Vintner’s Circle is a franchised winemaking shop operating five franchised stores and one corporate store throughout New Jersey and Pennsylvania.  Vintner’s Circle announced today it has been approved by the U.S. Small Business Administration for listing on the SBA Franchise Registry, which will expedite the process for franchisees to get loans to start or expand their businesses with Vintner’s Circle.

Fewer than 30 percent of all franchise systems qualify for listing on the registry, which is an online national registry of franchise systems. Applicants must submit their franchise contracts to ensure compliance with strict SBA criteria.

“We wanted to give our prospective franchisees every advantage to secure financing for their new winemaking shops in this challenging credit environment,” said Vintners Circle Franchising president David Schmeltzle. “We believe getting on the SBA Registry is a major step in our franchise development plans.”

Vintner’s Circle has targeted a number of markets for growth, including New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Connecticut.

Vintner’s Circle winemaking shops enable friends and family to spend time together while making great tasting wine during four easy steps. With more than 80 varieties to choose from, you will be able to handcraft that perfect wine. Guaranteed.

About Vintners Circle

Devoted to providing a fun and enjoyable consumer winemaking experience, Vintner’s Circle is a market leader providing franchised winemaking shops that include exceptional wine education, operational support and customer marketing programs.

For more information:

Interview with Vintner’s Circle founder David Schmeltzle.

Vintner’s Circle franchise listing.

Vintner’s Circle FanWall (fan comments)

According to the company, “Mosquito Squad offers an affordable, proven and effective way to control mosquitoes and other insects within the perimeter of your property. Part of Outdoor Living Brands’ franchise company based in Richmond, VA, Mosquito Squad keeps families, residences, and special events insect-free by applying an approved barrier spray around a property, killing the harmful pests within it.”

According to Mosquito Squad, a key advantage to their franchise program are the multiple potential revenue streams. There are three different revenue opportunities available as a franchise owner: the Barrier Spray Program, Misting System and Special Event Spraying. Each one has a different price point designed to appeal to homeowners in need of an outdoor pest management solution.

Another advantage is quick start-up.  The company claims that, in most cases, you can be up and running within 30 days. The initial three-day training takes place in Richmond, Virginia.

Mosquito Squad began franchising in 2005 and has a start-up investment between $32,000 and $57,000.

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On-site digitization and storage of personal and business documents, photos, video and more.

Contact information for franchise program:

Christian Faulconer
936 South 2000 West, Springville, Utah 84663

(801) 704-6501.

Description: What iPreserve does is take your personal memories such as pictures, video, slides, or documents and converts, organizes and preserves them into a digital format. iPreserve provides a local or even onsite transfer, digitization or scan of information from any media. Each iPreserve franchise office is backed by the strength of a national corporate office.

On-site digitization and storage or personal and business photos, documents, and more…

What iPreserve does is take your personal memories such as pictures, video, slides, or documents and converts, organizes and preserves them into a digital format. iPreserve provides a local or even onsite transfer, digitization or scan of information from any media.

In an exclusive interview with TopNewFranchises.com, iPreserve Founder & VP of Franchise Support Matt Bills explains both the iPreserve service and the iPreserve franchise opportunity.

Top New Franchises: How do you describe the iPreserve franchise concept?

Matt: iPreserve is a franchise that focuses on saving memories and simplifying life. iPreserve franchisees provide on-site conversion of physical media–photos, documents, videos, slides, film, etc. to a digital file.   iPreserve caters to both residential and business customers.  Once we have digitized the media, we can assist in recommending tools for organizing, sharing, and enjoying those memories.

Top New Franchises: Do franchisees work from home or do they operate a retail storefront?

Matt: Franchisees have the option to do either, and we help them decide based on what’s best for their local market and their personal preference.  We encourage franchise owners to keep their overhead as low as possible, so many choose to operate from home offices or other inexpensive space.  Others have locations where the marketing benefits and visibility of a storefront more than offset the costs of having a retail space.  iPreserve concept is both flexible and scalable, allowing the franchisee to choose.

Top New Franchises: When did you launch the your franchise program? How many franchises are up and running? Is the chain growing?

Matt: Yes, growing quickly. We just recently launched the franchise program and the response has been great.  We have franchise locations in Princeton, New Jersey, Twin Falls, Pocatello, and Boise, Idaho and Salt Lake City, Utah.  We’re developing company-owned locations in Salt Lake City, Provo and Southern, Utah and Arizona.

Top New Franchises: Where are you looking to expand? What types of markets and demographics work best?

Matt: We’re looking to expand in places that contain a strong suburban population.  Our largest market is residential, with businesses a close second.  Demographically, suburban households are the greatest market opportunity since they are constantly creating media and making memories, with continuously shrinking time to digitize and/or manage it all.  The nice part about iPreserve is that franchisees have the flexibility to market to both consumers as well as businesses.  With businesses, they will be doing mostly document scanning, and with consumers, they will be digitizing almost every type of media, from video to slides, negatives, photos, and film.

Top New Franchises: What is the need in the marketplace that iPreserve franchise owners will meet? How does iPreserve’s solutions differ from competing programs?

Matt: iPreserve franchise owners meet the need of saving not only the client’s memories, but also saving them time and money.   Our lives are getting busier and more complicated.  This is a growing trend, with no signs of stopping.   None of us have the time to figure out how to digitize or manage all of our memories.

Most of us have a scanner, but we all have a schedule.  Hands down, our schedule will win over the scanner.  This has created a growing market where each of us have a large amount of media, a strong desire to preserve it, and a decreasing amount of time or resources to accomplish that goal.

iPreserve was created to serve this need.  It saves us time by utilizing high-end equipment to digitize all of our media quickly instead of one-at-a-time like most consumer’s equipment.  iPreserve saves the client money because the comparative cost to purchase the digitizing equipment, software, as well as time spent learning everything would easily take ten times the amount of money than simply using the service.  It would be like purchasing an entire mountain to go skiing, instead of just buying a lift ticket.

Top New Franchises:  How does iPreserve differ from competing digitization services?

Matt: iPreserve is different (and better) than competing programs for many reasons, but there are four main reasons that will not only differentiate you from competitors but also help you grow your profitability:  First, we digitize everything.  Most competitors will only do one or two media types. We have done everything from 16th century Danish land records, to photos from two years ago as well as every other type of media and condition. This also means that you can approach both businesses as well as consumers.  You can easily go from an appointment to digitize documents for a law firm to an appointment to digitize photos for a household client.

Second, we “meet the client where the client wants to be met”, which is, we provide the service on a local basis, instead of having a single, central location–which forces clients to send their priceless memories through the mail.  Our main competitors forward their client’s items to India. The next one sends their client’s items to Costa Rica.  No one wants to risk the loss or damage of their irreplaceable items.

We also offer the option to go to the home of clients and digitize their photos and documents right in the privacy and convenience of their own home or office.  We can scan 1500 photos or documents per hour at the client’s location.   This is an unheard-of and fantastic option for many clients, and it is a great time to have them refer neighbors and friends.  We have found the local service, as well as the option to go to the client to be a real game-changer in the market.  It really places the iPreserve franchisee above the rest.

Third, we offer membership plans.  No one else out there offers plans that make the service approachable or affordable.  This allows you to expand your market to clients that want to do the service but are hesitant about price.  This means continued cash flow and a wider market.

Fourth, we keep a copy of everything we do for clients.  Instead of just providing the service and moving on to a new client, you can continue to profit from each client because you have kept a copy of everything.  This provides both peace of mind to them that there is a remote backup, but also a way to continually upsell each client whenever new media formats emerge.

Top New Franchises: Tell us a little bit about the kind of person who would make a good iPreserve franchise owner? What are the backgrounds of some of your franchise owners?

Matt: The people best suited to own an iPreserve office are people that simply like helping other people. They don’t have to possess the ambition of Donald Trump or the technical capability of Bill Gates. It doesn’t hurt, but people that are the best match are the ones that look around them and see possibilities, they enjoy helping others and finding a solution. If you like memories and are a people-person, you can own an iPreserve location.

Top New Franchises: What qualities are important to you in selecting new franchisees for your system? What makes a good franchisee?

Matt: A good franchisee is one that is willing to constantly communicate with their clients, understand the nuances of their local market, and communicate often and objectively with the corporate office.  We want to hear from the franchisees, and we want to hear success stories as well as ways we can improve the service offering.  We want to know what works and what doesn’t work.  We want to understand how we can help them.  You asked us what makes a good franchisee, but we also feel strongly about what makes a good franchise system.  With iPreserve, we have built a franchise system with the idea that “…the franchisees don’t exist to serve the franchise.  The franchise exists to serve the franchisee…”

Top New Franchises: How do iPreserve franchise owners attract new customers? How do they create repeat business?

Matt: iPreserve franchise owners attract new customers using mostly active sales campaigns. This means that franchisees aren’t simply throwing their name onto a billboard or the phonebook–but they are actively pursuing new clients through multiple sales campaigns–whether those are partnerships with complimentary services, or even running a door-to-door sales program. We have found that active sales are the way to unlock this industry.

There is a huge market for these services, but the inexperienced person will assume that clients will just magically appear.  They won’t. The small group of competitors that we have spend large amounts of money to advertise their services with only a modest return.  With active sales, it is a more difficult approach, but it can deliver phenomenal results.

This product offering is considered highly-desired, yet not actively sought-after.  Everyone wants to save their memories.   They have thought about it, but they never get around to actually accomplishing this.  This is considered the ’someday project’.  ’Someday, I’ll scan all of my pictures…’ we tell ourselves. But as we get more busy, that ’someday’ is pushed further away.  iPreserve’s support and training shows you how to engage these clients, act as a catalyst, and unlock the market in your area.

Repeat business comes in three different forms; first, is through our membership plans, since our clients are typically purchasing membership plans instead of just making a transaction, they are generating a constant cash flow on a monthly basis for two to three years.

Second, is the referral and affiliate plans with others.  Clients can have free services done when they refer someone else.  Affiliate plans with other local complimentary businesses, such as wedding videographers, accountants, insurance agents, law firms, funeral homes, and others, creates a new channel of clients for you.

Third, is through archiving.  We keep a copy of everything we convert for our clients.  That means that you can charge a monthly or annual fee for keeping an off-site backup of their most priceless possessions.  Most competitors simply convert the media and give it back.  If that client were to have a disaster, they lose both the original and the digitized copy.  With iPreserve, you can charge a nominal fee for archiving digital copies for these clients.  Not only that, you can continue to migrate these digital copies to new media types, such as Blu-Ray discs for continued revenue from each client.

Top New Franchises: Of the training and support services you provide franchisees, which do you think are most valuable to their long-term success?

Matt: I think the largest part of the training is based on how to actively sell and market to clients, as well as how to operate efficiently and profitably.  On the technical training side, we will not just show you how to convert media, but more importantly, how to process media with the least effort and greatest quality, as well as the operational side of the business, such as, how to pay your staff and keep track of orders.

Top New Franchises: What role does technology play in your organization?

Matt: Technology does play a strong role in the development of the services, but I would say the largest factor for success is improvement, ingenuity and innovation.  Any company can be technologically savvy but still not understand their clients.  I have seen many technologically adept companies that are completely oblivious of the potential or problems around them.   The way we leverage technology is by staying on top of the latest developments, and then seeing if there are implications or potential improvements for our clients.   This helps our clients since they do not feel forced to stay abreast of every new technology.  Instead of each client trying to individually learn and figure out the most cutting edge technology, there is now a company with national strength and a local presence to do that for them.    This improves the product offering of each franchisee and keeps each client closely tied to iPreserve.

Top New Franchises: What makes iPreserve different from other franchise opportunities? How is it a unique opportunity?

Matt: iPreserve stands alone in terms of scalability, flexibility, and opportunity for the franchisee.  We have worked hard to craft a great offering for potential franchisees.  This is the right type of franchise model, at the right time.

Regarding timing, it couldn’t be more right.  We are living in a time that straddles the physical and digital age.  We have a growing number of baby-boomers that need this service.  We have an aging population that is computer-averse.  Right now, everyone is able to enjoy the digital age, yet still have physical media, but still not have the time or know-how to convert everything.  We live in a time where those that are technologically-capable have no time to do this for themselves, and those that do have the time, are typically not technologically-capable.

The franchisees have the ability to start small, with virtually no fixed costs and grow to the level that matches their ambition.  Most franchise systems force their franchisees to purchase expensive and bulky equipment, hire personnel on an hourly basis, regardless of productivity or profitability, as well as immediately bind them into a lease for a building or commercial space.  iPreserve can be started out of your garage or spare room.  As you grow and find that you need to service new or different media types, you can decide whether to expand by purchasing the equipment or have the corporate office handle particular media types which makes it extremely scalable. If you choose to have a particular focus in terms of media type, you can simply purchase more pieces of equipment to handle higher volume, which makes the franchise extremely modular.  You can ramp up productivity and profitability simply by adding individual pieces of equipment to your franchise.

iPreserve is also extremely agile.  You can move between the consumer and household market for digitizing videos, or go into the commercial and B2B markets and start to provide services to businesses, municipalities, and other organizations.  Since all of these digitizing services are provided on a local basis, there is a huge opportunity for franchisees.  Just like local photocopy franchises were popular in the 1980’s, local scanning and digitizing franchises will be popular now and in the future.

Top New Franchises: What do you see as being the greatest non-financial rewards of being part of the iPreserve franchise family?

Matt: I have seen alot of cool services offered by companies.  I rarely see a service that where clients actually cry with happiness when they see the results.  I have seen that many times with iPreserve.  iPreserve’s services go beyond the typical services, and get right to helping the critical–people’s lives.  We’ve found that people’s jobs are to make memories, and our job is to save them.

Top New Franchises: Anything else you’d like to share?

Matt: I like the way we have structured the company to empower the franchisee.  They have the ability to move as fast as they want, be as ambitious as they want, serve the market they want, as well as have a seasonal or home-based business if they want.  It definitely has legs. The difference has come from our partnership with the Franchise Foundry, a company that provides a strategic growth partnership and knows the ins and outs of franchising.

Top New Franchises: Thanks for sharing with us, Matt.

Matt: Thanks for the opportunity.

Home-based tutoring franchise for experienced educators.

Contact information for franchise program:
Jan W. Van Blarcum, Ph.D.
Founder, Creative Tutors
214-282-6268
janvb@creativetutors.com

Description:  Creative Tutors franchisees operate a home-based educational tutoring business serving students from grades PK-12. Creative Tutors franchisees enjoy training and support systems and an Internet-based reporting and accounting system that enables them to concentrate on marketing their services and building their businesses in their protected territories.

WHY IS CREATIVE TUTORS A TOP NEW FRANCHISE?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

Creative Tutors franchisees operate a home-based educational tutoring business serving students from grades PK-12. Creative Tutors franchisees enjoy training and support systems and an Internet-based reporting and accounting system that enables them to concentrate on marketing their services and building their businesses in their protected territories.

Top New Franchises had a chance to learn more from Creative Tutors founder Jan Van Blarcum.

Learn more at our Creative Tutors franchise listing. Share a comment on the Creative Tutors FanWall.

Top New Franchises: How do you describe the Creative Tutors franchise concept?

Jan: Creative Tutors franchise is designed to be an opportunity that’s both personally and financially rewarding for professional educators who desire their own businesses. Purchasing a Creative Tutors franchise will gives franchisees all the advantages of owning a home-based business, while allowing them to avoid the initial conception and inevitable learning curve associated with beginning from scratch.

Top New Franchises: What is the need in the marketplace that Creative Tutors franchise owners will meet?

Jan: Creative Tutors provides expert, one-on-one assistance tailored to the specific needs of each child. Our highly trained educators evaluate each student’s individual learning style and develop a customized program pinpointing the skills that require extra attention.

In order to develop a personalized learning plan for the child, our staff discusses concerns with parents, the students and, often, with the student’s teachers. Once a plan is in place, our tutors continually monitor student progress and make any changes necessary.

This customized approach combined with individualized attention allows children to experience less adjustment time and makes their sessions much more productive. Results are quickly realized. Children reach their potential and develop a love for learning that will last a lifetime.

Top New Franchises: What are the qualifications of your tutors?

Jan: Our expert tutors are certified to teach all subject areas – including mathematics, language arts, foreign languages, social studies, science, and history – for grades PK-12. Parents feel confident, as their child is working with a professional, licensed educator. In fact, many of our tutors have received Teacher of the Year and Presidential Awards; hold master’s degrees; and possess highly specialized training in education and child development.

Top New Franchises: Tell us a little bit about the kind of person who would make a good Creative Tutors franchise owner?

Jan: While our franchise owners will not be tutoring (at least extensively) themselves, they should be experienced, professional educators capable of recruiting, evaluating and managing their team of quality educators. They should have great personal and presentation skills so that they can promote and build relationships with parents and the educational community.

Top New Franchises: What qualities are important to you in selecting new franchisees for your system? What makes a good franchisee?

Jan: We really want franchisees who are passionate about education and helping students and families succeed. Our franchise is perfect for educators who want to renew the passion for teaching that led them to this career choice in the first place, but who are eager to get the rewards they richly deserve.

Top New Franchises: Creative Tutors is a home-based business. What advantages does being home-based afford to your franchise owners?

Jan: Being home-based is a significant advantage over franchises such as Huntington or Sylvan Learning that must incur significant upfront costs, high ongoing overhead and long-term leases. We have none of that.

Top New Franchises: How do Creative Tutors franchise owners attract new customers? How do they create repeat business?

Jan: Our marketing programs are really both community based and educationally based. Our franchisees must be an active part of the local community and get involved with local PTAs, parent and community groups, as well as promoting to and supporting the local school systems. We have programs to generate strong referral and word-of-mouth business.

Top New Franchises: Of the training and support services you provide franchisees, which do you think are most valuable to their long-term success?

Jan: Creative Tutors franchisees enjoy extensive training and support systems, as well as an Internet-based reporting and accounting system that enables them to concentrate on marketing their services and building their business

Top New Franchises: What do you see as being the greatest non-financial rewards of being part of the Creative Tutors franchise family?

Jan: Our franchise is really geared to provide lifelong learning support to families. Just as families have a family doctor for their health needs and an accountant for their financial needs, we seek to be the resource that helps families reach their educational and learning goals. Helping a student get through a rough year, build their confidence or get into and thrive at the college of their choice… that’s the kind of personal reward that money can’t buy.

Top New Franchises: Thanks, Jan

Jan: Thank you.

images:  Creative Tutors

Becoming Mom is a unique license – not a franchise – opportunity.  Becoming Mom centers specialize in meeting the unique needs of expectant moms… from performing prenatal ultrasounds using the latest 4D technology and providing pictures, videos of the ultrasound sessions to providing a range of therapeutic massage and spa services and products.

Top New Franchises had a chance to learn more from Becoming Moms founder Dawn Bierschwal.

Learn more at our Becoming Mom listing. Share a comment on the Becoming Mom FanWall.

Top New Franchises: How did the Becoming Mom concept start? What need did it fill?

Dawn Bierschwal: I worked at Procter & Gamble for 19 years. During that time I acquired a wide variety of business skills and worked with incredibly brilliant people, but I always knew I wanted to own my own business… ideally in the service industry.

One day, I read an article about elective ultrasounds and I was fascinated by the potential of that concept.  Every pregnant woman I had known wished they could have another ultrasound, but there was no place for them to go.

I knew there was an unmet need that was screaming to be filled and I knew that if there was this one unmet need for pregnant women, there were probably more…

Top New Franchises: What is the difference between the experience at Becoming Mom rather what a pregnant couple would receive at their doctor’s office?

Dawn Bierschwal: An ultrasound in a doctor’s office can be a cold, sterile experienced where mom is rushed and only allowed one guest.

And, it makes sense. The doctor’s office is the place where the Sonographer needs to ensure that the baby is developing appropriately and he/she needs to concentrate on accuracy. Having a gaggle of family members asking questions can be distracting.  Also, insurance only pays the doctor so much to complete the scan, so he/she can’t afford to provide extra time for the family to enjoy the experience.

At Becoming Mom, we do a limited diagnostic scan, but beyond that we are focused on creating an enjoyable and memorable bonding experience for the whole family.

Many businesses focus on babies, but how many cater to the expectant mom and her unique needs during this special time in her life? How many focus on making the journey of pregnancy an enjoyable and comfortable experience? That’s what a Pregnancy Spa & Imaging Centre is all about.

Top New Franchises: What Spa and other non-imaging products and/or services do Becoming Mom locations provide?

Dawn Bierschwal: We provide a wide variety of spa services, retail products and a network of other businesses that provide offerings to our clients.

Top New Franchises:  Tell us about the Becoming Mom license opportunity.

Dawn Bierschwal: The BECOMINGMOM Startup Consulting Package provides everything needed to run a successful Pregnancy Spa and Imaging Center. This is not a franchise opportunity where we take a percent of sales as royalties year after year, or dictate the hours that our clients open, or the name they use, or the equipment they buy, etc. It is simply everything they need to get their business up and running in the shortest amount of time and with the least amount of headaches and wasted expenses.

Our Startup Package will not only save much more than the cost of the package by avoiding expensive mistakes, but will earn the package price many times over in higher sales from the beginning. In addition, the proprietary information we provide helps our clients establish themselves quickly in the marketplace with competent staff and helps them avoid much of the lost sleep, stress and mistakes associated with starting such a unique business from scratch.

This business is all about reputation, and referrals can be one of the biggest sources of new customers. The elements that we provide will help ensure satisfied customers who’ll rave about our clients’ services from day one.

Top New Franchises: Why did you decide to consult v. franchise your concept?

Dawn Bierschwal: We actually started down the franchise path and we had everything prepared, including the 2 inch thick UFOC (Uniform Franchise Offering Circular), to franchise. However, in the end, we decided it wasn’t the right path for us. Yes, we want to help people start and run a successful business… but we also want it to be THEIR business. We want them to have the freedom to make the choices they want to make about how to run the business that they invested their hard earned money in. We know we have a proven success model, but that doesn’t mean that every piece works for every person.

Our clients get the best of both worlds. Because we had started with a franchise model, we have all the training and operations information that any reputable franchise business would have… they spend time here training and we spend time there helping them start up. But they pick and choose what pieces they want… the ones that make sense for THEM.

And, the beauty is, because our clients have the freedom to try things, we can all learn from each other and reapply other new ideas that work.

Top New Franchises:  Where are you looking to expand? What types of markets and demographics work best?

Dawn Bierschwal: We will only consult with people that we know are in markets that can support this type of business. We have turned a number of potential clients away after we ran demographics for their cities and realized they simply couldn’t be successful there. Because this is a unique business, the exact numbers we use are not something we are willing to disclose broadly.

Top New Franchises: Tell us a little bit about the kind of person who would make a good Pregnancy Spa & Imaging Center owner? What are the backgrounds of some of your clients?

Dawn Bierschwal: A Pregnancy Spa & Imaging Center owner doesn’t need to have a medical background or even a spa background… I sure didn’t. What they do need is a strong business background, the ability to manage and motivate a staff, a strong customer service mentality, and they absolutely must be self-motivated, enthusiastic and have a positive attitude toward success.

Top New Franchises:  What qualities are important to you in selecting clients? What makes a good client?

Dawn Bierschwal: We’re looking for people who appreciate the time and expense they can save from a proven success model… but people that realistically understand that they are still going to have to put an incredible amount of effort into getting their business off the ground and are still going to have to make many decisions for themselves. We provide guidance, of course, in making those decisions, but at least end of the day this is THEIR business and they need to run it in a way that meets their own personal goals and fits in with their personal lives.

Top New Franchises: It seems like this would be a natural business for a physician or physician’s spouse. Do you have many licensees with ties to the medical field?

Dawn Bierschwal: We have a couple of clients who are Sonographers. But frankly, strong business skills are far more important than medical skills to be successful at this business. You can hire Sonographers, you probably don’t want to hire someone to run your business.

This business, however, would be an especially nice complement to a practice that has multiple doctors where they can also do their diagnostic ultrasounds. So some sort of partnership can make a lot of sense.

Top New Franchises: How do Becoming Mom clients attract new customers? How do they create repeat business?

Dawn Bierschwal: If I told you that, I’d be giving away part of what our clients pay me to teach them… and to potential competitors. And then I’d have to shoot you. : )

Top New Franchises:  In that case, let’s move on!  How does the Becoming Mom business fare in recessionary times… and why?

Dawn Bierschwal: This is our 5^th year in business, we have grown every year,and we are up 11% year to date over last year. I heard a quote the other day about this economy “Flat is the new up.”   And we’re more than flat! Moms will continue to have babies (in fact, possibility more babies… considering making them is cheap entertainment!), and family and friends will still want to buy them gifts.

Top New Franchises: Of the training and support services you provide clients, which do you think are most valuable to their long-term success?

Dawn Bierschwal: Our Business Plan and Financial Model is invaluable… these allow them to only secure funds, but also to assess the viability of their business based on their own operating chooses and local market conditions.

And the fact that our clients not only come here for training, but also that we go there for start-up is not something that many of our competitors offer and our clients truly appreciate that help.

Top New Franchises: What makes Becoming Mom different from other opportunities? How is it a unique opportunity?

Dawn Bierschwal: There are several other companies offering elective ultrasound businesses. The difference in our model is not only the range of products and services we provide that goes well beyond elective ultrasound, but also the business success model we offer.

Ours is not a model that looks for the lowest cost start up. If that’s what you want, there are plenty of other companies that will give you that… and not much else.

It’s going to cost you a lot more to open a Pregnancy Spa & Imaging Center using our model… but you’re going to be fully equipped with a successful model. And, the bottom line is a low cost start up does not necessarily translate to a high profit business.. especially in this space.

Top New Franchises:  Thanks for sharing the details of the Becoming Mom concept & license opportunity.

Dawn Bierschwal: We’re very proud of Becoming Mom program.  Thanks for helping us spread the word!

Custom Blends farm fresh tobacco…


If you don’t smoke, don’t start. If you DO smoke, smoke smart.

That’s the unlikely motto of an unconventional retail chain that’s not hurting from the recession one bit. In fact, you could say they’re on a roll.

7 Valleys Custom Blends is a pioneer in the RYO (Roll Your Own) and MYO (Make Your Own) cigarette market. By making available their Custom Blends Farm Fresh Tobacco and the widest selection of supplies, 7 Valleys Custom Blends’ customers save half or more off the cost of pre-manufactured cigarettes while making their own cigarettes at home with fresh all natural tobacco.

Why the huge savings? Because their 7 Valleys Custom Blends stores do not have to charge customers onerous cigarette taxes on their bulk tobacco products.

Started in 1993, and franchising since 2005 7 Valleys Custom Blends currently has 1 company owned store and 3 franchises all located in Pennsylvania.

Custom Blends Franchise Services LLC recently announced the addition of 4 new franchise locations in Lancaster County PA with the awarding of an Area Development Agreement to Jamak Liberty Enterprises, Inc., a PA based company.

The first 7 Valleys Custom Blends store located in the Woods Edge Plaza in Manor Township is scheduled to open its doors in late July with the other stores expected to come online over the next 2-3 years as the market requires says Mark Tucci, Managing Partner of Custom Blends Franchise Services LLC from the company headquarters in Hilton Head Island, SC.

Custom Blends Franchise Services LLC offers individual franchises, Area Developments, and Master Franchise opportunities nationwide.

For more information, visit the 7 Valleys Custom Blends Top New Franchises listing, 7 Valleys Custom Blends blog, Custom Blends website, or contact Mark Tucci directly at 843-681-3966

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Image credit: Custom Blends

Vintner’s Circle is a lifestyle business that enables people to enjoy wine, wine making and wine education. Our warm, comfortable retail winemaking shops are designed to make winemaking easy and fun and provide an atmosphere where our customers can enjoy time alone or with friends.

In Part 1 of our Vintner’s Circle interview series, David Schmeltzle explains the Vintner’s Circle retail wine store concept.

Top New Franchises: Tell us about the Vintner’s Circle store concept.

David Schmeltzle: Vintners Circle creates a fun and self-fulfilling environment where individuals or groups of friends can meet to learn about wine making and handcraft their own wines. The Vintners Circle wine education series, in partnership with Wine Spectator and the Wine Spectator School, rounds out our commitment to the wine lifestyle.

We typically have two types of customers: those who make wine at home and those looking to make wine in our shops.  Our retail store provides all the equipment, supplies and raw materials home winemakers need.  Those who make wine in our stores can choose between individual and group sessions.  We take care of all the equipment preparation and cleanup.  We guide our customers through four simple steps about thirty minutes in duration spread out over seven weeks.

Top New Franchises: How did you come up with the idea for Vintner’s Circle?

David Schmeltzle: My wife and I had traveled to Napa to celebrate a wedding anniversary. We became hooked on the “wine lifestyle” and winemaking and began looking for opportunities to have a vineyard and make wine. We quickly realized that we didn’t have enough knowledge to create the quality of wine we were accustomed to drinking. Nor was the climate in New Jersey as conducive to grape growing as it is in California.

My grandfather had made wine and I wanted to learn to make high-quality wine. We decided not to grow grapes and didn’t want to be limited to producing wine only twice a year at harvest time (fall in the northern hemisphere and spring in the southern hemisphere). Crushing grapes and making 270 bottles of the same type of wine wasn’t practical for us. We liked too many different types of wine and wanted to create a variety of wine.

That led us to find varietal juice suppliers that enabled us to make six gallons – about 28 bottles of wine – at a time. We started making wine this way in our basement and we were hooked. Our concept took shape with a desire to create a retail winemaking shop that guided people through winemaking. We created a fun, entertaining retail store / winemaking environment where people feel relaxed and enjoy themselves while learning about wine and winemaking.

Top New Franchises: How many franchises are up and running?

David Schmeltzle: We have one company owned winemaking shop. We operate our franchise development and support team from office space in our company owned winemaking shop. We have a franchise in PA that is in transition to a new owner. A friend of mine started that franchise with the intent of growing and selling it. And we just launched a new franchise in Whippany, NJ. The Whippany store is currently in the build-out stage and is expected to open soon.

We are also very excited that our customers are becoming franchisees.  We are currently working on several more locations whose franchise owners are customers who made wine with us.

Top New Franchises: Where are you looking to expand?

David Schmeltzle: We are building brand recognition quickly in the areas surrounding the stores we open. We plan on focusing our franchise growth regionally, initially throughout NY, NJ, CT and PA. We’re looking for experienced area developers to launch and grow the SC, NC, and VA markets.

Top New Franchises: What types of markets and demographics work best?

David Schmeltzle: Our customers enjoy the wine lifestyle and are typically 40-65 years of age. We have an equal balance of men and women who make wine by themselves, and groups who make wine together.

Top New Franchises: Tell us a little bit about the kind of person who would make a good Vintner’s Circle franchise owner.

David Schmeltzle: Winemaking is a very social activity. Franchisees must be comfortable with effectively communicating with people. We’ve noticed that people who have a passion for life and enjoy social activities, wine and entertaining perform well at managing a winemaking shop. Chances of success diminish if a franchisee is not comfortable managing social interactions or giving instructional advice to people.

The craft of winemaking is often very personal, even “artistic” to a degree. Vintners Circle uses a very structured system to consistently create high-quality wines. Our customers have come to love this consistency and guarantee of quality. Franchisees must be able to follow the systems developed while adding the personal touch for customers though custom labeling and bottling options.

The two most important attributes we are looking for in franchisees are the ability to interact socially and a commitment to using the franchised system.

Top New Franchises: What makes Vintner’s Circle different from other franchise opportunities? How is it a unique opportunity?

David Schmeltzle: Americans’ love of wine continues to grow. And Americans continue to seek out and learn more about wine and the wine lifestyle. Vintner’s Circle serves a niche market with high-quality products. Vintner’s Circle is driven to provide top-shelf customer service.

Vintner’s Circle is unique in that it delivers a system that makes winemaking easy and wine education fun. Quite often, the wine lifestyle seems unapproachable to too many people.

We are dedicated to our team, and expect the same dedication in return from our franchisees. To make sure there is a great fit with a prospective franchisee, before Vintners Circle grants a franchise agreement we invite the prospective franchisee to spend a discovery week with us. We want our prospective franchisees to be comfortable with our franchise concept and business systems. We also want to be comfortable with our prospective franchisees.

Top New Franchises: Thanks a lot David.

David Schmeltzle: Thanks for the opportunity.

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For more information, visit Vintner’s Circle