OAKLAND, Calif. - The National Minority Franchising Initiative (NMFI) has identified the five best franchises for minorities. The franchise chains named are as diverse as Choice Hotels and NexCen Brands, a conglomerate of various franchise brands from cookies to athletic wear.
"There's a youth movement brewing in the franchising world,” The Wall Street Journal reports. It explains that as boomers are retiring, franchise brokers and a few franchisors are putting increasing efforts into recruiting new college grads.
A small business lending advisor states that since the inception of a special SBA loan program in June, there have been only 1,800 ARC loans approved by less than 600 lenders.
WASHINGTON - Separate studies by Professor Timothy Bates and now two studies by the Small Business Administration report that franchises fail more than independent small businesses.
WASHINGTON - With a quiet wink and a nod, many franchisors and lending brokers pass around financial information to a franchise investor's bank while keeping the franchise investor in the dark.
The British Franchise Association announced Tuesday that it is launching a certification for franchise professionals. It’s called Qualified Franchise Professional.
A CNN "superstar" iReporter vlogs today on how in these tough times franchisors are looking to compete and devour their own franchisees. Case in point, he states, is Sunday's news about Allstate insurance giant shedding 20% of its agent franchisees. (Editor's warning: Video starts automatically when accessing this story.)
In 2008 in Australia we read that Firepower International associated with Stephen Moss, son of a former Macquarie bank senior executive, Bill Moss, had offered the fuel consumption reduction pill franchise by tender.
A bill that passed last year to revive the secondary market for Small Business Administration 504 loans will kick off soon in an attempt to unlock credit for franchises and small businesses trying to expand.
In the midst of an economic crisis, it’s no longer easy to get credit. Americans are beginning to live within their means. Unnecessary expenses are being cut by families and corporations.
A prospective franchisee needs to retain an experienced franchise attorney to review all of the terms of the franchise agreement including the renewal provisions. If the typical renewal provision is in the franchisor's standard form of franchise agreement, try to renegotiate this provision to make it fair.
The vast majority of today's franchise agreements (that is, "one-sided, franchisor-oriented") normally contain the following provision as one of the conditions to the franchisor agreeing to renew the franchise agreement at the end of the initial term.