March 2009 Archives

Being a franchisee/franchise consultant, I read a lot of articles and books about franchising. Hands down, my favorite is: Street Smart Franchising by Joe Mathews, Don Debolt and Deb Percival. In fact, I now consider it a must read for anyone considering investing in a franchise business and so recommend to all my franchisee candidates.

One of the surprising statistics that you learn upfront is that 99% of those who investigate franchising walk way. The 1% who move forward have similiar issues/complaints to the 99%, they just have different future intentions.

Thus whereas the 99% investigate franchises with the intention of dismissing various franchise opportunities so then can rule out self-employment as a career option, the 1% make a firm commitment to put the past in the past with a view to altering and creating their desired future.

Basically, the franchisee candidate has "come to a place in their life where they would rather take a shot and fail than sit in the bleachers and wonder what it's like to play." They refuse to listen to the inner criric who often times takes hold causing the candidate to make a fear based decision and not move forward.

One of reasons franchise candidates give for delaying or walking away from the process is timing. But as outlined in Street Smart Franchising: "the 99% percent hold on the the fallacy that there's a perfect business which can be started at the right time. The 1% know they have to go out and create the right business and make it the right time."

To read a chapter of this all important book titled: why I should invest in a franchise business, go here. You can also order this book and others related to franchising via my amazon associates store.

Congratulations to Wiltshire Farm Foods for winning the Best Website Award at this year's Franchise Marketing Awards.

The importance of the franchisors Internet site cannot be underestimated. Initially it was built to promote the company's products or services to prospective clients. However, once the company becomes a franchisor, the Internet site needs to serve a second purpose: promote the franchise to franchisee candidates.

Thus the site needs to be tweaked. By becoming a franchisor, the main task at hand is to position the brand and to bring on board franchisees who will be selling/marketing the products and services. This change needs to be reflected on the Internet site. Failure to do so means that the franchisor may not realise its full potential.

Case in point, one of the franchise brands that I represent -- which I'm completely passionate about -- having spent a considerable amount of time to get to know the owners and franchisees, for the longest had a terrible Internet site. Thus, when franchisee candidates looked at the site, they often came back confused about what the company really did. Their value proposition wasn't clear and candidates did not feel inspired. However, after a £25K investment in a new site, things radically changed. Franchisee candidates I referred to the brand were more enthused and focused on getting through the process. The new site better reflected the brand and its offering.

However, the promotion of the franchise didn't overpower the site. There was the right balance in promoting the brand to franchisee candidates and providing information about the products/services to prospective clients. Overall, the site was just better designed, well written and presented in a more professional manner. Furthermore, from my franchisee candidates perspective, it peaked their curiosity enough to want to engage further. So from that standpoint, mission accomplished with the relaunch.

Surprised to hear that people lie so frequently about reading books. There really is no reason as one leaves themselves open to being found out quite easily. So my motto for this sort of thing, just be truthful!

What books have you lied about reading? Here's a top ten.

Sarah Ebner, 5 March 2009, London Times

It happened to me recently. I was telling someone how much I had enjoyed reading Barack Obama's Dreams From My Father and how it had changed my views of the current US President. The person I was talking to agreed with me that it was, in his words, "a brilliantly written book". However, he then proceeded to talk about Mr Obama in a way which suggested he had no idea of his background at all. I sensed that I was talking to a book liar....

And it seems that my acquaintance is not the only one. Apparently two thirds of people have lied about reading a book which they haven't. In The World Book Day's Guilty Secrets Survey, Dreams From My Father is at number 9. The survey lists ten books, and various authors, which people have lied about reading, and as I'm not one to lie too often (I'd hate to be caught out), I'll admit here and now that I haven't read the entire top ten. But I am pleased to say that, unlike 42 percent of survey entrants, I have read the book at number one, George Orwell's 1984. I think it's absolutely brilliant.

Here's the rest of top ten.

1) 1984 by George Orwell (42 percent)

2) War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (31 percent)

3) Ulysses by James Joyce (25 percent)

4) The Bible (it doesn't say which testament! 24 percent)

5) Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert (16 percent)

6) A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking (15 percent)

7) Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie (14 percent)

8) In Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust (9 percent)

9) Dreams from my Father by Barack Obama (6 percent)

10) The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins (6 percent)

Asked why they lied, the most common reason was to "impress" someone they were speaking to. This could be tricky if the conversation became more in-depth!

The World Book Day survey also has some other interesting information in it. It reveals that many people lie about having read Jane Austen (I recall a friend who studied Emma for A level, but never actually read it), the Bronte sisters, Charles Dickens, Fyodor Dostoevsky (I haven't read him, but haven't lied about it either) and Herman Melville.

But when asked which authors they actually enjoy, respondents named J K Rowling, John Grisham, Sophie Kinsella, Jilly Cooper, Dick Francis, Marian Keyes and Stephen King (ah, the big sellers, in other words). Forty one percent of people asked admitted they turned to the back of the book to read the end before finishing the story (I'll come clean: I do this and am astonished that 58 percent said they had never done so).

Are you a Execpreneur or Lifepreneur? If so, then Rachel Elnaugh, one of Britain's high profile female entrepreneurs -- who has publicly experienced all the highs and lows that comes with this territory -- suggests that these two types of enterpreneurs (see definition below) should seriously consider opting for a franchise instead of taking the plunge with a completely new business.

In an article for The Franchise Magazine, Elnaugh indicates that there are "huge benefits to entering business via the franchise route, particularly if it is someone's first dip of the toe into what are frequently shark infested entrepreneurial waters. Most people's business journeys are roller coaster rides, which endure for a lifetime and feature many different projects and ventures over the years. This journey is made a lot easier if they don't experience a 'wipe-out' with their first business."

'Execpreneurs', who are typically emerging from the corporate world where they are used to working within a system and having lots of infrastructure and support;
'Lifepreneurs', who want the flexibility of being their own boss but are fairly risk averse and frequently underestimate just how much energy, effort and capital it takes to get a completely new business off the ground.

To find out if you are one of these entrepreneurs, you can take the free entrepreneurial profile test by visit Rachel Elnaugh's Internet site.

I myself am an execpreneur. No surprise really since much of my professional career was spent working for global professional services firm before I became a franchisee/franchise consultant with a international franchise consultancy. Rachel's top tips for Execpreneurs include:

• Consider creating a business with a small team of colleagues based on the same sector where you have enjoyed corporate success, focussing on a niche in the market currently unexploited (or considered too small) by your current employer.
• Alternatively, look at franchise opportunities which give a measure of business independence within an existing proven operating system and support structure, as your first venture into business.
• Execpreneurs are used to having a budget to operate with, so ensure that the business is properly funded from the outset - and that your level of funding provides for at least a year's trading before you anticipate coming into profit.
• Expect to run with imperfection in the beginning - it takes time to hone processes, systems and products/services to the point where the business runs like a well oiled machine.
• Don't be so rigid in your planning that you can't respond to new opportunities where these arise through customer demand - you may often open up whole new revenue streams which you had not previously considered. In other words, make the business customer-centric rather than operations lead.

Two other importants things to highlight from Elnaugh's article:

1. A little known fact is that most new start-ups take a good two years to come into profit - a long time to wait while you still have to support your lifestyle, especially if that includes a mortgage plus a family. Franchise owners on the other hand frequently find themselves making money after only a month or two of opening.


2. The failure rate of franchises is less than five per cent compared to the fall-out rate of something like 65 per cent for normal business start-ups.