Franchise Startup | Franchise Beacon https://www.franchisebeacon.com Guiding Your Business too Success Fri, 26 Dec 2025 18:13:24 +0000 en hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 Building a successful pet grooming franchise https://www.franchisebeacon.com/building-a-successful-pet-grooming-franchise/ https://www.franchisebeacon.com/building-a-successful-pet-grooming-franchise/#respond Thu, 13 May 2021 12:40:58 +0000 https://www.franchisebeacon.com/?p=7115
See the original article here in Franchise Connect Magazine

Building A Successful Pet Grooming Franchise

Although I have an extensive background in franchising, until recently I have had limited exposure to the pet services segment. I am glad that has changed!

 

I have had pets all my life, and I have been in franchise almost 15 years. However, my knowledge of the overlap, i.e. the pet franchise space, was fairly limited until recently. Since December of 2020 I have had the pleasure of working with Keith Miller, founder of Bubbly Paws dog grooming in the greater Minneapolis area, as we turn his pet grooming business into the newest pet grooming franchisor.

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When I learned this issue of Franchise Connect was going to focus on the pet industry, I saw an opportunity to bring a voice to the table that is rarely heard in the franchise space; a business owner that is partially through the process of becoming a franchisor. I believe that Keith’s extensive experience owning pet grooming locations combined with his recent venture into franchising allows him to provide unique perspective into this industry.
I sat down with him recently to discuss Bubbly Paws, the pet grooming industry in general, and the advice he would have to offer somebody who is considering coming into this industry as a franchisee. I’m excited to share our conversation with you, as well as some of my own observations, below.

Michael
Keith, thank you so much for sitting down with me today! I know you’ve got a lot going on; four dog grooming businesses that are booming, a new baby at home plus your 5-year-old, and now trying to break in the franchise industry all at once! You really do have your paws all over the pet industry, don’t you? Besides Bubbly Paws, you also own Pampered Pooch Playground, which is a doggy daycare, and, as I understand it, you’re a podcaster in the pet industry?


Keith
Yes, I run a podcast for pets plus magazine. I love it because it allows me to stay in touch with my roots, as I started my career in the radio industry, as well as provide what I hope is useful content to people in this business. We concentrate on content and interviews that are helpful to individuals in the pet grooming industry.

Michael
Like I said, a busy man! Let’s talk about Pampered Pooch for just a moment and then we’ll get into Bubbly Paws. Pampered Pooch was your first foray into the pet services industry, right?

Keith
It was. We’ve had Pampered Pooch since 2008. 13 years!

Michael
And it was actually your experiences at the Pampered Pooch that led you to launch Bubbly Paws, correct? Tell me about that.

Keith
Keep in mind coming this was 13 years ago. The doggy daycare world was just taking off, and we would often have people stop in and asked to use our tubs on the way back from a romp in the park. We weren’t really set up for that, though we did try to accommodate them when we could. We even considered adding tubs to the doggy daycare but frankly most of our customers picked their pals up on their way home from work or from a trip; they wanted to be in and out quick. So, we decided to launch Bubbly Paws Grooming.

When Keith launched Bubbly Paws almost 11 years ago, he experienced the same unexpectedly rapid success in the grooming market as he had in the boarding space. One location in 2011 became two locations in 2013 and he opened the doors of his 4th location at the end of 2017. When my team conducted a franchise feasibility study for Bubbly, we saw a trend; each location experienced rapid growth in the first 6-12 months, getting quickly to break-even and beyond, and then sustained year over year increases in all locations. Yoga and dog pun We also saw a couple of significant market differentiators.

The first was a fantastic use of social media, including memes, influencers, and dog “ambassadors” to market their locations.

A dog brand ambassador
A recent scroll through Bubbly Paws tagged posts on Instagram revealed a post from 7 days previous by Murphy in Minnesota (a sheepadoodle with his own Instagram) with over 1000 likes and comments.

Besides their strong marketing platform, they also offer a service that is becoming ever more popular in the #newnormal world.

Michael
Keith let’s talk about a one of the things that you have done to help Bubbly Paws stand out in the Twin Cities marketplace. You mentioned that the genesis of Bubbly Paws was people coming to Pampered Pooch and asking to bathe their dogs, so you decided Bubbly Paws would have a self-service option, right?

Keith
Exactly. Though most of our services focus on full-service grooming, we do offer a self-service option. Self-service has wide appeal for a couple of different reasons. First, you don’t have to make an appointment weeks in advance. Before the COVID pandemic, even on a beautiful spring Saturday you wouldn’t wait more than 30 minutes, and rarely even that. Now we have an online reservation system so there is never a wait for self-service. It’s a perfect solution for a messy trip to the dog park; hop on the app and book an appointment on your way to the park, and swing by on your way home. Self-service also allows some of our customers that are more budget conscious to wait longer between groomings, instead of coming in every six weeks they can come in every eight weeks or even 10 weeks, and still keep their friend un-stinky in between groomings.
Now, with so many people working from home, getting groceries delivered, and having very little reason to leave their houses, we are finding that just getting out of the house to give their dog a bath in our facilities is what they look forward to for the day. Our bathing rooms have fantastic filtration and ventilation; after all who wants to smell wet dog, you know? The HAVAC systems filter the air out of each bathing room, and are equipped with UV lights which destroy various airborne viruses, like the rhinoviruses and influenzas that cause kennel cough. What better way to get out for a bit than to go to a safe, socially distanced environment that, by its very design, reduces the likelihood of exposure to airborne pathogens?

We saw this reflected in the feasibility study as well. Surprisingly, despite the world-wide disruption caused by the pandemic, amplified by the social disruption that Minneapolis experienced this summer, by the end of 2020 all but one Bubbly Paws location were back to pre-covid numbers, and the 4th is almost there.

To wrap up our conversation, I asked Keith to share his best advice for people who are considering entering into the pet industry. Here’s what he had to say.

Keith
The pet industry numbers are extremely attractive. We are talking about a 10-billion-dollar marketplace that had 6% CAGR growth expectations before the pandemic started, and now industry analysists are saying that is conservative. Honestly, if that is why you are considering this industry, you are looking at the wrong business. I don’t see a path to success, at least in our segment of the industry, for someone without a passion for pets. Pet owners don’t want their family members in the hands of someone that is just in the business for the margins. Groomers don’t want to work for someone like that. Your customers, your groomers, everyone you interact with will pick up on the lack of passion, and you will struggle with both employee retention and customer retention.
For those that have the right passion, before you decide to buy a franchise, do your research on the franchisor. Every detail is important in a pet grooming store; the ventilation, placement of the windows, the shampoos, and cleaners you use, where the bathing rooms are located in respect to the entrance, everything. Visit a few franchise locations; if you don’t see a painstaking attention to detail everywhere you look, then it’s time to look elsewhere.

We are still working through the franchising process. We expect to bring the Bubbly Paws brand to franchise market by mid spring. I, for one, am looking forward to seeing Keith’s passion for pooches translate into a strong, sustainable franchise model.

]]> https://www.franchisebeacon.com/building-a-successful-pet-grooming-franchise/feed/ 0 Our top-ten tips for working from home https://www.franchisebeacon.com/our-top-ten-tips-for-working-from-home/ https://www.franchisebeacon.com/our-top-ten-tips-for-working-from-home/#respond Mon, 16 Mar 2020 01:34:44 +0000 https://www.franchisebeacon.com/?p=5211
This was co-written with Mike Drumm, franchise attorney and founder of Drumm Law. Mike has been running a virtual company with many employees for 10 years, I have for 8. We wanted to raise our voices and see if we could help those of you that find yourself in a novel situation. We are facing a serious situation. There is a plethora of information out there about how to stay safe, what to do in case of exposure, and how businesses should react to this pandemic. What seemed to be missing, however, was the “how” for folks who don’t work from home on a daily basis. Novel coronavirus. COVID-19. Pandemic. We really, really don’t like these words. Why? Let us count the reasons – at least our own top 3 immediate ones – before unveiling our 10 tips on how to set up a home office!

Michael Peterson

  1. My mother is undergoing serious medical treatment right now. By right now, I mean as I am writing this on Friday the 13th. I am waiting to hear the outcome of her most recent surgery.
  2. My fiancée is (again, as I am writing) at the dentist getting some work done. It was questionable if they were going to cancel this appointment because of a shortage of medical supplies.
  3. My business partner is in Toronto. I am in Dallas. We had a 3-day, in-person working session planned for this weekend. It would have been our first face-to-face in months, and also his first time meeting our newest client, who is about to become a franchisor. He canceled because of a myriad of concerns, including trip delays, unknown reaction when he returns to Canada, and, most important, the fact that he has family members in the “high risk” category. Frankly, the risk wasn’t worth the benefit of face-to-face, so we are doing this weekend’s work remotely.

Mike Drumm

  1. School for my three kids (10, 8, and 6) has been shut down for at least three weeks. That means Dad trying to get work done with a full house (see below for tips on that!).
  2. Three industry conferences were cancelled just in the past 24 hours, with more to come.
  3. Sports have been cancelled. Let me repeat: No Sports! All sporting events in the near future have been cancelled indefinitely.
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We two are at an advantage to many, however, in that although we may not be immune to the virus (okay, no "may" about that), we are inoculated against the laundry list of issues that come from switching suddenly to a home office. Michael Peterson has been running a company with a completely remote team since 2017, and Mike Drumm has been running a completely remote law firm since 2010. In a conversation we had on Friday, we realized that many people currently affected by this pandemic don't have the remote experience we do - and that we might have something extremely timely to offer to the many office-dwellers who suddenly have become part of the remote workforce. So, here are our top 10 tips on what to do if you are suddenly, unexpectedly, a remote worker.

  1. Get out of your bedroom
    2. We have both observed that friends and family who occasionally work from home end up propped up in bed with their lap desk, relaxing and working in their pajamas. This might work for you if you are working from home for one or two days. If, however, you are sentenced to 2 to 4 weeks or more of home-based work, get out of the bedroom and off the couch now and get dressed. It doesn't have to be a formal work outfit, just no pajamas.
  2. Set up a workstation.
    3.  Hopefully you have a desk at home. If so, declutter it, set up a monitor (or two), a keyboard and mouse, and make it a workstation. If you don't have a desk, look around for something that can fill in. An unused kitchen table, outdoor camping table, anything you can set up as a dedicated work space. Still no luck? As of Friday, there were 3 desks for under $50 that, at least in Dallas, one could get from Amazon, delivered by Sunday. Target, Walmart, Best Buy, and others all offer same or next day delivery now. Seriously, get a desk. And an office chair. You'll be all in for under $100 or $200 if you have to buy them both online - and maybe you can talk your employer into covering it.
  3. Setup a work area.
    4. The most important part of the work area is a door that closes, a physical barrier that is where you go to "work." Here is what we would suggest, in order of preference, for your work area:
    • A home office.
      • If you already have one, clean it out, air it out, and you're good to go.
    • A spare bedroom.
      • Rearrange some furniture. Make sure you can fit your desk and chair and still get in and out comfortably. Stack the bed against the wall if needed. Remember, this is short-term.
    • A section of the garage
      • Rearrange some furniture. Make sure you can fit your desk and chair and still get in and out comfortably. Stack the bed against the wall if needed. Remember, this is short-term.
    Rearrange some furniture. Make sure you can fit your desk and chair and still get in and out comfortably. Stack the bed against the wall if needed. Remember, this is short-term.
  4. People should only know you are working from home if you tell them.
    5. Turn off the TV, make sure the dog is not barking in the background, and no kids running in and out of your office. To be clear, this is for you, not other people. Those of us who work from home most of the time know to avoid these background distractions when we need to, but otherwise we just tune them out. As someone used to being in an office, however, you must do your best to stop your subconscious from thinking of this time as "home time."
  5. Communicate with your spouse, kids, or roommates that this is work time.
    6. In the normal course of business, people use "work from home" days to get some work and some personal things done. While that is totally understandable normally, if this is an undetermined, longer-term situation (even just a couple of weeks), this habit will kill your productivity. Speak with the folks you share space with and stress the importance of not approaching you for anything they would not have called you at work for. You might want to ask your family, children, and housemates to treat you as if you were not working at home. Ask them to text you if something comes up, versus interrupting you in person. Door locks are also very helpful if you have smaller children who don't understand the "work from home" concept.
  6. Separate work time and home time.
    7.  Normally, your family (and your body and mind) know you are at work because... well, you are at work. To make up for this, set as rigid a schedule as your job allows. Start working at the same time and end at the same time every day. Does the time you get home from work fluctuate by 10 to 20 minutes? Fine, then the time you quit working can, too. After that, however, shut it down. Be home. Make sure all of your family, friends, and housemates know your schedule. And, most important, make sure that you know when you are "at work" and when you are "at home." You can have fun with this! When you order your chair and desk, order an "Open/Closed" sign, too. Flip it over when the work day begins and again when it ends.
  7. Take your breaks.
    8. Do you normally have a lunch break? Do you take a break at 10 a.m. to hit the water cooler or coffee machine? Whatever your work schedule is, keep that going! Get up, go outside, even just look out the window. Keeping your "schedule" will help you acclimatize to your new "office" much faster.
  8. Keep your meeting schedules.
    9. Your company, by now, has probably produced and disseminated a "pandemic policy" that includes things like: No non-essential business travel. If you are sick, stay home. And report potential exposures right away. That does not in any way mean you need to stop business as usual. If you have a management meeting on Tuesdays at 1 p.m., have your management meeting on Tuesdays at 1 p.m. Just do it through a videoconference. If that isn't your decision, forward this article to your manager. Keeping the organization's "business as usual" feel as intact as possible when you have completely disrupted your staff's normal workflow is key to getting business done. We highly encourage video calls when possible for people who are not used to remote working. As noted above, getting showered and dressed is part of the "going to work" mentality - and much harder to avoid if you are going to be on camera!
  9. Understand the business risks.
    10. First, let's be clear: We 100% support the idea that self-quarantining keeps people safe, slows infection rates, and is the right thing to do. Companies and individuals should be following the recommendations handed down from employers and the appropriate health authorities. Supporting an idea, however, requires that you also understand its downsides. Steve Jobs famously said, "Creativity comes from spontaneous meetings, from random discussions". Researchers at the University of California use a demonstration of a 24-second, 4-word exchange between a pilot and a co-pilot regarding a (simulated) fuel loss to underscore this point: the somewhat unquantifiable but also undeniable benefits of physical proximity in the work environment. Plan for these business risks by encouraging people to keep a business-only instant message service (or equivalent) open, pick up a phone to ask a quick question instead of sending an email, and basically adopt practices that are counter to what we think of as office efficiencies.
  10. Stay away from the Fridge!
    11. Keep your normal meal schedules. If you are going to change your diet make sure you make it healthier, not more junk-laden. Michael's business partner (when reviewing this article) shared that he gained a pound of "work from home" weight in his first three weeks after he transitioned to a home office.

    We are facing a serious situation, and there is a plethora of information out there about how to stay safe, what to do in case of exposure, and how businesses should react to this pandemic. What seemed to be missing, however, was the “how” for folks that don’t work from home on a daily basis.   If you are looking for good MEDICAL advice, I strongly advise checking out this blog by Dr. Jame Pinckney.
]]> https://www.franchisebeacon.com/our-top-ten-tips-for-working-from-home/feed/ 0 The top 5 reasons for franchise failure https://www.franchisebeacon.com/the-top-5-reasons-for-franchise-failure/ https://www.franchisebeacon.com/the-top-5-reasons-for-franchise-failure/#respond Wed, 06 Nov 2019 15:34:05 +0000 https://www.franchisebeacon.com/?p=4916
  • Lack of experience Yes, franchising is where many first-time entrepreneurs turn specifically because of a lack of experience. A franchise with a solid system in place will help, but an individual with no real-world business ownership, marketing, cash management, or personnel management need to become students of these subjects. Franchising is all about buying a business model, not a business. Franchising can help you get over the initial experience barrier, but will not remove the need to educate yourself
  • Insufficient capital The old adage “it always takes longer and costs more” is still in effect. Murphy’s law has not been repealed. Before you launch a business, you need a business plan. Once you launch your business, I promise it won’t go according to plan. If you go “all in” on a business, remember what happens to all the players at the table but one.
  • Poor location Yes, its trite, but “location, location, location”! For most b2c (business to consumer) businesses is a must for success. It’s an unfortunate truth, however, that locations change. Your A+ real estate can be affected by an anchor closing, area trends changing, or construction, just to name a few.
  • Unexpected growth Yep, growing too fast is a “thing”. We all have heard of the “Shark Tank Effect”, right? Well Danny Grossfeld can tell you all about it. His product, basically hot coffee in a soda can, got such a boost in business from its appearance on Shark Tank that it went out of business. An acquaintance of mine ordered the product right after the show aired; after 2 or 3 rounds of “we are working on it” type emails, the company closed down production, all because they got too many orders.
  • The “coattail effect” When your profitable franchise fails simply because other franchisees have failed this is known as the “coattail effect”. Actually, this has no business on a “top 5 reasons business fail” list. The coattail effect is actually a political effect, also known as down-ballot, but apparently this question is on a lot of tests right now and Franchise Beacon has seen a surprising amount of traffic for the question. So, there is your Business 110 Chapter 5 quiz answer.
    • ]]>     https://www.franchisebeacon.com/the-top-5-reasons-for-franchise-failure/feed/ 0     Sanjay Gehani; Tech Background Leads to Leading a Preschool Franchise https://www.franchisebeacon.com/sanjay-gehani-tech-background-leads-to-leading-a-preschool-franchise/ https://www.franchisebeacon.com/sanjay-gehani-tech-background-leads-to-leading-a-preschool-franchise/#respond Fri, 06 Sep 2019 18:25:43 +0000 https://www.franchisebeacon.com/?p=4409

    The Chief Marketing Officer and Partner of Building Kidz Preschool Franchise parlayed his high-tech career into creating a high-touch franchise brand.

    I recently had the privilege of attending the first annual Building Kidz Preschool franchise convention in Foster City, CA. I sat down with Building Kidz Partner and CMO (and Foster City Councilman) Sanjay Gehani. Building Kidz is a long-running client of Franchise Beacon’s in the preschool franchise space. We helped take their preschool business and turn it into franchise, and I count Sanjay as a personal friend as well. I was meeting with him to do an interview for Franchising.com’s Chief Marketing Officer Q&A section.
    The piece can be seen here, and it obviously struck a chord with Franchise Update Media’s audience, as it has about a 10% share rate (compared to less than 1% average), so I thought I would share it on our blog as well.Franchisor Sanjay Gehani
    Read below for my recounting of the interview and key answers from Sanjay, or check out the interview on franchising.com.

    Sanjay is obviously popular with his franchisees; everyone who walked by received a personal greeting, and most were eager to take a minute to catch up. In between handshakes, we discussed his background in high-tech, how it prepared him for franchising, and his learnings from his first four years in franchising.

    To begin, I asked Sanjay to share a bit of his pre-franchising background.

    I am an Electrical Engineer by education, and my time in corporate America was at Xilinx, a semiconductor company that leads the industry in technology development for reprogrammable devices. I started in customer support, but management saw something in me, and I was quickly fast-tracked into cross-functional roles. Early on, I relocated from the Bay Area to Tokyo. There, I helped build relationships and drive technical training and implementation for top customers like Fujitsu, NEC, and Sony. After a year in Tokyo, I came back to the Bay to take on roles in regional sales, business development, and global pricing. My 15-year career with Xilinx was rewarding with my last position overseeing a portfolio of international partners influencing over $700M in lifetime revenue.

    So how does one go from overseeing global strategic initiatives to leading an emerging preschool Franchise?

    Like many people in franchising, I fell into it. I was looking for a preschool for my son and Building Kidz was a local preschool chain owned by Vineeta Bhandari, a long-time family friend who has known me since I was 6. I sat down with her to learn more about her business goals. What she told me touched me, and I knew right then that I had to get involved.

    What Vineeta shared was her backstory; how in 2002 her daughter’s preschool was no longer willing to provide services because they didn’t know how to deal with an insulin-dependent child. Vineeta left her career as a financial consultant to Bay-Area companies like Sun Microsystems to start a preschool and be close to her daughter. Over the next 10 years she developed a passion for both the business and education side of preschools. When Sanjay went into Building Kidz in 2013, she had developed a proprietary curriculum and was deploying it at 5 schools in the area. Over the previous 10 years she had developed a dream of impacting the lives of 1 million children in her lifetime through her Early Childhood Education work.

    Vineeta gave me, and my second business partner, Sangeet Karamchandani, an opportunity to invest in preschools and collaborate on the growth strategy. Over the next 14 months, we doubled our footprint, but it became clear that we would not, on our own, touch the lives of 1 million children. That realization was the genesis of both the Building Kidz preschool franchise and Building Futures, our non-profit organization.

    Building Kidz dedicates 25% of its profits to help underprivileged children in impoverished areas, both at home and abroad, by providing access to sanitation, education, and nutrition. They also help fund research into diabetes and other childhood diseases.
    I asked Sanjay how he felt that his time at Xilinx had prepared him to become a franchisor.

    When you think about it, silicon is at the base of every process that drives our world; it allows your bank to track your balances in real time, allows you to sit there and type notes as we talk, silicon is even what allowed you to call an Uber from the airport. The world’s largest manufacturer of Silicon reprogrammable chips is naturally steeped in processes and procedures. Franchising is such a process-driven world, and my background allows me to think in processes, workflows, and procedures for implementation. Beyond that, developing global alliances on behalf of Xilinx allowed me to hone my ability to understand people from various walks of life, cultural backgrounds, and ideals. Quickly identifying if disparate groups of people were ideal “fits” for us, from a strategic standpoint, prepared me to do the same thing in the franchise space.

    Like most of us in franchising, certain parts of the space caught him by surprise. What caught him by surprise itself is also surprising, however.

    I was on the bleeding edge of tech, so of course I realized the world changes fast. Knowing that the world changes fast and even seeing the changes in technology coming way before others is not at all the same as living in the middle of those changes every day. When I left, our partners at Xilinx were developing photo-stitching technology; a backbone component of self-parking applications and, eventually, autonomous driving. Now I am in the trenches and experiencing how, as an example, mass adoption of cloud computing allows young franchisors to have access to data that, even 5 years ago, only the big boys had. Knowing about change, even helping to implement change, is not the same as experiencing it day-to-day.

    Now four years in Building Kidz has 26 schools open in 8 states and two countries, with more opening all the time. They have received extensive recognition, including being named a “Top Emerging Franchisor” by Franchise Gator and considered one of the “Top 100 new franchises”. Sanjay laughed when I asked for his advice for would-be or emerging franchisors.

    I still feel like an emerging franchisor! I learn more about this industry and the responsibilities, frustrations, and joys of what we do, as well as the challenges of small business ownership, every single day. For advice? I guess the default answer to your question is ‘document everything’. I would say ‘assemble the right team, fast’. Make sure they are people who have experience in franchising and in business, and people who you want to break bread with. If you have the right team, they will tell you to document everything, along with a thousand other small pieces of advice, every day, that will keep you on the road to success. This hasn’t been easy, it still isn’t easy, but we couldn’t have made it to where we are without our internal team and external group of advisors.

    Interested parties can learn more about Building Kidz at Buildingkidzschools.com

    ]]>     https://www.franchisebeacon.com/sanjay-gehani-tech-background-leads-to-leading-a-preschool-franchise/feed/ 0     5 questions to ask before you franchise https://www.franchisebeacon.com/5-questions-to-ask-before-you-franchise/ https://www.franchisebeacon.com/5-questions-to-ask-before-you-franchise/#respond Sat, 12 Jan 2019 06:47:45 +0000 https://www.franchisebeacon.com/?p=2844

    5 questions to ask before you franchise

    There are many Benefits to franchising your business. However, before go writing that FDD, wait! If you skipped the question of “Should I franchise”, you need to take a step back! These five questions will help you know if you should franchise your business.What questions should you ask
    1. Is my business right for franchising? An established, profitable business is the baseline requirement for franchising. However, having these three requirements in place do not guarantee that your business is right for franchising. If you have a successful business but tight margins, there might not be room for a royalty. If your business relies on your unique skillset combination, it may not be easy to replicate. Finally, if you are in a business that is extremely localized (NYC T-shirt store in Times Square) or seasonal, it may not make sense for franchising. By the way, a good franchise consultant can help walk you through a feasibility study to help make these determinations.
    2. Am I right for franchising? Franchising requires a complete change in what you are doing now. Instead of running your business, you will be a franchisor. Do you have the patience to deal with individuals who may want to change your model? Do you have the tenacity to push through rough patches, unhappy franchisees, litigation, and all the other hurdles that are part and parcel to this business? Do you have the wherewithal to say NO to a prospect that is really into your brand, but you know would be a bad fit? Even if saying yes would allow you to make payroll?
    3. Is now the right time for me? If you decide to franchise, it’s going to take over your life for a while. That might sound extreme but talk to any emerging franchisor and they will tell you that they are constantly thinking about the franchised business. Additionally, its expensive. Depending on your business model complexity and growth plans, you can anticipate laying out between $100K-$500K before your franchise is self-sufficient.
    4. Is now the right time for my business? Franchising WILL take your focus from your main business. The business you are franchising needs to be basically self-sufficient before you take the step into the franchise world.
    5. Are their better options open to me? Many franchise consultants, franchise attorneys, or other franchise professionals will tell you that franchising is “where its at!”. I think that goes back to “when you have a hammer everything looks like a nail”! There are other ways of expansion. Franchising, if successful, is likely the fastest way to a national footprint, but you are also giving up a lot of your profits, so you should at least consider expanding through corporate owned locations, or even doing both.
    If you are having trouble knowing the “right” answer to some of these questions, you should bring in outside advice! Franchising is a tight community, and most people involved love to share information. Talk to franchisors, franchisees, franchise business consultants, and anyone else involved in the business. Connect with your local IFA chapter. Get plugged in and see if it feels like a world you want to spend the next 20 years in!
    ]]>     https://www.franchisebeacon.com/5-questions-to-ask-before-you-franchise/feed/ 0     Five things to consider before franchising your business https://www.franchisebeacon.com/five-things-to-consider-before-franchising-your-business/ https://www.franchisebeacon.com/five-things-to-consider-before-franchising-your-business/#respond Sun, 06 Jan 2019 08:54:11 +0000 https://www.franchisebeacon.com/?p=2505

    Red pencil and questionnaire

    Are you wondering how to franchise a business? Are you wondering if franchising your business is the right decision for you? Then here are five things you should consider!

    1. Do you have a proven concept?

      You are asking people to invest in your concept, so you better have proven it. If you have an “idea” you want to franchise, go prove it first. Do the business that you want to franchise, for at least a year, before you try to franchise it.

    2. Can your business model sustain a royalty?

      Some businesses operate on low margins, and that’s ok! If you have a business that does $500K in revenue a year, and you bring 10% ($50,000) to the bottom line, and it doesn’t take up all your time, then a lot of people consider that a good business. However, if you were to franchise it, a franchisee doing the exact same numbers, but having to pay a 5% royalty back to corporate, would only be making 5%, or $25,000, to the bottom line. That’s not nearly as attractive.

    3. Is your business scaleable?

      Even if you have a proven, high margin concept, you still might not want to franchise. If there is something unique about you or it, it is still not fit for franchising. If you have a successful surf shop, which requires proximity to the ocean to succeed, you might be better served opening a couple of corporate stores. The same would apply to a ski and snowboard store, a boat cleaning business, or any other business that relies on proximity to the ocean, snow, desert, etc. Additionally, if it took you years to master your craft, or if you feel like you got lucky that your business model works, it probably isn’t right for franchising.

    4. Are you ready for a career change?

      Think about what you do today. Maybe you run a retail business, help people travel, provide a cleaning service, or work on motorcycles. Whatever it is, if you are considering franchising, you will no longer do what you do today; you will be a franchisor. When you become a franchisor, your current job becomes secondary to running your franchise, or you may have to completely quit what you are doing today. Even if you have a profitable, scaleable business model, and extra capital available to franchise, if what you do today is your “dream job”, don’t screw it up by becoming a franchisor.

    5. Are you prepared to make the investment?

      Becoming a franchisor is not cheap, and it is not a do-it-yourself project. Becoming a franchisor requires investment in legal fees, consulting fees, technology development, marketing and advertising collateral, and lead generation. Typically, you are going to need at least $200-$300K to start your franchise, including working capital.

    Is it time to find out?

    If you are ready to find out if your business is right for franchising, check out what it takes to do a feasibility study, check out the book How and Why to Franchise Your Business, or book a call with one of our experts today!

     

     

     

     

     

     

    ]]>     https://www.franchisebeacon.com/five-things-to-consider-before-franchising-your-business/feed/ 0     10 Signs you should or shouldn’t franchise your business https://www.franchisebeacon.com/10-signs-you-should-or-shouldnt-franchise-your-business/ https://www.franchisebeacon.com/10-signs-you-should-or-shouldnt-franchise-your-business/#respond Sat, 05 Jan 2019 07:39:46 +0000 https://www.franchisebeacon.com/?p=2466

    The Signs You Should Franchise

    Before you ask how to franchise a business, you should ask if you SHOULD franchise your business. Not all businesses will make good franchises, and not all business owners will make good franchisors (or franchisees, for that matter, but we cover that in a different article). To really know if your concept is right for franchising, you should work with a competent professional to do a feasibility study, but here are some quick flags that franchising may or may not be the way for you to go:

    Ten Signs you should franchise your business

    1. You have a proven concept
    2. You have a team in place
    3. You have been approached by multiple people asking to buy a franchise
    4. You are profitable
    5. Your business runs smoothly without your presence
    6. Your local business growth is starting to plateau, and you are looking for the way to the next level
    7. The idea of helping other entrepreneurs is exciting to you
    8. You can teach others to do what you do
    9. Your market can weather an economic downturn or recession
    10. Your business is high-margin<

    10 signs you shouldn’t franchise your business

    1. Your are looking for a way to save your business
    2. Your business would likely fail without you behind the wheel
    3. You are struggling financially
    4. You can’t imagine moving your location, it wouldn’t work as well anywhere else
    5. You can’t take a day off or go away on vacation because the business would fall apart
    6. If your business had to give away 5% of its gross sales, it would fail
    7. Your business is very reliant on something that is popular in your area (surf shop, ski shop, etc)
    8. Your industry is facing technological obsolesce
    9. You love what you do and can’t imagine doing something else
    10. You only have an idea, not a business

    If you really want to know if you and your business are ready for franchising, give us a call. One of our franchising experts will walk through all of the above considerations, and many others, and see if you are a good fit for franchising. We do not take on every client, but only those that we truly think have what it takes to make it in the franchising world.

    Initial consultation and feasibly study are free, so go ahead and contact us today.

    If you really want to know if you and your business are ready for franchising, give us a call. One of our franchising experts will walk through all of the above considerations, and many others, and see if you are a good fit for franchising. We do not take on every client, but only those that we truly think have what it takes to make it in the franchising world.

    Initial consultation and feasibly study are free, so go ahead and contact us today. 

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