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ARTICLE | March 12, 2010

Here at FBR we are proud of our award-winning clients, and have put together 12 tips for successfully promoting your high franchisee satisfaction! We know it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to your franchisees to maintain high satisfaction ratings - So part of your gratification should be publicizing it!
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NEWS | March 3, 2010

Home Instead Senior Ranks Best in Category for Franchise Business Review's 2010 Franchise Satisfaction Awards. Home Instead continues to believe that franchisee satisfaction is a monumental indicator of development and success.
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SECTOR REPORT | February 11, 2010

Take a look at our 2010 list of award-winning franchises! We are proud to announce 133 franchise companies - out of over 500 brands surveyed this year - that are doing things right and putting their franchisees first.
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ASK FBR | January 25, 2008

Wow... that's a tough one! It's similar to buying a car or a house - there is a huge range in price between various franchise opportunities. What's important to understand are three key pieces of information related to cost: 1.) initial capital required, 2.) total initial investment, and 3.) on-going or recurring costs. Here's the breakdown...
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Where Is All the Financial Information?

by Michelle Rowan

I received an email from someone researching franchises the other day, and since we seem to get quite a few touching on the same topic, I thought it was a good topic to share:

I just found your site and was listening to your podcast on 1-800-radiators. I think what you all are doing is wonderful, but I have a question. Why during the interviews don't they talk about what the franchise owner makes. Why don't they talk about specific financial figures. What it costs to start up, how much you can expect in your first year. What your costs are. Etc. To me, it seems like this is the most important information of all. Is it that your site does not want to discuss such figures or do the businesses you interview not want to discuss the figures and what is the logic behind that?

If you are doing your homework on a franchise, financial information can be the biggest thing you want to know, and it's usually the hardest to track down! The easiest place to start is asking the Franchisor. If they have an Earnings Claim in their UFOC they can share some data there and share the document with you. But if they don't have an Earnings Claim, their hands are tied by the law... there isn't much they can tell you. In all cases your BEST source for this information is existing franchisees. You will find some are open and willing to share the details, and others might not. If you are serious about investing, don't give up- find someone that wants to share the information, don't start with financials but ease into the conversation. Talk to franchisees that have been in the system a long time, as well as franchisees new to the system to get several perspectives. When the talk turns to money, here are some great topics to cover with franchisees:

        - Was the amount you spent to get started in line with what the Franchisor told you?
        - How much can you expect to make in the first year?
        - How long did it take you to become profitable?
        - How much money did you have in the bank to cover expenses?
        - Are you earnings in line with what you expected?


It may be hard, but you should be able to gather enough information to help in making your decision. 

 

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