Most franchise candidates I work with ask me about due diligence and what it actually means and entails, and especially as it applies to exploring a franchise opportunity.

First, I make certain they actually understand the definition of the term. Defined by Merriam-Webster for business application is the research and analysis of a company or organization done in preparation for a business transaction (such as a corporate merger or purchase of securities).

Of course, entering into a franchise relationship is an example of a business transaction, so it’s easy for a candidate to understand how due diligence applies for them. There never appears to be a doubt in their minds as they nod their heads in affirmation. Yet, sadly, some hardly do any due diligence. That is something that I’ll never understand.

In any event, I also take ample time to discuss what should be done in their due diligence and especially questions they should be asking along the way. In various articles I’ve published, I’ve outlined some of those questions as well as the different things candidates should be doing to fully understand all aspects of the franchise opportunity and what they can expect as a franchisee. After all, everything that glitters is not gold!

Today, let’s look at one of those articles, Exploring a Franchise Opportunity: Do your due diligence… and then some!

Potential franchise buyers must know that before making a final decision, they need to obtain information from other franchisees and also from the franchisor. But what information do they need to secure?

I always recommend using the Franchisor’s Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) as a guide. I instruct candidates to read through it and ask a potential franchisor very specific questions about each item listed. It’s a can’t miss road map. Plus, it ensures that candidates actually read the document.

What is the history of the franchise concept?

What is the founder’s vision? Who is on the executive and support teams? What experience do these individuals bring to the table? If members of the franchisor team haven’t worked at a location within the franchise system – or any franchise system – how have they learned about daily operations? Have any of them owned a business before? It’s important to understand how these individuals relate to franchisees in the system.

How high could expenses go?

All expenses should be clearly defined. It’s imperative to gain a complete understanding of the range of expenses – and why they are what they are. In today’s post-pandemic era, it’s essential to confirm that costs reflected in the FDD, a document that may have been renewed just six months ago, is frequently checked and updated to reflect real-time costs. Ask about potential increases and delays that may be the result of continuing supply chain and labor issues.

Know what’s happening on the front line.

What is the temperament of the franchise group nationally and within your market or region? Of course, I highly recommend speaking with franchisees, too. Make sure to ask them about costs, problems, profits, and trends. Discuss competition of both the franchisor and franchisees. Ask franchisees their opinions about the culture of the franchise organization and especially when addressing challenges.

Ask about exit strategies.

At some point, you may want to exit the system, or you may have to exit. If you have to exit, is there support if you’re in trouble? Ask about transfer fees and the process of selling your business. Understand the franchisor’s approval process for a potential buyer. What happened to each franchisee listed under terminated or closed franchisees on the FDD? What happened to their locations? Have these locations continued operation under a new franchisee or as corporate location? Is the location still available?

Before making a final decision.

After this process is complete and you’ve reviewed your notes, trust your gut instinct! Take your time and think things through until you’re 100% sure of your decision. Make sure you have all your support mechanisms in place, including friends and family. Do not kid yourself. Do not lie to yourself. And do not justify any negatives. Being honest with yourself will help you make the right decision.

Get your financial house in order.

Franchisors and lenders have certain minimum criteria when it comes to approving franchisee candidates. Some may require a minimum net worth and a certain amount in liquid assets. It would benefit you to set yourself up financially – for example: check your credit score, calculate your debt-to-income ratio, gather your tax returns and other financial documents, and even update your resume. Doing so will also help minimize stress levels!

Don’t underestimate how much funding you will need.

One of the leading causes of small business failure is undercapitalization or insufficient funding. Make sure you have enough of a buffer to help with any unexpected operating costs. What happens if you have underestimated the length of time to positive cash flow and need additional funds? Do you have a plan for that possibility, as well as for unforeseen emergencies?

Talk to a franchise funding professional.

Securing funding can be challenging but is one of the most important steps in starting a business. Knowing your options and ensuring you have a solid funding plan in place is often the key to long-term success and profitability. Get pre-qualified. You do this with a home, why not a business? By getting pre-qualified through a funding provider, you can better identify what you can afford.

One that I highly recommend is Benetrends Financial. They’ve been funding America’s most popular franchise brands for over 35 years. Their innovative, fast and economical suite of funding solutions is designed to help franchisees secure the capital needed to successfully launch a franchise business.

Action Item: Contact Benetrends Financial for a complimentary funding consultation or find out your fundability with their free pre-qualification funding calculator.

Yes, everything that glitters is not gold. If you believe that may not be true, I recommend reading Why You Need To Avoid This Franchise Due Diligence Trap At All Costs by Franchise Ownership Advisor, Joel Libava, The Franchise King. I’m certain it’ll help put an exclamation point on the necessity of performing due diligence… and then some!

If you’re considering business ownership for yourself and your family, and want to learn how the choice of a franchise, startup or acquisition can “jump-start” the process and your earning potential, please review additional information at one of our new resource sites at https://ownabizness.com/.

Have a great day. Make it happen. Make it count!

We’re entering a period from September to December when many individuals and families looking ahead to the new year, will start to explore business ownership. Whether a business acquisition, a franchise purchase, and even a startup, it’s important to be well informed and knowledgeable about the path ahead.

As such, I believe it’s a perfect time to revisit some of my previous articles about exploring entrepreneurship, franchising and business ownership. So, over the next few weeks, I will be sharing these articles (in no particular order along with new ones) with a goal of providing information, sharing resources, and addressing questions.

Today, let’s revisit the article, 3 Steps Ahead of Business Ownership. Planning is an essential component to successful business ownership. To that end, there’s no doubt in my mind that the famous Benjamin Franklin quote, “If You Fail to Plan, You Are Planning to Fail” could not be more spot-on!

Of course, we could also look at failing to plan from a different perspective – that of a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, Yogi Berra. The term Yogi-isims was created to describe Berra’s malapropisms and unintentional witticism. But they’re not just for laughs. As simple as the below statement is, nothing is more true.

“If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.”

Many people have a dream of owning a business. It’s an American Dream!

However, whether doing so as an independent business or as a franchise there are important initial steps to take to ensure their dream-turned-reality starts off on the right foot.

Improve Financial Health

Review and analyze personal finances. As a first step, it’s essential to understand income coming in and expenses going out each and every month of the year. Think ahead to bills that come due quarterly or annually.

Plan a firm budget. The goal is to ensure living expenses are met for a minimum of one year after starting a business. If a vacation is planned during this period, it must be included in the budget. Pay off all short-term debt to the extent it’s possible and practical to do so.

If savings or income from investments are not allocated for living expenses, it’ll be necessary for personal income to continue through year one. Lenders will require a solid plan that is not dependent upon first year income from the new business. This may require a spouse or life partner continuing their employment while the business gets on firm footing.

Review credit reports for accuracy. Challenge all errors and keep records of the same. Organize all financial records including bank statements, investment account records and insurance policies – auto, health & life.

Consider working through the above with an independent financial coach who can provide valuable professional insight and perspective. From a confidential, non-judgmental position they can help resolve some issues requiring attention that may have initially appeared to have been barriers to business ownership.

How to Create a Business Plan

Network as Much as Possible

Meet with members of the local business professional services community – bankers, attorneys, financial planners, accountants, realtors. Share plans to start a business within the community. Develop a network of these professionals and keep them apprised of progress.

Attend and actively participate in networking events well in advance of commencing business operations. Networking provides great benefits from a very early stage including introduction of the business to the community, support from fellow business owners and assurance of a busy grand opening.

From visiting with business professional to attending local chamber meetings to participating in community functions, personal involvement starts to establish a long-term commitment to the community. Owning and operating a business is about establishing and building relationships. Do so as early as possible.

How to Start a Business: A Step-by-Step Guide

Be Honest with Yourself

Although working through due diligence is essential it’s important not to over-analyze to the point of procrastination… or even, paralysis. Taking the necessary steps outlined above should set a foundation of being well-informed and yes, a foundation of comfort and confidence, as well.

If you’re considering business ownership for yourself and your family, and want to learn how the choice of a franchise, startup or acquisition can “jump-start” the process and your earning potential, please review additional information at one of our new resource sites at https://ownabizness.com/.

Have a great day. Make it happen. Make it count!

As addressed in yesterday’s article, we believe it’s a perfect time to revisit some of my previous articles about exploring entrepreneurship, franchising and business ownership. We will be sharing these articles (in no particular order along with new ones) over the next few weeks.

We’re confident all will provide great value for understanding ALL options available. Our goal is to help answer questions while providing the information necessary so interested parties can make informed decisions, and the right decisions for them.

Startup or Franchise? Focus on what is best for you, but choose wisely.

Owning and operating a small business was once the exclusive domain of the risk takers of the business world. The true entrepreneur had a distinct flair for creativity, innovation and vision. He, and I emphasize “he”, knew how to operate outside-the-box. He knew how to make things happen.

Many times, this individual had little choice as he knew from an early age, he would be responsible for shaping his future and for making it on his own. Formal education was usually limited and often just a far-fetched dream. Corporate life was not even an option. Besides, he couldn’t be told what to do, how to do it and when to do it. No way. No how.

Well, times certainly have changed in the business world. More recently as many individuals are again faced with economic uncertainty. An advanced degree is no longer the fast track to success.

As such, many individuals especially more women than ever before are deciding enough is enough. Wanting to control their own destiny they’re increasingly choosing small business ownership as opposed to leaving their future in the hands of Corporate America.

Sure, the financial aspects are vitally important. That’s a given. However, today’s new small business owners describe their number one priority as establishing true balance in all areas of their life.

They desire the freedom of furthering their own personal growth but will limit that growth by their abilities and resources, finding it more important to help others improve the quality of their lives and build long-term mutually beneficial relationships; both business and personal. They firmly believe people and relationships to be the foundation of success even more than money itself as they have determined money (profits) will be the end result of their actions.

This is where the road gets tricky as a decision must be made between starting their own venture and assuming total risk or reducing the learning curve and limiting the risk by investing in a franchise where they would be in business for themselves but not by themselves.

The key questions posed by many emerging small business owners are asked very emphatically, “Can I achieve my goals and objectives as part of a franchise system? And do I have what it takes to be a franchisee?”

In addressing these questions (and concerns), it’s relatively easy to analyze the two and realize, beyond the viability of a particular franchise brand as addressed in due diligence of the franchise concept itself, the answers are really contingent and dependent upon each other. The answers actually lie in understanding the mindset required to be a franchisee.

Once understood, a choice must be made regarding the desired path either as an independent small business owner or as one of the hundreds of thousands of franchisees across several thousand franchise concepts worldwide.

The typical franchisee must be willing to follow and adhere to a franchise company’s business system and ultimately, promote the same within their new franchise community at all times. It must be completely understood the system cannot be changed by the franchisee nor can their business be operated differently than the franchise company requires as the system is proven and uniform across the chain.

It’s this uniformity throughout the organization that is paramount to brand awareness leading to company and franchisee success and is the foundation of an interdependent relationship between both parties to the franchise agreement.

A franchise is almost definitely not the right choice for the business maverick or renegade. Certainly, there is an important place in business and in our hearts for these unique innovators. If not, we wouldn’t know Apple or Amazon as they’re known today.

Even McDonalds, as probably the greatest franchise of all time that stormed through the country under the leadership and direction of a true maverick, Ray Kroc, would not have been successful without franchisees being required to strictly follow and adhere to the McDonalds system without fail. No questions asked and no room for negotiation.

Entrepreneurs will be around for centuries to come blazing trails as never before. Some will actually plan to choose franchising as an expansion strategy and build the foundation of future franchise concepts. They will provide a choice for tomorrow’s small business owners on whether to go it alone or invest in a franchise.

And it will be those franchisees of tomorrow that will follow, promote and expand those systems that will prove to be the steel, bricks and glass built upon the foundation of new franchise companies. Thus, continuing the growth of franchising as it increasingly expands throughout the world, giving back by affording people more opportunities and options in determining the path to small business ownership that suits them best.

If you’re considering business ownership for yourself and your family, and want to learn how the choice of a franchise, startup or acquisition can “jump-start” the process and your earning potential, please review additional information at one of our new resource sites at https://ownabizness.com/.

Have a great day. Make it happen. Make it count!

Historically, we’ve seen an increase in individuals exploring franchise and business opportunities from Labor Day through the first week in December. With kids back to school and summer coming to end, we have found it’s a time of year when many start looking at the past year over their shoulders and begin to really focus on their options. We have found that business ownership is always at or near the top of the list.

Typical questions they ask of themselves pertain to resolutions they had set at the beginning of the year, their earnings for the current year against their expectations, and their level of satisfaction in their current job. The ultimate question about starting yet another year in a job as opposed to fulfilling a dream of business ownership is also on their minds.

Considering what has been experienced over the past two and a half years, we’re seeing even more individuals asking about business ownership beyond the typical financial questions. Current conversations are also focusing on freedom and being able to control one’s own destiny. Some are also focusing on business ownership as an income diversification and investment strategy.

So, with all this in mind, I believe it’s a perfect time to revisit some of my previous articles about exploring entrepreneurship, franchising and business ownership. I will share these articles (in no particular order) over the next few weeks.

I believe these articles along with new ones I’ll also be sharing, will provide great value in understanding ALL options available. My goal is to help answer questions while providing the information necessary so interested parties can make informed decisions, and the right decisions for them.

5 Tips for Finding the Perfect Franchise

With the Great Resignation still in full swing, a lot of people are choosing to take control of their personal and professional future by exploring entrepreneurship.

Of those who realize their entrepreneurial potential many choose owning a franchise as the vehicle to take them from employment to entrepreneurship due to the already proven business model and built-in, ongoing support system, among other benefits.

If becoming a franchisee seems like the right path for you, follow the tips below to find the perfect opportunity.

1. Keep an open mind, then focus. No one wakes up and says, “I want to be in the septic tank industry,” but I know someone making a lot of money and meeting his lifestyle goals doing just that. The bottom line is: Don’t rule out a business without learning or seeing what the day-to-day will look like.

It’s important to find a franchise that allows you to reach your desired income, lifestyle, wealth and equity goals. For instance, think about a mom returning to the work force who knows she wants to interact with children on a daily basis. There are hundreds of options that allow her to do just that. Now, she needs to decide if she would like to be hands on as a teacher or if she would rather manage a facility that tutors children in math. Deciding between the two is easy if she considers which day-to-day position she would prefer and how that will impact her other goals.

2. Be proactive with your research. After you’ve determined what role you want in a franchise, it’s important to start scouting different options. Physically visit many different franchise locations to see if there is a void in the marketplace and start thinking strategically about how you could fill it.

Next, browse the web to see what is available in other areas and determine whether or not it will be a fit in your community. For example, if your neighborhood has many well-run restaurants but none dedicated to ethnic food, it may be time to look for Mexican franchise restaurants within your budget.

3. Make sure the franchisor has experience. Before signing on to a franchise, it is essential to ask the franchisor about the executive team and its past industry experience. A potential franchisee should look for a company that has a corporate store — or better yet several — that have seen success that can be replicated. If this isn’t the case, find out if the company leaders have had significant experience at another franchise and are now applying that knowledge to this concept.

4. Reach out to other franchisees. When asking other franchisees about their experience, it’s important to take the good with the bad and to examine a large sample size before making a statement about the franchise in general. I call this the “dilution factor.” If one franchisee says they can’t turn a profit at their store, make sure it isn’t because they refuse to clean the bathrooms and their customer service is lacking. By talking to a wide array of people you can get the best feel for the franchise as a whole.

5. Read the franchise disclosure document carefully. The first thing to look at is how much a franchise would cost to purchase. If the money is there, then check out “item 19,” which lays out the financial performance representation. Make sure you have a financial advisor who can look at that item with you and see the type of profit a franchisee can make on average.

Finally, take a look at the post-termination clause in the agreement. I am a big believer in exit strategies, because sometimes you may later find a franchise is not the right fit and sometimes things just happen. In any case, it’s important to protect yourself should there be a situation where you want to disembark from the franchise.

If you’re considering business ownership for yourself and your family, and want to learn how the choice of a franchise, startup or acquisition can “jump-start” the process and your earning potential, please review the information at one of our new resource sites at https://ownabizness.com/.

Have a great day. Make it happen. Make it count!

As I had previously mentioned, Sundays at Acceler8Success Cafe are now focused on providing motivation and inspiration for the week ahead. My goal is to provide a positive foundation for the week that will complement the weekday activities at Acceler8Success Cafe, My intent is to do so as an extension of my commitment to helping current and aspiring entrepreneurs achieve and accelerate their success.

Sunday Night Motivation & Inspiration

Here’s a situation that I had personally witnessed six or seven years ago…

While at the grocery store, I had noticed a very young girl shopping with her father. I believe she was 3-4 years old. She was pushing the small kids’ shopping cart while walking behind him. Well, the father turns around and notices that his daughter is making a very scrunched up face. It appeared she was trying her hardest at changing her expression from bad to worse.

After a few seconds of chuckling, he asked her why she was making such mean and angry looking faces? Appearing to be unphased by the question and while still attempting various expressions of disdain, she politely replied that she was just trying to look like everyone else in the store!

Yep, I guess we, as a society do need to smile more because the generations coming up behind us do take notice. We do need to create the best impressions and set the best examples possible because we are being watched and copied!

I believe the same is true of the next generations coming up behind us in the workplace. It’s up to us as leaders within an organization to set the right example, not only with the expressions on our faces, but with our attitudes, our respect for others, and our interactions with all whom we’re in contact with on a daily basis. We must lead by example.

Doing so goes a long way toward ensuring similar efforts will be extended to all whom come in contact with our businesses. It will also establish a cornerstone of developing the right culture within our organizations.

The results will be a ripple effect of minimizing challenges and problems other organizations are experiencing including high employee turnover and dissatisfied customers. Both are key contributing factors to decreasing revenues and profitability. Ones that are extremely difficult to recover from unless there’s a firm commitment and plan to change. By the way, the time to do so is right now!

How will you set a positive example within your organization this week?

Have a great week. Make it happen. Make it count!

Welcome!

We fully understand the importance and necessity for today’s entrepreneur to be educated and well-informed. We also acknowledge that an entrepreneur’s time is limited, and quite valuable.

As such, and as part of our commitment to entrepreneurial success at all levels, we will do the heavy lifting and review podcasts & videos we know will help entrepreneurs achieve their goals. Then, each weekend we will share what we believe to be of interest to our growing list of current and aspiring entrepreneurs, and as a complement to daily editions of Acceler8Success Cafe.

“Here’s to your entrepreneurial success. Make it happen. Make it count!”

Paul Segreto, Acceler8Success Group Founder

NOTE: Please pause video before moving from one to another. Thank you!

Articles from August 22nd through August 26nd

Misperceptions About Entrepreneurship: A Personal Reflection

George Carlin: The Ultimate Influencer

AMEX Small Business Saturday: Franchising (and other business models) – Where do we go from here?

Pursuing & Achieving the American Dream

Marketing to Drive Sales for Service & Product-Service Businesses

Have a great weekend. Make it happen. Make it count!

Marketing today allows for many different approaches to attract and engage customers. Using a combination of social media marketing and content marketing in conjunction with other marketing has proven quite effective.

Add to the mix the old stalwart – email marketing – and it creates a cross-platform, multi-tiered effect that touches the target audience multiple times within a short period of time… and at times, almost simultaneously.

But how does this frequently recommended combination of marketing work for service and product-service businesses?

Before moving forward, let’s understand the difference between the two business models.

Plain and simple, a service business is one that performs tasks for the benefit of its customers. These tasks can include house cleaning, home maintenance, personal fitness, and bookkeeping.

A product-service business has an added twist – product. It is a company that offers a service AND a product as its practice. It can refer to many different types of businesses across various industries, albeit a common defining factor is the integrity of the product being only as good as the quality of service backing the product.

Depending on the type of service or product-service being provided, businesses can work with their customers in person or online, typically performing a consultation with their customers before beginning work. This consultation is essentially part of the sales process.

Jeff Bullas, whom Forbes calls a top influencer of Chief Marketing Officers and the world’s top social marketing talent has written, in the ever-changing world of marketing, businesses are always on the lookout for new, and innovative ways to sell their products to a broader audience. At times, service-centric companies find themselves overlooked in a sea filled with organizations advertising products.

Well, simply put, marketing a service is no easy feat. The most obvious problem being the lack of physical evidence – how do you promote something that isn’t tangible? How do you convince an individual to invest their time and money in an object that they can’t see or feel? The grey area that lies between selling the invisible is precisely where the great conundrum of the marketing world lies.

Marketing a product-service is equally difficult because it has much the same challenges as marketing a service because it is the delivery of [quality] service that is necessary for a customer to enjoy the benefits of the product. However, a product-service does offer distinct advantages such as tangibility, separability, durability, transferability, etc. which a service-only offering lacks.

Whether marketing a service or a product-service, it’s essential to develop a plan that covers everything from determining which media should be utilized to how the plan will be executed to evaluating results to determine if goals have been achieved by virtue of the plan.

As such, service and product-service business owners must:

• Explore the various digital media available.
• Identify their targets along with identifying where they congregate AND communicate online.
• Develop a strategy based upon the targets (which may actually require sub-strategies for each target and their online communities).
• Execute the plan including dedication of financial AND human resources in managing and monitoring activity.
• Analyze and quantify results in order to continue moving forward or adjusting as necessary.

Yes, that’s a lot to grasp but it is essential to developing an effective marketing program, and one that will attract AND engage today’s consumer, one that is more sophisticated and technologically advanced than ever before. They expect a business to have a digital presence.

Basically, what I’ve described is E-IDEA, which is something we utilize religiously in our marketing efforts at Acceler8Success Group – Explore, Identify, Develop, Execute, and Analyze. It really is a great, simple guide to follow.

It starts with exploring digital media that provides the best way to attract AND engage today’s customers. Of course, social media immediately comes to mind, and it should.

But let me be clear, social media is not the silver bullet many want and expect to make the sales process easier, or even to generate consumer interest on its own.

Instead, social media should be looked at as a vital complementing component to be utilized in conjunction with the traditional marketing. It should provide a support mechanism that target audiences can be directed to and that they may also find on their own.

Today’s consumers are also more diligent and cautious than ever before. That’s where the true benefits of social media come into play as it allows them to virtually stand next to a company and experience how that company interacts with its customers, franchisees, etc.

Social media can also be utilized as a way to drive consumers to a specific event like a live on-site event or even to an informative webinar or podcast where the product offering can be explained in detail.

The key here is that one-size-fits-all strategies with social media do not work effectively. An integrated approach is certainly more effective.

However, it’s critical for business owners to ask questions at the onset of utilizing social media related to their own expectations and desired results. This is crucial in evaluating whether or not the program has worked. As important as click-thru’s, insights, impressions, etc. are in analyzing the process and program itself, looking at desired results against actual results is really the true Social Media P&L.

Business is personal.

People want to do business with people. They buy from people. Sure, the business name may get them in the proverbial door, but it’s the person representing the business that they want to do business with.

So, as it’s not uncommon for consumers, especially today’s consumers to check out the company’s presence on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Pinterest and/or You Tube. It’s also not uncommon for them to check out social media of the owner or salesperson. Interestingly, they have a keen eye for a salesperson’s name and that of the business owner on review sites.

What they hope to find is are people of experience and integrity. The higher the price tag of the service or product-service being purchased, the more the likelihood of a consumer’s due diligence expanding beyond a cursory look. They prefer to do business with people they believe they can trust.

I don’t think that it can be argued that companies whose key frontline salespeople with strong personal branding wouldn’t be significantly stronger than an organization that is essentially faceless. The same can be said of the business owner, as well. Actually, the more visible he or she is, the greater the presumed credibility of the business.

Success for service and product-service businesses takes considerable more planning and effort than that of other business models – ones that are truly faceless such as a retail store or a fast food restaurant, or even Amazon!

Now, I’m not degrading the efforts of those businesses that obviously strive for 100% customer satisfaction and have processes in place to ensure the same. But with a strong personal brand that reaches into the local community, service and product-service business owners and their salespeople, with a strong marketing plan to attract AND engage customers, would be more successful driving sales for the business than otherwise.

Have a great day. Make it happen. Make it count!

Related Articles

Sales Success by the Numbers

Personal Branding for: (sales or biz dev title here)

I recently read an interesting article at Vox.com about what the American Dream looks like today for immigrants. The article referenced a massive study by the National Bureau of Economic Research. Published in 2019, the study examined millions of father-son pairs of immigrants over the last century. The authors found that children of immigrants have higher rates of upward mobility than the children of those born in the U.S.

More significantly, they found that shifts in immigration policy and country of origin have not altered the pattern — and that it holds true whether the first generation was poor (in the bottom 25th percentile of income distribution) or relatively well-off (in the top 25th percentile).

For those who’ve personally watched upward mobility work within their families, the promises of the American Dream often feel like promises kept. Hard work and education led to significantly better outcomes for their children, with more stability for the entire family.

Immigrants Achieving the American Dream

My grandparents immigrated to America from Sicily with little money and few belongings to their name. They were moved through Ellis Island and settled in Brooklyn. They weren’t provided with government housing or given welfare checks.

Initially staying with relatives and friends of family, some they barely knew, they took menial jobs as they could find them. They saved every penny they could and as quickly as possible they secured an apartment, and then a better one until they purchased a home, and then a nicer one.

My grandfather started as a laborer and eventually became a bricklayer. My grandmother worked in the garment sweatshops, often starting work at 4AM. Literally, working their fingers to the bone. Yet, supper was on the table every day without fail.

Sundays were an open house for family and friends. My grandparents had no education. Nor did they ever own a car. All they wanted from America was opportunity and the chance for their children to have better lives than they did.

Well, they helped my Mom and I as my parents had divorced when I was a young child. We lived in their home with my two uncles. They helped one of my uncles start a business while putting my other uncle through college and medical school. And they never received, nor expected anything from the U.S. government. Yet, I had never heard them complain.

As they sailed past the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor they only wanted one thing and that was opportunity. They found it and capitalized on it without handouts, grants, welfare, etc. Truly, they wouldn’t have accepted any of it as they were very proud people. They lived for their dreams, and accepted their responsibility. I’m forever grateful for the foundation they built for our family.

A very good friend of mine, Gustavo Hernandez legally immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico with barely a dollar in his pocket. He worked his butt off, taking whatever job he could find and worked his way through the ranks of the restaurant industry. From doing menial jobs to waiter to assistant manager to manager to restaurant owner, he excelled at each position.

Over the years, he worked to attain U.S. citizenship and did the same for his wife, Betty who had immigrated from Central America. Betty worked at a local hospital as they started a family. Despite all the hardships they had gone through, they were determined to achieve the American Dream, and they did.

Gustavo started a restaurant with his brother. He made sure to bring in other family members along the way. In a relatively short period of time he started a second restaurant and then a third. He and Betty purchased a home, and eventually a second home while keeping the first one to rent to a friend of the family. Gustavo was already helping others within his family and community.

My wife and I were honored to be invited to attend Betty’s swearing in ceremony for her American citizenship. I’ll never forget how proud they were as they were now a family of American citizens. And like my grandparents, they never accepted anything from anyone in the way of financial assistance. I couldn’t believe how much money Gustavo spent to legally achieve American Citizenship for himself and for Betty. It was an insane amount of money!

One time Gustavo asked me why so many people that were born in America were unhappy and why so many had trouble finding and keeping a job. He said he couldn’t understand it as he had hundreds of friends that had immigrated to the U.S. and he didn’t know of any that were unemployed. In fact, some had two, three, and even four jobs!

As Gustavo’s eldest son was preparing to attend college, Gustavo came down with COVID and passed away two months later. The last time I had met with him, just days before he got sick, he informed me he had leased the restaurant where we had first met some fifteen or so years ago. He said it felt like he had come full circle.

Today, the new restaurant is open and his dream continues as his family has stepped up to keep his legacy alive. His son is still attending college. Gustavo’s influence carried on to two of his nieces who have graduated from college with degrees in mechanical engineering. The family continues to carry on Gustavo’s dream as he has helped them achieve their dream… The American Dream!

Have a great day. Make it happen. Make it count!

Many people that know me ask why I am so passionate about franchising and it’s minimized participation in Small Business Saturday by American Express. Well, the reason is continued confusion as to perceptions about franchising and that franchises are all big business.

McDonald’s comes to their minds as the typical franchise with large marketing budgets. The perception, as related to me eleven years ago by American Express executives was that the McDonald’s parent company pays for all marketing and that in and of itself creates a huge advantage for McDonald’s franchisees over local businesses. Obviously, this is totally off-course and couldn’t be further from the truth.

In any event, franchising has made some progress over the years as American Express has slowly expanded its efforts to allow franchises to participate in its Small Business Saturday program. Unfortunately, it still is not enough as limits continue to be imposed for franchise brands based upon the number of locations.

The number of locations is irrelevant when determining whether or not a business is considered small business, and a local business at that. It’s all about the individual location’s ownership. It’s about the investment made by the owner. It’s about the risks taken to pursue the American Dream of business ownership.

What is still being missed is the reality that thousands upon thousands of individuals that own franchises across our great Nation are basically in the same position as any Mom & Pop operator up and down Main Street USA. Yet, the majority are excluded from participating in Small Business Saturday events.

At the end of this article I’ve listed links to various articles chronicling my initial efforts to have American Express recognize franchising as small business. My concern now is that in addition to how the franchise business model is viewed by AMEX, how are other business models being viewed?

There’s a plethora of business models that have become quite popular for business ownership. I’m referring to home-based and virtual businesses. All are small businesses with many owned by individuals and families, no different than local Mom & Pop shop owners, the very target of American Express in its Small Business Saturday campaigns. If you disagree, please take a look at the typical image for the event depicting a small business storefront.

Other business models that are small business include sole practitioners offering professional services including real estate & insurance sales, financial planning, and the fast-growing coaching profession (business, life, health, and other areas of expertise). They’re really no different than the small business offering personal services such as hairstyling, massage, manicures & pedicures, and full-service spa experiences.

I am happy to see of late, more attention given to restaurants with #DineSmall but it’s not enough. I’m not sure if that was an AMEX initiative, but it should be, and one that should be expanded to piggyback Small Business Saturday. After all, besides the large company-owned restaurant chains, all restaurants are small businesses. And like other small businesses, restaurants (and bars) are the brainchild of an individual or family or, if a franchise restaurant, they are owned & operated by individuals and families, just the same.

American Express explains its Small Business Saturday campaign on its website. It states, American Express cares deeply about thriving communities and believes small businesses are at the core of every thriving neighborhood. That’s why – in the midst of the recession in 2010 – we created Small Business Saturday® on the Saturday after Thanksgiving to encourage people to Shop Small and bring more holiday shopping to small businesses.

In 2011, the U.S. Senate even passed a resolution to support Small Business Saturday, and participation in the event has expanded to all 50 states. Read more about the history of Small Business Saturday HERE. Momentum continues to build, but is it enough for ALL small businesses?

Investopedia explains Small Business Saturday as an annual event that was created to encourage consumers to shop locally in person and online at small businesses. 

However, I don’t necessarily agree with some of the points made on the site as it specifically states this event is intended to encourage consumers to shop at small and locally owned businesses. That includes retail stores and restaurants as well as other small businesses, such as salons, grocery stores, and service-based businesses. It also extends to small businesses that exist online.

If there is any truth to the latter part of the statement, I’d have to say the efforts to promote the same are just not there, or certainly, are just not enough. To me, it may have been added as all encompassing lip-service.

Further, there is an Important Message on the Investopedia site that reads, Businesses must meet American Express guidelines regarding size and payment acceptance to be added to the Shop Small map.

So, is American Express more interested in driving AMEX card sales, or is it more interested in, as stated on the Investopedia site, to give small businesses a revenue boost during the holiday shopping season. Or, as referred to on various American Express sites, to help local communities thrive.

Please don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love the Small Business Saturday initiative. I thought it was great from day one which is why I encourage my franchise clients to participate across all locations. Unfortunately, that is what led to discovering the exclusion (and subsequent limitations) on franchise businesses.

Nevertheless, I still love Small Business Saturday. I just don’t want to see any small business owner left out. In other words, I’d love to see all small businesses promoted. I’d love to see all small business owners have the opportunity to benefit by the program.

As mentioned above, here are links to various articles about my initial efforts to include Franchising in the Small Business Saturday initiative:

11/21/11 Franchising Excluded from AMEX Small Business Saturday Events!

11/25/11 Was Franchising Slapped in the Face by American Express by Accident?

11/26/11 Franchises Excluded from Small Business Saturday – AMEX Responds!

11/29/11 AMEX Reassessing Policies for Small Business Saturday

11/24/12 Franchising Not [Completely] Respected by American Express!

11/30/13 Franchising Supports Small Business Saturday

Please help make a difference and encourage everyone you know to shop at franchises AND independent businesses on Small Business Saturday, as well as before and after this year’s event on November 26th. I suggest that each time they make a purchase at a franchise to let American Express know by using #ShopSmall in their social media activities along with #ShopFranchise. We must continue to let American Express know that franchises are small business, too.

As well, we must let American Express know that other business models should be included. Please stay tuned for my thoughts on how we can make that happen. In the meantime, I look forward to learning about your thoughts and ideas.

We’re all in this together. We must all do what we can to strengthen our local communities and the businesses that support those communities.

Have a great day. Make it happen. Make it count!

Influencer Marketing Hub defines an “influencer” as someone who has:

• the power to affect the purchasing decisions of others because of his or her authority, knowledge, position, or relationship with his or her audience.
• a following in a distinct niche, with whom he or she actively engages. The size of the following depends on the size of his or her topic of the niche.

Based upon this definition, I’d have to say that George Carlin was and still is a great influencer. In my opinion, he was and is the ultimate influencer. Even after his death in 2008 (His wife died early in 2008 and he followed her, dying in July 2008), his influence continues to this day as videos of his many stand-up comedy performances and late-night television interviews live on across social media. There’s even a Carlin’s Corner channel on SiriusXM.

Carlin was an American stand-up comedian, actor, author, singer, voice artist, and comedian, noted especially for his irreverent attitude and his observations on politics, language, psychology, and religion, as well as some taboo subjects. I always find it interesting when I watch one of his routines from 15–20 years ago and knowing what we know now, it’s uncanny how spot-on he was in his comments.

The following was a written piece by George Carlin that popped up this morning in my Facebook Memories. I had first read it and shared it several years ago. After reading it again this morning, I thought it appropriate to share once again today, at a time when quite frankly people could use a dose of Carlin, albeit in something much different than what would have been typically delivered in his trademark kick-in-the-ass messaging.

It is ironic George Carlin could write something so very eloquent and so very appropriate. I find this message to be warm, yet alerting. I believe it’s still very appropriate today, some 14 years after his death. George Carlin continues to live on as one of the greatest influencers of all time. We can and should learn from his eye-opening statements and heed his advice to remember what should really be part of our daily lives.

An observation by George Carlin:

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We’ve learned how to make a living, but not a life. We’ve added years to life not life to years. We’ve been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We’ve done larger things, but not better things.

We’ve cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We’ve conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We’ve learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete.

Remember to spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.

Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.

Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn’t cost a cent.

Remember, to say, ‘I love you’ to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.

Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.

Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

And always remember, life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by those moments that take our breath away.

Have a great day. Make it happen. Make it count!