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Coffee News
Hello All,
Just wanted to ask if anyone had any experience with the Coffee News franchise. Seems like a pretty solid set-up and the start-up costs are low. I don't want to jump into that segment on my own and Coffee News seems like a good choice.
There are currently no Coffee News franchises in my area but there is a Tidbits newspaper franchise active in the area. Do you think two products that are similar would work in a metro area of about 300,000 people? Thanks
Dan
coffee news franchise turnover
I almost bought a Coffee News franchise several years ago. I turned it down for several reasons, mostly just gut feelings . Turns out it was the best thing I ever did. As I watched over the years since then I noticed that in my home town the franchise owners were turning over, and over and over. I began watching in other cities as well. With a few exceptions, there appears to be no long term owners. For all of the reasons already stated elsewhere here this franchise appears to be quite the money pit.
I had talked to an attorney in regards to creating my own restaurant publication. I was concerned about trademark and copyright issues. He basically said that it's like McDonald's and Burger King.
Both sell a hamburger but they naturally distinguish themselves by calling them different things.
If you want to start in this business on your own you can do it. Use good trade software like Adobe InDesign or Pagemaker. Get a used HP Laserjet 9000dn that can spew out the 11 x 17 copies like crazy.
You just saved yourself tons of money on design and now you can print it as well. Get a Martin-Yale folder and go nuts. Content is everywhere, just make sure it's not copyrighted.
There are numerous sources. You can start this business today for under $2500 and no franchise fees. PRIVATEER!
We can help :)
We think that $2500 is a LOT of money! We can help people get started without all the problems you mentioned. Many of our subscribers can get started for virtually ZERO out of pocket cost. There IS a better way, let us show you!
A Jibber Java franchise is the way to go!
If Coffee News were in color and had better design style it would be what Jibber Java is today. Franchises are cheaper and the product is much better quality by a mile. The thing to remember is that even there will always be a market for more than one Coffee Break Reader...Jibber Java's only have room for 25 ads...Coffee News 32..that's 57 ads only combined...a town of 500,000 will have around 20,000 businesses so there's plenty of room. Coffee news is already in most places so there are few places left to get a franchise (without moving to a different city) So go with a different franchise - a better franchise opportunity. Jibber Java. It's Fun and FULL COLOR and less expensive than Coffee News so what are you waiting for? visit JibberJava.ca
I Love My Coffee News
I have been publishing Coffee News for two years with 4 editons that I purchased from a previous publisher. I have never had a problem with distribution as I hear the same thing from everyone "I love Coffee News". Some of distribtion locations include Call Centers, Hospital Waiting Rooms, Doctors/Dentist Office, Car Dealership, Hair Salon as well as over 375 Restaurants.
Customers and Clients love it because it is fast reading. You are usually still waiting for your service and then continue to read the ads. When new advertisers call they love the fact they will be the only business in their catergory in the paper and they say "I see it everywhere". Once your distribution locations are set up, the advertisers will call you.
Good luck and I myself love my JOB and Coffee News!!
An alternative ...
Our small company provides weekly content to free local community papers all around the U.S. Our subscribers pay a small subscription and in return they receive weekly (interesting) content that pleases both their readers AND their advertisers. We do not charge any additional fees.
Our subscribers also have free access to our website (members only) where they can exchange ideas (and get questions answered) with other independent publishers from all over the country. We show them key things like: How to use affiliate marketing to fill their paper, Where to distribute their paper, How to set their ad prices, etc.
Our subscribers typically own their own local paper. Some get 100% of their content from our service while others supplement the content they already have. We simply provide the content and additional resources for our subscribers to succeed.
We do NOT determine our subscribers' paper design, layout, ad rates, policies or publication name. They are 100% responsible for everything other than the content we sell them. We have no restrictions on what our subscribers can do with 3 exceptions: 1) Our content cannot be published online. 2) Our subscribers may not use our business name or its likeness implying our endorsement/or involvement. 3) We do not accept more than one subscriber in a given area.
Our subscribers are 100% owners of their publications. We simply provide the interesting content.
Feel free to contact us if you would like to learn more. We are happy to help :)
further info on your company
Could you also provide your website address? I am interested in your content for local papers.
content
can you please send me information about pricing and contact for your content.
Thanks Ryan
We have tried to reach you...
Please contact us directly and we would be happy to answer you questions!
FactsWeekly.com
Hi Ryan!
Sorry for the late response...we dont visit BlueMauMau as often as we would like :)
First, please visit our website, www.FactsWeekly.com for more information. Then contact us directly for more details about our service. We do not accept more than one subscriber in an area so please include what area you are considering as well.
Thank Ryan,
Josh
Coffee News Litigation Risk
This is in response to the inquiries about getting sued starting your own kind of publication similar to Coffee News. I think when their website says "copyright and trademark laws" I think they are specifically talking about what's referred to as "trade dress laws". Here's a good article from Wikipedia about trade dress: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_dress
I'm not an attorney (I am qualified as a paralegal) but I suspect that if you published your own paper that looked similar enough there is definitely litigation risk. So don't call it "Cafe News" and use brown paper basically. I'm not sure exactly how different one would have to be to be safe - but hopefully this is a start for those of you thinking about going solo.
placement?
Serious Q: where do you guys place your publication and is it hard to get in? (Mostly we hear about the challenge of selling ads - what about placing the publications?)
Reason I ask is that we own several restaurants, we already have a publication, and we wouldn't put anyone else in. Unless maybe they paid us. And no, we won't let in additional ones, we don't want numerous ones cluttering our stores, we kicked out a whole bunch of "Pennysaver" and "Want As Digest" and "Dating Pages" type of publications too..
One guy claimed it was "discrimination"; he is welcome to sue me but I never heard back from him, I just threw his rack and all his papers into the dumpster since he didn't have permission to leave them; just considered them abandoned.
So Is Coffee News easier to sell ads than Tidbits
Who has a Tidbits? Seems like the Coffee News is more expensive but maybe more exclusive? ie - they allow only 1 ad per issue of any particular business - 1 Dentist - 1 HairStylist etc. Seems like that concept could stir alot of interest
Anybody have any success stories in regards to Tidbits? Lets hear them
Thanks
Pete
Is less more?
From my experience - have owned and sold Coffee News Franchises twice - you are only allowed 1 realtor - every realtor wants to be in there - you have 32 ad spaces - can only sell to 1 - my gosh seems wild eh? Is more focued in that you need to call all the Vets in your area to see if they want an ad so that is good but you need 32 different groups. MOst of the businesses that advertised with me were small and had money for 1 ad and then went out of business - we get paid up front so got paid but always had to find new customers - are some like "quit smoking in 30 days by laser" ads that run all the time becuase it works for them. The delivery takes 2 to 3 hours each week per location - that's a lot of time PLUS you have to print each week whether you have advertisers or not. I thought maybe a online website selling ads would be good but then who sees it right - coffee news is everywhere where people are and that's who sees it. One tip - most of the readers are seniors - who else is in the restaurants all day right - so ads geared towards them are good - daycare, travel etc - things that gramma and grampa are looking at. ALl the best!
USA COFFEE
Bill Buckley, President -COFFEE NEWS USA COFFEE NEWS USA and COFFEE NEWS WORLD HEAD OFFICE invite you to a Coffee News College, August 23-25, 2009 at The Lucerne Inn, Dedham, Maine. Please contact our Bangor office (207-941-0860) or email: bill@coffeenewsusa.com to confirm your attendance. In Canada, testking 70-562 please contact Connie Seidler at 204-222-5597, or email her at connie@coffeenewscanada.com. More in Depth: All new publishers who have never attended a COFFEE NEWS COLLEGE should arrive on Sunday, August 23 to attend two full days of basic introductory training beginning on Monday, August 24, testking N10-003 and ending on Tuesday, August 25 at 6 PM. This program is designed specifically for new publishers and publishers who have never attended a COFFEE NEWS COLLEGE. Sessions will be relaxed and informative, so dress comfortably. New publishers that have never attended a Coffee News College will have the cost of the rooms, meals and training for the basic training program on Sunday thru Wednesday included at no charge, other than travel expenses. testking 000-223 Other publishers who acquired their franchises through private sales are also required to attend this COFFEE NEWS COLLEGE but are required to pay their own expenses unless they have paid a transfer fee at the time of the purchase.Coffee News vs. Tidbits and FunFacts
Coffee News has this statement on their website under "Coffee News is Popular" 3) It's virtually competitor-proof! Naturally, when any new idea in advertising is introduced and has the overnight success of Coffee News there will be copycat publications. However, due to trade marking and copyright laws, Coffee News offers a higher level of protection to franchisees. Those that have tried so far have been ordered by the court to "cease and desist" and pay average damages to Coffee News of over $85,000. per settlement. All others not in litigation, have gone out of business on their own as of this printing. Does anyone have proof/experience to support this statement on their website? What about Tidbits and FunFacts? Will they too eventually go out of business? Even though Coffee News is the most expensive of the three to start, if it's a more reliable and steadfast company, doesn't that speak volumes about the way the company is managed? Thank you for any input you can give me.Coffee News
I purchased one Coffee News franchise in 2007. Through networking and community involvement I was able to sell out my first edition in 5 weeks. I have expanded over the last 2 years to 8 franchises of Coffee News. We keep most of our editions at 75-100% full. The support from fellow publishers (over 1,000 strong) is worth every penny you spend on a franshise. The strictness of Coffee News is to protect a formula that has worked for 20 years. The product is as viable today as it was then. There are many appealing elements to the Coffee News ads for advertisers. I have friends that have purchased other community papers similar to Tidbits and hear the same thing from all of them: not enough support for running their business. I run alongside many other community papers without any problem. Coffee News is a viable, respected community paper. You couldn't make a better investment! Cheryl Bertics Publisher, South CarolinaCoffee News
Coffee News is in the Blue MauMau franchise directory. But all we know is that it is a home-based publishing franchise.
Anyone know anything about this franchise system?
Don't do Coffee News
I had a large area that was over 200,000 so I was required to buy 4 franchises.. that's over $24,000 now (a little less when I purchased mine). You have an extra franchise cost of $20 p/ each, so the franchise charge is now $120 a week in this scenario. For almost $500 a week, you have to work your butt off, even in an area as big as mine. It honestly took me over a year to start making a profit and I worked it hard.. and I'm a salesman by nature! In any case, the profit at this point was over $20,000 a year.. hardly close to recapturing my original investment for the hours I had put in. By year 2, I was getting a lot of return advertisers, but not many as expected. I was maybe at 50%. I was frustrated because the Coffee News College you attend when you first sign on says it will usually be 80%. Not true. I live in a very large small to medium business area, but the fact is that most companies like to try different things in advertising.. hitting several different sources, so don't be fooled into thinking this is a "get it running and sit back and collect" business. It's sales pure and simple. You'll get the door slammed in your face many more times than not. By the end of two years, I had raised my profits to $28,000 (after printing costs), but my gas for that year was over $4000. I suspect that would be worse now. I finally sold this business for $6000 less than I originally purchased it for. Coffee News has a great business model.. for themselves. Over 300 locations... many with several editions.. probably averaging $100 a week for content. $300,000 a week they get to sit back and collect while you are busting your hump every day for them. My advice? Do this yourself. Everyone immediately writes this off and why? Content? Get a hold of a few different styles of publications and see what others are doing. The hardest part is your original design, but sit down and take a few weeks working on this. After that, you can easily take 1 night a week of about 5 hours and create all your content for the next week. And voila.. you've just saved over $100.. money in your pocket.. not theirs! Trust me when I tell you this is the way to go. I'm not bitter about the Coffee News experience because it allowed me to understand the business well and create my own and I had a lot of ready made contacts. I would just never wish it on anyone else. At least Tidbits is reasonably priced. Coffee News has raised everything since being on the Top 500 franchises. Don't let that tag fool you. It's not worth it.cost
For those of you that have owned one of these types of newsletters before I have a couple questions.
How much were you charging per Advertising space?
What were your printing cost like?
cost
For those of you that have owned one of these types of newsletters before I have a couple questions.
How much were you charging per Advertising space?
What were your printing cost like?
Coffee News: Don't do it
Coffee News is a wonderful newspaper, but if you really do your homework and deep research, you will see that most of the publishers get out after a year or two. Serious veteran publishers stay in about 5 years, but they have other motives like using Coffee News as a "farm league" to find good people for other ventures. Coffee News publishers are the best people in the world and that is why you get sucked into doing this franchise.
I highly recommend you buy a Coffee News franchise to meet your community, "have your own business" drive a car with Coffee News graphics, etc. etc. You will be a proud business member and be a pillar of your community, however YOU WILL NOT MAKE MONEY. YOU WILL NOT MAKE MONEY, YOU WILL NOT MAKE MONEY! When you talk with current publishers they will tell you they are making a good living, they are not. You have hugh printing costs, franchise costs, travel cost, etc. You also have hugh weekly delivery costs. They costs just keep coming up every single week, however ad revenue does not keep coming in. You will have constant turnover of advertisers as you serve the middle to small business community which does not understand advertising. They want results from their ad. They will even ask you if they advertise with you will they get more business. They also have very unrealistic expectations about advertising.
Look just use your common sense: With a Quiznos sub franchise you stand to make perhaps 50,000 in profit per store with an investment of about $300,000. Coffee News' UFOC states that you can clear $160,000 with just a 10,0000 investment. Why would you ever spend $300,000 to make 50k when you can buy a Coffee News franchise for only 50k and make 160k? YOU CANT!!!!
Coffee News
Thanks for your helpful information on Coffee News franchises. You recommend starting your own paper instead of purchasing a franchise from Coffee News. How would you recommend getting around their claim to litigate any publications that try to get started? What exactly do they claim to have copyright laws and trade marks on? Is it just the name or is it on the format also? Have you started your own publication after selling your franchises? What do you recommend changing in a publication, based on your experiences?
Comment
Thank you for the information I to was looking into Coffe News but concerned about them holding back on figures like what do they charge for the ad? What does the printing and the delivery of papers cost to you? I suspect if we were going to make money they might share that information. Also did they try to take you to court for starting your own paper like they threaten on their website?
Coffee News vs. Tidbits Franchise
I've checked into both Coffee News and Tidbits Franchises and the two are similar ideas, but Tidbits appears more publisher friendly (i.e. you can add your own content, increase the number of pages, etc.). Coffee News seems much smaller in what you can do with it. You need to own several it would seem to make a good living. With Tidbits they expect you to earn net over $100,000 a year after your first year with one paper. Also, it's more like a newspaper as in you get comics, games, sports articles, home improvement, etc. Most people run it on a full color newspaper tabloid and some run it on a 11x17 sheet folded over similar to Coffee News. You can check them both out here: http://www.TidbitsWeekly.com http://www.CoffeeNews.com If you get any more information, please let us know!Re: Coffee News vs. Tidbits Franchise
Not sure about Cofee News but the Tidbits Franchise cost is around $8500 - $9500 for a pretty big territory (about 250,000 - 300,000 population I was looking at). They both cost about $75 a week for your content (with Tidbits that includes all your games and puzzles and features). -DanCoffee news
I Owned 2 of the coffee news franchises and it's limited to about 40,000 people per franchise so I had to buy 2. Tidbits would sell me 300,000 people for 8,500 - so it's 1/2 price. Plus you can do things with tidbits whereas coffee news was strict. We wanted to add suduko and they had a fit. I sold both of my coffee news and am now looking at tidbits. It was hard to sell ads in coffee news as I didn't get many "big companies" but tidbits from what I see has car dealer ads etc - bigger companies HAVE MONEY!About Coffee News
Hi everyone,
Interesting posts on Coffee News - and some thoughts from someone involved (previously) in the Asia Pacific Region. This is the voice of experience speaking from prior involvement with the franchise.
- Outside of America, the content is not of interest to the majority (people will tell you this quite openly), and irritates them - with the only workaround put in place by Coffee News in this region being to place an Australian based story first in "Everybody's Talking".
- Limited as to what you can do as everyone has said. One size ad, restrictions on double ads, doing anything else different is just not on, no Sudoku as commented here. Essentially, you will spend a lot of time telling people "I cannot do that" and depending on your personal philosophy about being in business to serve, you might not feel great about that. Also, it means that you will not sell the ads as you might otherwise - if for example you had some flexibility and were seen to be actually working for and with the community. Great point about bigger businesses have more money to spend. They also might want to book out more ad space - which with Coffee News you cannot provide. So you lose another sale.
- The Coffee News clientele is very limited for money, quite often, and you will find there are limitations on what you can and cannot charge for your advertising. Attracts a very home based, new to business crowd. If they do well from the publication they might stick with you - it's a huge variable.
- I know that there are other publications available worldwide, and I think that the points raised about content and fees are valid. The Coffee News franchise is lining their pockets at the expense of their franchisees.
- Also, remember to check your contract as there just may be clauses requiring you to undertake certain functions in the business (such as printing) with a particular supplier, number of copies printed and so forth. It is not just the product you have to contend with but the franchisor/s around the world - who are resistant to change as noted here and have the right (so they believe) to impose different ways of running the business on their franchisees.
- The price to purchase each area and the fees around the world are different, and by the time the product gets to Australia, the fees are higher than elsewhere. This is publicly available information, for example fees in the US are $20 per edition, in Australia they are $75 Australian per edition. One edition in Australia is $8800. Plus fees. Plus printing. Plus other expenses such as car, promotion of the business. (Remember, check your contract).
- It is a lot of work to distribute weekly.
I no longer am involved with the franchise and have moved on to my own publication if anyone in Australia is interested in finding out more... the above is a true and accurate account of Coffee News as I knew it and as long as people read and consider what I experienced and know, this was my objective in making this post. Not intending to be commercial regarding what I am doing, however it does put it in perspective.
I am in NZ. Tell me about your Australia experience.
I am in NZ. Tell me about your Australia experience.
I am interested in coffee news or tidbits or any similar type of publications / businesses.
cleveland launcher iron
nteresting posts on Coffee News - and some thoughts from someone involved (previously) in the Asia Pacific Region. This is the voice of experience speaking from prior involvement with the franchise.
- Outside of America, the content is not of interest to the majority (people will tell you this quite openly), and irritates them - with the only workaround put in place by Coffee News in this region being to place an Australian based story first in "Everybody's Talking".
coffee news is great!
coffee news is great!
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