• Prospective Franchisees Should Follow These Tips.
• A Survey On Worker Retention.
• Franchise Resales An Interview with Tom West of the Business Brokerage Press
• Cert-A-Roof: A New Concept From the Service Industry
• Taking On New Challenges.

 

Prospective Franchisees Should Follow These Tips. When evaluating franchise opportunities franchisees read the following article in order to get useful tips to follow in this process. Franchisors should use this information to detetmine how their companies would measure up to this type of review. Click here to read the article...

A Survey On Worker Retention. Just 35% of employers cited time and flexibility as a key driver of retention, compared with 60% of employees, according to a study released by Spherion Corp., a Fort Lauderdale Staffing company. The study showed significant disparities across the board in how Companies and Workers view other retention issues, including compensation and growth potential. The following table shows the results ranked from 1 through 8. You'll see the differences between how Companies ranked the items compared to Workers. Companies/Management Climate---Workers/ Financial Compensation Companies/Supervisor Relationship--- Workers/ Benefits Companies/Work Environment--- Workers/Growth and Earning Potential Companies/Benefits--- Workers/Time and Flexibility Companies/Growth and Earning Potential--- Workers/ Management Climate Companies/Training and Devel.--- Workers/ Supervisor Relationship Companies/Financial Comp.--- Workers/Work Environment Companies/Time and Flexibility--- Workers/Training and Devel. Thanks to Randi F. Marshall, Newsday. "At Microsoft there are lots of brilliant ideas but the image is that they all come from the top- I'am afraid thats not quite right." Bill Gates

Franchise Resales An Interview with Tom West of the Business Brokerage Press Tom West, founder of the Business Brokerage Press has been involved in the business broker industry for over 35 years. Tom is the co-founder and former president of VR Business Brokers and a founder and past president of the International Business Brokers Association. I couldn't think of a better source of information regarding franchise resales than Tom West. According to Tom, a typical independent business has a life span of approximately four years after which it's sold. Most franchise businesses follow the same pattern. The growth of franchise resales mirrors the overall growth rate of franchising in general. The sales price of a franchise business will usually be about 10% higher than a comparable independent business. This higher value would be based upon the name brand of the franchise, the security of a franchise operation and in consideration of the transfer fee to be paid to the franchisor. The valuation method most business brokers use to price a franchise would be the SDE or "seller discretionary earnings method." This is EBIT plus owners salary. Very few franchisors recommend a specific business broker when a franchisee expresses an interest in selling. In many cases the franchisor would prefer to take a hands off approach until a potential buyer is identified by the franchisee. Tom agreed with my experience with franchisees who decide to sell, namely that the first step is for the franchisee to contact the franchisor sales department before engaging a business broker. The primary reason is that the franchise department may be aware of a possible buyer for the franchisee. Each year Tom surveys business brokers . One of the more interesting facts to emerge from this survey is that business brokers report that new franchise sales account for only 5% of total sales activity for business brokers. This low amount of new franchise activity is most likely a reflection of the emergence within the franchise sales community of the large franchise consulting firms like Franchoice and other firms who specialization in franchise sales. "Its not that we need new ideas, but we need to stop having old ideas." Edwin Land Click Here to Learn More About Business Brokers

Cert-A-Roof: A New Concept From the Service Industry The following is the first in a series on the home service industry. Next month we'll feature Handyman Services. Cert-A-Roof was founded by Les Watrous, its present CEO. Les is also the founder of the NRCA, National Roof Certification Association. The NCRA Board of Directors includes leading members of the real estate, insurance and legal professions. Les reports that, there are nearly 100 million homes in the US and Canada. In the US alone 7 million homes are resold each year. Moreover, a study by HouseMaster, a national home inspection company, found that four out of ten homes inspected have roof deficiencies. Also thirty per-cent of all real estate E&O claims are due to a leaking roof and water penetration. To Cert-A-Roof this provides a great opportunity. The Cert-A-Roof franchisee will inspect a roof, make necessary repairs and certify the roof as leak free. The homeowner receives a trademarked 2-Year Leakfree Service agreement. Les adds that home inspection companies are now reluctant to inspect and certify a roof. By positioning themselves with the real estate industry, Les feels that Cert-A-Roof will be in a great position to dominate the market for roof inspections and repairs. In terms of their growth strategy Cert-A-Roof will market their franchise concept using Regional Developers. In a short time Cert-A-Roof has signed three Regional Developers. According to Les the regional development strategy is based upon the fact that individual franchisees who will require some roofing experience will benefit from the coaching, leadership, marketing and sales development which the Regional Developer will provide. The result a cohesive network of Cert-A-Roof franchisees in a geographic region working together to promote the growth and brand name of Cert-A-Roof and its quality services. Good luck to Les Watrous and his team. Next issue the home handyman industry. "A problem well stated is a problem well solved." Charles Kettering Click here for the Cert-A-Roof web site

Taking On New Challenges. A few weeks ago I became a managing principal in Bridge Business Brokers Franchise. This is a new franchise start-up and I'm looking forward to be engaged in such an exciting industry. Bridge will market franchises to individuals interested in the business brokerage industry. There are approximately 4 million businesses sold each year and less than 4 thousand business brokers. I'll continue to devote time to FranchiseKnowHow and the newsletter. "Goodwill is the only asset that competition cannot undersell or destroy." Marshall Field Click here to learn more about Bridge