Village Coffee Welcomes New Owners in Fayetteville, NC

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Richie Irizarry and Jose Quinones-Guzman are both military Veterans who had a dream of owning their own coffee business. Their vision is to serve the military community in the Fayetteville, NC area to serve the Fort Bragg Military community. They like the sense of community and it is important to them. The newest location for Village Coffee opened in February 2015.

The interior design of their Village Coffee business includes a conference room, a room for moms, and a play room for their kids. Richie and Jose liked the fact that Village Coffee provided the flexibility to allow them to participate in the design of their own store. Richie and Jose have succeeded in creating a great staff and team and have impressively hit their break even in the third month of business.

The two Veterans are happy with their new start and business ownership of Village Coffee and look forward to continuously serving the military community in Fayetteville by representing a successful coffee brand.

 

About Village Coffee:

Village Coffee was founded by Tommy Lowery who was looking to create a business that was as much about Community as it was about Coffee.

The inspiration for the name was the Village Square that used to be the central gathering place in most small towns across America. The Village Square was a place where neighbors would gather to socialize, exchange ideas, debate current issues or just be together. While few towns still have lively Village Squares, Village Coffee shops are filling the void providing a warm friendly gathering spot where neighbors, friends, business associates and family can enjoy great drinks, food and pleasant company.

Just as we are dedicated to building a community of the best “Villagers” in the country, we are looking for people who are dedicated to both operational excellence while building a strong community of employees, customers and neighbors.

To become a Village Coffee business owner, request for more information to be in contact with a business development manager today! http://www.franchisebuy.com/franchise/Village-Coffee-Business-Opportunity

Getting The Most Out of Your Franchise Search

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Becoming a franchisee is a big decision. The easiest way to avoid kicking yourself for selecting the wrong concept is to do your research and request information on multiple franchises from a franchise directory or portal. You’ll see a big pay-off.

 

You can search based on your criteria

Only have a certain amount of available investment capital? Interested in staying in a particular state, region or country? Want to work in a particular industry? Franchise directories and portals let you search hundreds of available opportunities according to what’s most important to you. Not sure what you’re interested in yet? You can always browse the directory or portal’s list of available concepts for inspiration.

 

You Can Submit For Multiple Concepts Without Visiting Multiple Websites

Franchise directories and portals also let you submit for multiple concepts at once, a critical part of finding the right franchise. Many of them suggest related concepts based on those you’ve viewed, cutting down on additional legwork. The more you know the better you’ll be able to select your perfect franchise fit.

 

Treasure Troves of Information

Updated regularly, franchise directories and portals are valuable information resources. Often, they’ll have articles on franchises, small business news articles and helpful hints for franchisees. In addition, newly established franchises will be listed as soon as they’re ready to expand, a fantastic way for entrepreneurs to find new and exciting business ventures.

 

Your Direct Link to Franchise Development Teams

When you submit for information from a directory or portal, your information goes directly to the franchise development teams that interest you. On the rare occasion you don’t receive information or a phone call from a franchise development team member the directory or portal you used will be happy to contact them for you. Directories and portals generally have good relationships with the franchises they list on their websites. When you speak with the directory or portal, suggest a time of day you’re normally available to talk if you’re interested in speaking with a franchise development team member directly.

 

Do you have any suggestions on how to find the best franchise? We’d love to hear from you. Please leave your comments below. 

Moansan: The Business Opportunity for Animal Lovers

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Moansan is the unique provider of ProVetLogic sanitation products. The company started in 2009 as a developer of continuing education for the veterinary medical industry. ProVetLogic has quickly grown to become one of the most recognized providers of educational programs and product solutions for the professional animal care providers nationwide.

Moansan provides education for the animal care industry, including vets, shelters, hospitals, zoos, stables, groomers, kennels, boarding, and trainers. The annual turnover in the professional animal care industry is 25% to 30%, and the cost of training a new hire employee can range from $4000.00 to $6000.00. Providing training to new-hire employees and continuing education to existing employees can be both costly and time consuming. But have no fear, Moansan is here! The ProVetLogic Educational Support Team has created and offers a variety of educational support options including free online educational coruses, onsite “Launch & Learn” programs, training manuals, and online Q & A support.

Moansan has a mission: to make the animal world a better place through education and through the introduction of products that are designed to create a safer and healthier environment for animals and their care providers. They are clearly doing something right – Moansan now has a 90%+ brand recognition with veterinarians in the animal care industry.

How can you become a part of this successful business? Moansan is a licensed/distributor business, which may be as small as one vehicle or as large as 50 or more vehicles. If you are looking to work in the animal industry and have a love for animals’ well-being, it is worth considering owning a business in the world of preventive animal health care. If you are currently engaged in distribution of products or services for this industry and would like to participate in these new technologies, large scale opportunities are also available. High margins from distributor wholesale to retail (40-50%) make Moansan a very profitable business with positive cash flow.

Interested in learning more about business opportunities with Moansan? Check them out here!

The Importance of Diversification

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Many feel that if managed properly, owning a diverse set of businesses can help insulate against business peaks and troughs in the market. Many wealth planners will generally present diversification models to allow the purchase of multiple asset classes such as stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. Diversification in the franchise industry is different. Franchisees can diversify within a particular industry by acquiring different brands.  Diversifying within the same industry, such as the buying several different restaurant brands, still allows the franchisee to apply the same basic infrastructure to their business.

This strategy of franchising helps spread the risk from a franchisee’s perspective. If the demography of existing brands and new brands are vastly different, there becomes an opportunity to cross-market both products and knowledge. Aziz Hashim, the president and CEO of NRD Holdings, LLC, highlights a smart way to diversify in his recent piece in Franchising World about this topic, stating that “The most effective way to execute a diversification strategy is to identify opportunities in new sectors where the operational complexity is generally lower than the existing operations so as to not dilute the franchisee’s time and focus, where at least some existing infrastructure can be leveraged and ideally where there are natural synergies through complementary service offerings and similar demographic.” Complementary service offerings can play a key role in expanding your opportunities and create growth.

Do you own a diverse set of businesses? We would love to hear feedback from you!

Franchise Profile: Dickey’s Barbecue

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Have you been to your local Dickey’s BBQ? Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants have been serving up some of the most mouthwatering, lip smacking, great tasting barbecue since 1941. Today, Dickey’s are opening up all over North America.

Dickey’s Philosophy

It’s simple: they want to find the right Owner/Operator first. Second, they use their site selection model to find the right location. Then they assist every step of the way in building a great restaurant and setting their operators up for success.

Dickey’s has evolved over the years, changing the public’s perception of barbecue and taking the category mainstream. The Dickey’s restaurant concept is authentic, inviting and well planned. They aim for 1,800 sq. ft. end-cap or free standing locations to maximize the profitability of our stores.

Perks

Each new Dickey’s Owner/Operator will have full advantage of the decades of experience, improvements and upgrades, attention to detail and the high quality standards established and maintained by the Dickey family. The Dickey’s franchise program features:

  • Site location assistance
  • Floor plan design and layout
  • Thorough training in management, operations and marketing
  • Field support and group purchasing power
  • Protected territories
  • Comprehensive accounting procedures
  • Turn key assistance
  • The knowledge and experience to help you succeed

 

Interested in learning more? Check it out here!

 

A Growing Market Battles for Pad Sites

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With a market that continued to expand through the recession, fast casual dining restaurants are now battling over limited pad sites. What is a “pad site” you may ask? Pad sites are those outlots that sit in front of shopping centers and grocery stores. The appeal of these sites comes from them being centrally located in highly trafficked parking lots, such as shopping malls, strip malls, and large stores with massive parking lots like Lowes and Home Depot.

While these pad sites are especially appealing to restaurant franchises such as Checkers and Rally’s, more recently non-traditional retailers, including clinics, dentists, and chiropractors are now pursuing these retail sites. Medical facilities are trying to provide more convenient locations for their customers, and what is more convenient than a place situated smack dab in the middle of a busy parking lot?

Due to a peak in interest surrounding purchasing pad sites, prices for these small plots of land have gone way, way up. Small sites in certain areas can be upwards of $1 million just for the property itself. Companies like Checkers and Rally’s prefer sites that are prices closer to $500,000. The high demand but low quantity of these sites in many areas is leading to many battles over prime pad sites, where multiple offers are made and one franchise must be another one out for the space.

How to Deal with Change in Your Business

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Whether you are a current franchisee, a future franchisee, or even just a fan of our blog, chances are that you have experienced major changes in your workplace. Changes can cause great anxiety, especially if you are forced to adjust the way you have always approached a situation. Changes in process are often the best way to enhance productivity in business, yet the transition can prove to be troublesome.

I wanted to take this week’s post to discuss dealing with change and the growth contained in the process of change. Most of us operate under the illusion that life remains constant, but in reality, it is always changing. Your business, if it’s growing, is always changing, too.

Based on a study by the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL), the number one issue facing senior leadership today is “dealing with complex challenges.” Furthermore, studies say that the number one most important competency in shortest supply today is dealing with change. The CCL defines challenges as problems that:

  1. Lack a clearly defined solution
  2. Remain beyond an individual’s or single group’s ability to overcome
  3. Have significant strategic, cultural, environmental, and marketplace impact
  4. Create a paradox of reflection and action
  5. Render traditional solutions ineffective
  6. Demand flexibility and agility as challenges shift seemingly overnight

Being open to change and the lessons within change is no small task. Positive change requires letting go of old patterns and taking a fresh approach. In business, and in life, we must go beyond our preconceived ideas. We have to embrace, rather than resist, the change.

Change in an organization calls for a great deal of communication, specifically from the leaders in the group. What are some important lessons that you have learned about change from your business? Leave comments below!

The Millennial Generation & What They Want From Your Brand

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I have been reading recently about a hot topic in marketing and advertising – targeting the Millennial generation. Who is the Millennial generation, you may ask? While there has been some debate over when the generation starts and stops, generally, it is considered those born between 1977 and 1995. Larger than the baby boomers’ 76 million, there are an estimated 80 million Millennials in this group of 18 to 34 year olds.

So from a marketing perspective, how do we target this generation of people ranging from college students to young parents? First off, most Millennials are technology dependent. There are several tips that Susan Glosby from FIT4MOM offered in this past month’s issue of Franchising World magazine offers some advice.

1. Offer ease of access to your information

Most Millennials use their smartphones and other similar electronic devices to access webpages. Make sure your website is mobile-friendly and is easy to read for those accessing info via a smartphone. Additionally, make sure you have all the information people are seeking on your site – contact information, sales information, costs of goods – if they can’t find it quickly, they may take their business elsewhere.

2. A sense of involvement and purpose

Millennials are said to care about the purpose and identity of the brands they support more than generations of the past. What does your brand do to make the world a better place? This generation wants to know. Do you promote local volunteering with your franchisees and employees? Do you help educate your community? Do you donate to certain causes as a company? They want to know those things, and are more likely to be a repeat customer if your ideals are in line with their own.

3. Peer value

Use social media to provide peer endorsements! Millennials have the sense that when using technology, they are never truly alone – their peers are always with them. Having Instagram tags, a Facebook page, a twitter account, allows this generation to easily do some of the advertising for you among their friends.

Is Your Business Mobile-Friendly?

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Mobile communication is now an imperative part of a business’s marketing strategy. People are using smart phones and other mobile devices now more than ever. They are using their mobile technology to find shops, restaurants, and services in their area, and it’s important that when they search, they find your business.

If your website is not mobile-friendly, it will most likely lose you business. Anyone searching your business from their smart phone wants to quickly and conveniently access your contact information, purchase your products, or both. If the customer can’t find information, or the layout of your site isn’t compatible with his or her technology, they may become frustrated and bring their business elsewhere.

Additionally, your emails and newsletters must also be mobile-friendly. If people are reading your communications on-the-go, they want to be able to read the email free of excessive scrolling, pinching, and squinting at their touch-screen device. An annoying-to-read email will quickly be sent to the trash bin, or worse, unsubscribed from.

By creating a shorter, more condensed version of your website for mobile-users, you keep current customers happy and new customers coming. You can find more information about making a mobile friendly site in Franchising World’s current online magazine, found here.

The IFA Convention

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We are only two days away from this year’s IFA Convention! The 2014 IFA Annual Convention, this year in New Orleans, has a series of exciting keynote speakers as well as exciting topics that are relevant to all in the franchising industry.

Overarching topics to be discussed at this year’s convention include “issues of our time,” which will delve into how franchising will fare on Capitol Hill over the next year, as well as educational opportunities to learn about other hot topics in the franchising world.

Most people come back to the IFA convention year after year for the incredible networking experience it offers. The IFA Convention is a place to meet people with whom you can share ideas, hear others, learn, and grow. With over 3,000 people attending this year, it is sure to say that all of the franchise industry’s movers and shakers will be present.

Do you plan on heading down to the Big Easy for the event? This Saturday, February 22 through the 25th at the New Orleans Convention Center/ Hilton Riverside & Towers. For more information, check out the official webpage.