Childrens Feature Articles

Childrens Feature Articles

Franchise Sector Showcase

Informative Childrens franchise articles to support business buyers, franchisees, and franchisors.

It is a quiet Saturday morning. If you are the average American, the downturn in the economy has started you to think about how it will impact your career and the opportunities for your children as they enter the workforce. Articles about Enron and Tyco and Global Crossing and other corporate scandals abound and some of the most respected brand names internationally are talking about layoffs and bankruptcy.
  • By: Michael H. Seid, founder and managing director of MSA - Michael H. Seid & Associates
  • 27,600 Reads 13 Shares
Florida-based businessman Peter Economys and New York entrepreneur Rob Tobias have a very special talent important to area developers: they're champion multi-taskers. But the concentration and mental agility necessary for the success of any area developer is doubly important for them--because each oversees multiple concepts.
  • Debbie Selinsky
  • 5,205 Reads 129 Shares
If you were fortunate enough to attend the annual Area Developer Multi-Unit Franchising Conference this April in Scottsdale, you know that the weather was terrific, the facility outstanding, educational sessions abundant, and that franchise networking opportunities flourished late into the cool desert night.
  • Bill Hall
  • 3,131 Reads 1 Shares
Ask any small business owner in the country how important customer retention and loyalty are and they'll tell you they rank right up top of the list of business priorities. It's no different in franchising.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 3,411 Reads 76 Shares
In franchising, no one has to be reminded of the importance of making deals and signing fabulous new franchisees. But unless you actually open new units, inking the deal is only part of the story. This important distinction--between units sold and units opened--led us to examine six franchises that grew by more than 100 units between 2005 and 2006 and ask them how they did it.
  • Debbie Selinsky
  • 4,217 Reads 25 Shares
Running a racquet and health club is a time-consuming business and one that Bruce Forsythe knew quite a bit about. He'd been running one with his partners in Long Island, N.Y. for about 14 years when the team decided to turn one of their former tennis court areas into a second -- and different -- business endeavor.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 2,583 Reads 58 Shares
When Lino DeFeo bought a Sign-A-Rama franchise in West Palm Beach, Fla., he didn't know much about signs. That was about 15 years ago. DeFeo had sold his trucking business in Manhattan and moved to Florida with his wife Maria and their two young children to join a family business. But that didn't work out exactly as planned. "I got out before we totally killed each other," he says with a laugh.
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 9,287 Reads 1,014 Shares
Motherhood is one of the toughest jobs in the world - just ask any mom. It's often thankless, seems endless, and certainly lacks much worldly prestige. Life for mom can be even more challenging if she desires to work outside the home to boot. There are, after all, limited choices beyond the full-time job and requisite daycare for the kids. In a month where we stop for a day (May 11) to recognize all that mom does, it's interesting to note that more and more moms are finding a place at home and in franchising. Moms like Liz Norwood in Denver, Colo.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 3,223 Reads
In today's business environment, the mystery shopper - the person who pretends to be a customer or potential client while noting every conceivable plus and minus of their shopping or consumer experience - is a fact of life.
  • Debbie Selinsky
  • 3,852 Reads 19 Shares
Last Saturday, mom and dad packed the kids into the minivan and headed out to the fitness center (Curves for her and Athletic Republic for him). First they dropped the kids off (one at Huntington Learning Centers, the other at Abrakadoodle). Before they left, they'd made sure the woman from Bathfitters knew exactly what they wanted done with their new shower, and reminded the man from Spring-Green to cut the back lawn extra short this week.
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 4,518 Reads 1 Shares
To those readers who are interested in legal affairs in the franchising context and are not subscribers to the American Bar Association's Forum on Franchising's listserv, you are missing one of the greatest shows in town. Listservs, chat rooms, blogs, and whatever else, are means to dialogue on the Internet and can turn into today's electronic equivalent of a lynch mob, as demonstrated by two recent exchanges on the forum's listserv on the subject of arbitration.
  • Rupert M. Barkoff
  • 3,621 Reads 16 Shares
American Family Care
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In the chronicles of franchising history, some names come immediately to mind - Ray Kroc, S. Truett Cathy, Dave Thomas. The names conjure up images of independent-minded entrepreneurs with the savvy, know-how, and vision to create successful business models replicable anywhere. As part of the celebration of Franchise UPDATE's 20th anniversary, we look back at some of these colorful, inspiring, and sometimes controversial characters.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 4,930 Reads 15 Shares
In the chronicles of franchising history, some names come immediately to mind - Ray Kroc, S. Truett Cathy, Dave Thomas. The names conjure up images of independent-minded entrepreneurs with the savvy, know-how, and vision to create successful business models replicable anywhere. As part of the celebration of Franchise UPDATE's 20th anniversary, we look back at some of these colorful, inspiring, and sometimes controversial characters.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 5,075 Reads
The year's fourth quarter marks the anniversary of my start in the investment management business many, many years ago. It also happens to coincide with the time of year my three kids go back to school.
  • Carol Clark
  • 2,902 Reads 1 Shares
When native San Franciscan Ellen Hui left a career in banking in 1989 to take on her first Popeyes Chicken and Biscuits restaurant, she experienced a big culture shock.
  • Debbie Selinsky
  • 4,580 Reads 2 Shares
Ed Doherty has been pushing the envelope on growing a business packed with different franchises - lots of them. To date, they include Applebee's (51), Panera Breads (15), Chevys Fresh Mex (3), and an original concept, the Shannon Rose Irish Pub (1), in New Jersey. And ahead on the menu are the 20 El Pollo Loco locations he's developing in New Jersey.
  • John Carroll
  • 5,621 Reads 1 Shares
Since 1653, when Izaak Walton published The Compleat Angler, "compleat" has come to mean many things beyond what Walton described as "a Discourse on Fish and Fishing." The dictionary tells us it means classic or quintessential. But compleat also implies mastery far beyond the basics, conjuring up words like visionary, leader, even master.
  • Debbie Selinsky
  • 3,992 Reads 7 Shares
When Liz Goodwin of Durham, N.C., was announced as the Curves Franchisee of the Year for the Southeastern Region last October, a cry went up from across the Las Vegas hotel ballroom.
  • Debbie Selinsky
  • 4,107 Reads 20 Shares
Building a portfolio. Growing beyond one unit. Expanding outside a single brand.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 4,937 Reads 1,014 Shares
Just as the Memorial Day holiday was about to begin, lawmakers preparing to flee Washington, D.C., for vacation, reached agreement on continuing to fund the war in Iraq. That funding bill also raised the minimum wage. Not a big deal, many business owners would say, because half the states already require minimum wages in excess of the federal level.
  • Mark E. Battersby
  • 3,518 Reads 7 Shares
Building customer loyalty is no easy task in today's highly competitive business world where consumers will change brands or products to save even a few pennies. Businesses from mom and pop operations to multi-national conglomerates are routinely looking for new and unique ways not only to recruit customers, but to turn them into loyal, repeat shoppers who also spread the word. As numerous studies have shown, it's much more cost-effective to keep existing customers than to find new ones.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 3,000 Reads 5 Shares
Potbelly Sandwich Works
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Potbelly Sandwich Works
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Franchising can be a snap… or a click. Photography franchising is getting a lot of, er, exposure, and has developed rapidly in recent years.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 7,307 Reads
Franchising is founded on the concept of replicating success at the unit level. But Mary Rogers is taking that premise one better: she's replicating success at the franchisor level.
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 4,768 Reads 22 Shares
Getting laid off by United Airlines in the 1982 recession was perhaps the best business move Regina and Jerry Lillie ever made (even if they didn't actually make it themselves).
  • Eddy Goldberg and Kerry Pipes
  • 3,373 Reads 3 Shares
Pets and pet-related businesses are among today's hottest franchise opportunities--especially in the U.S., where pet owners are notorious for pampering their dogs, cats, birds (and even their rodents, reptiles, amphibians, and fish).
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 3,135 Reads 17 Shares
Jim Valentine began his franchising career as a McDonald's crew member more than 33 years ago. During his first 12 years in franchising, he was frequently promoted until he became the supervisor of several McDonald's restaurants. That's when he decided to gather all his accumulated knowledge and experience and try his hand at franchise ownership.
  • Eddy Goldberg and Kerry Pipes
  • 3,224 Reads 7 Shares
One of the biggest concerns for franchisees is attracting, hiring, and retaining quality employees. And one of the biggest concerns for working Americans is balancing the competing demands of home and work. For franchise owners willing to be creative, this represents a tremendous opportunity.
  • Thom Winninger
  • 3,857 Reads 12 Shares
He always meant to quit working at Jack-in-the-Box and pursue his goal of becoming a doctor in the United States. Instead, he found success beyond his wildest dreams...in franchising.
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 51,533 Reads 16 Shares
Kitty and Jamil Alaily, Cost Cutters franchisees for 22 years in Northeast Wisconsin, have nearly completed the hand-off of their 40 salons (including 4 Supercuts) to their 28-year-old son, Jihad. After two and half years of planning and execution, Kitty Alaily offers some hard-won advice.
  • 3,791 Reads 30 Shares
If you're looking to add women franchisees--and according to every statistic, you should be (more are looking, and more have the means and skills), then you should know what women want (our apologies to the movie).
  • Linda C. Ray
  • 4,511 Reads 25 Shares
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