Last week’s question from Anthony R. on how to choose the franchise that would best fulfill his life-long dream of owning his own business sparked a number of emails from other readers wanting to offer their two cents on the subject.
Some folks offered helpful insights and suggestions on how to pick a franchise and a few things to watch out for, while other emails came from current franchise owners asking me to help them sell their operations to Anthony R.
Hmm, sounds like it’s time to update the old business card once again. Tim Knox: Franchise Broker At Large… Who knows, maybe I can franchise the concept.
Last week I promised we’d take a closer look at a few of the things you should look for when considering a franchise opportunity. Keep in mind that there are thousands of franchise opportunities that range from the low end opportunities available for a few thousand dollars to the high end franchises that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The difference in price is reflected in many ways: the viability of the opportunity, the level of training and support offered to the franchisee, the track record and financial stability of the franchisor, the success rate of the franchisees, and a dozen other factors.
All a lower end franchisor might offer is a training manual and the right to use their company name. Many also have very little interest in weeding out potential franchisees. The truth is many are in business just to collect franchise fees. They have little interest in whether or not a franchisee actually succeeds. If you have a pulse and a checkbook, you can become their franchisee. And your pulse does not have to be that strong.
The higher end franchisors have very strict franchisee requirements and will not allow just anyone to become a part of their franchise system. They also go to much greater lengths to ensure the success of their franchisees. They offer complete hand holding from start to finish and remain heavily involved in the business even after the doors open. Yes, you do pay dearly for their assistance, but as the old saying goes, you get what you pay for.
Here are a few things to look for in a franchise opportunity:
Turnkey operation
This is the most appealing feature of many franchise systems. Many of the top franchisors will scout the best location for the business, build and equip the facility, hire and train employees, put you through an extensive management training system, then toss you the keys. Furthermore, they will work closely with you for the first few months to help make certain that you know what to do with the keys once they’ve been tossed to you.
The majority of franchises don’t offer such complete turnkey packages, so be prepared to do much of the upfront work yourself. Often it is up to you to find a location, negotiate the lease, build out the space or erect a building, install the equipment, hire and train a staff etc.
Proven track record and management system
As mentioned earlier, many of the lesser-known franchise systems offer you a training manual, maybe a training video, and a few hours of telephone support. Not the best way to learn how to run a business. A good franchisor will provide you with thorough management training, either at their facility or onsite at yours. Since one of the reasons for buying into a franchise system is to tap into their expertise and know-how, thorough training should be a foremost consideration.
Customers waiting for the door to open
I don’t have the statistics in my pocket to back this up, of course, but I’d bet the farm that every time a new McDonald’s opens its door, it’s a mere matter of minutes before the first Happy Meal is sold. Many franchisors spend hundreds of millions of dollars on national ad campaigns to promote brand awareness. This works great for the franchisee who can literally have customers waiting for the doors to open on the first day of business.
Always consider the downsides
There are downsides to franchising. Foremost is the high cost of entry. The top franchise opportunities require considerable investment on the front end, usually more of an investment than if the entrepreneur started a similar venture on his own. You could open an independent hamburger fast food restaurant for a fraction of the McDonald’s franchise fee, but you probably won’t sell as many hamburgers. What you’re buying from McDonald’s is not just a fast food restaurant that sells hamburgers. What you’re buying is a brand, a reputation, and a proven business system with ready to eat customers. Be prepared to pay a premium for it.
Another downside is that when you buy into a franchise system you often have to pay a percentage of your revenues back to the franchisor. You might also be required to buy supplies from the franchisor, including inventory, paperwork, software, computer systems, and anything else the franchisor decides that they should supply to you.
And there in lies the biggest downside of all. When you buy into a franchise system you don’t control your business, the franchisor does. You have very little say-so in running the business. You must follow their processes and procedures without variation. And should you decide to get out of the business you may not even be allowed to sell the franchise to just anyone. The new owner would have to be approved by the franchisor before a deal could be made final.
The bottomline, Anthony, is to do your homework and make sure the franchise you choose fits your personality, your lifestyle, and your pocket book.
Many investors are turning to Forex investing and are using some of the proven best forex indicators as a major portion of their portfolio. Trading forex is unlike normal stocks, bonds, and mutual fund investing. The rewards can be great with less time and risk involved.
This is not to imply that trading Forex is not risky. It can be very risky. Using proven best forex indicators can help you minimize that risk and become a more proficient trader.
Learning about Forex indicators is essential for trading forex. Learning to use the proven best forex indicators may take some time and effort. This time and effort will be well rewarded in the form of increased profits, more trading confidence, and financial stability.
Most forex software comes with several forex indicators. Some of the proven best forex indicators that are used in forex trading are Simple Moving Average (SMA), Exponential Moving Average (EMA), Bollinger bands, Parabolic SAR (stop-and-reversal), Rate of Change, RSI (Relative Strength Index), Momentum, Moving Average Convergence/Divergence (MACD), and ADX,.
*** The Two Favorite Proven Best Forex Indicators ***
Two of the favorite proven best forex indicators are the Simple Moving Average (SMA), and the Bollinger bands.
The simple moving average indicator gives you the average price for a currency during a set period. One example might be the closing aver for a period of the last four or five days.
The Bollinger bands indicators are levels that show the upper level and the lower level of the value of prices. The prices should be between the two bands. This depends on the volatility of the currency price that you are evaluating. Once the price sets a trend towards breaking a band, trading is indicated.
In order to effectively use the proven best forex indicators you must take the time to learn how to read them and understand exactly what the indicators are telling you. Many companies provide education and training sessions on learning how to use forex indicators.
One excellent way to practice and test your knowledge of using forex indicators is with a practice account. Most online trading sites will offer you the chance to open a practice account. This practice account allows you to make real-time trades just as though you were using real money. Its an excellent way to refine your forex skills before you invest your hard-earned dollar.
There are also several online classes and e-books relating to forex indicators and forex trading. Learning all you can about the markets is always advised.
These days, people are purchasing and enrolling in a variety of insurance plans. The reality that people and property can be insured gives people a refreshing feeling and assurance that no matter what happens, valuable assets will never be put to waste. People these days try insure everything in this risky world. Because of this, dealing with insurance companies is a normal part of life.
Medical expenses and property damage can easily strike anyone in this day and age. Cost is rising high these days, and its hard dealing with unexpected expenses. The logical thing to do is to be prepared with any kind of expenses. If you want to get health insurance, get the best Palm Springs company with the best policies.
There are many insurance companies that can be found on the Internet. You can check out financial stability, complaint history, and customer service ratings of insurance companies online. Now, what insurance plan to get is totally up to the person.
In order to help individuals, there are companies who offer online insurance quotes that give people the chance to compare insurance plans and policies among companies.
An individual should know the amount of money that they’ll pay whenever they buy an insurance plan. Why? The amount will enable a person to know if they have the capability and capacity to buy such a plan. The procedure of doing computations of an insurance plan and providing the amount is commonly known as an insurance quote. When a quote is available on the internet, then that is called an online insurance quote.
Online Palm Springs insurance quotes are extremely useful to individuals planning to buy a plan.
With the help of these quotes, people can compare plans before making a crucial decision. Online insurance quotes help people in deciding what policy would be best for them.
There are some Palm Springs insurance websites that offer online quotes absolutely free of charge. These sites have a database of reputable insurance providers with their best rates for anyone to choose, compare, and contrast. Getting insurance quotes involve just entering in some basic information and clicking a button.
Getting Palm Springs insurance quotes have never been easier. Websites these days deliver quotes from the best providers in just a matter of clicks and minutes. Pick the best plan because after all, you deserve nothing but the best.
debt consolidation program has emerged as one of the best credit repair tools in the last few years. With the rapid increase in the number of people suffering from various kinds of debts, there was a dire need of a financial program that could not only help people repay their debts but could also help repair their credit scores. The biggest advantage of such programs is that they are widely available at no extra cost. You can easily find a bad credit debt consolidation program that will not require you to pay even a single penny and you can get out of your dilapidated financial crisis.
How does debt consolidation program improve your credit score?
When you choose to go for a debt consolidation program, the debt consolidation company will negotiate with your creditors to reduce the rate of interest and merge all the debts into one single consolidation monthly payment. It all happens in such a way that you eventually pay an amount considerably lower than the amounts you have been paying individually to each of your creditors. If you like, the debt consolidation company will also try to extend the period of repayment. This will give you enough time to manage your finances and put them back on track. Meanwhile, the credit counselor assigned to you will educate you regarding how to improve your credit score.
Did you know that various kinds of debts determine thirty percent of your overall credit score? The more outstanding debt you owe, the lesser will be your credit score. Since a bad credit debt consolidation program helps you pay off your outstanding payments at a much faster pace, you can improve your credit score simultaneously at the same speed.
Debt-To-Income Ratio
The debt consolidation program also helps lower down your debt-to-income ratio. The debt to income ratio is used to determine the financial stability of an individual. The ratio is the division of the monthly amount of repayments by monthly gross income. Obviously, the lower the debt-to-income ratio, the better it will be for you. A lower debt-to-income ratio means you get a better chance to handle your overall debts. The free debt consolidation program will help you lower down the debt-to-income ratio.
This way
If you own a home based business, you must be aware that you are required to take out a separate insurance for you home based business apart from your home insurance. If you utilize your vehicle for your home-based business, you require separate insurance for car because your regular car insurance would not cover your commercial use.
The first thing you would have to do is contact you insurance company, agent, or broker. They would help you determine if your car usage would require commercial auto insurance. To determine this, the insurance agent will ask about your driving practices. The agent will ask how frequently you use the vehicle for work and if employees also use it. People who frequently use the vehicle for business use and who let employees use it should get commercial auto insurance.
So what does commercial auto insurance cover? Essentially, it will tender you the similar sort of coverage that your individual policy tenders. Liability, collision, comprehensive, personal injury, and uninsured motorist coverage are all standard features of your commercial auto insurance policy. Nonetheless, if your staff drives their personal vehicles for your business, you can get a “non-owned” endorsement to your commercial auto insurance for their vehicles. It would be prudent to sit down and negotiate all the details with your insurance agent with regards to the coverage you want.
You do not have to be loyal to your current insurance company. Before deciding up on an insurance policy, make sure you get couple of insurance quotes from different insurance companies. Always compare prices and levels of coverage provided.
Don’t take up any insurance policy without conducting a background check of the insurance company. You will also need to check the financial stability of the companies you are taking into consideration, so confirm with A.M. Best, Fitch, or Standard and Poor’s to make sure you commercial auto insurance company is well rated. Lastly, verify with your state insurance department to find out consumer complaint ratios and get recommendations from other business owners.