Franchising � The Risk Free Solution To Starting Your Own Business?
Starting a business is tedious, expensive, and risky. It involves a lot of paperwork, market studies, coordinating with concerned agencies, scouting for the right place, and providing a significant amount of money for lease, initial inventory, furniture, and equipment.
However, nowadays, those thinking of starting a business have the option to start from scratch or simply get a franchise from reputable establishments. It is a fact that many success stories in business started from scratch and the vision of their founders. Starting from scratch is good if the business has something innovative to offer and can sell its products at a competitive and affordable price. It also must find the right business site, near its target market, and be able to advertise well in order to make consumers be aware of its products or services. This can take a long time, a lot of money, and uncertain market response.
On the other hand, considering the present aggressive competition in business, a franchise offers an enticing alternative. Franchising is a relatively new concept in business that caught the imagination of many business-minded people. In non-technical language, it simply means putting up a branch of a well-known company wherein the franchisee pays an agreed amount to the franchisor for the use of its brand name and identity. The franchise fee may vary according to the size of the franchisor�s customer base, popularity, and prospective profits. In addition, the franchisor offers its track record and effective business strategy. In the last few years, franchising became so popular that almost all successful companies have at least a few franchises. Many have even ventured into franchising overseas.
Despite the fact that big businesses demand a hefty sum of money as franchise fee, the benefits of franchising far outweigh its price. A good franchise offers a total package that includes site selection, lease negotiation, management and personnel training, and store design in addition to allowing the use of its trademark. It also provides continuing support on marketing, quality assurance, and troubleshooting to ensure that all franchises follow the same standards of quality. Hence, in retail outlets, processes are standardized, quality is assured, and customers are confident that they are getting their money�s worth.
Take the case of one of the most popular and successful franchises: McDonald�s. Today, McDonald�s franchise stores are everywhere, not only in the US but also in many countries abroad. When a customer walks into a McDonald�s outlet anywhere in the world, he can expect the same high quality of food and service.
This is because one of the most significant advantages of franchising is that the retail will have access to the knowledge and expertise that enabled the franchisor to develop and expand its business. Since each franchise will adopt the same strategy that eventually developed from such know-how, all of them share and maintain a solid business platform. Their standard operating procedures (e.g., product pricing, recruitment, and marketing) have already been tried and tested such that many of the early mistakes have already been detected and addressed. Hence, the risk of failing is greatly reduced compared to an entrepreneur who is just starting to establish a business independently.
If marketing and purchasing are centralized, they result in economies of scale, which means lower costs and presumably higher profits. Moreover, all franchise stores benefit from the aggressive and sustained advertising, marketing, and promotional programs handled by the main management. The franchisor's business plan, operations manuals, and market analysis are also readily available, as well as the exact figure needed to fund the new franchise.
Assuming that the franchise is maintained according to the terms of the contract, initial investment can be recouped within a considerably short period. On top of the other benefits of franchising, the prospect of recouping investment early should be an irresistible come-on to any enterprising person.
The arrangement is also beneficial to the franchisor since it is assured of profits even with the franchise fee alone. The management of all franchises is centralized but the responsibility for the hiring of personnel and the day-to-day operations of each outlet rests on the franchisee. This leaves the central management free to focus on marketing thrusts and product research.
The concept of franchising is important because it gives the franchisee a chance to go into business for himself while enjoying the support and customer base of a mother company. In this arrangement, a safety net is provided for the franchisee�s investment since a good franchisor will certainly want to ensure that its good name in the business is upheld and that the new franchise will be viable for the sake of both parties. Moreover, the concept does not require direct experience from the franchisee. Therefore, it opens up a lot of access to various types of business that he might not have otherwise considered.
Indeed, franchising has become an important concept in business because it has proven that starting a business need not be difficult and risky. In fact, with franchising, it can be a piece of cake.
UK Franchise Directory Franchise Information Resource
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Matthew Anderson is the founder of The Franchise Shop, a directory of some the the UK's best franchises and a resource for franchising information.
Utterly Droolworthy Power Point Presentations
You can sell Benzes to refugees during war time.
You easily part a nun from her vow of chastity.
No doubt- you’re the greatest at influencing people one-on-one.
But can you conduct killer power point presentations?
If you’re like 99% of all the presentors out there, I bet you ‘re a veteran at observing the MEGO Syndrome in audiences.
MEGO?
“Mine Eyes Glaze Over”
That’s right. Three minutes into the powerpoint presentation, the audience is restless. Some begin sneaking out the door. The more polite ones just pretend to listen behind dark spectacles. But you know where their minds went.
The MEGO Syndrome arises from five monumental presentation mistakes. Do the opposite and you’ll deliver utterly drool worthy power point presentations- and influence the socks out of your crowd.
1. Keeping Them Guessing. Many speakers fail to give a roadmap of their speech. So throughout the presentation, the crowd is asking ‘huh? What’s his point? Where’s this leading to?’ Guide them by the hand. Before the actual presentation, outline exactly what you’ll cover and let them know when you’ll finish.
2. Failing to Connect At the Beginning. Audiences don’t like to be preached to. They’d prefer to be talked with. Keep your style interactive. Open the talk by asking a rhetorical question, launching an anecdote, or saying a shocking statement- then invite a comment! You’ll draw them in like Pirahnnas to a pork buffet.
3. Looking at the Floor and Closing Your Body. I’ve seen it so often. The speaker assumes a closed body language. Guilty of this? Hands in pocket. Arms crossed. Legs tight together. Look stiff, and you alienate the audience. To invite the audience to appreciate your power point presentation, move around. Gesture. Smile!
4. DataDumping. I’ve attended hundreds of business presentations where the speaker fills the slide with size 9 font text crammed to the margin. Then they read each line. Good lord! We’re attending a presentation, not an online reading course! The best slides follow the 4 by 4 rule. Four words across, four bullets down.
5. Forgetting the Call of Action. At the end, the speaker jumps to “any questions?” without giving the audience a specific command. Is it to buy? To invest? To visit a website? Without the call to action, the audience is left wondering what you yammered about for the last 20 minutes of their valuable time.
So here’s my call to action for you: create drool worthy powerpoint presentations. Right now.
Your audience deserves it.
More of Joseph Plazo's killer articles: Art of Unstoppable Persuasion, Sneaky Negotiation Techniques, and finding Jobs in the Philippines
Southern States Ahead on African American Racial Representation within Institutions of Higher Educat
Colleges and universities within the southern states are now, for the first time ever, showing representation figures that coincide with African American population densities, according to a study by the Southern Regional Education Board. This is above average for the rest of the country, placing what many in other regions typically believe to be a racially oppressed area firmly ahead on matters of educational equality as they pertain to African American students.
The increases have been seen in public universities and associate level colleges rather than at historically African American colleges, for which enrollment has declined over the last decade. This offers an indicator of the mainstreaming of attitudes across minorities toward the educational system as a whole.
The board notes that there are still many hurdles to overcome and problems on the horizon both nationally and in the South. Graduation rates for African Americans are still lower than the national average. The study did not calculate graduation rates for the Southern states region, but an analysis commissioned by The Associated Press calculated the graduation rates for the 16 states in the board's report.
Erroll Davis, Chancellor of the University System of Georgia, notes that most minority students enroll with lower levels of college preparedness, though, "We've removed a lot of the barriers and accepted that we will have to provide higher levels of learning support in the short-term,"
While progress is being made in terms of overall enrollment, more initiatives are needed at the elementary and high school levels to ensure that minority students have the educational foundation necessary to succeed at the collegiate level. Active enrollment is a positive step but until graduation rates are on par with non-minority students, the post college playing field is unequal.
Within the minority groups represented in the study, graduation rates from the Associated Press data vary substantially. Hispanics are now the most underrepresented group in colleges and universities across the South, yet have higher graduation rates than African American students. Six-year graduation rates were 40 percent for African Americans, 46 percent for Hispanics, and 56 percent for whites compared to 41 percent, 44 percent and 60 percent respectively nationwide.
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