March 11, 2010
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Your Construction Franchise News SourceFranchise News Watch brings you the latest in construction franchising news from around the web. As a news aggregator for the construction franchise industry, Franchise News Watch streams the latest ground breaking franchise articles, features, guides, blogs, news and more directly to your desktop.  Construction Franchise NewsF.C. Dadson to Participate in Help for the Homeless ProgramF.C. Dadson is excited to announce that we will once again be participating in the annual Northeast Wisconsin Help for the Homeless donation drive. Sponsored by Christian Family Radio with the help of Festival Foods and WFRV Channel 5, the Help for the... F.C. Dadson To Sponsor Speaker At Franchise Development ConferenceF.C. Dadson is please to announce that it will once again be a sponsor at this year's Franchise Development and Leadership Conference. Branding Your EnvironmentIn his newest article, "Branding Your Environment: Infusing Personality into Your Store Design," retail consultant Troy Schwehr takes a look at how retailers can use their brand to bring their stores to life. F.C. Dadson Welcomes New Designer To TeamF.C. Dadson is pleased to welcome Sandi Dahlke to the company's design team. Flexible FixturesOn average, retailers revamp their design concepts every five to seven years. What about the four to six years in between? Retail consultant Tim Matey helps answer that question with his latest article, "Flexible Fixtures: Adding Flexibility to Keep Displ F.C. Dadson To Attend PCBC 2008F.C. Dadson announces that it will again be attending the Pacific Coast Builders' Conference. Proclaimed as being homebuilding's premier tradeshow and conference, PCBC 2008 will take place June 24-27 at the Mascone Center in San Francisco. The New Look Of LaminateIn his newest article, "The New Look of Laminate,"retail consultant Larry Myer invites readers to take a second look at an economical material alternative – laminate. F.C. Dadson To Exhibit At 2008 Retail Construction ExpoF.C. Dadson is pleased to announce that it will once again be an exhibitor at the Retail Construction Expo. F.C. Dadson To Attend World Tea ExpoF.C. Dadson is excited to announce that it will be attending the upcoming World Tea Expo. Feminine AppealIn his newest article, "Feminine Appeal: Designing for Female Consumers," Troy Schwehr explores how elements of store design can be modified to appeal more to women. "Research has shown that women's influence over purchase decisions has increased... F.C. Dadson To Attend Kitchen/bath Industry ShowF.C. Dadson is pleased to announce that it will be attending this year's Kitchen/Bath Industry Show, taking place April 11-13 at Chicago's McCormick Place. Making It WorkFor his newest article, "Making It Work: Break through Location Restraints to Create Incredible Stores," Tim Matey looks at how retailers are achieving amazing store environments under less than ideal conditions. F.C. Dadson To Attend International Home & Housewares ShowF.C. Dadson is excited to announce that it will once again be attending the International Home & Housewares Show at Chicago's McCormick Place. F.C. Dadson To Attend Outdoor Retailer Winter MarketF.C. Dadson announces that it will be attending the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market, taking place January 23-26, 2008 at Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City. Smoothing The Permitting ProcessIn his first article, “Smoothing the Permitting Process: Tips to Reduce Roadblocks & Get Your Permits More Efficiently,” construction manager Rick Cline offers advice on how to get through the fickle construction permit process as quickly as possi F.C. Dadson Welcomes Construction Manager To TeamF.C. Dadson is proud to announce the addition of Rick Cline to its new Construction Management team. Rick comes to F.C. Dadson with over a decade of construction-related experience as a manager for a contactor-based building material supply house, and... F.C. Dadson Adds Construction Management DivisionF.C. Dadson announces the recent creation of its Construction Management division. Headed by Construction Manager Rick Cline, the new division will assist F.C. Dadson customers through the permitting and construction phases of their build out projects... F.C. Dadson To Exhibit At Franchise Expo SouthF.C. Dadson is proud to announce that it will be exhibiting at this year's Franchise Expo South. |
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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