Q&A with LivHOME Senior Vice President of Franchising, Mimi Zeller

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We sat down with LivHome’s Senior Vice President of Franchising to discuss why she loves LivHOME and what makes the senior care franchise so special.

 

How did you become involved with LivHOME? What does your job entail? I became involved with LivHOME because I believe in the LivHOME business model and at-home senior care is something I strongly believe in. As Senior Vice President of Franchising, it’s my job to oversee franchise development and the franchise operations for the entire company. It’s a unique and rewarding opportunity to offer a franchisee.

 

What makes it a unique at-home senior care franchise? What about the business model attracted you? LivHOME’s home care model gives clients a better quality of life in their own homes. The model also provides franchisees the opportunity to compete on quality, not prices, and deliver a differentiated, higher quality home care service to their community. I’m delighted to be part of a team that can do this for families and business owners.

 

Have you ever been a franchisee? What’s your business background? I’ve never been a franchisee, but I have worked with more than 5,000 franchise operators in my 25 years in the franchising industry. I began my career in franchising while working with Domino’s Pizza, Inc. in their world headquarters. While at their west coast regional office, I oversaw 725 franchise locations in 8 western states as the Franchise Operations Director. Later, I was the Senior Vice President of Operations for Mail Boxes, Etc., now The UPS Store, for 3,400 domestic franchises. To round it all out, I was also the CEO of a regional fast-casual food franchise.

 

Wow, that’s quite a bit of franchise industry experience. What’s been the most rewarding part of being a part of a franchise? The most rewarding part of working in a franchise is seeing individuals realize their dreams of owning their own business. LivHOME also offers the opportunity to do something good on a daily basis and help seniors in need.

 

Could you quickly describe for me the franchisee selection process to me? What do you look for in a potential franchisee? Do you have a profile in mind? We look for franchisees who are passionate, driven, can follow LivHOME’s process and standards, and are interested in working full-time in the business.

 

How extensive is the training for your new franchisees? Do you try and develop personal relationships with them? LivHOME has five training stages: pre-training, training in Los Angeles, post-training, on-site opening training and ongoing training.

 

Tell me more about the ongoing training and support you provide. Ongoing support is one of the key components of our overall franchise support process. We believe in effective communication with our franchisees and offer face-to-face support as well as extensive online programs a franchise intranet, and sharing of best practices.

 

What do your franchisees cite as the most rewarding part of their jobs? LivHOME franchisees experience a rewarding and personally fulfilling life by providing much needed services on a daily basis to those in need. And making a great living doing it.

 

What can we expect from LivHOME in the years to come? You can expect national expansion of a professionally led home care franchise.

 

How’s business? Is LivHOME growing? Yes! Our model has a very reasonable initial investment as compared to other franchises.

Early Bird, Night Owl: Should You Extend Your Hours?

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The old adage that nothing good ever happens after midnight may no longer be true– at least in the business world. Franchises and other chains are staying open later and starting service earlier, hoping to earn business from both the early bird and the night owl.

 

McDonald’s reported, along with strong quarter 4 earnings, that the hours of midnight to 5 a.m. are the fastest growing time segment in its U.S. business. Nearly 40% of McDonald’s U.S. outlets are open around the clock, according to the Wall Street Journal. Should you be doing the same?

 

These days, everyone’s schedules are changing. The traditional 9-to-5 workday is a thing of the past. Many of us work multiple jobs, start the day later or work well into the night. It only makes sense that the businesses the population relies on (and vice versa) change, too.

 

If you’re contemplating changing your hours, there are three things to consider:

Does the projected added revenue cover the added wage expense? Staying open longer (or later) means you’ll be paying your employees a bit more to keep your business open. Make sure to go over your finances to see if you can afford to do this for a few months, until the word that you’re open later gets around.

 

Have your current customers already expressed a need for your to be open beyond your current hours of operation? Do your customers often wish you were open more days or at different times? If so, you’ll probably reap the rewards of longer hours. If not, you might earn the business of new customers whose schedules don’t allow them to swing by between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.

 

How will you get the word out to your current and potential customers? It doesn’t do you any good to change your hours of operations to accommodate your customers unless they know about it! Have your employees tell your regulars you’re changing your hours. Post reminders on your front door and print them on your receipts. Contact your local community newspaper’s retail reporter with a press release announcing the new hours, if you feel it’s necessary.

If you’re still unsure if your customers need or want different operating hours (or you feel you could snag a few more by staying open later) talk to your employees and current clients. Both parties probably will be happy to clue you in on trends they’ve noticed and what they want from your business.

Franchise Buy website launches, connecting entrepreneurs with business opportunities

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MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (December 28, 2011) — Entrepreneur David Schwartz remains the go-to guy when it comes to franchise business ownership with the recent launch of Internet-based marketing and lead generation company Franchise Buy.com on Dec. 16 in Mount Pleasant, S.C.

 

“Franchise Buy.com is all about connecting entrepreneurs with available business opportunities,” says Schwartz, owner and chief executive officer of Franchise Buy.com.   “Becoming a franchise owner isn’t just a career opportunity, it’s an investment,” he says.

 

The Internet-based marketing and lead generation company serves as an online resource for those researching business ownership and also as a way to directly connect with business opportunity and franchise business development teams.

 

For those beginning the business ownership research process, Franchise Buy.com’s website allows entrepreneurs to search for opportunities based on location, industry and investment capital amount. Users are also able to browse each franchise opportunity’s unique web page complete with statistics, facts, photographs and videos providing entrepreneurs with a comprehensive look at the business concept.

 

Entrepreneurs ready for the next step in the franchise ownership and investment process can connect with the franchise directly through an email-like information request form provided by Franchise Buy.com. The request form makes sure users don’t leave out any information the franchise will need to know and also leaves room for comments and questions the entrepreneur might have.

 

“We’ve created a website that makes it extremely easy for entrepreneurs to find franchises and, in the end, contact each business’ development team to get the ownership process started,” explains Schwartz.

 

Schwartz is also the owner and chief executive officer of Franchise Clique, another Internet-based marketing and lead generation company founded in 2009.

 

 

About Franchise Buy.com

Franchise Buy.com is an Internet-based marketing company dedicated to bringing together potential franchisees and franchisors in the hopes of creating small businesses in the U.S., Canada and internationally. The founding team of Franchise Buy.com has over 40 years of franchise industry experience helping franchise concepts, distributorships, dealerships and business opportunities find the most qualified candidates. Franchise Buy.com also serves as a resource for those hoping to open a franchise in the future. For more information, visit www.franchisebuy.com.

 

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AMEX Excludes Franchises From Small Business Saturday

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“With every dollar we spend, we cast a vote.”

 

My economics teacher used to repeat this whenever the question of spending came up. If only it really were that simple. She was right, though, in that with every purchase we make (and don’t make) we vote businesses on and off of America’s economic island. The holiday season is a retailer’s chance at surviving the tribal council.

 

As I’m sure many of you in the franchise industry have heard, American Express (AMEX) excluded franchises from participating in Small Business Saturday this past weekend on November 26, 2011. While many are understandably upset about the exclusion of their business from AMEX’s economic initiative, the situation opens the door to several important questions, including but not limited to where franchising fits into America’s spending psyche.

 

Many blogs, articles and forums have focused how this happened and how it can be remedied next year. I’m personally more interested in why it happened. If the franchise industry can figure out what inspired AMEX to exclude an entire industry, in which many businesses in my opinion qualify as small businesses, perhaps the thought process behind the decision can be resolved as opposed to simply the situation.

 

First and foremost, while the success of fast food franchises has certainly helped the industry as a whole, it hasn’t helped the industry’s reputation as a small business job creator. The general public most likely doesn’t understand what franchising truly entails. The term “franchise” often conjures images of McDonald’s golden arches, not mom and pop independently owned businesses.

 

The term “franchise” should first make us think of an agreement rather than a fast food restaurant. For those who don’t know, the franchise agreement is made between two parties: the franchisor and the franchisee. The franchisor lends his trademark or trade and accompanying business model to the franchisee who in turn compensates the franchisor with a royalty fee, and often an initial fee, for the right to do business under the franchisor’s name and use of the business model. In some cases, but not all, the franchisor takes responsibility for creating marketing materials and implementing marketing strategies to further the success of the franchise. That being said, marketing isn’t free and may factor into the franchise’s royalty fee.

 

Aside from the extraneous fees, franchises aren’t so different from small businesses. They are are owned and operated by the same kinds of people as small businesses. They serve and employ the same local residents. Lately, they’ve been facing the same economic challenges. It’s understandable why so many franchisees and franchisors are upset.

 

We’re all, consumers and businesses alike, pinching pennies right now. There certainly isn’t much profligate spending happening this holiday season. The Wall Street Journal hinted that only 29 percent of small businesses are able to give year end bonuses this year. As I said before, every dollar we do or do not spend really matters.

 

From what I’ve read and heard, marketing has been another issue within the franchise exclusion situation with AMEX. AMEX’s Small Business Saturday offered $25 dollar credits to shoppers who shopped at qualifying establishments, those independently owned and operated businesses that don’t have the budget for national marketing campaigns. These credits didn’t extend to those who supported chains or franchises during Small Business Saturday.

 

Then again, it’s an understandable mistake. For those of us who are part of the franchise industry that may be difficult to digest. While we recognize the hard work and long hours franchisors and franchisees put into their respective roles, many outsiders can’t see beyond the brands and logos we have pushed to make mainstream.

 

It is my hope that next year AMEX helps the franchise industry’s small business owners financially by including them in Small Business Saturday. I also hope AMEX helps the franchise industry’s reputation by putting a Main Street face on mainstream logos, so everyone, including industry veterans, remembers who’s behind the cash registers and counters.