The Franchise King Blog

If CIT Goes Down, Franchising Will Suffer

2009-07-15T22:27:16-04:00

{ Bill Horton, a prospective franchise owner, freaks out while watching CNBC describe CIT''s $ troubles}

CIT does a lot of franchise loans. Let me repeat;

CIT does a lot of franchise loans. And they may be in trouble.

Many have speculated that a collapse of this overextended lender could affect borrowing for businesses across the nation. At special risk, a Washington trade group said, are franchised businesses, such as restaurants and fitness clubs, for which CIT has been among the largest originators of loans.

So now what? What if CIT hits the fail button?

The International Franchise Association is stepping in to put some heat on lawmakers. According to a story over at Cleveland.com;

"The International Franchise Association this week urged President Barack Obama and U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to keep CIT solvent with bailout money, whatever the cost. As other lenders cut back on small business lending over the past 18 months, owners of franchised businesses have fewer options for operating capital, the group said. Business launches suffer, too, in times of tight credit."

Business launches suffer. Oh yes they do. It's been tough enough to get a small business loan these days to begin with, and if CIT fails, the other lenders will continue their start-up paranoia, and stagnancy will invade the franchise industry. {Again}

The above worst case scenario may not happen, but it may be time for all of us in the franchise industry to put our collective heads together, and help CIT, somehow.

C'mon. You've never heard of a bank stimulus package?

What about this, President Obama?

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New Franchise Contest Launched!

2009-07-13T21:14:05-04:00

The Franchise King Needs A New Crown.

Current Crown;

My current crown was just mistaken for a popcorn bag.

I am hurt. I am embarrassed. And I am starting my search for a new one.

I have approached my 126 "fans"on The Franchise King fan page on Facebook. {That's a hint. I'm looking for more fans. Trying to build a community, you know!}

Now I am reaching out to my blog readers.

Here is the formal contest announcement from the Facebook fan page;

OK. So a fan of mine asks me if I was a Seinfeld fan. I wasn't. {I worked on the night the show was on} She says that my CROWN looks like bag of popcorn, which reminds her of an episode in which some dude is an appliance salesperson. Something about "The Wiz."

Does anyone know which episode she is referring to? Please find the video of it! on YouTube. I'd love to see it.

Update! My friend Jim Evans found the video in a record 77 seconds. Thank you Jim!

I need some help. If you all think my CROWN is weak at best, can someone find me a better one? If you can, I'll pay you for it. {Up to $25}

As a matter of fact, if you can get it to me somehow, I'll not only pay you for it, but I'll add a $100 bill to your wallet. {Only one winner in this contest, please}

The best thing to do would be to send me a picture of the crown, first.

AND, I'll do a post on The Franchise King blog about it, feature you, and link to whatever non-pornographic or non-Google Adsense site you wish.

Let's call it;

The "Help The Franchise King Find A New Crown" contest!*

*This contest is open to US citizens, family members, twice removed cousins of family members, kids over the age of 9, high school graduates, Canadian citizens, and whoever else can help me find a new CROWN that's a part of the same food chain as The Franchise King."

Void where prohibited, but since this is the age of transparency, who really gives a hoot.

One more thing. My daughter, Grace-The Franchise Princess, who is now a "friend" of mine on Facebook, cannot enter. I'm cold. Too bad.

The Franchise King
Joel Libava

Thank you. Please find me a new crown. I am hurting, royally.

Franchise Marketing; Connect With Your Customers And Franchisees Via Mobile Devices

2009-07-13T00:00:23-04:00

{This is a guest post from Linda Daichendt, President/CEO/Managing Consultant of Strategic Growth Concepts.}

Given the precarious state of today’s economy, franchise organizations are on ‘high alert’ for new ways of increasing their franchise development capabilities and helping their franchisees to increase revenues. While recent technology advances provide a variety of methodologies that can be useful in achieving these goals, there is one that has only recently come to the forefront of marketer’s awareness – Mobile Marketing. While you may not yet have heard a lot about it, be assured that in the very near future, you will need to know as much about it as you previously needed to know about direct mail, telemarketing, radio or TV.

Consider the cell phone and its capabilities if you will: recent studies indicate that there are currently more than 272 million mobile phone users in the U.S. (89% of the total population); of those phones, 99% are text capable and 57% of those mobile subscribers use texting on a regular basis; 15% of active mobile phones have the ability to utilize mobile web applications and 44 million people regularly access the mobile web from their cell phones; and over 84% of cell phone owners won’t leave home without the device.

These statistics lend legitimacy to the school of thought that indicates that Mobile Marketing is likely to become a substantial portion of corporate marketing budget expenditures within the next few years. Given that, marketers will likely be intrigued by the following facts about Mobile Marketing derived from recent studies: over 80% of consumers respond to SMS messages within 1 hour; 23% of SMS campaign messages are forwarded and become viral; and the messages sent via mobile are actionable and trackable thru specific consumer replies.

I recently gave a presentation to a group of franchisors and franchisees on the topic of Mobile Marketing for franchises, and how its use can aid franchise growth and profitability. I was very pleased by the group's positive response and interest in the topic, and the many excellent questions that were posed by the event attendees. Given the high level of interest by that group, I thought blog readers from the franchising industry might have an interest in the topic as well. Therefore, I wanted to share some basic Mobile Marketing information, as well as provide several ideas for how it can be utilized in a franchising environment.

Types of Mobile Marketing

First, let's review what it is. Mobile Marketing is a simple to use, targeted and measurable method of reaching consumers anywhere, anytime via their mobile phones. There are a variety of methods of Mobile Marketing, among them are:

SMS (short message service- Also known as 'texting'}

MMS (multi-media message service} Messages that contain multi-media objects such as images, video and audio

Browser-based web services such as the World Wide Web using a mobile device

Bluetooth (short-range wireless technology; up to approx. 33 ft)

There is also something called proximity marketing

Proximity marketing is the localized wireless distribution of advertising content associated with a particular place. In other words, if you have a cell phone in the proximity of a marketing broadcast, you would be able to receive a message or advertisement.

Location-Based Marketing

Delivers multi-media directly to the user of a mobile device dependent upon their location via GPS technology

QR Codes (quick-response barcodes)

Two-dimensional barcode

Voice

Mobile Banner Ads

Here are a couple of ways in which franchise organizations can utilize Mobile Marketing;

A franchisor can communicate with all franchisees in their organization at one time via text message to remind them about an upcoming deadline or special event, insuring a timely and consistent message delivery

A fitness club franchise can post class schedules or let potential customers sign up for an initial free visit on their mobile device

A plumbing franchise can list rates and emergency numbers for consumer referral

There are many more examples, and I'll be more than happy to share them with you. can easily share

Mobile Marketing is one of the most measurable advertising mediums available.

I encourage you to explore the benefits of Mobile Marketing for your organization.

{You can learn more about this cutting-edge Marketing medium by visiting our website, or contacting us via email at info@strategicgrowthconcepts.com to schedule a Free initial consultation.}

7 Franchises In One

2009-07-10T07:13:45-04:00

The business model of franchising is a great one. The good ones are very innovative. And very smart. Here's a fairly new one out of the foothills of the Appalachians. Innovate. Or be the same.

From Dane Carlson's blog;

"While they do specialize in signs, that is not all. Imprint In Time also does trophies, shirts, hats, coffee mugs, and a variety of promotional items. The printing possibilities for one of their franchises is endless."

The 7

1. Signs are a stand alone business

2. Awards and trophies are a stand alone business

3. Screen printing shirts & hats is a stand alone business

4. Embroidering shirts and hats is a stand alone business

5. Reprographics (blueprints) is a stand alone business

6. Printing is a stand alone business

7. Promotional products and personalized gifts is a stand alone business.

Read more about Imprint In Time

Your Franchise Search; Where To Start

2009-07-09T08:34:33-04:00

Recently, I had the honor of being a member of the AllBusiness.com blog team, and was able to contribute some franchise/small business content to this highly ranked Dun & Bradstreet owned website.

Here's an article I wrote for them that will really help those of you that are just starting to look into this great business model;

"There are about 3,500 franchise and business opportunities to choose from. What are your chances of finding one that is a nice fit for your personality traits, your professional background, and your lifestyle desires? Even if you are not schooled in statistics {or in my case, Pre-Algebra} , there must be some chance in finding an opportunity in franchise ownership. Even if you are in a negative frame of mind because of the economy, the job market, or some nice home based nagging, you have to be able to see some light at the end of the tunnel, right?"

Continue reading it over at AllBusiness.com {To find out how to start the process}

Here's 27+ more articles on franchising.

My friend Rieva Lesonsky, the former editor of Entrepreneur magazine, writes there too. Look