March 11, 2010
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Your Art Franchise News SourceFranchise News Watch brings you the latest in art franchising news from around the web. As a news aggregator for the art franchise industry, Franchise News Watch streams the latest ground breaking franchise articles, features, guides, blogs, news and more directly to your desktop.  Art Franchise News
Back Creek Christian Academy Wins 2009 "Young Masters" Art ContestTwo young artists from Back Creek Christian Academy have won the premier art contest hosted by Young Masters, a national franchise that showcases children's artwork on lasting keepsakes. SIGNARAMA Now Offers Convenience of Online OrderingSIGNARAMA, the world's largest sign franchise, introduces a new, comprehensive web-based design and ordering service called ShopSIGNARAMA.com. Available 24/7 with a few clicks of the mouse, customers can create their own sign design from scratch...
National Art Contest Aims to Foster Love of Art Education in Elementary SchoolsYoung Masters, a national franchise that showcases children's artwork on lasting keepsakes recently launched its first national art contest, giving elementary schools an added incentive to support art education for their students. PD-go! Web Solutions is Proud to Announce the Official Launch of Version 2 of their PD-go! SystemThe PD-go! System is a user-friendly website content management system that gives non-technical business owners and their staff the ability to easily update content on their custom website themselves, anytime they wish, without being a techie...
Brian and Maggie Harlow Set for Speaking Tour Across Europe on Behalf of Sign-A-Rama October 17-26Maggie and Brian Harlow, owners of Sign-A-Rama Downtown in Louisville and recent inductees into the Sign-A-Rama corporate Hall of Fame, will embark on a speaking tour across Europe on behalf of the national Sign-A-Rama franchise group. Signs Now President Named Allegra Chief Development OfficerAllegra Network LLC, one of the world's largest print and graphic communications franchises, recently announced that Signs Now President Steve White, has been appointed as the company's Chief Development Officer. White will be responsible for managing... Sign-A-Rama Downtown Louisville Launches New Online Ordering SystemSign-A-Rama Downtown has officially launched its new online ordering system allowing customers anywhere, anytime to now order signs from Sign-A-Rama Downtown via the online system using its simple design tools.
Speedpro Imaging Franchise Experiences Explosive Growth With 19 New Franchises NationwideFor the past six months, phrases like "economic meltdown," "negative growth," "layoffs," "recession," even "possible depression" have become so common they are no longer flinch-worthy. Speedpro Imaging paid no heed to this negative economic jargon... Arts After School Bolsters Student Creativity and Academic AchievementAs local parents gear up to prepare their children for a successful 2009-10 school year, ways to foster and reinforce their students' learning are top of mind. Fun, inspiring and educational experiences that positively impact academics can be found in...
Maggie and Brian Harlow & Sign-A-Rama Downtown Inducted Into Corporate Hall of FameSign-A-Rama Downtown owners Maggie and Brian Harlow were recently inducted into the franchise's Hall of Fame during World Expo 2009 – United Franchise Group's (UFG) annual exposition for its franchises. Sign-A-Rama is UFG's largest franchise with mo
KidzArt Announces Expansion into IndonesiaKidzArt, an international children's art enrichment franchise company, today announced the opening of its new master franchisee in Jakarta, Indonesia. In its efforts to continue building its international market, KidzArt's added expansion in Asia is... PD-go! Web Solutions will be presenting their business Tuesday June 16 at the Career Solutions Expo in Ft LauderdaleSteven Schwartz, one of the owners of PD-go! Franchising Company LLC, a Florida-based company that offers franchises of PD-go! Web Solutions businesses, will be presenting his business at the Career Solutions Expo Tuesday, June 16, 2009, at the Ft Lauderd PD-go! Web Solutions will be presenting their business this weekend, May 30-31, at the franchise trade show at the Broward County Convention Center inSteven and Pamela Schwartz, the owners of PD-go! Franchising Company LLC, a Florida-based company that offers franchises of PD-go! Web Solutions businesses, will be presenting their business this weekend, May 30-31, 2009, at the franchise trade show at th
KidzArt Partners with IKEA and Toys R Us to Bring Art Enrichment to Children Throughout the WorldKidzArt, an international children's art enrichment franchise company, announced its partnership with IKEA and Toys R Us in Kuwait and Singapore respectively to help bring art education to children in those countries. AlphaGraphics Announces New Executive Hires, PromotionsAlphaGraphics, Inc. announced today several changes to the senior management team. The company is proud to introduce Sharon Cook as its new director of marketing and public relations, and Eli Sackett as e-commerce consultant.
PD-go! Franchising Company, LLC., announces considerable discount of franchise fee for PD-go! Web Solutions franchisesPD-go! Franchising Company recently started offering franchises for sale of its flagship web design business system and product, however, due to the current national economic climate, its owners, Steve and Pam Schwartz, decided to dramatically lower the p Making Things Happen with Business Ownership Despite Tough EconomyIn these uncertain economic times, being able to control one's own destiny is critical to new business owner Jay Henderson, a local resident of Laguna Hills. Earlier this month, Henderson opened a Grins 2 Go® mobile franchise business that specializes
Abrakadoodle Wins 2009 "Go Green" AwardAbrakadoodle Remarkable Art Education was recently recognized with the "Go Green" Award from S&S® Worldwide as part of a campaign to recognize educational organizations that are taking leadership positions in raising awareness for environmental... PD-go! Web Solutions Introduces Franchise Opportunities in Florida and GeorgiaVero Beach, FL April 22, 2009…PD-go! Web Solutions is pleased to announce the launch of their new company, PD-go! Franchising Company, LLC with franchise opportunities in select territories in Florida and Georgia. Day Camp: Affordable Summer Alternative to Sleep Away CampAs families across the nation struggle in the current economy, many are tightening their belts when it comes to how much they spend on their kids' summer camps. The joys of kids' summer camps can still be within reach for parents who look to day camps...
International Art Franchise Co. Announces Top Honors In Nationwide Student ArtworkKidzArt, an international children's art enrichment franchise company, announced its 2009 Featured Youth Artists in honor of National Youth Art Month. The following five children were chosen from kids around the nation based on creativity, age of...
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Features & Special ReportsMeasuring Performance: Multi-unit Franchisees Utilize Unit Economics to Help Run a Tighter ShipMulti-unit franchisee Todd Pulley knows all about measuring unit performance and profitability - even though he had no prior financial background before becoming a franchisee. Over the last 15 years though, he has developed and refined his own system for measuring his unit economics at his four PuroClean locations in New Jersey and Delaware. The effort is paying off. Is it Time for an Operating Cost Audit?: Franchise Tenants Unite!When was the last time you challenged a landlord or property manager about the operating expenses or common area maintenance (CAM) charges? Probably not recently or never, right? To clarify, operating costs are the day-to-day management and maintenance expenses charged to the tenant; examples include asphalt repairs, snow removal, property insurance, and so on. Franchise tenants pay a proportionate share of these costs based on the space they occupy. Therefore, if a franchise tenant occupies 12 percent of a building, he or she will pay for 12 percent of the operating costs. Paying by this said ratio is the industry standard but, of course, there are deviations for special circumstances like free-standing buildings and so on. "Old School" Communication: Cell Phone Texting Builds Customer TrafficConsidering the wide-ranging abilities of today's smartphones, simple text messaging may seem passé, but it's a basic social media tool that's working wonders for Chris Kramolis' franchise operation. He's been using text messages to build business and compile a database of his customers--and he doesn't see any reason to deviate from something that's working. Discovering Oil: Multi-unit Operator Strikes it Rich with Oil Change FranchisesDarrell Lamb remembers toiling away in the heyday of the mid-90s stock market. He was always searching for new investors, and on the lookout for hot investments. One day some of his advisers told him about an opportunity - a chance to invest in the Express Oil Change franchise. He had reason to trust the advisers since they were his uncle, who was president of the company, and his dad, an Alabama optometrist who was always interested in investing in growing ventures. Capital AccessDustin Winkle was a victim of the dot-com crash a few years back. While pondering his next career move, he visited with family members who operated some dry cleaning stores. He liked what he heard and purchased his first Martinizing Dry Cleaners stores six hours away in Yakima, Wash. It was a long commute from his home in Boise, Idaho, but he loved the business. Three years later his family was ready to sell its dry cleaning stores and Winkle was more than happy to buy some units closer to home. Today he operates 10 Martinizing Dry Cleaning stores (and one non-Martinizing unit) in the Boise area. Multi-Tasking: What It Takes To Be A Successful Multi-Unit FranchiseeTwenty years ago, franchising meant buying the rights to and opening a single unit or business. But a changing trend has taken hold during the last two decades. Today, it's not uncommon for a single franchise operator to have 5, 6, or even dozens of units. FRANdata research notes the number of multi-unit operators now tops 34,000, and those operators control more than 155,000 franchised units in the U.S. It's a growth strategy that has proven effective but it should be approached with caution. Multi-unit operators are generally wired differently then their single-unit counterparts. Successful multi-unit operators are typically experienced, skilled, professional business executives who have chosen franchising as their business model. They possess the skills, training, capital, infrastructure, and vision to operate numerous units and have the ability to continue adding units to their portfolio--without stressing their organization or their stomach. Episode 006: The Benefits of a Franchise ModelFranchising provides benefits for both seller and buyer. For franchisors, the primary benefit is the ability to use other people's money to expand the brand more rapidly than they could either on their own or through investors or lenders. The initial franchise fee and ongoing royalties they collect allow franchisors to build their brand without sacrificing control to outsiders or the pressure of repaying lenders. Measure for Measure: Unit Economics Plays a Leading Role on Today's Economic StageThe most fundamental business strategy calls for black numbers on the bottom line. In simplest terms, it's proof the business is generating more cash than it is spending. All too often, though, entrepreneurs get involved in businesses without employing a proper system to help them keep a watchful eye on what they're earning and what they're spending. Managing day-to-day operations can be so time-consuming that it leaves little room for financial analysis. Or perhaps key individuals lack a basic understanding of how to read and interpret financial statements. Combine these factors with the down economy, and you'll likely wind up with a troubled business. Service Based Franchising: Where the Action IsLast week we ended our discussion of service concepts with the point that many of these businesses are based on customers making the choice to trade money (surplus) for time (deficit). The example we used was maid services, where time-starved customers spend money to buy time they can spend with their family and friends. Other examples of businesses built on services that customers could perform themselves but choose to pay someone else for include lawn and landscaping services, residential painting, oil change, and installation of home entertainment systems. Seven Steps to Fiscal Fitness: A "Fiscal Physical" Will Help Your Business Survive, Grow, and ProsperIn the few minutes it takes you to read this article, 40 businesses across the nation will fail--and that statistic was [i]before[/i] the economic downturn of the last 24 months. Tragic? Yes. Remarkable? Not at all. The road to business success is littered with the skeletons of companies whose owners--mostly brilliant and skilled individuals--failed to "take care of business" in the financial management of their enterprise.
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