Blog | Buyer: Business Minded (4) | FranchiseGrade.com, Inc.

6 Tips for Finding the Best Franchisees for Your Business

Posted by Franchise Grade Team November 1, 2016

For your franchise system to be successful, it has to be built on qualified and competent franchisees. Successful franchisees can help to promote your franchise brand while growing your network and increasing revenues, which are both key elements in attracting potential franchisees and help maintain the overall health of your franchise system.

Millennial Women in Franchising

Posted by Franchise Grade Team October 26, 2016

Women in franchising is not a new trend in and of itself. The world of franchising has its challenges that mirror those in the corporate world. Similarly, while the franchising industry remains largely dominated by men, women continue to make significant strides. After all, they too have an entrepreneurial spirit and a passion to pursue the dream of business ownership. This is particularly true of the Millennial Woman, born in the early 1980s through 2000; about 35 years old in 2015.

Millennials and their Children

Posted by Franchise Grade Team October 20, 2016

As millennials reach their late twenties and early thirties they are growing out of their high school and college years. Most are entering a new life phase — starting a family. Millennials face more challenges than previous generations. They are more likely than their Gen-X and Boomer counterparts to have high student debt and working at minimum or low paying jobs. These financial conditions lead many millennial families to have both parents working while raising children. This requires the need for child care services.

Online Marketing and the Real Estate Sector

Posted by Franchise Grade Team October 19, 2016

Over the past several years’ companies have seen dramatic changes in the way they market and advertise their products and services. The introduction and dynamic growth of social media and online marketing has permeated virtually every aspect of people’s lives. These dramatic changes have provided franchisors and franchisees new ways to reach potential customers. This is especially true for the real estate sector, as many potential investors, whether looking to purchase a house or a real estate franchise, search the Internet to research and learn about their potential investment opportunities.

The Single Greatest Management Hack Of ALL TIME!

Posted by Franchise Grade Team October 18, 2016

The 80/20 principle doesn’t even do this justice: When it comes to leadership and getting the most out of your people, there’s one simple tactic you can use that will create a revolution of results. Think of it as the 1% insight into management strategy that nets you 99% of the results. This single uncomplicated tactic will increase your staff’s compliance with instructions in the short term, while slowly conditioning them to think for themselves in the future. The only catch? In order for this to work, you have to understand a crucial piece of human psychology. Once it clicks, you’ll be able to rocket your team’s effectiveness into the stratosphere. Telling people what to do doesn’t work Poor managers believe that their job is to communicate instructions to their staff. “Do this, do that… and do THIS as well!” This cliche is always followed by “Why do I have to keep reminding you?”. It feels a bit like a burnt out parent nagging a surly teenager to take out the trash. The “Transfer-of-Instructions” school of leadership is born of the industrial age. It’s built on the presupposition that people are automatons: Replaceable cogs of mindless labor functioning in a machine. It makes no room for the notion of building an inspired, autonomous and proactive crew. Even if you run a business that requires boring labor of your team, it doesn’t have to be mindless. The make or break difference between these types of businesses that succeed and those that fail still comes down to staff. Until robots really can replace everyone, you need people to do their jobs and your bottom line will benefit if they do them well. Merely transferring instructions doesn’t work. Staff become uninspired, look for shortcuts and require constant reminding. Most of all? They stop thinking for themselves ensuring you always sweat when you need to leave them unattended. The Power of Rationale What’s missing is the WHY. This is the principal so few business owners understand. They transfer instructions that they can see – with their eagle-eye perspective on the business – are essential. However, staff are simply told they must do this thing. They’re not given context or an explanation for why the priority has arisen

Brands to Watch – Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices

Posted by Franchise Grade Team October 13, 2016

As the real estate sector continues to experience a resurgence, a brand that potential investors may want to consider is Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices (BHH). BHH is an affiliate of the parent company Berkshire Hathaway, owned by the highly successful businessman Warren Buffett. Buffett, with a net worth of $67.5 billion, is the third richest person in the world as of July 2016. While many businessmen with comparable wealth achieved their wealth through the acquisition of goods and product innovation, while Buffett’s empire is in the form of share certificates, the result of consistently smart investments.

Three Franchises that Cater to Parents

Posted by Franchise Grade Team September 5, 2016

An increasing number of parents find themselves in need of quality childcare. In the past, most women were expected to stay home to take care of the children. However, as a result of higher living costs and women gaining more independence most mothers are reluctant to leave their job when they have children. In 2015, 60.6% of households had both parents working. Single parent families often find themselves in need of childcare as they try to balance their job and home life. In these situations, it's important to have a child care provider that understands the needs of modern parents and can meet to their needs. Here are 3 Top Child Care franchises that cater to the needs of parents.

Startup Franchisors Need to Preserve Capital

Posted by Franchise Grade Team June 20, 2016

After having recently attended the 2016 International Franchise Expo, I was struck by the number of startup franchisors exhibiting and extolling the benefits of their franchise opportunity and was impressed with a number of the franchise concepts. If some of these franchisors have the proper leadership and necessary capital (emphasis on capital) I believe they can develop successful franchise programs. A number of these startups are built upon a foundation of multiple corporate locations, which is an important predictor of future franchise success. However, an important requirement for a successful startup franchise system is having enough capital to fund the growth of the franchise.

Automated Phone Systems are a Barrier

Posted by Ed Teixeira May 6, 2016

If one were to ask franchisors what their top priority is, odds are that the overwhelming response would be to grow their franchise network with qualified franchisees. Yet, a number of franchisors continue to place a major roadblock on the road to achieving their objective. My opinion is based upon personal experience regarding how difficult it is to connect with a live person in many franchisor headquarters. For a number of years, businesses including franchisors, have replaced the position of receptionist with an automated contact system. Unfortunately, when pressing the number for the franchise department the response is often voice mail. I’ve even received the message: “The franchise department is closed” without instructions for leaving a voice mail.

Franchisors Must Carefully Manage Change

Posted by Franchise Grade Team April 25, 2016

Change is a normal part of operating any company whether the company is small or large, franchised or not. Change can come in many forms, whether procedural, which is implemented per the operations manual or marketing changes such as introducing an advertising program or new product. Change can be of a major category such as a franchisor acquisition, a merger or a sale. If the franchisor is publicly owned, this type of information must be disclosed in compliance with SEC regulations.