Doc Franchise Writings and Ramblings

Everyone has heard of it by now. Very few know how to use it and I suggest that many franchises are still missing out on a major marketing process by continuing in the dark ages by ignoring it. I am talking about Search Engine Optimization.

Search Engine Optimization or SEO is a powerful Internet tool aimed to increase brand, product and service visibility and your business presence on the web. Since the Internet is now the primary source of information and goods for multi-market and Top 100 regional market companies and service providers, it only makes sense to be as visible as possible in order to attract and meet the needs of your prospects, clients and customers.

There are many ways to approach SEO efforts, and it can be difficult for businesses just starting out. Luckily, there are many resources available to assist in SEO efforts, especially for small businesses. Here are my quick tips for effective SEO marketing and your franchise.

1. Set a Goal

Search engine optimization efforts (SEO) will not go far without a specific goal in mind for your overall branding efforts. What words do you want to own on the web? How do you wish to be positioned on the web? If you have a strong competitor or competitors and they already have established a high presence using certain terms and owning a particular place in the minds of customers you need to ask yourself, "what can I own? What position still exists that would service our company and our branding?"

Before you dive head-first into your market position efforts, develop a strategy for what you want to accomplish. Perhaps it already exists in your current marketing plan. Is that plan transitional to the Internet? Secondly, create objectives that relate to your planning. Whether it’s to increase the number of views to your website or landing pages each week, increase your franchisees page rank, expand your customer base or have a newsworthy story picked up by a certain number of information outlets, having a goal for market positioning and goals for constant web presence and position improvement within your field will assist you in improving your brand, and also provide something to compare and measure your results against as it relates to your current efforts.

2. Add a Blog

I want to keep this simple today but so here is the simplified version of understanding web presence. Research has consistently shown that a static Web site (create once - walk away) will have little lasting effect on improving your marketing efforts. A blog is a way to change that. Even having a blog (ongoing messages about you, your business, your business partners, the market you are in and the market trends) as your main SEO priority can help drive traffic to your Websites.

And oddly enough a blog also adds credibility to your company, shows customers that you’re Web savvy, and can help your company stay on top of current trends. Like every other part of your marketing game make sure the blog has an over all purpose and is providing content that will attract readers from the beginning. Again, site credibility is a key for a webblog. One word of caution, Blogging is a commitment. Make sure you realize you are in it for the long haul. Have it determined that you can add contact to your blog at least once and more would be better times a week.

3. Produce Valuable Content

There is an increasing trend for companies to form with the intention of making money simply through advertising and second-rate content. While these companies do provide keyword-rich content, they do it for all of the wrong reasons. Search engines respond to the number of times a term is repeated on a site, as well as the number of other sites that are linking back to it. Inbound links from these sites are what really drives up your page rankings. This is what many SEO link builders focus on the most. Don't get stuck just yammering on about particular key words or links. Providing interesting and valuable content that will stand out from the fake sites is surprisingly easy to do.

Google offers this insight for webmasters:

“The best way to get other sites to create relevant links to yours is to create unique, relevant content that can quickly gain popularity in the Internet community. The more useful content you have, the greater the chances someone else will find that content valuable to their readers and link to it. Before making any single decision, you should ask yourself the question: Is this going to be beneficial for my page’s visitors? “

4. Use Free Resources

The Internet provides a number of resources and tools for analytics and web marketing, and many of them are free. Again, for brevity sake, I simply refer you to Google, do a search for SEO analytics. As a matter of fact our favorite web search tool has it's own free tools. Installing tools such as Google’s Analytics can help you track traffic, and also give reports of where visitors are coming from, how often they visit, and the keyword searches (What did they search for that brought them to you?) that bring them there. Additionally, Twitter has long been a tool for Web marketing and SEO efforts, because of the number of people one can reach at just the click of a button. The Twitter community has amazing and free tools to capture who is viewing you, from where and from your efforts get a sense of why. Can you imagine how that helps you to understand how the market, potential clients and competitors might see you and your brand?

NOTE: You can get a sense of your current status by typing “link:yourwebaddresshere” into Google; the results will show what sites are currently linking to your site, and you may discover some sites and users you were previously unaware of. Analyzing the results can help to target certain audiences and build a base for developing future tactics and content.

5. Establish Relationships

For my money Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn are the top 3 social networks every business needs to hook into. You can create relationships with similar companies in your field, market partners, influential writers, PR professionals and journalists as well as people who are interested in your company. Establishing these relationships, will gain you a community that are willing to distribute links to your site and often link back to your site from their web addresses.

Within those web tools mentioned above there is a second way to improve your product, service and company message. Participate in discussions, and join forums within those web sites and their tools. Linking to others’ content can highlight your company, your brand, your service and your content.

The extended value of this last methodology provides you a professional platform and process within a more ubiquitous arena of interest. Your inks will be displayed from credible, influential Web sites that will add valuable traffic to your site.

Learn more about SEO on your own. Don't just leave it to the so-called professionals. Most of them are less than 24 and know nothing about your business, what you are attempting to accomplish through your web presence or know how to ensure you attract the right viewers to your websites. What they do know is the general information I just shared with you here. It's up to you to add the particulars.

John is a 26-year professional in the franchise industry. He has been a franchisee, a franchise executive and an advocate/consultant to the public and to dozens of franchise companies. He is the founder and managing partner of Wilson Associates and can be reached at docfranchise@gmail.com. or direct office 480.838.1641

Good Morning World! I’m covering some overarching advice today as I believe small business owners and marketers need to think strategically about social media use, perhaps before they ever start to discuss tactical use.

1) Integrate – Don’t treat your social media activity as something separate from your other marketing initiatives. Feature links to your social media profiles in your email signature, on your business cards, in your ads, and as a standard block of copy in your weekly HTML email newsletter. In addition, make sure that links to your educational content are featured prominently in your social media profiles and that Facebook fan page visitors and blog subscribers are offered the opportunity to subscribe to your newsletter and attend your online and offline events. Make your social media profiles a part of your address copy block and you will soon see adding them to all that you do as an automatic action.

2) Amplify – Use your social media activity to create awareness for and amplify your content housed in other places. This can go for teasing some aspect of your latest blog post on twitter or in your Facebook status, creating full blown events on Eventful or MeetUP, or pointing to mentions of your firm in the media. If you publish a bi-weekly newsletter, in addition to sending it to your subscribers, archive it online and tweet it too. You can also add social features to your newsletter to make it very easy for others to retweet (tweetmeme button) and share on social bookmark sites such as delicious and digg. I would also add that filtering other people’s great content and pointing this out to your followers, fans and subscribers fits into this category as it builds your overall reputation for good content sharing and helps to buffer the notion that you are simply broadcasting your announcements. Quality over quantity always wins in social media marketing.

3) Repurpose – Taking content that appears in one form and twisting it in ways that make it more available in a another, or to another audience, is one of the secrets to success in our hyperinfo driven marketing world we find ourselves. When you hold an event to present information you can promote the event in various social media networks and then capture that event and post the audio to your podcast, slides to Slideshare, and transcript (You can use Castingwords for this) as a free report for download. You can string 5 blog posts together (like this series) and make them available as a workshop handout or a bonus for your LinkedIn group. Never look at any content as a single use, single medium, act.

4) Lead generate – So many people want to generate leads in the wide world of social media, but can’t seem to understand how or have met with downright hostile reactions when trying. Effectively generating leads from social media marketing is really no different than effectively generating leads anywhere – it’s just that the care you must take to do it right is amplified by the “no selling allowed” culture. No one like to be sold to in any environment – the trick is to let them buy – and this is even more important in social media marketing. So, what this means is that your activity, much of what I’ve mentioned above, needs to focus on creating awareness of your valuable, education based content, housed on your main hub site. You can gain permission to market to your social media network and contacts when you can build a level of trust through content sharing and engagement. It’s really the ultimate two step advertising, only perhaps now it’s three step – meet and engage in social media, lead to content elsewhere, content elsewhere presents the opportunity to buy. To generate leads through social media marketing, you need to view your activity on social sites like an effective headline for an ad – the purpose of the headline is not to sell, but to engage and build know, like and trust – it’s the ultimate permission based play when done correctly.

One glaring exception to this softer approach for some folks is twitter search. I believe you can use twitter search to locate people in your area who are asking for solutions and complaining about problems you can solve and reach out to them directly with a bit of a solution pitch. People who are talking publicly about needing something are offering a form of permission and can be approached as more of warmed lead. The same can also be said for LinkedIn Answers – if someone asks if “anyone knows a good WordPress designer”, I think you can move to convincing them that you are indeed a great WordPress designer.

5) Learn – One of the hangups I encounter frequently from people just trying to get started in social media marketing is the paralysis formed when they stare blankly at twitter wondering what in the world to say. The pressure to fill the silence can be so overwhelming that they eventually succumb and tweet what they had for lunch. If you find yourself in this camp, I’m going to let you off the hook – you don’t have to say anything to get tremendous benefit from social media participation. If I did nothing more than listen and occasionally respond when directly engaged, I would derive tremendous benefit from that level of participation. In fact, if you are just getting started this is what you should do before you ever open your 140 character mouth. Set up an RSS reader and subscribe to blogs, visit social bookmarking sites like BizSugar and delicious and read what’s popular, create custom twitter searches for your brand, you competitors, and your industry, and closely follow people on twitter who have a reputation for putting out great content. And then just listen and learn. If you do only this you will be much smarter about your business and industry than most and you may eventually gain the knowledge and confidence to tap the full range of what’s possible in the wild and wacky world of social media marketing.

John is a 26-year professional in the franchise industry. He has been a franchisee, a franchise executive and an advocate/consultant to the public and to dozens of franchise companies. He is the founder and managing partner of Wilson Associates and can be reached at docfranchise@gmail.com. or direct office 480.838.1641

What? LinkedIN as a Sales Funnel?

I know that there are many frustrated franchise sales and development types out there who use LinkedIn. After several months or a year or two on it they are wondering what all of the ruckus is about? In all their time on LinkedIn they haven't generated one lead.

What's the problem? Well, the problem is that they are not using it effectively. They haven't discovered effective lead generation techniques.

LinkedIN is not about the most connections necessarily. Contrary to many users’ beliefs, whoever has the most connections does not win (unless your only reason for being on LinkedIn is to get a lot of connections). In addition to friends, family and secondary business contacts on LinkedIN, all of whom are mirrors of you and your services. I desire several hundred targeted connections of people interested in me, my services/products, or helping promote my business. Perhaps this happen-chance method is great for Twitter but LinkedIN has much to much content about you (or potentially) for it to be a drive-by experience.

I’m going to share with you 3 lead generation techniques that I regularly recommend. However, they are not all equally effective. If you are in the position where you will only implement one technique, then focus on the first technique I discuss.

Lead Generation Technique #1 – Groups

I've helped many people with their LinkedIn profiles and one of the biggest mistakes I see is ineffective use of groups. First, people are only involved in a few groups. Secondly, the groups they’re involved with are personal professional groups filled with people who do the exact same thing they do. From experience it is good to have a few of these to refer to; to determine what the rest of the market is talking about and perhaps pick up on a new method or technology. Rarely do they provide you with potential leads or even (in all sincerity) great strategic alliances. Why? The others in those groups, regardless of how different you may be, still view you as a competitor.

Ask yourself, who is my target market? What are their interests? (Jobs, careers, professions other than yours, executive improvement and skill sets, etc.) Join those groups – LinkedIn allows you to be a part of 50 groups at the free level.

Be active within those groups - in the right way! Post content that references their interests and not your sales message. You'll be labeled a spammer and discussion board leaders dislike having them in their LinkedIn groups. So, what is active in a good way? Start by answering questions – whether they are directly or indirectly related to your business. Ask thought-provoking questions around the issues and problems addressed by your products and services. If you start a discussion, make sure you follow-up with it and respond to comments.

Become an authority within groups. Share important news articles from other sources that relate to the needs of the group. Remember, not everything has to be about you. Meet their needs. Be a good discussion group member. Having said that, if you write a blog, submit your new blog posts as news articles to your groups. NOTE: Post these in the new section of the discussion group and NOT in "New discussions" or questions. Now, if you post a discussion question relative to the blog post, you can add the link to the bottom of the post as additional information, but the discussion item should be able to stand on its own. I think it is very rude when people essentially just say, “read my blog post, here’s the link, don’t forget to comment!”

Finally, become the authority in the group. Normally you cannot do this within an existing group. Of course many groups are so universal in scope they have sub-groups. Typically this is not true. You become the expert by starting your own group. Just remember, if you start a group, make it interesting to a wider audience than just you. You come across much less salesy if you create greater scope. If your franchise is a "Fast & Fresh" Mexican Food concept then add additional restaurant territory along with it. A title like, "Future Franchise Food Concepts" might d the trick. Be creative. Ask other creative types. Often indirectly related to your business is much more appealing and still allows you control of the forum.


Do Not recreate the wheel...er...forum! You may have to research what groups are already out there in the LinkedIN world. If you find another similar group but it has very few members, I would recommend going forward with your offering as long as you have a more compelling proposition. This requires some work as you can see. The work involves promoting it in other groups where there would be potential members, pre-inviting LinkedIn connections to join, and using your email list or sales database outside LinkedIn to promote it.

Something else to consider - you want to get the group growing as quickly. No one will initially find it on their own. On LinkedIN group search results are listed in order of group size and there are a ton of tiny groups. If you prepare you won't get lost in the jumble. If you do start out slow and build more slowly just be prepared to get lost in the search results until you have enough members to move you into the higher echelons.

Lead Generation Technique #2 – Introductions

The introduction feature of LinkedIN is rarely used. This is terribly unfortunate. If you know the LinkedIN story you'd know it is one of the main reasons that LinkedIn was created.

The free level of LinkedIn allows you to have 5 Introductions active simultaneously. The introduction feature is basically traditional prospect research made easy. Most members allow their connections to see their other connections. So, spend time reviewing all of your 2nd degree connections to find people of interest and request an introduction. The advanced people search will show you people who are 3 degrees away. Again, when you find someone of interest, request an introduction!

Lead Generation Technique #3 – Become an Expert


The Answers forum in LinkedIn is not just a place for you to look for advice. You should consider it your own professional forum. It is a place where you can become an “expert” in the eyes of the entire LinkedIn Community. Further, it’s also a place where people self-identify themselves as being interested in and wanting specific products, advice, and services.

When someone asks a question in the Answers section, they can specify up to 2 categories that are related to the question. After the question has been open for 6 days, the questioner can then identify one of the answers as the “best answer”. The person whose answer is selected then gets an expert point in those categories. Pick a couple of categories to regularly monitor in order to find people asking for your business and to answer questions that could score you expert points.

So John, what's next?

Well frankly group, that's my coaching for the day. In all sincerity, the rest is up to you and your promotional, marketing and sales skills. Generate the activity above and you will interact with many people you wouldn’t have otherwise found. Those are your leads and strategic alliances. Connect with those people. Begin building relationships with those people. And, ultimately sell to those people.

I hope you find this useful -

John is a 26-year professional in the franchise industry. He has been a franchisee, a franchise executive and an advocate/consultant to the public and to dozens of franchise companies. He is the founder and managing partner of Wilson Associates and can be reached at docfranchise@gmail.com. or direct office 480.838.1641

Most likely if you are over 30 and live in the USA, you have lived a life that has been in support of franchise chain businesses.

I recall the drives between my house in the Chicago area down to my grandmothers' in St. Louis and Terre Haute, Indiana and counting all the Howard Johnson's and all the Shell Stations and all the Aamco Transmission shops in the towns as we passed through. But mostly I waited for the "big 3," McDonald's, Dairy Queen and A&W Root Beer stands! Reflecting back most of those succeeded (at least for as long as they wished); some of them failed, but all of them fought passionately for the my attention.

Today I realize there are hundreds of factors that dictate a franchise’s success. Master your franchisee training but fail to maximize the value of your territory and that franchisee is in for a world of hurt.

This leads me to my point. The branding of any franchise continues to be one of the most essential ingredients in a franchise’s profitability; from the corporation down to the single unit.

I can still remember walking into an Applebees in Long Beach for the first time. There was just something authentic about it. It "felt" like the local or neighborhood bar & grill. Clearly, someone in their corporate offices had gotten all the small details right and the result was a memorable franchise experience.

Today I realize that branding is often the difference between whether a franchise rises into the public consciousness or if that business, as good as its products and service may be, drifts away unsuccessfully into oblivion.

Janet Muhleman, the president of re:group, has gathered together her belief set on branding in the latest edition of Franchising World. Here are her seven tips to improve your franchises branding:

1. Listen to your customers

2. Tell your brand story, what you believe in, why you do what you do.

3. Create a brand personality that people relate to and want to engage with.

4. Make believers out of your franchisees and their front-line staff so they can live the brand.

5. Engage your customers consistently and openly at every possible touch point.

6. Measure your performance and be prepared to embrace change and innovate to stay current and relevant.

7. And finally, as you listen to your customers also remember to be genuine and lead with your heart.... Now, re-read - Return to No. 1!

Branding is local for most businesses in North America. You have to convince YOUR customer (and not just the universal position) of who you are and what you do...so stop the self defeating self-talk about the company and what they should do. YOU OWN YOUR MARKET.

I welcome your thoughts on this topic - Do you have anything else to add?

John is a 26-year professional in the franchise industry. He has been a franchisee, a franchise executive and an advocate/consultant to the public and to dozens of franchise companies. He is the founder and managing partner of Wilson Associates and can be reached at docfranchise@gmail.com. or direct office 480.838.1641

As a small business owner, you know how difficult it can be to compete for one of the ten hot spots on the first page in search engine rankings. Large companies have the resources, traffic and inbound links to be recognized as trusted and therefore rank higher. Long tail keywords with geographic targets is a great way to get started in the local search however we know that keywords/on page SEO only accounts for roughly 25% of the ranking process. Local searches have become increasingly popular as when people begin their search, many are looking to weed out the large companies and seek local businesses. Creating and/or claiming your business on the local directories in conjunction with long tail geographic keywords will improve your local rankings. With so many to choose from, which ones are best?

While it is inviting to create or claim your business on every directory, this can be counterproductive as these sites rank very high and will push your actual site to the 2nd or even 3rd page. The following is the top sites to create your local business listing.

5 Top Local Directories

1. Google Local. This I find to be the best as you are required to have a Google user account however once you create and then create your listing, it provides statistics such as impressions, actions (# of driving directions requested, #of clicks to your website). Listings are set up quickly and an automated call is placed to verify your information through a pin that they send.

2. Yahoo Local. As with Google local, you do need a Yahoo account to set up your company. They will verify the information via review of a human as they term this and once verified, the listing is submitted.

3. Bing/MSN. Quite similar to Google and Yahoo however despite reading that you can verify via telephone, I am set up to receive a postcard with a pin number on it.

4. Yellowpages.com. Free listings tend to get lost on their site as paid listings will rank higher for each category but on the search engines, your site will be recognized and rank well on the search engines.

5. LinkedIn. Creating a company page further enhances your rankings on the search engines. Traffic to the site may not be the most abundant but it is another way to rank.

These are the top online directories. Others such as Superpages and Kudzu will increase your rankings on search engines as well. If you are unsure and want to add your company listing to additional sites, be sure to do a search on them to see if others have provided feedback. This will help to determine if their site is the right place for your company.

Be sure to be consistent with your company description as many times your listings will appear one after another on searches and it can be confusing if you promote different parts of your business on each site.

Any additional directories that have worked for you? Ring me up and let me know!

This is a continuation of yesterdays article, "Franchisors, Here's a Criteria You Might Have Missed!"


Due to the tragic problem of ignorance and passivity in our world today, I've been extolling the benefits of reading. Yesterday, we talked about number one: reading sweeps the cobwebs away; it expands us. Today, I'll note three additional benefits.


2. Reading increases our power of concentration.

Through the discipline of reading, the mind is programmed to observe and absorb. It replaces the "Entertain Me" mentality with "Challenge Me." The eye of a reader is more observant, alert, probing and questioning.

After I left home for the last time I found myself in a house full of party animals. Since I lived with just my mom I had become comfortable with solitude and with solitude I found reading. One day, when the house we rented was uncharacteristically quiet I lay on my bed and began reading a book my sister had given me, In His Steps by Robert Sheldon. As I read it was changing my life. Suddenly I realized I was being watched. One of my roommates was at the door staring at me. Finally he spoke up, "So I guess this is why your mind is so much calmer than the rest of us huh?" It struck me that he was probably right.

3. Reading makes us more interesting to be around.

Small wonder the boredom factor in social gatherings is so great! After you've run through the weather, the kids, the job, and your recent surgery, what else is there? Being a reader adds oil to the friction in conversation. Furthermore, it opens to the businessman new avenues of approach to the outside world. It helps to meet the inquisitive and those needful of our products and services on their own ground or expansion of places they wish they could go. We need to read widely, including some periodicals as well as the classics.

4. Reading strengthens our ability to glean truth from Inspired Reading.

In the Bible, in the New Testament section there was one of Jesus followers. His name was Paul. Paul was a late player to the "Party of Jesus" but become one of its greatest advocates. If you have any sense of the Christian faith at all it most likely has much to do with Paul. He was what you might call a true warrior. At one point Paul's faith in Christ had gotten him tossed in the pokey. Only this was serious. This was probably going to be it for Paul. Paul was in the dungeon awaiting death, he asked his friend to - bring the cloak which I left at Troas . . . and the books, especially the parchments. - 2 Timothy 4:13

The "parchments" referred to the sacred manuscripts, copies of what we think of as Biblical Scripture.

But what about "the books"? What books?

Obviously, those volumes he was reading prior to his imprisonment. Right up to death, that capable spokesman for God - that master of logic - was reading. He certainly would have agreed with another great Christian of letters and of reading John Wesley:

Either read or get out of the ministry!

I think the same holds true of businessmen, of franchisees especially. We have the opportunity to be on the cusp of our market segments but we can lose that edge if we don't keep up. Franchisors you need to create a preferred reading list for your franchisees. You need to have a book of the month club.

Can't find the time? Come on, now . . . not even fifteen minutes? Don't know where to start? How about the library? Most every town has one. Heck, go to the second hand book store. They're filled!

They probably even have books with pictures in 'em. (For your kids, right?)

I'm often confronted with people who have had relatives and friends who had made attempts into business, some with a more entrepreneurial bent into their own, independent business and others that became franchisees. If I am presenting them with an opportunity in franchising most invariably the acquaintance had a bad experience or was in the midst of one. Typically after a long and protracted exposition on this person's accomplishments, skills and education a question follows relating to what happened.
I have no response about the person because hearing someone's monologue about someone they know, like and perhaps admire is never the whole story. What I will do with them is provide them with components that I believe every business person must possess in an attempt to get them to do a gut check to see if they have these or have displayed them in the past. I will tell you without them and you will have a challenge succeeding. Here they are:

Are you a decision-maker?: I put candidates through a process sale and I make them follow each step. I do this to determine A) Can they follow a system/instructions and B) Will they come to conclusions about the homework they complete. Can they make decisions. In small business decisions constantly need to be made, and many times you don’t have the luxury of time to digest all the information you would like in order to do it. You will have employees and vendors who will look to you to be confident and timely and provide the resources necessary to accomplish the objective set forth in your decisions. Are you a decision maker or do you over-think and procrastinate your way to nowhere?

Do you have learning and adaptation capacities and some basic business skills?: There are so many skills critical to business success–sales, marketing, accounting acumen, communication, delegation (NOT abdication) and leadership come to mind. You must be able to execute a daily game plan that translates into a monthly strategy and into a quarterly development and then read what just happened. The ability to learn and adapt is a trait some have and others simply do not. The franchise system provides you with the 90% solution but there is always real life and it requires your ability to adapt and use what you brought to the table in order to create the right response. In the military you are taught to start and finish a task by understanding the steps to the end game. They are taught a code of conduct that establishes their baseline, and on top of that they’re taught their military occupational specialty, leadership development, and other skills that they can lean on in business. Hopefully in your business background you had similar experience. If so, a franchise or small business ownership situation will tax that training, skills and learned responses.

Do you persevere or procrastinate?: Every business owner should realize that between successes and accolades there are dark days. Much of this foreboding occurs right at the outset, when you are a brand new franchisee. Do you have the mental toughness to stick it out? Are you a complainer? If so, do NOT become a franchisee. Just don't. Stop now. I mean it. You need to see the situation for what it is; a current condition that has solutions and you must determine you, your resources, skills and presence of mind are bigger than the situation and you will do what it takes to succeed.

Look if owning a business was an easy decision to make, everyone would do it, but being the boss isn’t for the faint of heart. Frankly, most people never get out of the blocks because they want life laid out for them and somehow they feel paying a fee means someone will just turn on a cash machine for their paltry efforts. I hope this isn't you.

A veteran franchisee understands that a firm and focused desire to succeed is critical to any operation. This means defining the goal and the primary milestones or objectives in accomplishing that goal–and learning to keep your focus as you continue to strive for that goal even when you face unforeseen obstacles or impediments.

There are many great franchises out there. Some have amazingly well put together strategies, training, and business systems. But businesses are driven by people with vision, skills, perseverance and determination. Is that you? If it is then get on board, daylight is wasting!

John is a 26-year professional in the franchise industry. He has been a franchisee, a franchise executive and an advocate/consultant to the public and to dozens of franchise companies. He is the founder and managing partner of Wilson Associates and can be reached at docfranchise@gmail.com. or direct office 480.838.1641

Owning a franchise doesn't qualify you as a better entrepreneur. What might be the things that provide you with the right foundations to succeed in your business and other businesses in the future?


A good friend and franchiser that I know told me recently, "John, we're in the business of finding already qualified franchisee's or successful multi-unit business owners and putting them into our business. You'd be doing us and them a favor if you could point out the things that create the best-looking franchisee's; someone we and other development franchises and Master Licensee's would be attracted to.

This is my first attempt at it. It is based on my years as a Covey Certified Trainer. That training, though somewhat faded through the years has always stuck with me. I've found that a person can rarely handle more than 5 or 6, maybe 7 steps in a process or strategy (though many are broken down into many further subsets it is a great place to create top of mind memory). Besides, if most franchisee's would get just 2 or 3 of these right they'd improve their business 100 fold.

The second component of this was my own personal experience and hundreds of hours of discussion with other multi-unit and area development franchisee's as well as a few Master Licensee's. Their revelations as they moved along the maturity continuum has been revelatory.

1. Create and nurture a positive relationship with the franchiser.

The fact is that a franchisee only benefits from the relationship with their franchise company if they realize it is symbiotic and fraternal. You got into this for your definition of "the long haul," and they brought you into their system in the hopes that you would be a value to the brand. Start with realizing that creating unity will serve your personal purposes more fully than constantly driving wedges between the two of you.

2. Walk in their moccasins a few miles on a regular basis.

It is natural when things are not going our way to aim our scorn and criticism at the big target, the franchise company. But, you need to be mature enough, bright enough, and for the sake of point 1, intelligent enough to realize understanding their position and perspective will help feed the mutual benefit paradox more than simply aggravating them and your own nervous system by another trip to the "whine" bar.

In the midst of pressure I've often watched as franchisee's revert to a completely and fully non-tenable position, "Franchiser YOU got me into this! YOU fix my problem." No! First, no matter what, just like you don't want the government owning companies or running health care (and NO! You don't if you ever want a car that runs or not have to wait 6 months to get into the doctors office!) you do not want to be even more beholden to your franchiser. Secondly, it's your business! You are in business for YOURSELF just not by yourself. They system works best when the franchiser coaches and not acts as partner/operator with you. Every franchise should have a huge sign at the entry of their business opportunity, "No Childish behavior tolerated!" Act as an independent business person and be proactive relating to your business issues.

3. Use the benchmark tools your franchise system provides - benchmark against success and NOT failure!.

If you are in trouble you do not need to be comparing yourself to the other losers in your system or similar systems. Spending time on BlueMuaMua.com doesn't help your situation. Review your systems successes regularly. Check with them to determine what action steps they've taken in order to ensure their successes. Adapt winning business strategies to fit your businesses needs.

4. Take every opportunity to be involved in your franchises gatherings, conventions, meetings and training's.

Commit to being a part of discovery and mentoring in your franchise system. There is always someone who needs your help (not your whiney) and there are always great business solutions shared or available in meetings. Take copious notes. Ask for clarification. Redundantly resound all those aspects of the meeting that touched off positive thinking processes within you and blow off the negative. Take the high ground and use it to your advantage.

5. Be a source for affirmation and solutions - Eventually you will need to offer your skills and talents to your franchise system

Look, it's obvious that a new franchisee enters their system more needy at the start. That's to be expected. But you should also come into the system realizing, (again) this is YOUR business - YOU open the doors every day - YOU pay the bills (everyday) - YOU hire and fire and YOU benefit from the quality of your ability to absorb solutions. for the franchisor’s support. Ultimately, (here is a lesson in walking in their moccasins) the franchise companies prays your involvement in the system makes the system that much better. That takes your involvement. It takes you moving from diapers (deep needs assistance) through training pants (I can walk and feed myself thank you) to maturity. The goal is maturity.

6. Be a systems based franchisee and not a talent pool slave.

Most franchises have employees (though, admittedly, not all) And, though you hire for success, never abdicate the success of your business to the people within it. Franchising sets itself apart, regardless the market, product or service offered by the franchise system. Revert back to that system, which includes employee, human resource and management policies and make sure that the system is adhered to in the face of pressures by the individuals to change the business. Often sadly, people will come and go in your business. The business itself must live and thrive! Stay the course of the business system.

7. Be a positive and shining light in the community where your businesses live.

Your business, and its physical presence should create warmth and a smile to the residents of that area. What do you do in order to win their hearts? What are their concerns? How do you marry your business to their interests; their work; their families and their success as a community? You want better employees? Be viewed as a place where good attitudes, good responses, good works and deeds and good things (to be interpreted as things I as a member of this community value) happen. Find time to sponsor, to donate and not just money and things but make sure that your face and that of your employee team, even your personal family are given to do good things.

You wish to be in control of your business? I want that for you. You want to grow? You should! You want to be viewed as successful? Then take positive, affirming steps. Listen, Learn, Ascribe yourself to those who are successful. Take control by acting like the owner of your franchise business. Take responsibility for it's successes and figure out how you can prevent going back through failure again. Hopefully these 7 things will give you a basis for that success. - impacting your own franchise units, the franchisor, and other franchisees is a sure-fire strategy for your current and future successes.

John is a 26-year professional in the franchise industry. He has been a franchisee, a franchise executive and an advocate/consultant to the public and to dozens of franchise companies. He is the founder and managing partner of Wilson Associates and can be reached at docfranchise@gmail.com. or direct office 480.838.1641

The proliferation of B2B franchises - service based franchises - coaching and consulting franchise opportunities has created a whole new category and level of need for financing.

It's been hard enough if you were a capital based franchise (we need build-out, equipment, vehicles, etc.) For a time it seemed all small business capital had dried up. It is a bit better but not a lot.

Today, non-capital intense businesses whose primary needs are working capital, capital for growth (more territory, expansion of marketing efforts, etc.) and only minor capital expenditures compared to manufacturing and retail types still may require capital in addition to their candidates capabilities.

Where do they go? Where does anyone go? Are there alternatives?

Before you run out and begin your search for capital, you may want to consider an approach that many businesses — particularly start-ups and small businesses that may not yet qualify for loans or be able to attract venture capital — have used with more than a little bit of success. It's called bootstrapping. Bootstrapping or booting refers to a group of metaphors that share a common meaning, a self-sustaining process that proceeds without external help. The term is often attributed to Rudolf Erich Raspe's story The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen, where the main character pulls himself out of a swamp, though it's disputed whether it was done by his hair or by his bootstraps.

Today we refer to bootstrapping and it means finding money and resources by any means possible, including begging, borrowing, bartering, sharing, and leasing everything a company needs.

In short, bootstrapping is guerrilla financing.

So, who bootstraps? Many companies do. In fact, some estimates put the total at 75 to 85 percent of all start-up businesses. Three fundamental rules for effective bootstrapping are

• Hire as few employees as possible. For many companies, employees are the greatest expense. When you add up salary, benefits, overtime, and other employee-related expenses, it doesn't take long for any budget to feel the pinch. Bootstrappers avoid this pinch by hiring (and paying) as few employees as possible.

• Lease, share, and barter everything you can. No, you don't have to pay cash for everything that you need for your business to run. Many companies share facilities, equipment, and even employees with one another to spread out their respective costs. An increasing number of firms also have discovered the wonderful world of bartering, the trading of goods and services to other companies in exchange for the goods and services that are needed.

• Use other people's money. Why use your own money when someone else will let you use his or hers? We're not talking about getting a loan, we're talking about convincing a vendor to allow you to pay 30 or 60 or even 90 days after you receive your goods from them. Or, on the other hand, obtaining payment from your customers before you deliver their goods or services. In each case, you have an opportunity to use someone else's funds to your advantage — for a while, at least.

Some of the more common approaches to bootstrapping are:

• Seeking funds from friends and family.

• Getting a home-equity loan.

• Offering equity to employees and vendors in lieu of salary or cash payments.

• Bartering for goods and services.

• Tapping your credit cards.

• Convincing vendors to accept extended payments.

• Starting your business part time while working a full-time job.

• Getting an extra job.

• Working from home or in your garage.

• Sharing offices with another company.

• Encouraging customer financing (deposits and early payments).

• Looking for angel investors.

• Pooling founders' savings.

Although the need for bootstrapping tends to go away as a business grows and becomes more established — and therefore becomes more attractive to conventional lenders and investors — any company, no matter how big or how small, can benefit by applying bootstrapping techniques in its day-to-day financial activities.

One of the greatest dangers as businesses become more established is the growth of overhead — the costs of facilities, administrative personnel, equipment, utilities, office supplies, furniture, and so forth — at a rate far faster than the growth of a company's sales. This is a recipe for poor profits, sluggish growth, and loss of competitive edge.

Bootstrapping can help keep your company lean and mean while keeping overhead in check and profits high.

John is a 26-year professional in the franchise industry. He has been a franchisee, a franchise executive and an advocate/consultant to the public and to dozens of franchise companies. He is the founder and managing partner of Wilson Associates and can be reached at docfranchise@gmail.com. or direct office 480.838.1641

The odds are against success. The numbers don't lie. The challenges facing the operations of a larger small business development compared to a smaller business component is significant enough that it is best to start smaller, ensure your grip on the business model and then grow from there.

These are all expressions I have used. For the most part I still believe these...IF we were talking 5 years ago I would stand by them, in front of them, behind them and arm myself on all of the information that supports them.

Today is a different day however.

Reading newspapers, listening to the radio, or watching TV today is like drinking from a fire hydrant. There are massive changes in the conditions of our economy. The changes mean franchise companies, particularly new and emerging franchisor's need to rethink their sales and development strategies.

Here are some recent headlines:

* Economy Weakens as Deeper Job Cuts Materialize
* Manufacturing Shrinks Most in 26 Years
* U.S. Slips into a Recession
* Jobless Claims Skyrocket
* World Markets Slump on Economic Fears

In a discussion with several franchise executives recently, the question surfaced, "How can we expand in this market?" I quipped that I was excited about franchise growth in the next few years. I explained that the rules have changed and that smart franchise companies will capitalize on the current economic climate and trends. When my optimism was challenged, I shared why I feel this way.

Why be optimistic?

In times of great upheaval come opportunities. If you read past the doom and gloom I am sure you've read that statement as well. Millionaires were born out of the decade that followed the Great Depression. While it is true that the Crash of 1929 brought unprecedented misery and economic hardship to many, during the same period opportunities were created for the creative, quirky and fearless. The worst course of action as that time exhibited is to do nothing, go about your business and not create a strategy that doesn't recognize the current reality.

While caution should be exercised in positions of leadership, don't ignore the obvious. American workers are going to have to change their lives dramatically. Many people - out of necessity - will have to consider starting a new business, purchasing an existing business, or following the more prudent path of franchising as a route to a new career. Their jobs have, literally, disappeared and reality has finally slapped them so hard that they realize things will never be as they were; security will never be in a company, a position, in a career path again!

On the financing side of the equation while the days of freely tapping home equity and 401(k) plans are gone, many individuals still have the financial resources and/or the ability (courtesy of the U.S. Treasury) to qualify for the recapitalization of existing SBA loan programs to fund their startup. There is money to be had.

Back to the Franchise Companies

The biggest challenge for emerging franchisors in these uncertain, yet dynamic, economic times is how to fund their franchise expansion. Franchise companies face several challenges in today's economic environment:

1. Lead costs are above historical averages.
2. The cost of franchise support is higher as well.
3. A poor choice of franchisees will kill your future growth.

All of these things make Master Licensing and Area Development more attractive growth strategies for newer franchisors who lack the ability to fund an aggressive, rifle-shot franchisee recruitment program and build the infrastructure required for ensuring proper progress and success for new and individual franchisees.

The more responsibility a franchise company must take on to secure the future for the masses of their franchisees, the greater downward pressure exerted on front-end expenses before revenues are produced.

The inability to invest in ubiquitous operational support in the first two years of new franchisee operations is the leading cause of franchisee failures, which in turn cripples the future franchisee validation necessary for recruiting new franchisees. This dynamic creates a death spiral. Emerging franchises who attempt to grow and develop their business from a centralized point create more risk for themselves and their franchise system.

Master Licensing (ML) and Area Development (AD) alleviate significant amounts of the cost burden associated with newer franchise systems. By definition ML's and AD's take on the key responsibilities and costs for providing training and support. With an AD strategy in place:

1. The bulk of the franchisee recruiting costs are funded by an AD or these can be centralized and made a component of an off-loaded relationship with a franchise development company. Either or both ways, it reduces franchiser overhead and provides more focused effort with less pressure on the corporate funding sources. If this is done properly, it will revolutionize recruiting.

2. The resources associated with providing a high-quality support system are delivered and managed by a qualified ML/AD. Not only is this more cost-efficient for the franchisor (because the costs of building a support infrastructure and managing recruiting locally are borne by the ML/AD), but the quality of support to franchisees can be geographically proximate, more focused on business nuance and decidedly more personalized.

The key to success in enabling this growth strategy is in understanding the basic operating principles of Master Licensing and Area Development, including how to recruit and manage them, as well as how to properly structure the agreements. The three mistakes most franchisors make in structuring a program are:

1. Assuming that an Master Licensees is the same type of candidate as a franchisee, only with more capital. Some of the most successful ML's I have known over the years are those who did not necessarily have the best balance sheet, but rather an adequate one; however, they had the core talent, enthusiasm, and skills necessary to drive an organization.

2. Creating a development schedule that is too aggressive. This will drive your AD's to choose franchisees based on meeting a timetable, rather than on purely on their qualifications, which leads to a lower quality of franchisees. They will always want better franchisees because the focus on branding for them is now personal. Craft an agreement that allows them to focus on the best things.

3. Assuming that an AD/ML can do both recruiting and operations. I have never, never seen this structure work over the long term. Offload development to a professional organization that takes responsibility for a significant amount of the lead costs and understands the needs of the ML's/Ad's.

There are many other things to consider in designing a franchise growth strategy for these challenging economic times, but having 10-100 (depending on your organization) qualified Area Developers reduces your company needs for funding recruiting and allows you to focus capital expenditures on improving your franchisor operating system.

This can ultimately fuel profitable growth for emerging franchise systems, something they could not have come close to replicating internally. If you are looking for an organization who can provide you with the tools to make this adjustment in your system you know where to find me!


John is a 26-year professional in the franchise industry. He has been a franchisee, a franchise executive and an advocate/consultant to the public and to dozens of franchise companies. He is the founder and managing partner of Wilson Associates and can be reached at docfranchise@gmail.com. or direct office 480.838.1641