Home | MyMauMau: Log In / Register | Ask Franny | Newsletter
Log In / Register | May 25, 2012

Expert Advice

Taxes and the Deficit

Expert | Robert Mandelbaum | May 21 | manage
Normally, this column is supposed to cover the tax changes over the prior year and how they impact the hospitality industry. Last year, we commented about how 2010 was an interesting year but little in the tax field had passed. 2010 was all about health care reform, the change in control of the House and the rise of the tea party. It was a very political and partisan year. If anything, 2011 was worse. Never has so little been accomplished by so many. Brinkmanship was the key word for 2011. It will be known more for what did not occur rather than what did. It is not unusual for partisan politics to take center stage in an election year. While 2011 was not, the race for the Presidency and control of the House and Senate began before all the winners from 2010 were known. Two major issues...
Add Comment (1 Comments) | Read More

National Press Writes about Restaurant Franchising

Member | john a. gordon | May 20 | manage
On May 18th, the national press, both The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, wrote about restaurant franchising. Some additional notes are warranted. The New York Times article (www.nyti.ms/KLufUp) wrote about the travails of owning restaurant franchises and that one had better be prepared to "do it the the franchisors way". Or else. Example included a KFC franchisee in the mid-south as well as a former franchisee of the Pat N Oscar's chain in San Diego, that is struggling to reopen and rebrand the failed chain. The NYT writer must have zeroed in on difficult situations. I won't go into here the struggles of KFC in the US in this piece except to say franchisee unit level margins are under 10% (probably 7-9%) and not throwing off enough cash to...
Add Comment (2 Comments) | Read More

Production Agreements of a Supply Chain; The Other End of the Rainbow

Expert | RichardSolomon | May 11 | manage
Many years ago I was pulled away from my usual assignments to do a major product production tolling agreement between two of America’s larger food companies. It was a stroke of luck for me because it provided something new for my interest in multivariate risks management. Since then I have prepared many multivariate high risk agreements, and it is always an enjoyable as well as remunerative adventure. When you think of every brand as a franchise in itself, it fits perfectly into my customary practice of managing franchise relationship disconnect issues. These agreements include, in terms of common risks to be accounted for, not only product tolling agreements, but requirement agreements, output agreements and any other variable protocol. The risks include comparative law...
Add Comment (8 Comments) | Read More

Know the Benefits of Application Protection in Any Organization

Member | jasongonce | May 10 | manage
It is very important to ensure proper method of data availability on time. In that case, replication needs to be adopted in order to manage current backup information and system settings so that it can deliver fast restoration of data after any kind of disaster. As we know that it is not possible to avoid any kind of natural disaster or human error; but it is always mandatory to take proper measures for application protection, so that users do not face any kind of problem related to data loss. And, data replication is found to be the only way to remove or minimize the time lapse experienced in these situations. The main focus remains in putting measures in those places where increased system redundancy is possible. In that case, different components of software or hardware can be seen...
Add Comment | Read More

Pepsi Wants a New Generation

Expert | Passikoff and Shea | May 10 | food, manage
Everything the light touches this year is rapper Nicki Minaj’s kingdom. From the Billboard Top 100 to the Super Bowl half-time show, and her reign is about to expand to a major role in a new ad campaign for Pepsi. The campaign, tentatively taglined “Live for Now,” seems to be aimed at a bubbly, younger generation – Pepsi’s traditional target market (remember their successful “Pepsi Generation” campaign of yesteryear?) So Nicki Minaj makes a great choice for this audience; every aspect of her persona, from her buzzy lyrics to her collection of candy-colored wigs, resonates with youth zeitgeist. Bringing Ms. Minaj on board to pinch-hit for Pepsi is clearly a strategic move, and a reaction to the drop that Pepsi took this year in the...
Add Comment | Read More

Taco Bell Sales Grow

Member | john a. gordon | Apr 29 | food, manage
Blue MauMau has asked me to look at Taco Bell’s U.S. sales trends, in light of its rollout of the new Doritos Locos Taco. Some have wondered on BMM if sales at Taco Bell were stagnant. After looking at the recent Taco Bell Q1 earning call, making unit visits and reviewing marketing/new product information, I observe the following about the chain's operating tempo (OPTEMPO): U.S. sales look to be up. U.S. sales grow Unlike other restaurant brands, YUM releases only quarterly combined US Taco Bell/KFC and Pizza Hut company store margins and notes the same store sales (SSS) gain (and not components) by brand via a single sentence. On April  18 2012, for the Quarter ending March 24 2012, US Taco Bell same store sales were up 6%. This looks to have broken a year long...
Add Comment | Read More

Which Team Has the Most Loyal Fans?

Expert | Passikoff and Shea | Apr 5 | entertainment, manage
With the official cry of ‘play ball’ yesterday, the 2012 MLB season began. It was accompanied by the christening of a new ballpark for the Miami Marlins, a 20th-anniversary park celebration for St. Louis, and the release of The Brand Keys 2012 Sports Loyalty Index. This is our 20th annual fan survey, conducted to help professional sports teams measure precise fan loyalty rankings in home and national markets. Overall rankings aside, the diagnostics provide insights that enable leagues and teams to identify areas where strategic coaching of the brand is required. For 2012, MLB top 5 and bottom 5 brand-standings are: Top 5 Philadelphia Phillies New York Yankees Boston Red Sox San Francisco Giants St. Louis Cardinals...
Add Comment | Read More

How to Handle Irate Customers—And Look Like a Hero

Member | John Tschohl | Apr 2 | manage
Irate customers. No matter how good you are at what you do, what business you are in, or where it is located, you will at some point find yourself facing an irate customer.  Maybe a product was flawed, a delivery was late, or a charge was inaccurate. How you deal with that customer not only will determine how he or she feels about your organization, but how you feel about yourself. When you are able to turn an irate customer into a satisfied customer, you will gain confidence in your ability to diffuse a volatile situation and to evoke a positive outcome. You also will gain the respect of your coworkers, and you will get the attention of your supervisors. And, who knows, you might even get promoted. When most people come in contact with an irate customer, their first instinct...
Add Comment (6 Comments) | Read More

1031 Exchange Tax Requirements

Expert | Andy Gustafson | Mar 24 | manage
Section 1031 is a useful section of the tax code that allows a taxpayer to defer taxable gains on a property by using it as an exchange rather than a simple sale. In order to successfully fulfill a 1031 transaction, you need to follow the specific 1031 exchange requirements. The 1031 exchange rules are very precise and need to be followed exactly in order to get the tax deferred exchange. 1031 Intent and Facts The first requirement in a 1031 exchange is that the property must be held for productive use in a trade or business or for investment. This is important because the 1031 rules forbid the exchange rules for a personal residence. Next, there obviously needs to be at least two properties in the transaction and the two properties need to be “like-kind.” This means the...
Add Comment | Read More

Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Cuts Bonus Depreciation, Impacts LKEs

Expert | Andy Gustafson | Feb 26 | manage
When H.R. 3765, the Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 was signed by President Obama on December 23rd, 100 percent bonus depreciation or the ability to quickly write off equipment purchases ended. Congress was not able to offset the expense with equivalent revenue generators. Bonus Depreciation Since 2010, bonus depreciation allowed businesses to write off 100 percent on the purchase price of most capital equipment effectively reducing their income tax. The government’s view is that bonus depreciation is an economic stimulus intended to increase production, jobs and corporate profits, helping businesses and individuals acquire new equipment. The downside of bonus depreciation is the recaptured depreciation tax, due when the asset is sold, providing much...
Add Comment | Read More