Buy a Franchise. Change The World.

At the risk of sounding sappy, I’m going unveil one of my most passionately held beliefs about small business start-ups, regardless of whether it’s a franchise opportunity or independent venture:  I believe that the only valid reason for starting a new business is to change the world.

This belief is not based on pie-in-the-sky idealism, but a very practical observation:  growing a business takes tremendous effort, stamina and commitment.  It takes, perhaps above all else, the ability to keep all involved motivated to do their best day after day after day after mundane day.  Financial motivation, for most of us, only goes so far.  We long to know that we are making a difference in the world, that we are helping to further the causes that we care about, and that we make a difference.

Employment studies have shown that adequate (or even high) financial compensation does not make employees happy in their jobs.  Why?  Because personal fulfillment comes from being part of something worthwhile, for being recognized, for making a difference.  It’s easier for a business owner to maintain focus and enthusiasm if he or she has (and his or her employees have) both financial and non-financial motives for maximizing the success of the business.

IMHO, the best businesses are those that enable all involved to feel that they are truly making a difference in some way… that they are both making a living AND changing the world.

I thought about this today when I was posting an entry on the Fairway Divorce Solutions FanWall on Top New Franchises.  Founded by Karen Stewart, Fairway Divorce Solutions is a new franchise that offers an alternative to traditional divorce settlement process, one that’s based on cooperation rather than confrontation.

I think that Fairway Divorce Solutions franchisees will have to possess a great deal of skill, empathy and commitment to create mutually negotiated divorce agreements between parting couples.  They’ll also need to be flexible enough to pioneer both a new concept AND a new franchise system.  However,  it’s hard to imagine of a more personally fulfilling business to be in than to be helping families lay the groundwork for peaceful cooperation and mutual respect when, without you, they may have resorted to anger and resentment.

It seems to me that this concept, if grown correctly, could really have a significant and far-reaching impact on many, many lives.  If Karen Stewart and her Fairway Divorce Solutions franchisees can pull it off, they’ll reap the rewards of those who can look back and say, with certainty, that they changed the world.

DO YOU KNOW A FRANCHISE COMPANY THAT’S CHANGING THE WORLD?  SHARE IT BELOW.

Photo of Karen Stewart:  Fairway Divorce Solutions

Post from: Franchise Pick

Domi-Nose Franchisee Could Lose Franchise

The Conover, North Carolina Domino’s franchisee whose employees filmed themselves doing gross things to a customer’s food, then posted the video on YouTube, may get disenfranchised.

Get the backstory here:  Domino’s YouTube Employees Arrested

According to a WCNC report:

CONOVER, N.C. — The owner of a local Domino’s Pizza could lose his franchise because of fallout from a YouTube video that showed his employees doing disgusting things to customers’ food.

Domino’s Pizza corporate honchos are heading to Conover later this week to talk with the franchise owner about the now-famous video.

Domino’s officials say the intent of the meeting is to discuss whether the owner will lose his restaurant.

The video shows former employee Michael Setzer putting cheese into his nose and then onto a sandwich, while another former employee, Kristy Hammonds, narrates, saying the food will be sent to “some unlucky customer.”

Hammonds and Setzer were fired and charged with contaminating food.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

Image: Domino’s

Post from: Franchise Pick

PLAY N TRADE Franchise Registration Revoked

When FranchisePick.com asked IS PLAY N TRADE A GREAT FRANCHISE OPPORTUNITY?, we got an earful… and 100+ comments.

According to Unhappy Franchisee, the California Department of Corporations has issued their opinion of the video game retail franchisor Play N Trade, and it ain’t good.

In fact, California is revoked the unit registration, denied the master franchise registration renewal and is recommending  heavy fines and penalties for alleged deceptive practices and violations of CA franchise law.

Play N Trade Franchise, Inc. has 60 days to respond to the complaint.

Read the legal document and penalties here: PLAY N TRADE: CA Revokes PnT Franchise Registration

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

Graphic:  FranBest Franchise Information

Also read:

PLAY N TRADE: Franchisee Shares Secrets of Success; Blasts “Whiners”

PLAY N TRADE: CA Revokes PnT Franchise Registration

PLAY N TRADE: Video Game Franchise Played Out?

Post from: Franchise Pick

Diversified Health & Fitness Responds

In yesterday’s post on the acquisition of the 1-2-3 FIT franchise chain (1-2-3 FIT Sold to Diversified Health), I pointed out that Fort Lauderdale-based Diversified Health & Fitness has been aggressively buying up the assets of dead, dying and severely wounded franchised fitness chains.

Two years of writing about and commiserating with the franchisees of these chains has left me both hopeful that Diversified HF is genuinely dedicated to helping these franchisees, and fearful that they’re not.

I concluded with an invitation to Diversified Health & Fitness to respond to my rather cynical musings, which they quickly did with the following statement.

Dear Sean,

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to your blog post. With your permission, we would like to have a sign made quoting the first line of your post* to hang above our door. Very amusing.

To be perfectly candid, yes, we have been very active in acquiring the franchise contracts of struggling franchisors. In today’s market, franchise sales have become a difficult prospect in all franchise industries, leaving many franchisors in the unenviable position of being forced to cut back on support to cover their own overhead. This leaves many otherwise innocent franchisees in the lurch with little or no support from the system into which they made a significant investment. These people deserve better.

This is where we step in. We, like the franchisees before us, make a significant investment of our own and acquire the assets and the franchise contracts of the struggling system. We use the know-how of our teams of marketing, operations, real estate, and financial experts to do everything in our power to work with the acquired franchisees to strengthen their business operations. Our motto is “your success is our success,” meaning that the better our franchisees perform, the better we will perform as a company.

Our philosophy is that, in order to be a good franchisor, we need to be a good parent. In being a good parent, we strive to provide our franchisees with the tools it takes to be successful business people. While it is unfortunate that some of our acquired franchises are in the process of winding down when we take over, we still do everything we can to resuscitate them. Though it may not be reflected on your site and others like it, we have reams of letters and e-mails from our franchisees praising our efforts.

I can assure you that there is no “role playing” when it comes to our acquisitions. All of our transactions have been at arms length and have been very thoughtfully, if not contentiously, negotiated. I believe anyone who has had the pleasure of dealing with our acquisition team can attest to that.

Lastly, we certainly do not see ourselves as donning a billowing cloak and scythe with DHF stenciled across our back. Rather, we prefer to see ourselves as the “savior,” to use your words, breathing life back into systems that have seen hard times. If we can be successful at this, we see a great opportunity when the economy rebounds as the parents of twelve fitness chains soundly planted in freshly potted soil.

I hope this gives you and your readers some insight into our business. Thank you again for this opportunity.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW

* Old Fitness Franchises Never Die, They Just Get Acquired by Diversified Health & Fitness.

Graphic:  Diversified Health & Fitness

Post from: Franchise Pick

Domino’s Franchisee Gets Social (Media, That is)

Here’s a great story about a Domino’s franchisee who has taken the initiative to learn about social media, and to use the many tools of Web 2.0 to build business.
I interact regularly with this franchisee on Twitter, and that’s how I learned about this blog story.

Check out the full post at Chicago Domino’s Gets Social Media Right!.

Here’s an excerpt:

Ramon De Leon (aka DPZRAMON) – King of Online Sales
Ramon has been engaged in online sales of Domino’s pizza since 1999 and has been engaged in social media since 2005 (long before the term it’s known by now). Ramon has long been a Facebook member and has connected with students for the past 4 years. His Facebook strategy is simple: Connect with local university/college students, give them the best service & pizza ever, and develop relationships that will last beyond their college years (as in delivering pizza to their place of business). According to Ramon, “it’s a social cycle.”

* * * * *

A passion for pizza and social media.

If you speak with Ramon it is so obvious that he is passionate about Domino’s, customers, and social media. In fact, he constantly monitors social sites for mentions of his stores and he provides a flyer that includes all his social sites on a flyer, which is taped to all Domino’s pizza boxes leaving his stores just to make sure customers can find him online. He also attends a lot of social media conferences to keep up on the latest social media best practices….

So Ramon, we all want to know…is all this social media stuff increasing your bottomline? Ramon’s answer: YES!

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Smart Marketing Vehicle for Hard Times

In tough economic times, smart companies look for ways to do more with less.  They seek out innovative ways to leverage their existing assets to do double duty – like using delivery and service vehicles as marketing and branding vehicles… transforming modes of transportation into moving billboards for little-to-no additional cost.

That’s exactly what the pest control chain called Truly Nolen did.  Their trademark yellow mouse cars and yellow trucks have helped identify Truly Nolen as the pest control company with a sense of humor and a taste for fun

Though it was founded in 1938, Tucson, Arizona-based Truly Nolen of America first transformed their utilitarian vehicles into moving billboards in 1961.

Today they are one of the largest family owned pest control companies in the United States. Truly Nolen has over 80 branch offices in Arizona, California, Florida, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas and Utah. The company also has independently owned and operated franchises in an ever-growing number of territories including California, Florida, Kentucky, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Texas as well as Puerto Rico.

While a rodent-themed vehicle might not be in keeping with your company’s brand image, is there a way for you to transform your vehicles into marketing vehicles?

Relentless marketer Sean Kelly is a 20 year veteran of the franchise industry, and founder of the award-winning marketing firm IdeaFarm. In 2006, he founded the FranBest franchise network, best franchise opportunities, the top new franchises, franchise marketing, franchise public relations and small business marketing. Contact him at seankelly[at]ideafarm.net.

BEN & JERRY’S: It’s Free Cone Day!

Ben & Jerry’s Free Cone Day is a tradition that goes all the way back to the legendary days when Ben & Jerry were a couple of happy hippies selling ice cream out of a converted gas station.  Despite the fact that Ben & Jerry’s is now an international brand owned by Unilever, B&J still hands out free cones one day per year.  Today’s the day.

According to my Ben & Jerry’s Chunkmail:

As a way to thank our customers for their support and to celebrate 31 years of scooping the chunkiest, funkiest ice cream, frozen yogurt and sorbet, Ben & Jerry’s scoop shops are happily giving it away!

Around the world, Scoop Shops are opening their doors from noon to 8:00 pm, to serve up a free scoop of your favorite flavor. Please check with your local Scoop Shop for more info! Grab a pal and come on down to have some good, ’scream fun on us!

Not long ago, Quiznos tried a product giveaway that backfired miserably and brought national attention to their franchisees’ discontent.

Hopefully, Ben & Jerry’s years of experience with Free Cone Day will provide a better experience for both scoop shop franchisees and customers.

DID YOU GET YOUR FREE CONE AT BEN & JERRY’S TODAY?  HOW WAS YOUR EXPERIENCE?

Graphics:  Ben & Jerry’s

Post from: Franchise Pick

1-2-3 FIT Sold to Diversified Health

There’s an ancient saying that’s been passed down through generations of fitness franchise bloggers:  Old Fitness Franchises Never Die, They Just Get Acquired by Diversified Health & Fitness.

And just as Blogstradamous predicted, the troubled and troubling 1-2-3 FIT franchise chain was sighted being  led across a misty field by a grim character carrying a scythe and sporting a black “Diversified Health & Fitness” hoodie.

Yes, just after aquiring the Butterfly “I’m not quite dead yet!” Life fitness chain, Diversified Health and Fitness has acquired 1-2-3 Fit, the coed express fitness club created by the supposedly dark knights of franchising, the controversial founders of the Quiznos franchise chain, Rick Schaden and Brooksy Smith.

For more on the acquisition, check out the Unhappy Franchisee post: 1-2-3 FIT Acquired by Diversified Health

Make Millions in 5 EZ Steps!

To understand what I suspect this Diversified is all about, let me share a neat trick I learned from the folks who ran the Java Jo’z and Cuppy’s Coffee scam.  Feel free to follow it to scam a bunch of people and have nobody be able to touch you.

1)  Form a corporation and collect a bunch of money from naive and trusting prospective franchise owners.

2)  Don’t follow through on your obligations.

3)  When the finally music stops and they’re all ready to sue you, sell the assets (including franchise agreements and intellectual property), but not the liabilities of the corporation to a 3rd party.

4)  Since the 3rd party is not liable for you, the franchisor’s, obligations and since your ass is on the beach in Cancun by this time, the franchisees are left to sue an assetless corporation.

5)  When funds run low or you’re bored with golf and tropical rum drinks, return to #1 and repeat.

So what’s Diversified Health & Fitness up to?

Why ask me?  I’m just a lowly blogger who’ll be lucky to vacation under some NJ shorepoint boardwalk this year. OK. I’ll give it a shot…

It seems to me that Diversified Health (kind of an ironic name, aye?) CEO Roger Wittenberns is selling escape pods, and playing the role of the “3rd party” that acquires the assets when the franchisors are ready to bail.

Pretty brilliant, really.  He probably gets these little chains for a song (or a dirge) and can play the savior to the remaining franchisees of the chain, collect their royalties and go after the others for what they might still owe on their franchise agreements.

Kind of like a combination collection agency & hospice program.

I could be wrong… Maybe the folks at Diversified Health & Fitness and franchisees of those they’ve acquired can set the record straight with a comments left below.

Related stories:

BUTTERFLY LIFE: Assets Bought by Diversified

DIVERSIFIED Health & Fitness, ShapeXpress Franchise Complaint

LIBERTY FITNESS Franchise Owner Describes Chain’s Decline

Diversified Health & Fitness Wants Failed Liberty Fitness Owners to Pay Up

“They Lie”: 1-2-3 Fit Franchise Owners Sound Off

Will the 1-2-3 Fit Franchise be the Quiznos of Health Clubs? Is That a Good Thing?

WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

Image:  Unhappy Franchisee

Post from: Franchise Pick

Karen Stewart, Fairway Divorce Solutions

Can divorce be franchised? Karen Stewart says it can. In fact, she’s already doing it.

Karen Stewart is Founder and CEO of Fairway Divorce Solutions. With 9 locations in Canada, Fairway Divorce Solutions provides an alternative approach to divorce—a fixed fee, step-by-step independent negotiated resolution process. The Fairway Process™ reduces costs, time, stress, and protects children. U.S. franchises are now available for qualified professionals who want to build a strong business while helping people change the way they approach divorce.

Fairway Divorce Solutions recently began offering franchises in the United States. As part of the TopNewFranchises.com Series, I had the chance to interview Karen last week about her innovative concept.

INTERVIEW WITH KAREN STEWART, FAIRWAY DIVORCE SOLUTIONS

Top New Franchises: How widespread is divorce?

Karen: Accurate divorce statistics are hard to come by, but it’s safe to say that somewhere between 35% and 55% of marriages currently end in divorce. In the U.S., it’s estimated that there are more than 2 million divorces per year. Despite the fact that divorce is so commonplace, the process for obtaining a divorce is badly broken.

Top New Franchises: What IS the process most divorcing couples currently go through? How’s it broken?

Karen: There are really two groups. The first are those who each hire their own divorce attorneys and go through the traditional adversarial and costly divorce process. Each attorney is trained that their responsibility is to win for their client. So, from the start the scenario is set for a win-lose, rather than a win-win, outcome. Since these negotiations often involve children, win-lose situations can have very unfortunate consequences. Another problem with this system is that there is no financial incentive for the attorneys to bring a speedy, economical resolution. Divorce attorneys generally require retainers of thousands of dollars from each party and bill at rates of $350 - $500 per hour. While reputable attorneys wouldn’t intentionally prolong the conflict, the fact is that the longer it takes, the more they get paid… and the fewer assets are left to allocate.

Top New Franchises: And the other group?

Karen: The other group consists of couples who do it themselves; who try to forego lawyers fees and create an agreement without professional help. This may be fine in situations where there are few assets and no children involved. For most, though, do-it-yourself divorce is very unwise. First, these individuals are making critical financial and legal decisions not only without proper training, but usually in a highly emotional state of mind. Emotional decisionmaking can result in agreements that won’t be satisfactory long-term. In fact, the validity of do-it-yourself contracts may be legally challenged down the road.

Top New Franchises: How does the Fairway Divorce Solutions process differ?

Karen: Fairway Divorce Solutions offers a fixed-fee, step-by-step negotiated resolution process that is founded on cooperation, not confrontation. Our professional, trained negotiators lead divorcing couples through a well-defined process to achieve a fair and mutually acceptable division of financial assets as well as child custody and visitation. Fairway clients work with their trained negotiator as a team to achieve a mutually agreeable resolution in the least amount of time possible.

Top New Franchises: What professional qualifications are required to be a Fairway franchise owner?

Karen: Operating a Fairway Divorce Solutions business requires significant negotiation, mediation and/or conflict resolution skills. While one does not need to be an attorney or Certified Financial Planner, knowledge of the law, financial planning background or psychology is certainly helpful. Among our current franchisees we have… [CONTINUE READING]

Fairway Divorce Information: Fairway Divorce

Fairway Divorce Comments: Fairway Divorce FanWall

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Karen Stewart photo: Fairway Divorce Solutions

DIVORCE: The Franchise Opportunity

Karen Stewart’s revolutionary idea is now a ground-floor franchise opportunity.

Unfortunately, divorce is a fact of modern life.

Even more unfortunately, the American system of high priced attorneys doing battle at $500 an hour exact high financial and personal costs from today’s families.

Fortunately, Karen Stewart has created an alternative.

And even more fortunately, she is enabling qualified professionals to provide a better alternative to divorcing couples in their communities… through the Fairway Divorce Solutions franchise program.

Fairway Divorce Solutions franchise owners provides an alternative approach to divorce—a fixed fee, step-by-step independent negotiated resolution process.

The Fairway Process™ reduces costs, time, stress, and protects children. Fairway Divorce Solutions is considering franchise requests from qualified professionals who want to make a positive impact on people’s lives while building a strong business in the process.

Learn more about Fairway Divorce Solutions at Top New Franchises:
CEO/FounderInterview: Karen Stewart (Interview)
Fact sheet:  Fairway Divorce Franchise Information
Reviews & comments:  Fairway Divorce FanWall

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