North Carolina Feature Articles

North Carolina Feature Articles

Looking for a franchise opportunity in North Carolina? Whether you're a first-time business owner or a seasoned entrepreneur, North Carolina offers exciting potential for franchise success. From food and beverage to retail and services, the diverse economic landscape in North Carolina is ripe for franchise opportunities. Explore the best franchise options today and take the next step toward business ownership in North Carolina.

Informative articles to support business buyers, franchisees, and franchisors in North Carolina.

Savvy franchise companies continue to flourish in this challenging economy. Each month FUSR will bring you good news, highlighting brands that are bucking the trend by adding units, increasing comp store sales, striking deals with investors, and continuing to grow - despite the economy.
  • Franchise Update
  • 3,994 Reads 1,023 Shares
Thomas "Tab" Broome got an early start in the franchise business, going to work for a restaurant group in Raleigh, N.C., about 30 years ago. At the time, the company ran a string of Darryl's restaurants (which looked a lot like Applebee's, only with a little more variety and flair), a group of 11 Pizza Inns, and The Angus Barn steakhouses. General Mills swooped in and bought the pizza places and family restaurant business, and Broome got a chance to work for a large restaurant corporation.
  • John Carroll
  • 4,408 Reads 43 Shares
Craig had a sales organization which he had built but had just recently suffered a serious setback when he came to us to talk about his Transition Growth Planning. He had helped develop three key employees whom he felt were primed and ready to eventually take over and purchase the business from him. Unfortunately, he had not yet communicated his vision for these employees to the employees themselves. Shortly before he met with us, these three key employees decided that their best future would be to develop a new business on their own. So they left Craig and took their book of business with them. Much of this business had been initially developed by Craig, who had been transitioning his contacts over to these three individuals.
  • Andrew D. Horowitz, CPhD, and Nicholas K. Niemann, Esq.
  • 5,186 Reads 1,021 Shares
Everybody loves lists. Whether it's a year-end "best of" list in the entertainment world or a list of business-performance rankings, we see them everywhere. Lists give us insight and a benchmark for all kinds of comparisons. Readers continue to tell us that the lists found in the pages of Multi-Unit Franchisee magazine each issue are informative--and sometimes provocative--and provide a perspective that often allows for self-assessment and operational adjustments.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 10,840 Reads 1,023 Shares
Joe Drury's personal history reads like a rags-to-riches movie script. Born in Canton, Ohio, he was on his own at 14 and "chose to survive," he says. "Everything I did, I attacked it like it was my last meal." He started out working in a Wendy's. He excelled and worked his way into the corporate office, where his mentor and "best friend," Wendy's founder Dave Thomas, taught him everything he knew about running a franchise and being a successful franchisee. He rose to vice president of operations at Wendy's, but left the company in the early 1990s to form the Carolina Restaurant Group, which bought 26 distressed Wendy's restaurants. By 2000, that number was up to 100 and sales had risen significantly.
  • Debbie Selinsky
  • 11,839 Reads 11 Shares
Sam had developed and owned a successful retail operation during his business career. He also tried to be diligent by having what he thought was a sound estate plan executed before he died. He and his wife Sally felt they had everything taken care of. So when Sam died unexpectedly, Sally was dismayed to see the vehement dispute that developed between her two sons as to who would operate the company going forward. Apparently Sam had spoken to both of them about running the company if something happened to him, but he had failed to make this decision. Sally ultimately found her only choice to resolve the dispute was to just sell the business.
  • Andrew D. Horowitz, CPhD, and Nicholas K. Niemann, Esq.
  • 3,411 Reads 66 Shares
It all began with a single Golden Corral restaurant in 1997. In just over a dozen years, Guillermo Perales has grown to operate 142 franchise locations, spread across 5 brands throughout Texas and Florida. It's quite an accomplishment for this native of Mexico, and he's not even close to finished. "I'd like to double the size of my business over the next decade," says Perales. Based on his track record, it's a good bet he'll succeed. He just inked a deal with T-Mobile for some new units, and he's negotiating with a yogurt and seafood franchisor--and that doesn't even include his planned hotel project in Dallas.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 10,424 Reads 1,015 Shares
John had come to us with high expectations for the price he thought his company would sell for. He was certain of this because he had seen other companies sell for a similar multiple of gross revenue. However, what John had failed to understand was that buyers are only partly interested in top line revenue. More important to negotiating the selling price of most companies is the net cash flow the company produces. John's bottom line failed to live up to industry standards, which meant he wasn't likely to achieve the exit he had envisioned.
  • Andrew D. Horowitz, CPhD, and Nicholas K. Niemann, Esq.
  • 3,896 Reads 118 Shares
We weren't surprised by our meeting with Art. We had seen it many times before. Art and his son had founded and built a very successful retail business. They had operations across the country which were consistently producing significant year-to-year net cash flow. Art had decided recently that he was ready to sell the company and that he wanted to get this done right away.
  • Andrew D. Horowitz, CPhD, and Nicholas K. Niemann, Esq.
  • 3,206 Reads 12 Shares
"How has the capital market for franchise financing changed in the last 3 to 6 months, and what are you doing differently in franchise sales in the next 3 to 6 months?"
  • Franchise Update Magazine
  • 4,356 Reads 4 Shares
You'd think selling franchises in one of the worst economies since the Great Depression would daunt even the hardiest franchisor. But many franchisors, both well-established and new to the scene, keep on plugging when the economy goes south. Some even consider this a great time to grow.
  • Amy Zuckerman
  • 6,487 Reads 8 Shares
Indevia Accounting
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Greg Hamer, Sr. grew up working in his father's Louisiana oilfield service business. But in 1982, he began to put time and money into growing a franchise business that has since grown to 50 locations.
  • John Carroll
  • 6,081 Reads 3 Shares
John Smythe says he was a typical 21-year-old when he was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1965. "I was just kind of rolling through life and not really giving it that much thought," says the 62-year-old veteran today. The Army was a good experience for him, and where he learned the skills and philosophies he's using today as a CMIT Solutions franchisee in Everett, Wash.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 4,352 Reads 1,014 Shares
It was like a gut punch for Charlie Marshall. In less than a year's time, the Spring-Green Lawn Care multi-unit franchisee went from paying $12 per bag for lawn fertilizer to more than $25 per bag. "That will make you look for ways to streamline and cut costs," says Marshall. To add insult to injury, gasoline prices were skyrocketing, making it even more expensive to fire up his seven trucks and dispatch crews to care for his customers' lawns each day.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 4,593 Reads 57 Shares
Retailers have never been shy about enticing customers to buy through all kinds of incentives. Now a franchisor has followed suit. During the last quarter of 2008, Seattle-based Emerald City Smoothie was offering a "buy one, get one free" franchise promotion. Seriously.
  • Franchise Update Magazine
  • 7,171 Reads
In his earlier life as a CPA for a pharmaceutical company, Gary Vega traveled the world extensively. Spending so much time on the company's dime allowed him to stash away his own income until the right opportunity arrived to start his own restaurant business.
  • John Carroll
  • 6,610 Reads
If you could get better performance from your franchisees and increase the overall value of your brand at little or no cost, you'd be crazy not to. That's the business proposition of business coaching. While it may sound like vendor pitch, this assessment comes from a growing number of franchisors and franchisees.
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 4,697 Reads 6 Shares
For many of us this past year has been a giant proclamation of change. The franchise industry experienced some of the largest mergers and personnel changes in recent memory. This change comes as little surprise for many of us as the economic situation, and the unsettled feelings in the political world, leave us with little option but to adapt to this new marketplace and innovative new ideas. Historically, times like these are often followed by great innovation, new businesses being formed, and a new era of technological advancement. Just as the 1980-1982 recession gave birth to the home computer market, the 1990-1991 recession gave birth to the innovation of the world wide web, the 2008 recession will bring forth a whole new wave of business. It is in our darkest hour that we have the most potential to do something remarkable. That being said we can expect 2009 to be a year for change and innovation. Before we look to the future, let's recap several key developments in the franchise industry.
  • Benjamin Foley
  • 2,031 Reads
What does one of the most successful Subway multi-unit operators, and now multi-unit operator and area developer for LA Sunset Tan, do for his next trick? Make a horror movie, of course.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 9,061 Reads 1 Shares
In these tight economic times, many multi-unit franchisees and area developers are focusing less on continuing the remarkable unit growth they've enjoyed for the past five years, and more on improving performance at their existing units. As consumer spending drops, savvy franchisees see increased royalty streams as a more attractive prospect than spending long hours with struggling franchisees, or worse, shuttering failing ones as the U.S. economy continues to sputter.
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 5,427 Reads 218 Shares
When your grandfather is one of the co-founders of a successful franchise concept and system, it might seem natural for subsequent generations to be involved. But that wasn't always the case for Justin and Sally Haddock. "My grandfather, Jack Fulk, along with Richard Thomas, co-founded Bojangles'," says Justin. "My mother and father followed suit and they have been franchisees since 1980." In fact, his folks still operate 39 Bojangles' locations today.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 3,273 Reads
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Let there be no misunderstanding: financial performance representations (formerly referred to as "earnings claims" and referred to below as "FPRs") are powerful tools in the franchise sales process.
  • Rupert M. Barkoff
  • 3,645 Reads 7 Shares
Everywhere you look jobs are being replaced by new technologies and automated systems. We book our own airline tickets online. We fill our own gas tanks and pay at the pump. Touch screens at the neighborhood deli allow us to punch in our sandwich and beverage order. We can pick up a rental car and check into and out of a hotel without ever interacting with any of the providing business concern's employees. And don't even get me started on automated voice call-directing systems.
  • Mel Kleiman
  • 4,287 Reads 23 Shares
When Pat Williamson was a sophomore at the University of Georgia in 1969, he was home from school one weekend and heard about a summer job opportunity. A Frito-Lay route man stocking the shelves in Williamson's father's retail store had asked if there were any kids looking for a summer job. Williamson's grandfather overheard the request and passed along the info to young Pat.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 13,759 Reads 4 Shares
When the economy is sagging it forces many people to tighten their financial belts. It's often a time when buying and selling a home becomes much less of an option - consider the recent housing market debacle - and as a result, more people choose to stay where they are and simply do a little minor home improvement or remodeling.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 4,433 Reads 1,019 Shares
There's a loud ruckus, a crowd gathers 'round, and a customer is sprawled on the floor next to the soft drink dispenser. The area is covered in soda and ice and the customer laments she slipped, fell, and is injured because of your negligence.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 8,936 Reads 1 Shares
As vice president of concept development at HMSHost, Novack has his plate full, and seems to relish every bite.
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 6,594 Reads 1,023 Shares
Say you're purchasing some delicious tropical fruits from a street vendor, only to discover that you have no small bills. You probably will receive a smile and a "mai pen rai" along with your snack and a sizable wad of 20 baht notes. An employee arrives at an important meeting 45 minutes late. If the other attendees notice the straggler's tardiness at all, they are likely to dismiss it with "mai pen rai" and continue their discussion.
  • Brian Clark
  • 6,239 Reads
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
  • 4,185 Reads 25 Shares
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
  • 3,813 Reads 19 Shares

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