Updated Stats on Franchising Big news this month comes out of the International Franchise Association annual meeting in New Orleans. Attendance was near record setting levels with over 3500 franchise professionals learning from each other. The 2014 Franchise Business Economic Outlook Report was also...

The Amazing Martha Matilda Harper Have you wondered about the history of franchising and who were the early players? Well, two weeks ago we had a wonderful opportunity to listen to Jane Plitt, an expert in the history of Martha Matilda Harper, the founder of Harpers Beauty Salon and the first practi...

What Are You Thankful For? It is that wonderful time of the year when we get to spend time with family and friends. There are so many things to be thankful. I thought this month would be a great time to put together my ‘Top 10 Reasons To Be Thankful’. Family – immediate and extende...

Richest Man In Babylon As we discover knowledge, it always feels new to us; however, many of the basic tenants of wealth creation date back more years than most understand. ‘The Richest Man in Babylon’ tells a tale of wisdom discovered on clay tablets written over 8000 years ago. Why cla...

Make Things Happen Even though it may not feel like it here in Florida, summer is pretty much over. It is more than just kids returning to school; it is about a mental shift I see happening every year around this time. In the summer, the average person tends to be distracted. We intend to…...

Reinvention and Career Change A national magazine recently asked me to comment on changes we see in today’s marketplace.  Specifically, they asked me to define the word ‘Reinvention’ as it applies to career change. Interestingly, ‘Reinvention’ is a word that leads a pe...

Is Humility the Key? A recent experience with a franchise candidate got me thinking about what characteristics are required to be a great franchisee. It is obvious that some people are cut out for entrepreneurship and franchising. Others simply are not. So what is the key difference? At first I bega...

Three Small Nuggets I was recently asked by a reporter to share three key pieces of advice in regard to how small business owners can best deal with failure like a new product that flopped or an employee that did not work out. The advice I shared is as follows. First, realize that failure is…...

Are Franchisees Entrepreneurs? Recently I high profile franchise ‘expert’ blogged that franchise owners are ‘not really entrepreneurs’.  Humm….. I have been thinking about that comment and would have to respectfully disagree. There are many definitions for the word ...

Does Your Car Drive Straight? I would like to start out with a question – ‘Does your car drive straight?’ That’s right. If you are driving down a straight highway and you take your hands off the wheel, does your car drive straight? I would venture a guess that the answer is &...