in 1982. In the 1990's, the company added KFC and Pizza Hut units to the portfolio and most recently, Teriyaki Experience.
  • Multi-Unit Franchisee
  • 4,743 Reads 21 Shares
Growth, it's everyone's goal: the premise for my first article regarding growing from one unit to two. Now that you are a multi-unit franchisee, you must either commit to staying where you are or make a substantial commitment to further grow your business.
  • Michael Pearce
  • 10,266 Reads 1 Shares
First impressions are lasting. Front-line hourly employees are not. Before they've been on the job just six months, more than 50 percent are gone. Some were probably not a good fit for the job in the first place, but some productive, dependable, hard-to-replace employees bolt, too.
  • Mel Kleiman
  • 6,535 Reads 17 Shares
As noted in the last issue, investing is not for the faint of heart. It takes time and an ability to integrate an expansive range of information--as well as a steady head and a strong stomach. This combination often means that seeking outside help makes the most sense. But how do you go about finding an investment manager that's the right "fit" for you?
  • Carol Clark
  • 9,715 Reads 169 Shares
For many businesses, growth often means a physical expansion of an existing store or the opening of additional stores. Is it worth the cost? There are two parts to the answer: finance and marketing. The financial analysis answers the question, "What do we need?" The marketing analysis answers the question, "What will we get?" To get our arms around the analysis requires an extension of my "break-even" discussion in the previous issue.
  • Steve LeFever
  • 29,533 Reads 2 Shares
Franchising has flourished over the past two decades, adding tens of thousands of units and rising on a compound basis faster than most of the industries it operates in. Much of this growth was achieved by franchisee operators who began when they were in their thirties and forties. Today many of them are in their fifties and sixties and looking toward retirement.
  • Darrell Johnson
  • 4,381 Reads 4 Shares
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Two people have figured prominently in Jerry Heath's career. The first is his father, who helped bankroll him when he started out in franchising. The second is Steve Jackson, the president of Hungry Howie's Pizza, who began mentoring Heath at an impressionable age (12).
  • John Carroll
  • 8,776 Reads 2 Shares
It can be difficult enough to get a franchise up and running on your own, or with other operational and investing partners, but it can be downright arduous if family members are involved in the deal. But that's the route some franchisees take and when done properly this management model can provide years of personal and professional harmony. But there are some secrets to making it work. Go in unprepared and you could break up a business and a family.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 15,707 Reads 1 Shares
Opening franchise units in nontraditional locations has been the domain of specialists--but not anymore. With the economy still slumping, lending still tight, and suburban expansion at a standstill, many multi-unit franchisees are exploring the viability of sites such as airports, hotels, colleges, senior centers, highway rest stops, hospitals, and military bases.
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 6,542 Reads
Just like any business, the franchising business is one that I have seen evolve tremendously over the past 30 years. While many of the cornerstones and crucial elements - product, simplicity, control, and support - remain the same, so much is changing.
  • Larry Feldman
  • 4,064 Reads 1 Shares
As we continue to mine Dave Melton's book, Hire the American Dream, I thought it would be interesting to highlight a case study that demonstrates just how successful smart hiring can be. Here Melton describes his experience hiring an immigrant.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 4,596 Reads
Whether you purchase or lease commercial space is one question. Whether you can find good commercial space to purchase is another matter unto itself. Although commercial property purchasing options exist across the country, they are less abundant than leasing opportunities. It is my opinion that, the better the location you need for your own business, the less likely you will be able to find a suitable space for purchase.
  • Dale Willerton
  • 47,067 Reads 4 Shares
Growth. It's everyone's goal, from the large publicly-traded franchise company whose value depends on its growth rate to the new single-unit franchisee excited about replicating his success. Growth is a universal desire. It creates a challenge, which in turn, keeps our lives interesting and vibrant.
  • Michael Pearce
  • 6,148 Reads 363 Shares
When Columbus, Ohio, native Jeff Rigsby was a 16-year-old frying chicken for KFC, he couldn't have foreseen that one day he'd own 21 Bojangles' restaurants.
  • Debbie Selinsky
  • 11,365 Reads 1 Shares
When 19-year-old Atour Eyvazian fled from his native Iran in the early 1980s to escape persecution for being a Christian, he embarked on an odyssey that led through Turkey all the way to Los Angeles.
  • John Carroll
  • 4,719 Reads 23 Shares
Last time we looked at how unit economics offers a progressive strategy for tracking and managing costs and revenue at franchise locations. It's a tool that has become a necessity to many savvy franchisees, and it's a tool that should be in place from day one.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 17,784 Reads 2 Shares
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Cary Albert is sold on the value in unit economics. The Dallas, Texas-area multi-unit franchisee operates Schlotzsky's and Cinnabon locations and says there's no question his operation benefits from keeping an eye on unit performance numbers.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 9,419 Reads 1 Shares
As a franchisee, you may have found it quite easy to secure a lease with a commercial landlord; however, you may face many roadblocks if, or when, you need to terminate your lease.
  • Dale Willerton
  • 39,525 Reads 3 Shares
Pizza franchising is a tough market. The competition is stiff and the recent economic recession really put the squeeze on many franchise operators. But despite pizza price wars and price-sensitive consumers, operators like Glenn Ajmo have discovered a few silver linings that are helping him sustain growth.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 7,282 Reads 1,023 Shares
Dave Melton has learned more than a few lessons during his 28 years as a multi-unit franchisee. The Domino's Pizza operator has ruled the New York DMA, and in 2009, his units took over the number one slot for sales in any Domino's market. All this while his stores generated annual revenue of $6 million.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 4,158 Reads 28 Shares
Bashir Shams spent 28 years with one of franchising's giants. He built a successful company and a prosperous career with his multi-unit Burger King operation in Mississippi. So why would he walk away from that to team up with a relative newcomer to franchising? That's just what we asked him about his latest plans to ultimately open two dozen locations of ZIPS Dry Cleaners on the East Coast.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 4,617 Reads 107 Shares
Restaurant work was just supposed to help Aziz Hashim pay his way as he pursued his life's dream of becoming an electrical engineer. But by the time he landed the "big job" at Rockwell, he discovered that he had been living the dream all along.
  • John Carroll
  • 6,813 Reads 162 Shares
Those pondering a future in franchising face many important decisions. Beyond nuts-and-bolts basics such as raising capital, identifying a brand that fits, and completing the paperwork, are other – just as important – factors to consider. One such topic is what's known as unit economics. Anyone who has ever cracked open a business school textbook understands that the bottom line of the monthly financial statement of any company should reflect profitability – if the company is to survive. When the numbers are in the black the business is generating more than it's spending. It's simplistic but effective. But there can and should be a more sophisticated approach to operating a franchise in a fiscally responsible way.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 18,029 Reads 1 Shares
Franchise Update Media Group (FUMG) the leading industry resource for franchise development, today announced the Multi-Unit Franchisee Conference Advisory Board will meet August 5-6 in Atlanta to plan the 2011 conference agenda. The 2010 event attracted multi-unit operators from food, retail, and service businesses that represented $2 billion in annual revenues.
  • PRESS RELEASE
  • 5,191 Reads 20 Shares
As we work our way out of the current recession, we are already starting to see early signs of life in the merger and acquisition market.
  • Dean Zuccarello
  • 4,519 Reads 69 Shares
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