Francorp Continues to Grow

Francorp's Chairman, Don Boroian held a meeting three weeks ago with the entire staff of 60 people at Francorp. The meeting was focused on the economy and the direction of our business, country and global economy. Mr. Boroian is extremely well read, he goes through 6 papers every day and reads numerous publications focusing on the economy and economic news.

He voiced some of the concerns that every American is going through right now. Where is the light at the end of the tunnel here? What is tomorrow going to look like? When could I possibly retire with all these swings in the market? Don Boroian has not acheived all of the successes and accolades he has compiled in his 55 years of business by being one of the "flock". Mr. Boroian expressed an extreme displeasure with the media and their focus on the negative aspects of our economy. Mr. Boroian spoke of the negative effects. "When an average consumer hears a news report that talks of doom and gloom, they don't go on that vacation or buy that car they were thinking about getting." It is a vicious cycle, the consumer's behavior is driven by the information they have, right now it is all negative information about the economy.
We see many companies downsizing and shrinking their businesses as a result. We then have less employment and therefore less spending. Mr. Boroian pointed out that of course there are some deep underlying economic issues at hand here, but the fact is that we create our own destiny. If we succomb to the media and the swirl of negative publicity, then we ourselves will fall into that trap.

Don Boroian is a bold person. He throughout his life has made decisions and moves with his business and clients that others would not have the gumption to do. As a result, he is Chairman of the world's largest franchise consulting firm, Francorp. Prior to Francorp Mr. Boroian created an industry in the music business by franchising a chain of music operations. He also did the same in the restaurant industry. It is this temperment for tumultuous times where most business owners are "pulling in their horns" that Don Boroian makes aggressive moves.
It was announced at the Francorp meeting that we would be bringing on some new staff. Could this really be true? That when all the news and publicity is saying that every company in America is faltering and Francorp is hiring new people?
Mr. Boroian mentioned, that now, more than ever, Francorp clients need the resources and attention of Francorp staff. Look at the world's most successful investors, they make their moves when the market is down...not when it's up! Having been in business for almost 33 years, Francorp has seen several recessions and market downturns, this is nothing new to Don Boroian.
Francorp has recently hired Gail Doonan on full time as Regional Director Administrator. Ms. Doonan brings over 30 years of business experience to Francorp and Francorp clients. She has owned her own businesses and successfully managed client projects for some time. Ms. Doonan will be working closely with the Francorp Regional Directors, who are a nationwide network of franchise brokers and franchise sales people.
Francorp also recently brought on Tiffany Franco as a full time person. Ms. Franco works closely with Mr. Christopher J. Conner, Vice President of Francorp Consulting. Ms. Franco brings over 10 years of business experience to the consulting firm.
Francorp will also be adding some additional staff to support and manage client development. Mr. Boroian closed the meeting with Francorp Staff with a final thought. "As long as we can continue to develop successful clients who sell franchises, Francorp will continue to sit at the top of it's industry. Everything we do is to be of the highest quality workmanship and nothing leaves this building without every bit of our effort and attention. At Francorp, the client is king."

http://www.francorp.com/

http://www.francorpconnect.com/

Ben’s Bark Ave. Bistro to Expand Through Franchising

http://www.mediasyndicate.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=10775

For more than 3 years, Ben’s Bark Ave. Bistro has introduced and educated pet owners on the healthy alternative to the vast number of poor quality pet foods sold across America. “Our goal is to educate these pet companions on the healthy and nutritious foods that are available nationwide,” states co-owner Sally Romero.

Ben’s Bark Ave. Bistro accomplishes this task by stocking as many healthy foods as they can fit into their store. They refuse to supply or sell what they believe are inferior foods just to get the customer (companion) in the door. The pet’s companion is simply the food provider, not the customer. The customer is their pet, a consumer that cannot communicate or complain. The inferior pet food industry takes full advantage of this fact. And what are these inferior products that they speak of? Corn, by-products of any kind, cancer causing chemical preservatives, colorings and even euthanized pets, to name just a few.

As difficult as it is to believe, millions of these deceased dogs and cats are processed each year at rendering plants across America. Some of these multinational corporations make use of these disgusting and poor quality protein sources (meat and meat by-products) from rendered or, more simply stated, cooked and converted animals including dogs and cats. These products, along with a variety of fractioned and empty grain products, represent the protein percentages listed on the food.

Sally and her husband Brad opened Ben’s Bark Ave. Bistro due to an overwhelming desire and sense of necessity to educate the companions of America’s dogs and cats about the sinful ingredients that these multinational corporations use in their low-grade pet foods and the poor practices that they utilize while manufacturing them. These corporations then spend tens of millions of advertising dollars to promote these low-quality foods. Brad simply states, “The most expensive thing in the bag is the bag itself - trash in a fancy garbage bag.”

“We simply will not lower our standards and sell inferior products. We will not stock these substandard foods or any products we feel are not in the best interest of the pet,” remarks Sally. “We only supply what we truly believe in. Our business is based not only on providing nutritional food, but also providing information, education and the consultation to inform the companion of the nutritional needs of their pet. We spend as much time as the companion/customer needs and provide them with the information they need to make the right decision for their dog or cat." A vast majority return flabbergasted by their pet’s enthusiastic response to the new food and the positive change they observe in their pet after just a few weeks.

The need to inform America to what is truly occurring in the pet food industry has driven Ben’s Bark Ave. Bistro to franchise. To help in this process, they have approached Francorp, the world’s leader in franchise consulting, to assist them in the development of their franchise program. “We hope to expand nationwide to help service all of America’s dogs and cats and educate their companions to confidently extend their pet's life through proper and healthy nutrition,” explains Sally.

For more information about Ben’s Bark Ave. Bistro, call (888) 760-DOGS (3647) or visit www.bensbistro.com

SOURCE: http://www.mediasyndicate.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=10775

Abbey Carpet opens franchise location in Gig Harbor

http://www.gateline.com/107/story/2624.html

Owner buys former Dryer’s Interiors on Kimball Drive
Lee Giles III
of the Gateway
Published: 12:38PM October 22nd, 2008


Homeowners looking to improve their home decor may have noticed a change of ownership — from Dreyer’s Interiors to Abbey Carpet — on Kimball Drive in Gig Harbor.
Len Mallory and his wife, Kim, recently bought the nearly 40-year-old business from founder Gary Dreyer’s son, Brian Dreyer.
Len Mallory is no stranger to the carpet business. The Port Orchard resident has been helping customers for the past 20 years, first as a wholesale representative, then as the owner of the Bremerton Abbey Carpet store. That business was purchased seven years ago.
Mallory enjoys being part of the Abbey Carpet family, which has 950 franchise stores across the country.
“We benefit from being in the group,” he said. “We have a great warranty program.”
Mallory said he had sold products to the Dreyer family for years. When the family offered the business for sale, he saw a great opportunity.
“We’re in the fashion business,” Mallory said. “We want the customer to have the proper products. We ask how they live in their house, and we help them make the right choice.”
Mallory added that Abbey Carpet has a wide selection of laminate flooring, carpet, hardwood flooring, tile and stone products. With a 60-day guarantee, he believes his customers will feel comfortable with the choices they make.
Mallory said his stores are careful when it comes to selecting sub-contractors who install their products. Having used quality craftsmen for years, he said he has a solid roster of people who install homeowners’ purchases.
Mallory employs five at the Gig Harbor store, which is located at 6880 Kimball Drive. Kim Mallory does the bookkeeping for the business.
Mallory shares a 50-50 ownership of the two stores with his wife, who retired from the King County Sheriff’s Department after working as a detective.
The 4,000-square-foot Gig Harbor store is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. The business offers free estimates and a shop-at-home service with a van that can bring the store to a customer’s door.
Abbey Carpet is celebrating its 50-year anniversary with a $50 installation charge on all residential carpet, no matter the size of the order.
Mallory said the store is changing its interior and name while still providing a high level of customer service.
“I see this as a marvelous opportunity,” he said.
Lee Giles III is the photographer for The Peninsula Gateway. He can be reached at 253-853-9242 or by e-mail at lee.giles@gateline.com.

Hot Franchise Concepts

Every Month Francorp goes through the market and looks at some of the exciting concepts that are soon to come to the franchise market. Many of these companies are still not being offerred, but will be soon. They are the kind of game-changing businesses with flair, financials and all of the intangibles that make a new franchise offerring take off. We are going through some interesting times with our economy right now, it takes an extra special business concept to be able to fight through these types of economic times. Here are the ones that could do it.










SYNLawn Synthetic Grass

SYNLawn is leading the synthetic grass industry in the areas of landscape, golf and playground applications. As the only vertically integrated manufacturer, SYNLawn designs, produces and distributes the most advanced synthetic grass products on the market. Because of this, we offer you the most variety of artificial grass products available at the highest quality and at a competitive price. SynLawn makes a large percentage of all of the country's synthetic turf. They have an enormous amount of market share as it stands. This Franchise offerring will be loaded with brand recognition, manufacturing expertise and economies of scale. Franchisees will be lucky to get involved with this already established manufacturer.



http://www.synlawn.com/





Lifeway Foods - StarFruit



Starfruit offers frozen kefir, a yogurt-like dairy product, along with smoothie-style drinks. Lifeway has hopes that Starfruit will help market kefir among a broader consumer group and “provide a potentially very lucrative new revenue stream,” Ms. Smolyansky said in a statement.

Lifeway is the world's largest producer of Kefir, a very healthy yogurt that includes active cultures and other healthy ingredients, the company has designed and launched a tantalizing yogurt shop franchise that is sure to turn heads in the marketplace.

Soul De Cuba Cafe

www.souldecuba.com

This company is poised to take the market within the next month. Soul De Cuba has a unique flair for passionate atmosphere, great food and an amazing story make this Afro-Cuban concept a wonderful business model.

Franchise Companies Passing Along Costs

FRANCHISING
OCTOBER 21, 2008
Owners Say Franchisers Are Passing on More Costs By RICHARD GIBSON
Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122455304637652833.html?mod=djkeyword
Some franchisees say they are being forced to pay for a variety of expenses for the first time -- making difficult economic times even tougher. Associated Press McDonald's franchisees contend they have to take on some expenses once covered by their franchisers For instance, operators of McDonald's Corp. restaurants, under pressure from the fast-food giant to install equipment and counter space for an array of new beverages, complain that they have to pay for nearly half the upgrade's architectural and engineering fees -- items the company used to cover. Franchisees put those added fees at several thousand dollars, and some say the entire project has yet to be cost-justified. McDonald's acknowledges that in the past it has paid for architectural and engineering work done when an individual franchisee made construction improvements to a restaurant. But because the beverage project is systemwide and so substantial, those costs are now part of the expenses that McDonald's will cover at only 40%. Franchisees of Hollywood Tans LLC, an upscale tanning salon chain, say the company is billing them for maintenance on some equipment they had purchased under warranties that covered servicing charges. "They're reclassifying what had been normal wear and tear [and] we now have to pick up" the cost on items such as fans and booth door locks, says Jeff Wogan, who operates a salon in Ranson, W.Va., and is a member of the franchisee owners' association. He adds that it can take days for someone to show up to fix items, partly because the company's maintenance crew has been downsized. A spokeswoman for the Sewell, N.J., tanning chain acknowledges maintenance-staff reductions "to improve the service level and our cost efficiency," but contends that despite the chain's purchase by private investment firm ACI Capital in June 2007, the service-warranty policy hasn't been altered. She says the warranty doesn't cover normal wear and tear. Soaring fuel prices are pinching UPS Store franchisees. Last month, parent United Parcel Service Inc. changed its policy on refunding shipping costs to customers under its money-back guarantee for packages not delivered on time. Now, UPS won't refund fuel surcharges added to those bills. For an overnight envelope, those surcharges could easily be several dollars. Franchisees say customers expect to be reimbursed the full amount, and may become upset and take their business elsewhere if they don't get it. As a result, many franchisees are digging into their own pockets to make up the difference. Confirming the refund reduction, UPS spokeswoman Karen Cole says the shipper's fuel costs are up 61% so far this year. "It's a huge expense," she says, "and we all have to adjust, unfortunately." Training is another contentious area for some franchised systems. "More franchisers are saying, 'We'll do it, but only for a fee' or 'We're going to drop that activity,' " says Andrew Selden, a franchising attorney at law firm Briggs & Morgan in Minneapolis. "It adds an unexpected cost to the franchisees' business." Franchisees in such situations may not realize services they had assumed were contractually promised really were provided at the franchiser's option, he says. KFC franchisees contend that company training support has been cut and that they're now being charged for training manuals, which they say used to be provided at no cost. A spokeswoman for Yum Brands Inc.'s KFC says the company and third-party vendors provide free and fee-based training to franchisees, which she says is outlined in the firm's franchise disclosure document. Write to Richard Gibson at dick.gibson@dowjones.com

Backing a Big Burger

Friday, June 17, 2005
Backing a big burger
Former NFL player claims his stake in Whataburger franchise
Tampa Bay Business Journal - by Larry Halstead Web Editor/Staff Writer
TAMPA -- That sizzling sound is a burger war heating up in Tampa Bay.
Whataburger, a 55-year-old hamburger chain based in Corpus Christi, Texas, is heavily ramping up its local presence, with a large commitment to beef up the chain from a former NFL star offensive lineman.
Former Jacksonville Jaguars player Tony Boselli is now the company's lead franchisee in Tampa, as well as in Jacksonville and Orlando.
Boselli's group, JWB Ventures Inc., prepaid for 48 sites and opened in Tampa Monday on West Hillsborough Avenue. That makes 12 stores in 10 months for the Jacksonville-based investment group.
Boselli, whose playing size was 6 feet 7 inches and 322 pounds, got hooked on the burgers when he played for the Houston Texans during his final season in the NFL in 2002.
"I tried the product, liked it and wanted to get involved after football," he said.
There are 55 units planned for the Tampa Bay area, but the number that JWB Ventures will open is not yet determined.
Each unit costs between $1.7 million and $2 million to open, including franchise rights, land, building and startup expenses. Boselli has a significant equity stake in the restaurants, but declined to get specific.
Boselli has a history in hamburgers. As a Jaguars player in the 1990s his name was associated with the Jacksonville McDonald's Association Co-op of 93 restaurants.
A McDonald's culinary concoction, the Boselli Burger, was featured in television ads in 1998 that showed Boselli enjoying his burger at a local restaurant. At the time, the Jacksonville Business Journal reported that one of Boselli's first jobs was working on the crew in several of his parents' McDonald's restaurants in Colorado.
And in a 1997 McDonald's campaign estimated to cost $1.5 million, Boselli promoted four McDonald's products for 99 cents each.
A crowded kitchen
With McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's and Checkers firmly established in the area, introducing a new brand is no easy task.
"The giants carve out a national following with their advertising," said Tom Minor, principal at Technomic Inc., a Chicago-based franchise consultant. "But there's still room for regional players who have a distinct following of people who like independents."
Whataburger has had a southern presence from Arizona to Florida along Interstate 10 and from Georgia back to Arizona along Interstate 20.
Although 25 percent of restaurants fail after three years, in the limited service restaurant segment, hamburgers are the most popular item. And consumers are fueling a huge growth in the field, Minor said.
According to a study by Technomic, McDonald's, which grossed $24.4 billion in 2004, grew by 10.3 percent since 2003.
In contrast Whataburger reported $800 million in sales and grew 13 percent during the same period. Its number of units only grew by 5.1 percent, so the added sales are coming from existing stores expanding their client base, not from opening new units, Minor said.
"The stores are in hand-to-hand combat for customers," said Donald Boroian, CEO of Francorp Inc., an Olympia Fields, Ill.-based franchise consultant. To get more customers, it takes a price break, a coupon, better service, a broader menu or anything that will give an edge to the restaurant.
"Whataburger is a proven brand and has shown it can compete with the best," Boroian said. "They wouldn't go into an area unless they had identified a good market and planned to open multiple units."
"We're going to do these one store at a time," Boselli said.
lhalstead@bizjournals.com 813.342.2467

Don Boroian - Over 40 Years in Franchise Management

Francorp will conduct seminars and speak at many of the restaurant and chamber of commerce groups around the country. Francorp's Chairman, Don Boroian recently spoke to the restaurant group in New York, here is the press release they gave on him for the speaking role.

Don Boroian

With more than 40 years of experience in corporate management, franchising, direct sales, and business administration, Donald D. Boroian is among the nation’s most sought after consultants in the field of business expansion.
He and his companies have provided consulting services for more than 10,000 businesses, including some of the nation’s best known franchisors: ARCO’s am/pm Mini Markets, Hershey Foods, Popeye’s Fried Chicken, Discovery Zone, Texaco, and Valvoline.
A former executive vice-president of one of the largest publicly owned Amex fast-food chains, with 300 restaurants, Mr. Boroian turned to franchise consulting in 1976. Today, Francorp, Inc., with offices in Chicago, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Dubai, Mexico, Argentina, South Africa, and Chile, is the largest company in its field. Francorp specializes in franchising and other expansion programs, including licensing, dealerships, distributorships, and direct sales programs.
Mr. Boroian is widely known throughout the world of franchising. He has served as a member of the Industry Advisory Committee of the Franchise Regulation Committee, the Midwest Securities Commissioners’ Association, and the North American Securities Administrator’s Association. He served as an arbitrator and mediator for the American Arbitration Association, was a member of the Forum Committee on Franchising of the American Bar Association, and has been an expert witness in franchise litigation. He has served as co-chairman of the Fair Franchising Standards Committee of the American Association of Franchisees and Dealers. He gives frequent seminars on franchising and expansion strategies to colleges, universities, and trade groups. He is often interviewed by journalists and makes numerous appearances on radio and television.
Mr. Boroian was a member of the Board of Trustees of Rush University’s Medical Center and Vice Chairman of the Rush Alzheimer’s Center. He was also a member of the Board of Trustees of Riverside Hospital. He is a graduate of DePaul University, where he received the Distinguished Alumni Award, the highest honor bestowed by the Alumni Association of DePaul University, where he also serves on the Advisory Board. He continued his post-graduate studies at DePaul and the University of Chicago Executive MBA Program.
Mr. Boroian’s book, The Franchise Advantage, is widely regarded as one of the most authoritative and skillfully written books on franchise development. He is also co-author of the popular Simon & Schuster book, How to Buy and Manage a Franchise.
Donald D. BoroianChairman,
Chief Executive Officer,
Francorp
20200 Governors Drive
Olympia Fields, IL 60461
708-481-2900
800-372-6244
dboroian@francorp.com
www.francorp.com