Mr. Blue MauMau's Audio

Dr. Shane, Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies at Case Western Reserve University, speaks about common entrepreneurial myths and how they derail the typical entrepreneur.

He says the average franchisee and entrepreneur will pick low profit industries and unprofitable businesses to buy and run. He then explains why.

mp3 podcast is slightly under 10 minutes.

Scott Shane is A. Malachi Mixon III Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies at Case Western Reserve University. He is the author of seven books, the latest of which is Illusions of Entrepreneurship: The Costly Myths that Entrepreneurs, Investors, and Policy Makers Live By.

National Public Radio's State of Affairs program for the University of Louisville's station, WFPL, rebroadcast on Monday a 50-minute interview about buying a franchise with experts Dr. Wayne Jones of the University of Louisville, who teaches a franchising class; Otis Brown, a UPS franchisee; Thom Crimans, a local FranNet franchise broker; and Billy Fox, Jr., founder of the J. Gumbo's Down Home Cajun Cookin' franchise. Here are a couple of excerpts from the show:

Q: Are banks more apt to finance a franchise?
A: "They [franchise systems] have a more proven track record. Most small businesses, especially the restaurant business, may have a 90% failure rate as opposed coming in with a plan and experience behind you. - Billy Fox, Jr., founder of J. Gumbo's Down Home Cajun Cookin' franchise

Q: Is there a personality profile of someone who does well?
A: "In franchising, you have to be a people person. People skills are important...." "If you are a consummate entrepreneur, you will be in constant conflict with your franchisor." - Prof. Wayne Jones, University of Louisville, teaches franchising

Here is a sad tale of a franchise leader gone nuts. To help us discuss the franchise owner leadership lessons in Moby-Dick, Mr. Blue MauMau speaks with Dr. Beth Schulz, professor emirita of English and Art History at the University of Kansas and Shaun Higgins, CEO of Movies for Business.

The ship Pequod, which Ahab captained, was a business within a business, much like running an individual franchise that operates within the business of a franchiser. And at the time Melville wrote Moby-Dick, America was in the height of being the world's leader in whaling for oil, much like the bulk of the world's major franchisers is centered in America today.

Yet, despite all the ships coming back to New England laden with lucrative whale oil to fuel the economy, Captain Ahab's ship met with disastrous results. Here is a discussion of Moby-Dick and its leadership lessons that franchise owners can learn from a scholar and business consultant.

Length - 14:15 min

Other resources:

An interview with the organizer of Detroit's National Franchise & Business Opportunities Show. U.S. Show Manager Ken Muir sat down with Mr. Blue MauMau to discusses how a franchise show can help in the selection process, this year's attendance in Detroit, and Ford's laying off of employees.

This is Part 2 on the beginnings of Kentucky Fried Chicken. The world's first Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant was born in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1952. This is an interview with Mr. Jay Alexander, Operations Liaison and spokesperson for Kentucky Fried Chicken's first franchisee, Harman Management.

In this interview, Mr. Alexander recalls how the franchise grows and the leeway in the beginning to experiment. Harman's Cafe retains its name but features KFC. It develops out of state to a point where now it has some 325 restaurants.

The World's first Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant was born in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1952 and it is a pivotal moment for the development of the modern business format franchise.  This is one of a three part series on the history of Harman Cafe featuring Kentucky Fried Chicken with Harman Management spokesperson Mr. Jay Alexander, Operations Liaison (pictured next to the statues of Colonel Harland Sanders and Pete Harman). 

The KFC website has this to say about Pete Harman and KFC's beginnings:

After meeting his close friend and skilled businessman, Pete Harman, Colonel Sanders cashed in his $105 Social Security check to begin franchising his dream.

This is an audio podcast of Pete Harman's KFC story. 

WASHINGTON, D.C. - An interview at the International Franchise Expo with Mr. James Bryant, a veteran of franchising in China. He brought the Subway franchise system into the People's Republic of China and recently sold the chain of some 70 restaurants sold. Way2PRC’s founder, Jim Bryant, entrepreneur and native New Englander, has lived in China for more than 25 years, and is known in Beijing as “The Franchise King”. 

Mr. Bryant discusses with Blue MauMau what it is like franchising in the Middle Kingdom. 

An interview with Burt Yarkin, CEO of Cartridge World about buying a franchise

Mr. Blue MauMau interviews President Steven Cooper and CFO Karen Franklin of SDCooper Company about using retirement funds to fund a franchise without tax penalties. And it's all legal.

This interview is in mp3 audio format.

An audio interview of Richard Macaluso, Show Director for MFV Expositions, organizers of the 2006 International Franchise Expo in Washington, D.C. The show had over 10,000 attendees looking at a record 325 plus franchise exhibits.

This interview is in mp3 format and can be heard using Windows Media Player, Real Player or most media players.