Franchise Business Opportunities

MarketWatch:

Experts say low home prices combined with low interest rates make this the best time in years to become a real-estate investor. While the timing might be right, investors need to understand all the costs involved in a rental property investment. Unplanned expenses can easily turn what looks like a good deal into a cash drain for years.

“Although there’s never been a better time to invest in single family homes for rental properties,” said David Hicks, co-president of HomeVestors of America, Inc., also known as the “We Buy Ugly Houses®” company. “The novice investor that jumps into a property unprepared can easily have a very expensive education. There are a number of factors to consider.” More.

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Hamilton Spectator:

I received an email this past week from Diana F. who asked about business opportunities in franchising. Specifically, she wanted to evaluate various franchise opportunities to see if any suited her and her husband. This is an excellent topic for this week’s Bontis on Business. Thanks Diana.

A franchising relationship has two parties: the franchisee (in this case, Diana and her husband) who has the right to operate a location of a business, and the franchisor which represents the overarching company. There are several advantages and disadvantages for both the franchisee and the franchisor to consider.

Most importantly, the biggest advantage for the franchisee is that she avoids unnecessary trial and error when starting a venture, because the business model has theoretically already been proven to work. Technically speaking, the franchisee also has less financial and operational risk because startup costs are relatively lower, especially with a turn-key unit. Read full post.

SunHerald.com:

RPM Pizza owner Glenn Mueller was presented with the highest honor awarded to a Domino’s Pizza franchise during the company’s worldwide rally in Las Vegas on May 16.

RPM Pizza is headquartered in Gulfport and is the nation’s largest Domino’s pizza franchise.

Domino’s Pizza Gold Franchise Award is given to less than 2 percent of franchisees each year — those who achieve and maintain excellence in sales, store growth and operations.

Mueller is one of about 20 recipients out of a more than 1,300 store owners in the United States.

Tulsa World:

A new McDonald’s restaurant in Gilcrease Hills is providing hope that the north Tulsa neighborhood is turning around economically.

The fast-food restaurant opened Thursday at 229 N. Gilcrease Museum Road, just north of Interstate 244 and across the street from a QuikTrip convenience store that was updated and expanded in 2010.

The restaurant creates about 75 jobs, in addition to 15 employees who were brought in from other metro area McDonald’s locations, said Kevin Hern, the franchisee who owns 15 local restaurants.

“We’ve been looking at this area for about five years, but some things came together that finally made it possible,” Hern said. “We wouldn’t put a location anywhere if we didn’t think it would be a success.”

Virtual-Strategy Magazine:

Welcomemat Services announced today the signing of three new franchise agreements in the past three months, fueling the growth of the Atlanta-based marketing strategies and technology company that provides monthly direct-mail packages to new movers. The franchise agreements are for new markets in Nashville, Tenn., Asheville, N.C. and Bellevue, Wash. Additionally, Randy Rhea, an existing franchisee in Augusta, Ga., became the company’s first multi-unit owner with the recent opening of a second territory serving the greater Charleston, S.C. area.

“Welcomemat offers so many small business opportunities,” said Rhea. “Augusta was the perfect starting point for my Welcomemat business and since its initial successes, it led me right into a second location.”

PR Urgent:

Liquid Capital has been ranked in the top 10 percent of all franchises nationwide and named a 2012 Military Friendly Franchise® by G.I. Jobs Magazine.

The country’s only full-service franchised factoring company’s newest franchisee is Terry Campbell, a West Point graduate and retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel. Liquid Capital honors military veterans year round by offering service members a 10 percent—or $5,000 — discount off the franchise fee and in-house financing, allowing veterans to use their training and operational skills in a new civilian career.

“We are honored to have Terry Campbell on the Liquid Capital team,” said Brian Birnbaum, president of Liquid Capital of America Corp. “His military experience has been an integral part of the successful launch of his business. We hope to add many more franchisees like Campbell in the coming years.”

Columbus Dispatch:

Zpizza is a California pizza chain that brings organic, West Coast twists to the competitive Columbus market. The first Ohio store was in the Short North.

The franchisee has acquired the rights to develop the Columbus area and has opened a store across from Graceland Shopping Center in the former Evening Star Cafe space. Read more.

Business Day:

TASTE Holdings will open 50 outlets of The Fish & Chip Co in the next six months, as it extends its reach into the lower living standards measures (LSMs), CEO Carlo Gonzaga said yesterday at the release of year-end results.

As rising costs take their toll on consumers’ pockets, fast-food companies have had to come up with innovative ways not only to capture market share but to entice new customers to their stores.

Last year Famous Brands entered the lower end of the market with its Blacksteer Home of Shisanyama restaurants.

This week Famous Brands said it would be looking into the casual dining market.

A new bill passed by the state of Georgia that prohibits franchisees from being considered the employees of their franchisor ensures that franchisors will not be held liable for worker compensation claims made by franchisees. Although House Bill 548 does not make clear other protections it may provide, such as claims involving agency and tort, the new law is viewed as a victory for franchisors. The International Franchise Association, which had a hand in getting the bill passed, congratulated Georgia lawmakers and franchisors, stating that the measure would help broaden the state’s franchise market. For more on this continue reading the following article from Blue MauMau.

NuWire Investor:

As Coverall gets hit this month with a $3 million bill from a Massachusetts court for misclassifying its employees as franchisees, Georgia law can now boast, not in our state courts.

Governor Nathan Deal has now signed House Bill 548 after it unanimously passed in both the House and Senate, February 28 and March 26, respectively. Full article here.

RestaurantNewsRelease.com:

Barry Newberg is a man who loves his MOOYAH, and his journey with the brand has been full of landmarks. Five years ago, Newberg opened the first MOOYAH in history to an eager crowd waiting for better burgers despite a dusting of late spring snow. Since then, he’s been among the top five franchise performers and beaten his year over year sales almost every year.

On May 28, Newberg will hit another milestone when he opens his second MOOYAH restaurant at 7000 Independence Parkway in Plano, at the northeast corner of Independence Parkway and Legacy Drive.

The newest restaurant, like MOOYAH’s freshest quality food, is a feast for the eyes that was built from scratch with love.