Tuesday, 24 September 2013
Setting Up the Stage for Franchise Success
For many, it is the job frustration or co-worker issues; while for plenty others, it is the passion for a specific product or service that pushes them to own a franchise. With advantages like getting to be your own boss and reduced efforts on brand establishment, franchise opportunities are a temptation for new business aspirants. However, it also comes along with some challenges like maintaining the brand repute, dealing with the franchiser's guidelines and developing a profitable and healthy relationship with your franchiser.
To have a successful franchise business one needs consistent effort and some typical traits to set it up perfectly right from the very beginning. Even before you start thinking about franchising, reasonably put your personal traits on an honest test to figure out if you have the right attitude and personality to be a successful franchise owner. The initial franchise cost is generally high and non refundable to be impudently invested on feeble grounds of unjustified skills. The following essential personality qualities are recommended to qualify as a successful franchise owner:
Confidence: Only a confident personality can make the franchiser believe that you can successfully clutch the brand repute and business settings. A great amount of confidence in the brand and its quality is also utmost important for a successful franchise business.
Organizational Skills: Great organizational skills are required to manage the franchisers and their business procedures along with your personal business goals and local staff. Franchises are businesses for sale that you can own, but cannot adopt to run them as you wish. You have to maintain a perfect harmony between your way of handling a business without violating the tried and tested business practices of the franchiser.
Consistency: The initial earnings in a franchise may not be that encouraging as compared to the high initial investment, but consistent and positive efforts can prove to be lucrative in some months or years.
Market Sense: Do a good market research pertaining to the product or service you want to take up franchise of. You must have a great market sense to grow your franchise incessantly. You may have to aggressively involve yourself in many marketing activities and promotional drives, so, you need to be prepared.
Belief and Loyalty: Franchising business needs long term commitment. So you must have firm belief in the brand you sell and must have high loyalty attributes in order to build a successful franchise.
If you have all the required traits munificently coded in your genes, you can surely make a huge success in franchise business by looking into profitable franchise opportunities Kansas City right here.
Sunday, 22 September 2013
Planning for a Startup
There has been a surge of entrepreneurial ventures across the world in the last few years. It seems like one in every five companies you come across in a block is either a startup company in initial stages or a late start up. This trend has been catching up ever since Investors started showing confidence in startups as against influential setups, as these companies gave the confidence to the investors through delivering the best.
Reason for this trend
The education system can be one of the main reasons for this trend, to start with. With more individuals aspiring for a management course, it is but natural that the course instills confidence in the students and also provides avenues to realize business plans. Top management institutes now provide an avenue where the institutes nurture and guide startups by providing pointers and grooming the budding entrepreneurs. Add to this, the market scenario where there is a need for new ideas in the domains of food, entertainment, retail healthcare, etc and you have an array of new business opportunities.
What it takes
What are the points to be addressed before starting up on a business case?
1. Be sure to conduct a thorough research on the domain you plan to make a business case for. Gather data for a significant duration.
2. With this data, you will be able to identify the gaps and needs for improvement.
3. Weigh them against the Return on Investment (ROI) & analyze them to identify the key points for your business case.
4. Identify the target audience for your business. Who would be your key customers? What would be the market segment you would want to attract?
5. Estimate the duration in which you plan to establish this dream venture. Put down milestones that are time-bound and goal-bound, to help you measure your success or assess if you are on the right track.
6. Put down the risks, a mitigation plan and a contingency plan.
7. With all the above inputs, prepare a business case and present it to a group that you know will evaluate and assess your plan, to provide constructive inputs.
8. Part of this evaluation group can be your prospective investors. It is important that you get their buy-in.
9. Once the above is done, go ahead with the execution of the plan.
Remember, the success of any venture is proportional to your commitment and hard work in the venture. Any startup takes time to be established and to start churning out returns.
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Fish As Pets Require Inexpensive Aquarium Maintenance
If you are looking for a pet and you do not want to have the hassle of having to walk them every day or tirelessly clean after them every time they have to go to the bathroom, then the solution to your problem is to own a fish. Fish tanks are relatively self-maintaining water habitats. When owning a larger size tank, however, aquarium maintenance is important. It does not require many cleanings or replacement of tools needed to run efficiently but these issues need to be addressed and corrected as they arise. If not, issues like moss and the general uncleanness can result in the death of the animal.
Although you could do this yourself, let's face it; you are probably not a professional. Aquarium maintenance technicians preserve your pet's home in the best shape possible with few visits so as not to burden your wallet. This way you can have a pet but also have some form of privacy. The great thing about owning a fish is that they can be extremely exotic creatures from all over the world in the comfort of your own home, which can fit on top of any normal sized table or drawer.
Aquarium maintenance is essential so that you can have clean water for your fish and a clean environment. The efficient part is that it doesn't matter whether you have fresh or salt water; the tank being made of glass will support one or the other. You can also buy unusual yet striking decorations. This allows your imagination to run wild with interesting options. These objects have to be approved for use underwater or else they could corrode and damage the wellbeing of the animals.
Aquarium maintenance also involves cleaning your filter and replacing what may be broken or in need of repair in order to keep it running at its absolute best. Every store will offer or at least be able to inform you of what is required of aquarium maintenance so you know what you are getting yourself into but the most expensive part is the actual product and first purchase of all the materials and equipment you need to start your very first fish tank. After that everything becomes much easier with cleaning at minimum once a week and feeding every day.
A fish is the most inexpensive animal to own as a pet, but the attraction they get at dinner parties is more than you would think. This is because if you have a party and you want your guests to feel welcome but not overwhelmed, these are the domestic animals to own as pets. They invite people to look into the tanks and the pets won't jump on them or lick them up and down, leaving hairs all over. Fish are a cheap and easily maintainable animal that you can own as a pet, so why not own one today?
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Friday, 20 September 2013
Understanding the Culture-Fit Requirement on Job Seekers (3)
In its April 2007 edition, Harvard Business Review carried a story that drives home not just this point, but the need to honestly be a culture-fit. It entitled it: "What Your Leader Expects of You And what you should expect in return." In that piece, the author, Larry Bossidy, related a real life story in which the executive, who headed Manufacturing, and the one in charge of Marketing and Sales in a certain big business that was functionally structured, didn't get along well. As a result, the function they each led didn't get on well either. The effect? Inventories were always out of balance.
One day, the CEO called them both for a meeting. He told them that it didn't matter if they liked each other or not, but that they simply had to change the way they worked together. Both managers left the meeting with a promise to overcome their differences. That didn't happen. Three months after, their boss called them again. This time, he issued them a separation package, and told them that although he thought they were both top performers individually, their failure to collaborate with each other was hurting the enterprise. At 3.00pm later that day, they came back to their boss, having apparently resolved to work collaboratively in conformity with this core value of the business.
When therefore, applicants with formidable credentials indicative of the potential to be top performers are rejected for reason of culture-misfits, it's really to avoid the kind of incidents related in the above story, and the costs of divorce that eventually go with it. The two managers aren't just so egoist that none has the humility to initiate reconciliation of their difference to the other, they both surprisingly have grudge-bearing personalities that ran counter to the easygoing, collaborative value of the organisation, so much so, it began to creep into the function they each headed.
The hurt arising from inventories that were always out of balance was cost enough to the enterprise. But the costs would have been much more if the two managers never overcame their egotism, reconciled and returned. Otherwise, their exit would have had knock-on effects on the enterprise. The separation packages besides, the enterprise would have incurred replacement costs on the managers, on-boarding costs on their successors, as well as other costs that would be too much of a digression to describe in this piece. Such costs go to the bottom lines of businesses to do damage, and every strategic hiring manager would want to do better to avoid them before hand. Hence they reject prospective top performers that are culture-misfit.
The primacy of a great university degree, formidable industry experience, variety of relevant skills and a coveted professional certification in the consideration of candidates for employment in a choice organisation cannot be overstressed. However, the applicants with such credentials aren't machines, or some inanimate objects. They're human beings first and foremost, human beings with feelings and in-built personalities; they have their likes and dislikes, beliefs and convictions, the sense of what is right, and what is wrong. These need to align with the core values of the organisation, or else they'll be misfits. And being misfit, they can't loyally, passionately and enduringly give their best to their employer. Indeed, sooner or later, a divorce will ensure with its accompanying costs on the employer. Materials that don't have the substance that sticks them firmly together can naturally not hold out for long. So it is with the personalities of job seekers and the core values of organisations.
Mr. Ejiro Edeki is a Recruitment Consultant, CV/Résumé Strategist and CEO, BJ Solutions Inc. His articles can be read at the website: http://www.bj-jobsolutions.com.
Thursday, 19 September 2013
For-Profit Education Companies Are Growing Fast
In today's market, one can argue that the customer drives the market. If a product line does not produce adequately, or there is a functional problem with that particular product, it stands to reason that the corporation would fix the problem, discontinue the product line, or lose profit, go into the red, and sink into bankruptcy if they do not change, right?
So, then, applying this same concept to the education "industry," why are our schools still afloat despite such "product line" setbacks, and a general malaise when it comes to much needed systemic changes? Why our people so resistant to change in the public school sector, or even in higher education? For too long, school personnel have been sheltered from the reality of the free market, with various protections ranging from tenured faculty positions to union representation. This outmoded way of life is neither productive nor logical, and it has not only manufactured a feeble product line in its teachers, but in its student "customers" as well.
What are the options? Well, one could uproot one's family and move to Belgium or Japan to find a better production of effective educational programming. There are various charter schools that promise different things for your child, and of course private tutoring and private schooling, which research suggests produces a student of only marginally higher quality. The broader picture suggests that a new product line needs implementation, and the suggestion is that there is a relatively new player in town: for-profit corporate schooling.
The model alone provides a new, sleeker way of educating America's youth. If the school does not produce, it does not make a profit, and it shuts down. Poorly performing schools will close; better performing schools will prosper and continue therefore to improve. This is the way every other business in the market works, and when these rules are applied to education, it works. The rising tides will lift all boats.
Take for example the Camelot for Kids enterprise. Based out of Texas, this multi-state corporation contracts with failing school districts to run their educational programming and to turn the schools, or part of the school system, toward a positive growth pattern. Their goal is to meet the demands of the contract, and to do it well. Student progress is monitored closely, and there are high expectations on its at-will employees. However, the system works. Camelot for Kids has been profiting, expanding, and improving young lives and their education. There is little room for apathy, or for stagnation. For profit school systems must stay the best at what they do, or they will fail as a corporation.
The governor of Pennsylvania has made massive cuts to the funding of state schools. Public schools limp along without proper funding, without proper resources or personnel, and are only kept afloat because of our national mandate of Free and Public Education (FAPE.) What is this doing? It is causing students who can't think, teachers who have to be better politicians than educators, and ultimately, it is hurting the strength of our economy by producing poor workers and weak leaders. If the model would change, and corporate, for-profit models could compete on a larger scale than they currently are allotted, then teachers would become practitioners again, schools would either succeed or close, and the economy will flourish from the expanding nature of the corporate enterprise. What are we waiting for?
Tuesday, 17 September 2013
Creating Titles That Sell Your Products and Programs
Poor titles will keep you poor. Now, that's a pretty powerful statement isn't it?
It really doesn't matter how good you are, the first thing that people read or hear is your title. It will immediately get them to click to get more information or they will simply delete.
You might have the greatest program or product around; you might be so passionate to help people and have the best signature system, but if they don't get past the title it hardly matters.
When you think about it, titles are more mindset than writing ability. You can train yourself to really understand the power of an awesome title.
Focus on one key thing about your potential client. That is the result they want. What is the end result this client wants?
You do not want titles that talk about your process. People don't care about the 'thing' that you do. These titles will not sell.
People are attracted to you when you talk about the problem you can solve for them. What is going to be their end result?
Keep in mind you are in the business of coaching. You are not simply a coach. You want clients and revenue flowing to you, because you are in the business of coaching.
What you focus on expands right? So if you are focusing on your process and trying to sell coaching, this isn't going to work out well for you.
You can train yourself to focus on the results. This is a learned skill. When you can focus on the bottom line in your title that is what will expand, which is what you want.
Here are 4 quick tips to be sure your title is worthy. You want your title to include all four of these, not just 2 or 3.
1. Your title must have a practical, measurable benefit or result.
2. Your concept should be very clear and there should only be 1 concept.
3. No jargon or lingo. Keep it clean and clear.
4. You answer the question of why. Why should someone buy from you?
Don't worry about if you title feels too long. Long titles are a-okay. In fact, it may be hard to get all four points in if the title is too short. I also suggest you not use metaphors in your title. It is too hard to get your point across to others, even if it feels very clear to you.
Here are some ideas of words you might want to include: free, strategy, discover, tips, simple, quick, proven, now, decrease, increase and mistakes.
If you are selling a higher ticket item you might want to include words like: premium, VIP, high end, platinum, personal, diamond, premiere and elite.
Using numbers can be very powerful but make sure you use the numeral, don't spell it out. If you do, it loses its power.
If you can keep your titles descriptive, juicy and compelling you will have more success in selling what you are offering.
It's good to get feedback from others regarding your title. If you say to them "What do you think of this title? Do you like it?" you probably won't get the answer you were looking for. You will probably hear "I like it, I think it's great" and that's about it. That is not helpful feedback for you. Maybe no one wants to hurt your feelings.
Try this instead: "When you read this title is it something you would want to know more about?" "Is this title something that might motivate or inspire you to find out more about my program?"
These last examples basically will elicit a 'yes' or 'no' answer. You are much more likely to get an honest answer here, without them worrying about hurting your feelings.
These are just very basic ideas but I hope it helps you create excellent titles that will get people to pull out their wallets and purchase from you!
ACTION STEP: Look over the last few titles you have written whether it's for a program or product or even writing an article. Does it answer all 4 points? If even one is missing, then tweak it until all four can be answered.
Do you have the Moxie it takes to start and sustain a thriving coaching business? Find out at http://moxiemastermind.com Kim Kirmmse Toth transitioned from 23 years as Licensed Clinical Social Worker to building a high 5 to 6 figure coaching business while enjoying her free time doing the things she loves. If you are a savvy woman (or even gentleman) and a heart-centered solopreneur who wishes to grow an exceptional, heart based on-line business, let Kim show you the way at http://www.positiveaginginc.com
Help For First Time Sellers To Get Rid Of Their House In Today's Buyer's Market
A hard thing for most first time home sellers is the idea that they might not make a profit when they sell their property. Depending on why they want a fast home sale, and if they actually require it to sell quickly, they might have to pay money at the closing table to get out from under the house. In the past sellers almost always left the closing table with a big fat check and a hefty profit. The housing market of the last few years has drained most people and many times sellers are just looking to break even and sometimes they are even willing to pay all of the closing cost just to get rid of the house.
In times past sellers would usually list the house for more then they desired in hopes of either finding the right buyer or of being able to appear like they are giving you a deal on the house. Right now that is not the case and most sellers are encouraged to research similar properties in the area and price your house based on the home sales of similar homes in the last 3-6 months. New listings will usually have some sort of priority so it is important to list your house aggressively in order to make a good first impression and hopefully sell the house quickly. Also make sure that you know how the listing will appear on the realty sites. The ranges that most people are looking in are either under $50K or between $50-100K. The lowest price range you can get yourself into the more people will see your listing.
Our generation has been conditioned to believe that if you purchased a property, maintained it, and wanted to sell in 5-10 years, you would make a boatload of money because real estate always goes UP in value. The recent housing crash brought on by unscrupulous lenders and other economic trends show this idea simply is not true anymore. If the property was mortgaged at 125% of its value and only rose in value by 5%, the person is still mortgaged 20% over what they can hope to make on a sale. They will likely have to 'eat' this difference in order to sell a property and start over with a clean slate. If they are in arrears on their mortgage payments, they will have to be able to bring that up to date before the mortgager will release the lien on the property. The buyer will not be interested in what the seller gave for the property or how much the seller's mortgage is. The buyer is only interested in the property value TODAY and will make an offer accordingly. Sellers must be prepared for this.
Finding a niche to market to is another way to help find a qualified buyer that will pay top dollar for the property. If the property is close to a university, a large company, a large manufacturing area, or an area of superb shopping, these people are who the advertising needs to target. Perhaps people who are going back to school for their post graduate degrees and needs to be close to the university, and close to a place to work would find the property a win-win. Find a target and hit them hard. You simply cannot just wait and hope the right buyer is going to come along.
Do you have custom appliances, or something extra like an espresso maker that you can throw into the deal? Do you have a handicap ramp, nice furniture, or anything else that might be enticing to someone that you will not mind parting with when you leave. Do you have TV's, computers, or something else that will make the house more move in ready and thus more attractive to that type of buyer. Offer these items to the buyer when you are going through the negotiations. It just might help make a deal if you find the right person.
Knowing how to sell your property in this market is crucial and cannot be taken for granted.
People can't tell you how to sell your property. You need to find the right solution for your needs. The cost of selling a house will be a big part of how you decide to sell your home. How can you cut cost and still sell quickly?
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