Posted by Ace45 on January 6, 2009 under Articles | 
Here’s a great article for you to see: Military Are Getting Short-Changed On the Job Front, Too, by Teena Rose. I met Teena on Twitter. She is the head of Resume to Referral, which provides resume-writing and career services for mid-level career to executive professionals. In her article, she talks about Read more of this article »
Posted by Ace45 on under Articles |
If you are planning to re-enter the job market after any significant absence, the task may feel rather daunting. The following are some suggestions to help make your return to the job market a bit smoother.
Keep your skills current:
If you plan on returning to the same field from which you had taken your leave, do your best to Read more of this article »
Posted by admin on January 21, 2008 under O'Naturals |
This is not an endorsement of the company, nor the franchise and its business model systems. This is simply a general observation that a million people have said, “I wish there was a place where I could stop and buy food quickly, yet not buy a 2000 calorie burger.”, and finally there is a company trying to go national with the idea. IMHO, America needs this but the question is will Americans actually use it, despite having asked for it?
O’Naturals is apparently an upcoming fast food restaurant started by the founders of Stonyfield Farm frozen yogurt brand, because like many others Gary Hirshberg “was held hostage” by junk food while on the road or when in a rush.
A quick thought on the positives and challenges.
- Founder has successful business experience.
- Multiple locations open and company owned before franchising.
- Growing slowly, as opposed to quickly selling hundreds of franchises.
- Large capitalization required.
- Fast food industry is saturated.
- Healthy food is niche, and not widely accepted.
- Will healthy food ever catch on in America? Big Question.
What are your thoughts? Did we miss any challenges? Many missed positives, but we’d like to stick to the business side of the question. We know that the company is environmentally concerned and community focused.
Tags: , chain, chat, eating, fast, food, franchise, healthy, O'Naturals, restaurant, stonyfield
Posted by admin on January 16, 2008 under Articles |
Nepotism is one of the worst things that can happen to a business. Particularly in a franchise system, because there is no accountability on the part of the franchisor once you’ve paid your franchise fee. They now have full control over who the vendors and suppliers are, and closest friend or relative can get the nod over the most qualified.
If you run your own business and use unqualified help, its your own fault, and you succeed or fail because of your decisions. In a franchise system you lose that control and failure can be the fault of bad decisions out of your control. After signing that UFOC you can be forced to buy from over priced, under qualified companies formed just to supply a particular franchise. The kickbacks and inflated pricing amounts to hidden fees that weren’t mentioned in the UFOC going directly to friends and family of the franchisor. If that hurts your local operation and cuts into your profits, you will have absolutely no recourse.
This is a gross abuse of power that is hard to pick out in the UFOC. It is one of those questions you might never think to ask, but when you find out about it, it’s way to late to do anything. The lack of accountability for a franchisor is why some franchises are doomed to fail eventually. If there was some type of system where you could force a franchisor to drop a bad vendor. it would help immensly. No known franchisor will give up that power because of the lack of foresight that democractic system actually works and the utter ignorance that they think they know what is best for everyone and everything. In the end they’ll do what is best for them, and you’ll be left writing the check for it.
It goes back to, research… research… research. Then wait, take a break and research again. You cannot know enough about someone (and apparently their family either) when you’re going to give control of financial decisions over to them.
Posted by admin on January 15, 2008 under Articles |
Easy answer: It’s Both!
If you’re considering a franchise purchase, you’re considering whether you want to make running your own business your job. That may sound obvious, but if you’ve never run your own business you may think that it isn’t a job, its an investment or a ticket to riches, or many other things. It most certainly is however, a job, and its a job that is almost guaranteed to take more of your time than traditional employment ever would. Working for yourself is, and should be more work than working for someone else.
That is why you can’t take the idea of purchasing a franchise or any business lightly. You will need to put your heart into the business, and therefore it has to be something you love to do. If you’re in the market to make a large investment of your time and money you will burn yourself out if the reason for investment is to just make money. Money is a motivator to only a small extent. If money was the top motivator in the world, then Yugo Cars would still be around. Things like, status, prestige, power, freedom, community, charity, and much more are often a stronger motivator, and a much longer term motivator.
Whether its a job or an investment in business you’re looking for the same holds true. Look for something you love, because when you realize its something you don’t, money won’t motivate you during the lean times because there won’t be any.
Tags: business, charity, community, franchise, franchising, freedom, jobs, love, money, power, prestige, status
