Pros and Cons of Franchise Businesses

Written by Jim Brown


Continued from page 1

However, despiterepparttar advantages to franchising, buying or starting a franchise business is not for everyone. Some ofrepparttar 105308 disadvantages to franchising are discussed inrepparttar 105309 list below.

Cons of Franchise Businesses

Loss of control and freedom - sincerepparttar 105310 franchisor's standards have to be adhered to, a franchisee may have limited scope for individual personal initiative. Ongoing royalties could be as high as 10% (or more) of revenues - this amount could determine whether you business is profitable or not. The initial franchise fee can be quite substantial. It can range anywhere from $4,000 to $20,000 and, in some cases, up to $50,000! Advertising fees - there is usually a fee for advertising on a regional or national basis. Ifrepparttar 105311 franchisor does not makerepparttar 105312 best use of your advertising dollars, this could be a waste of money. Required Signage - most franchisors have a developed sign package thatrepparttar 105313 franchisee is required to purchase. This can be very expensive forrepparttar 105314 small business owner. The franchisor's problems are also your problems - for example, you could have a serious issue if there was a conflict betweenrepparttar 105315 franchisor and a major supplier. In summary, despiterepparttar 105316 disadvantages of owning a franchise business, it generally offers real advantages with considerably reduced risks over going it on your own. All franchises are not created equal and research and due diligence should be done before starting or buying any franchise business. Franchising cannot guarantee a profit. You, asrepparttar 105317 business owner, are ultimately responsible forrepparttar 105318 success or failure ofrepparttar 105319 venture.

© 2002-03. GlobalBX. http://www.globalbx.com. All rights reserved. Buy a Business or Sell a Business on GlobalBX. GlobalBX is a free business for sale listing exchange that provides a confidential forum to facilitaterepparttar 105320 buying and selling of businesses with thousands of businesses and franchises for sale as well as comprehensive business information for business buyers and business sellers. Lists businesses for sale, business brokers, and franchise opportunities.

Jim Brown is Director of Marketing at GlobalBX, http://www.globalbx.com. Buy a Business or Sell a Business on GlobalBX, a free business for sale listing exchange that provides a confidential forum to facilitate the buying and selling of businesses with thousands of businesses and franchises for sale as well as comprehensive business information for business buyers and business sellers. Lists businesses for sale, business brokers, and franchise opportunities.


Relationship Marketing -- Key For Small Local Business

Written by Sharon Fling


Continued from page 1

- FREE OFFER: And of courserepparttar most important thing on repparttar 105306 first page and every page is your subscription box with offer of a FREE report or other incentive your customers would value.

Above all, show your customers that you're in it forrepparttar 105307 long haul, notrepparttar 105308 quick score. No flashing banners screaming "Buy Me!". No pressure to hurry up and buy before midnight. Set yourself apart from your competition. Slow and steady winsrepparttar 105309 race...and builds relationships.

CONSISTENT USE OF EMAIL

If you are emailing your local customers, sending them offers, coupons, and useful information about your business, you are more likely to get their business than some stranger out in cyberspace. And if you're sending out a newsletter, you'll be light years ahead of all of your competition, local or not!

Mayberepparttar 105310 idea of having to write a newsletter isrepparttar 105311 stumbling block. If so, don't call it an ezine and don't lock yourself into a schedule. But just as you use snail mail, newspaper ads, radio or tv ads to keep your name in front of your customers, you should use email to dorepparttar 105312 same thing. And it's a lot cheaper than any other form of advertising, so why on earth wouldn't you?

Here are a few ways to use email to create "brand" awareness within your local community.

- KEEP IN TOUCH: Email your customers and prospects on a regular basis, at least twice a month. Any less than that and they may forget you. Don't contact them just to sell them something. Send them useful information, related articles, notice of new content on your website, product announcements, etc. Your goal is to keep in touch so that if they or someone they know needs your product or service, you'll berepparttar 105313 one they call.

- SUPPORT: When customers purchase a product or service, use email to help them getrepparttar 105314 most out of it. For a book or publication, it could be an email "walkthru" series highlighting important topics, or telling them what they would learn if they'd only read it!

- JOINT VENTURES: If at all possible, you should do joint ventures with neighboring businesses. Band together with several other (non-competing) businesses and form a coupon exchange. Every week or two, each of you sendrepparttar 105315 same email to your customer list, with email coupons for each business, or a link to a web page withrepparttar 105316 coupons.

- TIMELY RESPONSE: When your customer does "raise her hand", reward her with a quick response! There's nothing more de-motivating than an unanswered email to someone who claims to want my business. More than once I've purchased a product and written a followup email, only to have it go unanswered. Guess who won't get another dime of my money?

I know all of this sounds like an awful lot of work, and I won't lie to you...relationship marketing is timeconsuming and can be hard work. If it were easy, everybody would be doing it.

Building a website that focuses onrepparttar 105317 customer takes more thought than slapping up an ego site (all about you). Maintaining a mailing list can be a real pain. Unsubscribing people who can't seem to read. Potential spam complaints. Answering subscriber questions. Responding to feedback or inquuiries.

It's so much easier to forgetrepparttar 105318 whole thing, which is what most people do. Onrepparttar 105319 internet, if you want to rise aboverepparttar 105320 clutter, you must do something to distinguish yourself fromrepparttar 105321 masses. You must be willing to do what others are not willing to do. For a small business, that means relationship marketing. ========================================= Sharon Fling isrepparttar 105322 author of "How To Promote Your Local Business Onrepparttar 105323 Internet", and publisher of "Local Business Today", an ezine that gives business owners tips, tools and resources for targeting local customers. Subscribe today and get a free ebook information, visit http://www.geolocal.com or send any email to: mailto:subscribe@localbizpromo.com?subject=TRAART

Sharon Fling is the author of "How To Promote Your Local Business On the Internet", and publishes an electronic newsletter that gives business owners tips, tools and resources for targeting local customers. For more information, visit http://www.geolocal.com or send any email to: mailto:subscribe@localbizpromo.com?subject=TRAART


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