Franchise Key:

The way you calculate it can vary according to the networks and is not strict, some franchises don’t ask for it, however we cannot call them free…

The entry fee is an initial lump payment that should more or less represent the money spent by the franchisor to welcome his new partner, with or without a benefit for the franchisor, with or without damping of the expenses and of the previous years to create and improve the concept. Hard to figure it also represents the right to use a brand, to benefit from its notoriety. Some brands indeed allow having customers the first opening day what is a real asset. This appreciation is hard to define that is the reason why the entry fee estimation is sometimes arbitrary.

The entry fee can include some services and some supplies like the training, the software or specific programs, the sales materials, advertising on the sales point, etc. It is important that these elements are well detailed. More.

Minneapolis Star Tribune:

Minnesota has long been a hub of fitness innovation and businesses. It’s the birthplace of Rollerblades and waterskiing, the headquarters of Life Time Fitness and consistently ranks at the top of polls for its physically active populace.

It’s also the home to two of the nation’s fastest-growing fitness franchise companies - Anytime Fitness and Snap Fitness. After years of blockbuster growth in the United States and Canada, both are ready to take their no-frills, 24-hour fitness club concept overseas.

Anytime Fitness recently signed a revenue-sharing agreement to launch up to 350 franchised clubs in Australia and New Zealand, with five centers expected to open in the next year.

The Hastings-based company also recently hired a director of international development, who’ll explore markets in Western Europe. But as a recent press release also trumpeted, the company envisions its members someday visiting clubs in Tokyo, Berlin or Dubai. Read more.

Photo: Glen Stubbe / Star Tribune.

The Extreme Group is very pleased to announce it has just appointed Terry Hauss, a leading International licensing and biz development executive, who has worked for Warner Bros. Consumer Products, across Superman, Batman, The Matrix, Harry Potter, Sony Consumer Products and Iconix brands, he is currently a Director of The Licensing Management Group (LMG).

The appointment and role is to represent and drive business development for Extreme’s full collection of twenty two companies and licenses including Extreme hotels, Extreme Freshies (café/restaurants), Extreme Drinks, Extreme Travel, Ex Parks theme parks, Extreme Cred (credit cards), and the licensing and consumer products side which encompasses Extreme Stores, clothing, footwear, sports equipment and watches across the entire Asia Pacific region.

The Extreme Group board has pin pointed Asia and expansion in the region as a key strategic move due to the opportunities that the brand is already being offered from the pacific rim and the rapid growth that the whole region is currently experiencing. Due to how well the brand is doing beyond Asia and the significant amount of business development work already done to date there are a number of major deals close to signing in Thailand, China, Malaysia and discussions are happening across Australia, Korea, Japan and Hong Kong.

Terry Hauss, the licensing guru, has been involved with retail, licensing, franchising and manufacturing for over 30 years and he brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience. He and his team have a sterling record of developing new businesses and are perfectly positioned to drive Extreme across Asia. He has had huge success in strategic planning and driving forward innovative product development programs into new and expanding business markets. Read more.

American Small Business News:

1. Name Recognition – When you open an established franchise, you will be launching a business with a name that is already widely known and respected. While you’ll need to spend time and energy letting people know where your business is, you won’t have to worry about educating them about what you do – at least not entirely. There’s much to be said for being able to introduce a new location of an established brand.

2. Track Record of Success – One of the main comforts to entrepreneurs who choose to open franchise operations is the fact that the same business idea they are implementing has enjoyed a history of success in other locales.

3. Reduced Risk – The success rate for franchise operations tends to be much higher for franchises than it is for new business ideas. This ties into the fact that when you open a franchise, you are opening a business that does have a history of success elsewhere. Someone else has worked out the so called kinks, and has created an effective model upon which new franchises can be built.

4. Support from Corporate – When you own a franchise, part of what you pay franchise fees for is to make sure you have access to training and support from your company’s corporate headquarters. The company from which you purchase your franchise has a vested interest in seeing you succeed, and they know your business inside and out.

5. Marketing Support – Another main advantage that franchise owners have is the ability to participate in company wide marketing promotions. Many franchise operations have extensive national advertising programs, which of course benefit franchise owners everywhere. Most small business owners couldn’t afford this level of advertising support on their own.

These are just a few of the many benefits associated with starting a franchise business operation. Only you can decide if being a franchise owner is right for you. Make sure you investigate all of the options available to you before you finalize your entrepreneurial plans.

Franchising.com:

A car wash that uses no water? A concept that at first sounds borderline impossible is fast becoming a reality around the world, and America is its next big stop.

Without using a single drop of water, ecowash mobile has washed hundreds of thousands of cars throughout Australia, France, Greece, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, and has now announced plans to expand across the United States. The waterless technology allows ecowash mobile to wash vehicles wherever they happen to be parked at the time, whether in a parking lot, on the street or on the showroom floor.

ecowash mobile has quickly gained a global reputation of providing the best car wash in a convenient way that is also eco-friendly. The franchise company worked at the Cannes Film Festival cleaning all the Audis that were on display and worked with Lamborghini in Las Vegas throughout its 15 day launch event for the new Lamborghini Gallardo. ecowash mobile provides every vehicle the same type of quality car wash, whether it is a top of the line performance vehicle, a soccer mom’s mini-van, or a fleet of branded service vehicles.

So how is it possible to wash a car without using water? ecowash mobile uses a special polymer lubricant which lifts the dirt from the surface of the paint and encapsules it. The dirt is then removed with a soft cloth – all without water and without a scratch, unlike traditional car washing techniques. The polymer leaves a protective coating on the surface of the vehicle, which protects the surface of the vehicle for up to 6 weeks from the harmful effects of the environment. In the end, the waterless technology can save from 20-45 gallons compared to a typical car wash and up to 100 gallons compared to using a garden hose.

Continue reading.

Mirror.co.uk:

Dad Shaun Kinsell was fed up with the unsociable hours as a lorry driver. So earlier this year, he parked up and became his own boss.

“I’d had enough of missing out on family life and decided it was time to get my life back,” says Shaun, 41.

“I liked the concept of franchising. With the proven sales, tried and tested work ethic and the training and back-up, it would be the best route into business for me.

“I came across Autovalet direct, the mobile car valeting franchise, and I liked their set-up. I’d wanted to do something similar myself 10 years ago but didn’t have the guts!”

Sean raised the finance to buy his Autovalet direct franchise from an investment he’d made when he was younger. And in February he was up and running in the West Midlands.

“I cover the DY postcode area and things are going well. Obviously, the weather can dictate how busy I am. When it’s sunny I’m rushed off my feet. But I have a huge cover so, in reality, can work in any weather. Read full story.

Sydney Morning Herald:

Investing in a franchise business should be treated like investing in any other business and come under the scrutiny of the corporate watchdog, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission, a franchisee lobby group says.

The Franchisee Association of Australia (FAA) plans to bring this recommendation to the table through the new Federal Government’s Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services, which released its terms of reference in late June.

The committee is chaired by Queensland Labor MP Bernie Ripoll, who set up the inquiry after reading the findings of separate franchise inquiries recently concluded in Western Australia and South Australia.

David Beddall, a former Small Business Minister under the Hawke and Keating Governments who heads up the lobby group on a pro bono basis, believes his plan has a good chance of being will be adopted, because it will not only stop the duplication that goes on for each franchisee in investigating agreements separately through advisors, but will highlight common pitfalls. Read more.

Bizjournals.com:

AxisPointe Inc., a company that specializes in outsourced post-construction customer service, said Monday that the company has sold 11 HomeWorx franchises throughout the country, including one in San Antonio.

AxisPointe is the parent company of HomeWorx Franchising LLC. These franchises work with residential homebuilders in individual markets to offer customer service and warranty resolution services following the construction of a home. This allows builders to focus on their core business, while potentially reducing overall operating costs, company officials say.

“The current climate in the building industry creates an ideal business opportunity for people to utilize their skills and knowledge to grow their own franchise,” says Frank Tate, AxisPointe’s vice president over the Franchise Division.

AxisPointe’s services include customized closing manuals, buyer orientation and walk-through, warranty callback processing, service ticketing, work order management and other warranty-related items.

The company is planning on opening HomeWorx offices in every major metropolitan city throughout the United States by 2010. AxisPointe is based in Salt Lake City.

MarketWatch:

Fort Myers-based Sellstate Realty Systems Network, Inc. has rolled out a new branding initiative to its associates, aimed at raising the company’s profile and differentiating it from other national real estate franchises.

“As we entered our sixth year of franchising, we were ready to clearly identify who we are going to be in the future,” said Sellstate CEO Art Darmanin. “As we continue to expand our brand throughout the nation, it is important that the image of the company reflects our sophisticated business model.”

Over the past four years, Sellstate has expanded from one office in Florida to franchises in 11 states - a success it attributes largely to its C.P. Technology and Agent Asset Development (AAD) program. C.P. Technology is an exclusive system that virtually eliminates administrative headaches for brokers and speeds processing of commissions for agents. Under the AAD program, Sellstate pays 100 percent commission - 95 percent to the transaction agent and 5 percent to the sponsoring agent in the form of monthly income.

The new branding initiative includes a new logo treatment, brand colors, signage and marketing materials, and the creation of a recruitment Web site, www.joinsellstate.com, for prospective franchisees and agents. A new corporate Web site will be unveiled later this year.

Australian Food:

Leading Australian retail food brand manager and franchisor Retail Food Group Limited (RFG) today announced that they will look to grow their Donut King franchise in China.

RFG has reported that they have finalised the terms of a Master Licence Agreement (MLA) with Shanghai based Mak Brands Limited concerning the proliferation of the Donut King franchise system within China.

The Agreement is performance based for an initial term of 20 years, and growth in the Chinese marketplace is based on operating a minimum 20 stores within five years and increasing this figure by at least eight per annum from then on.

RFG Chairman John Cowley considers the move a major event for the company. “The MLA represents a significant event for RFG as a Listed company in that it is the first to contemplate expansion of the Donut King system beyond Australia’s borders,” he said.

“The MLA also represents the realisation of the last of the seven strategic growth drivers identified in RFG’s May 2006 Prospectus, further confirming the Company’s resolve and ability to deliver sustained value for shareholders and other stakeholders”.

RFG CEO, Tony Alford, added that overseas growth is a key part of the growth strategy for their four franchises - Donut King, BB’s Cafe, Brumby’s Bakeries and Michel’s Patisserie. “The international expansion and commercialisation of RFG’s Donut King, BB’s Café, Brumby’s Bakeries and Michel’s Patisserie franchise systems had always been high on RFG’s agenda given our view that each possess significant potential for foreign market application,” he advised. “However, the Company has historically been unwilling to licence its systems, and risk dilution of brand value, unless it was able to partner with a robust licensee capable of applying sufficient resources, franchising expertise and resolve to ensuring the success of such a venture. Mak Brands satisfies each of these pre-requisites.”

Franchise Key:

In exchange of the services given by the franchisor, the franchisee has to respect a certain number of rules necessary to the good performance of the franchise.

In general, franchising contracts envisage the payment of an entry fee which amount can vary from 1,000 Euros to 70, 000 Euros. These fees are justified by the access to the brand and by the competitive advantage given by the franchisor in terms of know-how and also competitiveness.

In the contract duration, the franchisee has most of the time to pay a royalty calculated on the turnover (between 0.5% and 15%). This royalty corresponds to the payment of the services given by the franchisor, to the contribution to national advertising campaigns costs and/or to the territorial protection granted by the company.

All members of the network have an advantage in the fact that the know-how transmitted by the franchisor is kept confidential. Most of the time, contracts determine precisely to who this know-how must not be revealed. This protection of the know-how is in general assured after the end of the contract by a not-competition clause that helps, for a given period, forbid the former franchisee to work in the same field.

The initial success of the franchisor is based on a concept, materialized by a unit of rules that the franchisee has to respect in order to give a consistency to the contract and to be able to reproduce the success of the franchisor.

Read full piece.

Business Wire:

Forced retirement, job cutbacks, and economic uncertainty all point to a safety net of a recession-proof franchise opportunity. Liberty Tax Service is experiencing a tremendous response to its franchise opportunity. “When job security goes away, many people decide to take the future into their own hands,” according to John Hewitt CEO and Founder of Liberty Tax Service. The company offers low start-up costs and the certainty of filing income tax returns to provide an enticing business opportunity that’s a part of the American way of life.

In 2008, the gloomy forecast is that corporate layoffs could increase up to 37 percent. Contrast that with the tax industry that historically has delivered a growing market of taxpayers every year. Approximately 62% of all taxpayers paid someone to prepare their taxes in 2008, up from 51% in 1994.

Liberty Tax and CEO John Hewitt are garnering many accolades for a superlative franchise opportunity that welcomes a diverse America to join its ranks. Hewitt has 39 years of tax industry experience, the most of any CEO in the tax preparation business. He is the only founder of two franchises that Entrepreneur magazine has ranked in the top 25 of their Franchise 500: Liberty Tax Service and Jackson Hewitt Tax Service.

“Our franchisees continue to be the cornerstone of our success. For the sixth year in a row, Liberty grew by more returns (raw numbers) than H&R Block and Jackson Hewitt combined,” noted Hewitt. “We are focused on providing an affordable opportunity for new franchisees, and great support so that our existing franchisees can add additional offices. These key factors will allow us to open a projected 400 new offices for tax season 2009.”

Read more.

Franchising.com:

A broken hose can spell disaster for many businesses. A machine breakdown at a job site or factory can cause work to grind to a halt. And sometimes it can take days or weeks until the proper replacement hose can be obtained and the machines repaired. In purely economic terms, a $20 broken hose can bring a $3 million crane to a standstill - not to mention the paid employees who are idly standing by.

This is where Pirtek, a 24-hour, on-site hose and assembly replacement service comes in. The franchise, founded in Australia, offers hoses and fittings for machines in industries like construction, manufacturing, transportation, agriculture, and engineering among others.

Ken Adair can handle any of those hose needs in the Chicago area.

Since 1998, Adair has been operating Pirtek O’Hare in Elk Grove Village. In 2003, he opened a second Chicagoland location in South Holland. He’s served clients such as Walsh Construction and Tyco Healthcare as well as various car haulers and forklift companies.

“We bring the hoses to the customer, usually in under an hour,” says Adair, a former commodity broker.

He says each of his 12 fully equipped mobile service vans is staffed by qualified, trained technicians. The vans are stocked with a full range of hoses (1,000 feet each of variable sizes) and more than 700 different fittings and adaptors (as many as 2,000 parts), along with a crimping press and cut-off saw to manufacture hose assemblies on site. More.

PR Web:

Toblie enables small franchisors to centralize their franchise operations on the web; this integrated software solution is one of the core pillars required to bring the franchise concept to the next level.

A Franchise company’s most important asset is there Franchisees. Toblie.com provides systems for the franchisor to have constant contact, collect information, and reports from there franchisee’s starting at $99 a month.

With Toblie, your Franchise can provide a private Intranet with the following services:

Content Library: The content library system allows Franchisors to post documents and media that becomes searchable and categorized for the Franchisee. The franchisor can see which franchisee’s have viewed or downloaded the content.

Knowledge Base: A warehouse of knowledge to help reduce support phone calls and push out information to franchisees that otherwise would be hard to find in company manuals.

Calendar: The calendar allows the Franchisor to post events for the Franchisees to see. This may be company conference calls, events, dates of new promotions, the calendar includes a reminder system which will send an email at a specified time/date before the event to everyone on the Intranet that the calendar event is specified for. The calendar translates event times into each users custom time zone.

Directory: Searchable company and franchisee directory. Quickly find contact information for anyone in the directory.

Forums: Moderated or open forums allow communication by Franchisee’s to the Franchisor along with having a flow of communication that is easy to follow.

Internationalized: Menus are Internationalized into English, Spanish, Italian, German, Hebrew, Dutch and Portuguese based upon users selection.

Read more.

Business Wire:

It’s that time of year when the sun is hot and the Slurpee® drinks are free-zing – emphasis on the FREE part. July 11, aka 7/11, is the day that 7-Eleven, Inc., the world’s premier convenience retailer, celebrates its birthday and says “thank you” to its customers with free Slurpee drinks at participating stores. This year’s 7-Eleven® Day marks the company’s 81st birthday. Customers can pour their favorite Slurpee flavor in colorful, 7.11-ounce “Birthday” cups throughout the day, while cup supplies last.

7-Eleven is the home of the Big Bite® Oscar-Mayer all-beef hot dog and the number-one retailer of grilled hot dogs. And to celebrate National Hot Dog Month in July, participating 7-Eleven stores are offering a quarter-pound Big Bite hot dog and Big Gulp® drink for just $1.99 throughout the entire month, a real value at a time when consumers’ incomes may be stretched dog-gone thin.

But there’s more… New for July is the first ever Monster Energy Slurpee drink, called Black Ice. Black Ice is a black-colored energy Slurpee drink packed with a full-load of Monster’s potent energy blend. This is the first frozen Monster beverage and the first variety not sold in a can.

“In appreciation of our loyal customer base, we started giving away Slurpee drinks on our 75th birthday in 2002,” said Jay Wilkins, 7-Eleven brand manager for Slurpee and Big Gulp® fountain drinks. “Customers thanked us, and we’ve been doing it ever since.

Now July 11, or 7-Eleven Day, has become Customer Appreciation Day or try-your-favorite-Slurpee-on-us day.”

Viral marketing through the newly redesigned www.slurpee.com web site with its Slurpee Nation social network along with Slurpee street teams in select cities and store events across the U.S. play a big part in spreading the “7-Eleven Birthday/Customer Appreciation/Free Slurpee” message.

Every day is Slurpee Day in Kennewick, Wash., recently crowned the new Slurpee capital of the world, but on Free Slurpee Day, 7-Eleven Franchisee Don Marriotto expects his store to be swamped.

Blockbuster Joins Forces with USO & American Public To Send Movies & Games to Military Stationed Across the Globe.

Franchising.com:

Blockbuster Inc. and the USO are teaming up to bring much deserved entertainment to our service members and their families. Through July 14, the American public can show their support for the troops by donating DVDs and games at designated USO drop boxes in participating BLOCKBUSTER® stores. The entertainment retailer will match all donations with up to 20,000 DVDs.

To participate, customers can purchase new or previously viewed DVDs and games at participating BLOCKBUSTER stores, then drop them in convenient USO drop boxes on site. Donated DVDs and games will be enjoyed by troops at USO centers and Mobile USO units worldwide and also will be placed in USO 2 Go program boxes for delivery to troops in remote locations. To ensure product quality and content the USO can only accept DVDs and games originating from participating BLOCKBUSTER stores.

“Movies and games are popular with the troops because they provide a break from intense daily realities and a way to fill downtime when away from loved ones,” said Larcine Bland, vice-president, community affairs, Blockbuster Inc. “This DVD and game drive is a way for Blockbuster and the American public to make life a little better for our U.S. service men and women when they’re so far away from home.”

Blockbuster is also committed to raising $100,000 for the USO during this campaign. To that end, customers are invited to purchase an American Flag Antenna Ball/Pencil Topper at participating BLOCKBUSTER stores. Blockbuster will donate 100% of the money collected from the sale of the antenna balls to the USO to continue to serve America’s heroes and their families. Blockbuster customers are also encouraged to learn more by visiting http://www.uso.org/blockbuster.

AccountingWEB.co.uk:

‘Employment Law’. Just mentioning these two words can make franchisors and general business owners shiver with fear… unfair dismissal, discrimination, breach of contract, employment tribunals, red tape and regulations, lawyers with huge charge-out rates and employees demonstrating an ever-increasing awareness of their rights as the UK develops an ever more litigious attitude.

A franchisor will only succeed if its franchisees succeed. And for both franchisees and the franchisor, employment law can hit where it hurts the most - the bottom line. Increasingly, too many employers are obtaining general and often misguiding information from the internet and placing misguided reliance on it only to find out they should have sought specific and professional advice.

Many franchisees will be running a business for the first time and lack the knowledge or experience to enable them to successfully negotiate round the employment minefield.

We are seeing a good number of franchisors accepting that their business formats may, if the franchisees require employees, have to incorporate into their model mechanics for handling employment law. This should mean, at the very least, providing core compulsory employment documents like contracts and disciplinary/grievance procedures and allowing for updates on alarmingly frequent law changes and backup when the Franchisee needs specific employment advice.

TaxAssist Accountants has implemented an employment law support service called Employmentor. Employmentor is a uniquely practical and extremely cost effective management tool, which enables any employer to put in place and maintain up-to-date systems for recruiting and managing their employees, whilst complying fully with their legal requirements.

PR.com:

4Refuel began as part of the “Mini-Tankers” franchise system that originated in Australia in 1984. Its primary service was onsite diesel refueling for the earthmoving and construction sectors. In July 1995, the master license for Canada was awarded to Jack Lee, a Canadian citizen living in Australia at the time. Lee moved back to Canada, started operations in British Columbia, and eventually expanded operations across Canada through corporate and franchised operators.

In September 2003, Mini-Tankers International, licensor of the Mini-Tankers system, became insolvent. Mini-Tankers Canada terminated its contract and re-branded the highly successful Canadian franchise operation as 4Refuel in January 2006 with the tagline “The LEADER in Fuel Management,” which was indicative of its focus on fuel management. Today it has more than 6,000 clients; surpassed one billion liters of fuel pumped in July 2007 and expects its second billion liters in less than two years. 4Refuel also launched its franchising program in 2007.

Marty McDermott, President and host of Franchise Interviews stated, “We are excited to have 4Refuel on our weekly franchise radio show. This is the first time we will have this type of franchise concept on the show. It gives aspiring entrepreneurs a chance to learn and possibly own a piece of the energy business.”

Highlights and Announcements from the last several radio shows… here.

Entrepreneur.com:

#1 Subway
2008 Franchise 500 ranking: #2
Submarine sandwiches & salads

#2 Dunkin’ Donuts
2008 Franchise 500 ranking: #3
Coffee, doughnuts, baked goods

#3 Pizza Hut
2008 Franchise 500 ranking: #4
Pizza

#4 McDonald’s
2008 Franchise 500 ranking: #5
Hamburgers, chicken, salads

#5 Sonic Drive-In Restaurants
2008 Franchise 500 ranking: #6
Drive-in restaurant

#6 KFC Corp.
2008 Franchise 500 ranking: #7
Chicken

#7 Domino’s Pizza LLC
2008 Franchise 500 ranking: #9
Pizza, breadsticks, buffalo wings

#8 Arby’s
2008 Franchise 500 ranking: #15
Sandwiches, chicken, salads

#9 Baskin-Robbins USA Co.
2008 Franchise 500 ranking: #16
Ice cream, frozen yogurt, frozen beverages

#10 Taco Bell Corp.
2008 Franchise 500 ranking: #22
Quick-service Mexican restaurant

Chain Leader:

Since Clarice Turner joined Vancouver, Wash.-based Papa Murphy’s as president and chief operating officer in spring 2008, she’s been putting her operations background to work targeting consistency and efficiency. The take-and-bake pizza chain has been achieving positive growth in same-store sales and unit counts, but it suffers from the same cost pressures as the rest of the industry. Chain Leader spoke with Turner about how Papa Murphy’s works with franchisees on cost pressures and more.

Are your franchisees on board with your efforts (in pricing, purchasing strategy and marketing) to ease costs?
We have 72 company stores ourselves, so we are very sensitive to cost pressures, and we see it on our P&Ls every month, too.

We are constantly trying to work with our franchise community so that we can come up with real solutions. Specifically, we’re trying to provide some coaching and training and leadership around cash-flow management, around the basics of P&Ls. And making sure that we’re enabling franchisees to share best practices with each other so that the crunch on the middle of the P&L potentially can be alleviated by some things that they haven’t thought about.

How do you enable that?
We have a lot of internal and external communication. We have a bulletin that goes out to our community every month, and in that we share best practices that come in from across the country. At regional conferences as well as at our national convention, we facilitate workshops that are led by either an industry expert or one of our community. We start with best practices and then try to build on that so that people truly can come out of there with not only great relationships and potentially mentorships, but also great ideas and practices from other people.

Read it all.