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Franchise KnowHow Publishes Franchise Buyers Manual

Published by edtex in Franchises on October 11th, 2011

For Immediate Release

Buying a Franchise? Get Help Before
You Invest

Are you thinking about buying a franchise? Are you worried
whether franchising is right for you?
Would you like to know what facts you should know and where to get them before choosing a specific franchise to invest in?

Now there’s an unbiased source of help at hand. It’s The
Franchise Buyers Manual The FranchiseKnowHow Guide to Finding and Evaluating The Best Franchise Opportunity for You.

Written by franchise expert Ed Teixeira who is the president of the FranchiseKnowHow.com website, the manual is a step-by-step guide that
helps readers decide if franchising is for them, and, if so, provides the information and tools they’ll need to choose the best
opportunity and research the specific franchise before they make apurchase. Worksheets, spreadsheets and checklists in the manual and on an included disk, help with everything from creating a personal profile to estimating the break-even point and return on investment for a franchise.

“I created the manual to give buyers a process they could follow to evaluate themselves and potential franchise
opportunities,” says author Ed Teixeira. “The manual helps the potential franchise owner make well-researched decisions before investing their
life savings in a franchise business.”

Franchise attorneys and other franchise experts agree that
this type of guidance is needed.

Franchise attorney, Vincent DeBiase of Poughkeepsie, New York, says he plans to recommend the manual to his clients because, “It will give my prospective
franchisee clients a road map to make the right investment decisions when considering a particular franchise opportunity.”

“This manual is very practical and helpful for someone considering the purchase of a franchise,” says Franchisee attorney, Mario
Herman of Washington, D.C. “Before you decide to purchase a franchise, you need to take the right path. This book sends you in the right direction.”

Franchise expert and author Dr. John Hayes praises the manual, as well: “ With so many poorly written, as well as misleading franchise “manuals” on the
Internet, it’s especially good to know that this one exists and can be trusted.”

The Franchise Buyers Manual is available for purchase from the FranchiseKnowhow website. For additional information
contact Ed Teixeira at 631-246-5782

Tags: buying a franchise, choosing a franchise

How Search Engine Optimization Can Help Your Site

Published by Nick Simard in Advertising Marketing & Public Relations, Lead Generation, Online, SEO, Technology, Websites on October 1st, 2011

Most businesses these days have a World Wide Web presence, but having a good-looking website is only the start. If you want to bring customers to your company, and generate leads by way of your website, you need to do more. That means using a search engine marketing action plan that will bring about a payoff rather than simply having a static website that is unproductive.

Many clients say they found a business while searching on the web , but 9 times out of 10, it was easily discovered because the website was properly optimized. Others complain that nobody can find their websites. So how can small to medium-sized companies optimize their web presence and improve their company’s search engine ranking, without spending a fortune?

Choose an internet marketing business that knows how search engines work, and if possible, select one that either partners with local SEO experts who are proficient in website optimization and search engine optimization or has such experts in-house. An experienced SEO company can determine what people look for, the pertinent keyword terms they type into search engines and the kinds of search engines that are selected by a targeted audience. All of this helps businesses reach their intended market more efficiently and brings traffic to your website. Proper search engine optimization leads to improved rankings with the major search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo and more).

Of course optimizing your website won’t make much sense if your website copy is not relevant to your business or properly written for optimization. While it’s important to include frequent use of the right keywords on your site pages, it’s equally important for it to sound good and to make sense to the website visitor, while also effectively indexing with the search engines. There is a delicate balance between over optimizing your website with too many repetitions of given keywords or having these keywords reside too closely in an article. The industry term for measuring this aspect of a website’s copy is keyword density. Experienced SEO firms have sophisticated tools that will measure density through your website and will make recommendations for improvement.

Link building is another way to improve your search engine optimization. While this can be a tremendously tedious and manual, a good SEO team can take your authentic website copy and send it to a host of reputable niche directory websites through the use of sophisticated submission software, which will help your website’s ranking with Google. This process of content syndication will generate multiples of links back to your website. Inbound links as these are often referred to are looked upon favorably by the search engine algorithms and improve the ranking score of your website. Once an SEO firm has syndicated content, they can easily generate a simple report showing the number of inbound links that are recognized by the search engines.

Businesses today recognize the value and importance of a good and consistent SEO strategy. If your business’ website is not optimized, you should begin as soon as possible and plan to invest sufficiently in this effort.

Online Advertising as Part of an Integrated Marketing Campaign

Published by Nick Simard in Lead Generation on September 10th, 2011

Online advertising is a critical component of a comprehensive advertising campaign. When online and offline advertising (print advertising, direct mail, billboards, etc.) is combined to form a comprehensive advertising campaign, a business will realize its greatest impact.

Beware of advice that suggests a business should only advertise online or that “print is dead.” Statements along these lines are irresponsible and can result in major gaps in an advertising campaign thereby potentially rendering the entire campaign ineffective. That is not to suggest that print is appropriate for every business in our “new economy.” DISCLAIMER: Our parent company, InspiriaMedia, is in the print business, however we believe strongly that we only want a client’s advertisement printed in our publications when we believe the client will truly benefit.

A responsible marketing plan results from a thorough review of a business’ needs including where they are currently advertising, where they used to advertise and the budgetary availability to generate a more comprehensive marketing plan.

Written by Nick Simard, Vice President InspiriaMedia

The importance of Good Training for Franchisees and Franchisors by Ed Teixeira

Published by edtex in Franchises on September 1st, 2011

One of the major reasons people purchase a franchise is to acquire a business with a proven system. This proven franchise system should include an effective and comprehensive training program. Learn about the components of a successful franchise training program and find out why it’s so important for both the franchisee and franchisors.

Item 11 of the Franchise Disclosure Document (“FDD”) requires a franchisor to disclose its contractual support obligations to its franchisees. This section outlines pre-opening assistance as well as ongoing assistance. It details the franchisor’s training programs and any required franchise systems, such as computers and software. There is a great deal of information in this section of the FDD, but franchisees need to know clearly what training they will receive. Franchisees need to be given the proper pre-opening training so they can start successfully and the right post-opening training so this can continue into a smooth operation.

Franchisors need to construct and present quality training to their franchisees. Quite often, quantity takes the place of quality when it comes to franchisee training Since franchisees can only retain a certain amount of information from a training session, franchisor training should focus on the most important and critical components of franchise operations.

How Good Training Benefits the Franchisee:

They understand the important components needed to operate the business
Ensures a smoother and more successful franchise start-up
Knows the skills his/her employees should have
Can overcome problems and challenges that may arise
Provides strong sales building and marketing skills
Teaches ‘What works and what doesn’t”
Efficient operation preserves franchisee working capital
Increased franchisee profitability

How Good Training Benefits the Franchisor:

Franchisees start-up their franchise correctly
Minimizes franchisee mistakes and the need for franchisor staff to intervene
More productive use of franchisor staff
Higher probability of more successful franchisees
Improve franchisee satisfaction and promote positive relations
Improved franchisee validation
A better franchise network
Increased profitability

The Components of a Successful Franchise Training program:

Teaches the critical elements and components of how to operate the franchise
Includes ample time for Q&A and discussion
The franchise operations manual and the training curriculum complement each other.
Franchisor trainers are experienced, knowledgeable and credible.
Includes simulated and/or on-site location training to impart ‘real world’ experience
The training is long enough to provide sufficient time to learn the necessary business methods and requirements, while avoiding information overload
Measures trainee comprehension to insure that franchisees understand and learn what is being taught. This could consist of follow up discussions at end of each training session.
Utilizes role playing when appropriate

Franchisee training must be carefully designed, constructed and presented in order to maximize the learning experience of new franchisees. Training results should be measured so that enhancements can be made when needed. Franchisors should utilize an individual with proven training skills to administer the training program. Using an existing staff member who doesn’t possess the required training tools may prove costly in the long term.

About the Author: Ed Teixeira, the founder of FranchiseKnowHow, has worked in the franchise industry for over thirty years. He was a franchisee and has served as a corporate executive for franchise firms in the retail, manufacturing, healthcare and technology industries. Ed is the author of Franchising From the Inside Out. He has spoken before various groups including the International Franchise Expo and the Chinese Franchise Association in Shanghai, China. He can be reached at franchiseknowhow@yahoo.com and 631-246-5782

Planning to Sell a Business: the Value of Having an Exit Strategy

Published by Nick Simard in Legal, Operations, Planning, Selling a Business on July 7th, 2011

The preparation of a company for sale is commonly called an exit strategy. When preparing an exit strategy, it is important to find a firm that helps business owners bolster their company’s operations and positions their company to sell at the best possible price and terms. A comprehensive team approach to an exit strategy is paramount as it includes a team of professional advisers including your accountant, attorney, financial adviser and an expert in transactions involving privately-held companies.

Business brokers sell smaller businesses and investment bankers facilitate transactions involving much larger companies. Owners of companies in the small* and middle-market* need a firm in between these more defined categories. Small and middle-market companies often require the similar level of services available to larger companies and may require greater personal attention. Operations may need improvement before seeking a buyer. Expertise in financial management, mergers & acquisitions, consulting and accounting and the ability to work with your other professional advisers is the ideal combination required to maximize your company’s value.

The ultimate sale or transition of a company’s ownership is certain at some point in the future and companies should be run with the intention of selling. If a daily focus is placed on building value, the ultimate yield from a sale will be maximized. Unfortunately, the operational demands on a company owner may limit their ability to focus on the longer-term perspective, especially on the critical event of the sale of the company. According to a study by PriceWaterhouseCoopers the majority of 364 CEO’s of privately-held companies claimed to have “put little to no thought into succession planning. …65% of surveyed CEOs plan to move on within a decade or less.” The void between the two is staggering!

Entrepreneurs build companies for two primary reasons:

Current income / income potential and
The goal of cashing in once the company is sold.

Significant value on the latter event may be left behind without proper planning. Softened economic times present a tremendous opportunity for forward thinking entrepreneurs to trim the excess from their businesses and tighten their platform, creating a springboard for an improved economy in the future and an improved value of their company upon its ultimate sale.

Two controllable ways to grow the value of a company are:

Increasing sales and
Reducing costs, thereby improving efficiency.

There are many aspects within each of these two more general, controllable categories that require attention. As an example, the implementation of certain technology can bring enhancements and efficiency to the company’s operation. Focusing on areas of finance and accounting, improving reporting, establishing systems to enable the production of audited financial statements will result in improved transparency and management of the company in the future and lend to greater ease during the sale process. Bolstering the legal aspects of a company including employment agreements, buy-sell agreements and insurance provisions brings significant structural value to your company. Ultimately, each of the above will ensure a smoother due diligence process once your company finds the appropriate buyer.

A final and very critical area determining the success of a sale is the ability to obtain purchase money financing for a buyer for your company in any credit market. A company’s ability to be underwritten is a key metric that should be considered as it will partially determine the population of available would-be acquirers of your company. Improvement in the above areas (and others not mentioned) will increase the likelihood of your company qualifying for financing.

Run your company with the intention of selling in the future. When you decide to sell, you will be in a better position to command a higher multiple and confidently approach the market with your offering. Your professional advisory team will be engaged and knowledgeable about your operation and will present from a position of strength and preparedness. Start preparing today.

*For purposes of the article, we consider “middle-market” companies those with $5MM-$50MM in sales and “small” companies those with sales between $2MM and $5MM.