Ask Yourself When Considering A Franchise Business!

As a follow up to my previous post, here are some questions you can ask yourself to begin your conversations with me so I can help you find your perfect franchise business.

 

1.    How many years am I prepared to work in the franchise earning less than what I earn today in my job before I can see the return on my investment?

2.    Retail franchises such as fast food tend to have lots of staff and a high turn-over of staff; do I have a recruitment and training background? Will I enjoy this as a new full time endeavor?

3.    If my store manager does not show for work or I’m short of staff for a shift, will I enjoy working behind the counter?

4.    Will my inventory have a shelf life and if so for how long, for example perishable food items?

5.    Am I passionate about this business and industry?

6.    I want to be the owner operator of my business; can I see myself in this business every day?

7.    Is this business in a highly competitive industry or location?

8.    Is this business in a high growth market?

9.    Is this a cash business and will I need a big family in the business to reduce theft?

10.Is this business contributing to the health and wellness of people and is this important to me?

11.Is this a business I will be proud to tell my family and friends about?

Email me for a free franchise fit evaluation. I have more than 12 years of international executive franchisor experience and I specialize in finding high profit/high growth franchise businesses. My email is:  rmacneil58@gmail.com

Franchisors Only Want My Money

Why do I feel when I start talking to a franchise representative that their selection process is more about how much money I can spend than if I'm truly the right person to own and operate their franchise business? I worked too hard for my money and I want to make the right choice but there are too many choices. Some great but not in my budget, some in my budget but not so great and the others, well who knows.

The truth from an insider perspective is, your gut feeling is probably true and your search has proven to be fruitless because there really are too many choices; some great, some good and some not so good. There are even resale franchise opportunities. Do I buy and build new or buy an existing franchise?
The fact is there is an abundance of choices and it can be too daunting to even begin in fear of making a mistake. For example, as per a 2007 United States total economic impact of franchises on their economy study which included:

• The number of jobs filled within and because of franchised businesses (17,430,700)
• The number of franchise establishments (over 828,138)
• Direct and indirect economic output of franchised businesses; ($2.1 trillion)
• Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of franchised businesses ($1.2 trillion)

So, here are some tips I know will help:

1. Establish your budget for a franchise license and start-up costs leaving a safety net to cover your household expenses for a minimum of one year.
2. Create a checklist of what is important to you in franchise business ownership e.g.: Will I be an owner/operator or am I looking for an investment opportunity? If I own and operate what business/product/service or industry will get me out of bed every day to enjoy what I do? What are my skills, experience and talents that are transferrable to a franchise? High growth, high demand marketplace? Low investment high profits? Exceptional training and support to the franchisee and staff. etc.
3. An existing franchise versus new? Prepare a SWOT (Strengths/Weaknesses/Opportunities/Threats) analysis for yourself. For example: S = established revenues, W = revenues declining due to poor staff performance, O = new management could renew revenue performance in established location, T = desirable location could be absorbed by another competitor
4. Short list potential franchise systems that catch your interest from your community, word of mouth or media.
5. Reach out to a franchise broker who can then get to know you better and save you time matching you to the right franchise. Item 4 doesn't necessarily mean buying what you saw or heard but rather narrowing down your search to type of franchise. After all, there might be a better burger or donut you are not aware of or, a franchise offering you never thought of such as in home healthcare or automotive services to name a couple.

My most significant point to remember is that you don't have to search or go into a franchise systems selection process alone. Get the expert and free advice. The broker is typically compensated by the franchisor for saving them time in bringing forward a qualified candidate for consideration.
Happy franchise hunting!

This is a great seminar happening in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada and I highly recommend this for business owners and people who want to impress their boss with how they grew market share through unique LinkedIn marketing insights: http://www.eventbrite.ca/event/5905464403/WSI/58856021251

MacNeil Sales Consulting and Contracting

Building on my Do's and Don'ts list of business.  For example:  Do what is in your control to prevent potential failure. If all else fails, move on sooner not later. Don't ignore the signs of potential failure. As entrepreneurs we have a tendency (I'm guilty) to hang on to our passion and our dream of grand success with egotistical blinders on. The result may be to go down alone with the ship yelling "But she can be saved!"

Today I continue to build my new business, MacNeil Sales MSCC, leveraging my sales and franchise experience helping others find the right franchise. To help my clients understand a franchise and a franchisors selection process.

I'm also helping a local and established new home builder find investors for his next phase of new home construction in the London and Woodstock, Ontario, Canada area.

As an entrepreneur I'm open to hear how I can help your company as a contractor review your sales system, your franchise system and provide recommendations on building a winning sales team.

If you are interested to learn more about how I can provide insights to your business, or interested in a franchise or a home investment, send me a message.

MacNeil Sales Consulting and Contracting, MSCC

It has been some time now since I last wrote in my blog and I suspect I'm the only reader.  Well I'm back. My last year has been a challenge for my career. I could point fingers but instead I prefer to move forward, rebuild, survive and thrive. I plan to build my new business, MacNeil Sales Consulting and Contracting, MSCC, and take what I learned over my last 20 plus years as an entrepreneur and franchise sales executive to help others find their new franchise business. Or for others who prefer to put their money to work and invest with an establish new home builder who is looking to build another successful phase of new homes in the London, Ontario, Canada area. I can also help existing businesses build a sales team. improve a sales team's performance or assist your HR team with the recruiting of top sales professionals.

I'm open for business and open for discussions. I look forward to getting back to more regular posts in my blog and building a loyal readership and referral base.

Canadian Tire and "Our Policy Is..."

I have been involved with an on going sequence of escalating frustration of events with a Canadian institution in the automotive retail industry, Canadian Tire. I purchased months ago 4 new all season tires with full replacement warranty and dynamic balancing which cost me close to $1,000. At first I notice that two of the tires kept losing air faster than normal. Being proactive I brought the car back to Canadian Tire. They checked the tires and said nothing was wrong and charged me for the labour and balancing. I found this doubtful but off I went after reluctantly paying this small bill. Then a couple of months later, while I was out of the country, my wife who was just minutes from entering a busy highway on-ramp found herself driving on the rim. The tire was flat and was now being damaged by the rim. She called a road side assistance company who charged her $70. to change the tire. She went to Canadian Tire and they very quickly replaced the tire and paid the bill for the road side assistance but charged us for the labour, balancing and a new replacement warranty. They claimed that the seal on the rim was the problem and promised that they used more sealant this time. 1 month later, the other tire moments before entering the same on-ramp is flat and coming off the rim. We called Canadian Tire this time from the road to come help us and they said they can't it is not "Our Policy to do service for you at the road, bring the tire to us and we can check it.." "I understand was my response but you need to understand the history before you say no and she interruptted me again with "Our Policy is..." I was short with her and disconnected our call. We then called the same company as before and went to Canadian Tire with the flat tire and a new $70. bill for road side service. Now this time we got attitude from the young girl at the desk who said "Our Policy" numerous times as a method to interrupt my explanation of the series of events. I suspect she is the same girl we spoke to on the phone days earlier. The end result, they did not replace the tire, they resealed it and charged me for labour and balancing again. We paid and left to experience a flat again two days later driving home from the office. We pulled into a nearby Active Green and Ross tire center and incurred a $34. bill but well worth it, these guys stayed late after their posted hours to help us out and provided a free 6 month warranty that this tire will not leak air. Wow! I write this post not to complain because we have done this already to Canadian Tire weeks ago in writing and they didn't even have the customer service responsiveness of a top notch company like Active Green & Ross to even reply to our letter. Their lack of response says it all.

I have written about the importance of great customer service before in my blog. It is not only a great differentiation from your competition, customers are prepared to pay more for high level service and they will become repeat customers and refer your business to their family and friends.

With the explosion of the Internet Socialization with the advent of such online venues as YouTube and Facebook and my blog, businesses need to understand that the consumer is now in control of your image and your brand. They can create an online viral marketing campaign that can kill your brand over night. As business owners, we need to ensure we are using a professional that can manage our online brand. The world has changed and there are new rules to marketing today because of the Internet. The days of the amateur is over. Like my business with Canadian Tire is now over. I hope the small money Canadian Tire makes on the labour they charge customers will help them grow their business against the loss of thousands of dollars I would spend in a lifetime multiplied by how many people read my blog post and Facebook rants.

Travelling in the 21st Century

I'm in Estonia and then travelling to Latvia, Lithuania and then a few days at the end in Frankfurt, Germany on business and pleasure for 2 weeks. I'm amazed at how easy it is for me to continue doing business with my office at home. The internet has reached many parts of the world with high speed reaching even remote parts of the world. The time zone difference allows me to act on questions and issues while my customers sleep and when I work in the night while they are awake.

Another aspect of the world is that business is the same the world over. We all want to grow our business and do it with the most cost effective marketing methods available today. Internet marketing is growing as more and more of us use the internet and with the ease of access to the internet for our customers growing globally, the internet has become the wrapper of the worlds economy.

We are and will continue to grow to be a digital world. I booked my airline tickets online. I reserved my rooms online. I even made last minute changes online. I stayed in touch with my business online and even with my family online (facebook). And now with you through my blog and Twitter. If you are in business you should already know that the internet is where your customers are and as a result you need to be marketing to them online. But do it right and hire a professional who can build a long benefiting online marketing strategy. Check out this offer from WSI: Click Here

WSI #1 Internet Services Franchise in 2010 - 10 Years Running

WSI Corporate has released a press release sharing this newsworthy announcement about their 2010 Entrepreneur Magazine Franchise 500 Rankings...
Franchise 500® rank:

#56 (2010); #57 (2009); #46 (2008); #42 (2007); #46 (2006);

Top Homebased Franchises:

#13 (2010); #12 (2009); #9 (2008); #12 (2007); #9 (2006);

America's Top Global Franchises:

#49 (2010); #49 (2009); #26 (2008); #36 (2007); #6 (2006);

"I Am Canadian Blogroll"

I am proud to be Canadian with many friends and readers from around the world. To help further the success of other Canadian Bloggers I have added my blog, Entrepreneurs Seek Advice, to the "I Am Canadian Blogroll". Thanks to Tricia for her instructions found at her blog; Tricia's Musings and, for helping me get this properly set up on my blog. Great work Tricia and we appreciate your efforts and time required to manage this with the intent to keep it current with active blogs that are also civil in nature.

I see from some of the comments Tricia has received about this blogroll that we are the envy of others from other countries. Always glad to be part of the leading edge of innovation and creativity.