I recently came across an interesting discussion in one of the social networking groups that I found quite intriguing, and downright enjoyable to read. It wasn’t about franchising. Nothing about social media. There was no mention of business. Money or finances weren’t a major part of the equation. And, surprisingly, just a few mentions about the poor economy.

The discussion was actually about the concept of dreams and goals. It was enlightening that there were over one hundred responses in a relatively short period of time. Definitely a considerable amount when compared to other discussions within the same group. Often, the responses were being posted one right after the other. It seemed like people wanted to talk about their dreams and goals, almost as if they had been prohibited from doing so before.

In light of the economic troubles surrounding us today, it seems the subject of dreams and goals has hibernated like bears for winter. During good times, dreams and goals are out in the open, shared by many. Actually bragged about by some, and the end results, often materialistic, flaunted by others. It’s ironic that we’re taught that in order to achieve a goal, a key element in doing so is to enlist the assistance of people that can help us achieve the goal. Yet, in the current economic climate, discussions about dreams and goals have subsided, and almost disappeared. It’s almost like we feel guilty to have such discussions at this time. Or, that we should just be thankful for what we have and dismiss our dreams and goals as frivolous. What about the dreams and goals that are not financially driven or rewarding? Why have they been put on the back burner? Well, to all of this, I say “enough is enough.” Yes, enough of the poor me attitudes. Enough of the pity parties. And, enough of the social “rubbernecking.” (Social rubbernecking is when people excitedly talk about other people’s miseries – i.e. neighbor lost his job, their house was foreclosed on, he was having an affair – it’s just like slowing down to look at the horrific car wreck!)

NOW is definitely the time to put all the negatives aside and re-ignite the passion behind our dreams. It’s the perfect time to pull out those lists of goals and remember why we wrote them down in the first place. Why they’re important. How they’re important to people close to us? And, how our lives would be positively affected upon achieving our goals and making our dreams come true. Certainly, it’s time to face the realization that it’s up to us to make our dreams and goals a reality. They’re ours. We own them. No one can take them from us. To paraphrase a quote I’ve seen many times (in many different forms) in discussions about success, “There are people that make things happen, some that watch things happen, and others that wonder what the hell happened?” Could you tell which group of people are most successful at achieving their goals and making their dreams come true?

May all your dreams and goals come true in 2010!

Do you know how to tell if your vegetable or cooking oil’s gone bad?
Been really pondering the vast mysteries of how to store and keep your restaurant’s oil, or even if it is advisable to do so?

Perhaps you have wondered just which oil is the most healthy for you to be cooking your food in. Well, wonder no more. Even if you never thought about these things, there are some interesting facts about just what that liquid gold in your fryer does, and how that impacts your business’ bottom line.

If you have worked in food service for quite some time, you are probably well aware of what happens to your cooking oil as it deteriorates. It starts to smell a little off, there are all these little bits of food in it, and it begins to sort of taint the foods you fry in it. Fries begin to smell and taste a little fishy, chicken starts to have a frylike taste, and so on and so forth. Everyone’s gotten the french fries with the odd bit of “something” in them. Have you ever thought about what’s really going on with the oil as it deteriorates and what you can do to slow that process?

Filtering out those little bits of particulate on a regular basis is a very good start, but there is more to it than that. The whole process begins with that first batch of food fried in new oil. It starts to darken from the very first few batches, and by around the tenth or so, it becomes more noticeable. This is due to both the food particles and the oil burning for a prolonged amount of time. The more it gets used, the slower it seems to pour, and cooking oil, much like the oil you use in your car will undergo changes in viscosity. This happens both due to the changes in its molecular structure and because as you use it, food particles begin to accumulate. When it does start making foods taste like one another, or it begins to smoke before it reaches full heat- it is just past time to throw it out.

The best methods for storage of cooking oils, if you are running routine maintenance on your fryer and the oil has not gone bad is to keep them anywhere that is cool and dark. One of the best methods of prolonging the life of cooking oil is actually to remove it from the fryer, place in the refrigeration unit when you close up the restaurant. This is not actually the most practical method, but if you’re looking to cut costs when it comes to storing your oil, it’s one way of doing that. This is because oils are actually pretty sensitive to heat and light and the longer they remain exposed to either, they deteriorate that much faster.

As to which oil is the most healthy, the honest answer is, there really isn’t one. You can, of course, go into all of the ramifications of which oils carry what fat composition, but when it all boils down- healthy is no more than 25 to 30 percent of calories of fat in everyone’s daily dietary intake. Period. Of course, there are “healthier” fats, but the bottom line is, in food service it is usually best to choose the oil that best suits your budget.

Many experienced and seasoned restaurant owners have had to deal with the consequences of a poor hiring choice at some point or another. Whether it was just a busy time of year and management didn’t filter through the applicants well enough, or possibly it was the management that was the bad choice- everyone’s been there. Usually, restaurant management handles the hiring and training but sometimes, a bad choice slips through the cracks. Avoiding a number of common hiring mistakes can cut your losses, actually. A poor choice in employees often results in loss of time, wages, advertising, and occasionally and employee lawsuit, so this is something to consider very deeply and take seriously.

Before you begin to even advertise for the position, sit down and really outline everything that you are looking for. Begin first with the positions you need filled, and the qualifications needed to fill them. When you do advertise the position, be exact in what you are looking for- this will save you a great deal of time and money, and prevent any mistakes in someone perhaps applying for a job that they are not qualified to handle. Ensure that the place that you plan to interview is casual, that it does not set the person at ill ease or make them feel uncomfortable- something which may make nerves worse and cause you to miss out on a potentially great employee based on a case of nerves.

The biggest problem usually comes in relying too heavily on references. More often than not you do not get a balanced opinion from these, even if it is a former supervisor. The best thing to do is to balance the references with the impressions that you get of the potential employee during the interview process, and go from there, rather than leaning too heavily on the references alone. Interviewing very carefully, perhaps conferring with an assistant manager or even your staff trainer may help. Often, having someone else there for the interview not only further puts the prospective employee at ease, but it can help to pool your opinions and impressions and make a much more informed choice.

Lastly- one of the best way to make sure that you hire on good employees, is to be a good employer. Reputation is everything in the restaurant business and people do tend to desire working for a much more highly spoken of business. It has been shown that the more desirable the position is within the restaurant, the better quality of applicants you will receive, and in that, you’ll find much better employees and less turn over rates. One of the biggest issues in the food service industry is it is typically a higher turn over- due in part to younger people accepting the positions but also, because often, employers are not doing the best they can to retain these employees. Things like promoting from within and you will  find that you are not only more able to hire better employees, but keep them working for you for a long time and reduce the need to hire quite as often.

Food service is a very resilient industry, and no matter how bad the economy gets, it is usually one of the few areas that make it through. This usually depends by and large on the abilities of the management to make sound choices, control loss, and be able to make sure that the restaurant is still moving forward, even when many businesses are falling behind. There are a number of strategies that smart restaurant management uses in order to continue moving in a positive and profitable direction, and these things are generally a key ingredient in surviving rough economic times.

Marketing is still a major factor, even when the economy is down. With the boom in internet use, many food service establishments have Myspace pages, Facebook and even use Twitter as a way of continuing to promote sales, specials and deals in a cost effective manner. The trend continues to move upward, which does show businesses that utilize this as being with the times and keeping up with their customers- so that is an added benefit.  Other means of advertising and promotions abound- everything from themes to adding karaoke has been used by restaurants in order to continue promoting, and continue to make sales.

Controlling loss is a way to make it through, even with profits are not surging upward. Staffing is one area where loss can be controlled by paying attention to market trends and making sure that you are scheduling accordingly. You have to be absolutely certain that you have the right number of staff during the busy times- but not over staffing during the slow. Balancing your schedule in this way helps to cut the cost of labor, which is a great way to make sure that loss stays at bay. Paying careful attention to the staff that is working hard and giving their full effort is key, so that in the event you do have to cut some of your crew, you know who will provide the very best customer experience.

Another area, is in employee theft. Everything from theft of tips, to even recognizing patterns of behavior can help- because during a down economy, the sad truth is that theft tends to occur more frequently. Understanding how to appropriately address these situations as they arise is important, yes, but loss prevention measures can not only enable restaurant management to avoid loss, but rarely have to deal with this problem, as well. This problem can impact all aspects, from loss of inventory to fudged time cards, and is something that can cause a great deal of loss.

Preventing loss and making sure that you are still working towards a better bottom line is more important than ever when things seem uncertain. More often than not, food service industry professionals are keenly aware of the trends in their profits and using that information will enable you to be able to better schedule, prevent loss and be able to continue to make it through. Intelligent business owners are the ones that make it through the rough patches and still succeed.

There are a number of commonly asked questions when it comes to franchising. Some wonder, if you are using someone else’s business model, and you have to answer to a franchisor, are you still your own boss? Others still yet wonder if other franchisees in the same franchise are competition, or are they colleagues. Going further still yet, many wonder if perhaps you need special skills or if franchising is something that anyone can do. Here, we’ll touch on a few of the basics and sort of explain how franchising is one way to open a business and become self employed.

What is Franchising? To put it very simply, franchising is paying someone else to use their business model, marketing and operations techniques, and the use of their brand name. You buy into an already successful business, and benefit from its brand and experience. In some ways you are not your own boss, in others you are- there is still yet a certain level of flexibility that one gets from franchising. However, in the aspects where you aren’t your own boss, generally the benefits outweigh that. Being able to have that backing and support can be a big benefit and many who have gone into independent business can tell you- support is very important. Not only that, with franchising, you tend to get a much quicker return on your investment, and reduction of risk is a big factor as well.

The fact that franchises are usually more quickly up and running is easy to explain- if you look down the street in any given town, and think about the franchises you see, such as McDonalds- they are all the same. The same basic build, same basic operating procedure, same training, same products, and the same marketing. This makes it very easy to set up, and done quite quickly which in turn makes it a faster road to turning a profit.

There are however a few things with franchising that you don’t have with independent business. In order to purchase a franchise, you’ll first need to pay a franchising fee. This is the amount agreed upon and paid at the time of signing a franchise agreement. Usually this fee only covers the right to use the name and the system, but in some cases may include other things. There are also ongoing fees known as royalty fees- and these are generally a percentage of sales, the terms of which will be drawn up and outlined in your franchising agreement. Still, general running costs for franchises are typically a little less than independent businesses.

This is just a simple run down of franchising, itself. There is much more to it than just the fees and brand recognition, but on the whole, franchising affords people another option for business ownership. This option is usually well laid out and more organized that independent business, and as such, is generally a good option to narrow the risk margin and for faster start ups.

For more on filtafry visit filta.com.

Franchising has one big benefit and this is one that is expressed a number of ways but it boils down to lower risk. Any time you begin a new business, it carries with it a high level of risk that can be very intimidating. As a matter of fact, we’ve seen, studies show that 90 percent of all businesses will fail within three years and that the failure rate is high because owners have to adapt- and can’t. Failure to move through that learning curve and learn to operate a business is rough, but quite common. Franchising takes away a great deal of that risk because it is an already proven formula in most cases. Franchises are usually an already defined, proven business format, whereas often, independent business requires a great deal of trial and error- and unfortunately, in business, it’s those errors that cause failure.

Another great benefit is that franchise is an investment and like most businesses, that carries a certain element of risk, yes, however, unlike an independent business- you can research a franchise. Sure, you can project potential income for a business, but you cannot accurately assess what it will make based on example- but with a franchise, usually you can. There is also usually a great deal of information about any given franchise out there ready for anyone to look at, and read through making it a very informed investment on the part of the franchisee. Additionally, with that proven plan comes proven names. Brand recognition is easily one of the biggest advantages to a franchise operation.

Supply costs are typically lower with a franchise as well. There is usually some form of group purchasing power through the franchiser itself that makes this much more organized and sold at the best possible price. There is almost always a uniform system of operation, so that consumers end up getting the same, consistent quality from location to location. This is also one of the tie ins to mass purchasing power and brand identification as well as customer loyalty.

The franchiser will also often offer a better format for training and marketing. Not only that, using that proven system, there are often protocols in place for everything from accounting to the technical basics of maintaining the equipment involved. This usually makes the advantage definitely franchise over independent business when in start up because it is almost instant business- with training formats outlined, ways of doing business already clearly defined, all that is left is training employees in the given format.

As you can see, there are a number of ways that a franchise really has a great deal of benefit over an independent business. While this is true, understanding that this is still yet a business of its own, with the same sorts of responsibilities can help. Identifying your own traits and lifestyle needs and weighing them against your franchising options can definitely help you to make the right choice for you.

For more on filtafry visit filta.com.

In recent years, working at home has become a big boom. The draw to telecommute is a big one- not only can you be your own boss, but you see all the time, “work in your pajamas!” and other perks listed. While not all home based franchises are going to afford you the luxury of working in your pajamas, a few do. There are a number of home based franchises that can really make a big difference in not only your way of life, but your wallet as well. There is a reason that home based franchises are some of the most sought after positions around- they bring a greater flexibility, assume less risk than independent business, and bring in a source of stable income. What could be better?
There are all sorts, but each will carry a small element of sales. Even if your franchise is simply one of those massage chair franchises that we see in all of the malls and shopping outlets- you’ll still have to be able to sell yourself to the location in order to be successful. However, for every type of person, there is definitely an at home franchise that can be well suited to them.
Everything from housekeeping to painting, tutoring and beyond. Whatever interest you have, you can be sure that you will find a home based franchise that not only suits your goals, but likely can be integrated into your lifestyle with ease.

Having an office in your home does also mean less overhead, little commute costs, and you have a greater flexibility in setting your own hours and working at your own pace. There are also a number of tax benefits having your home office set up- especially if you are franchising, and according to the tax laws, you can claim portions of your house or garage for use as a home office. Using that area on a regular or exclusive basis means that you use it for work and not just occasionally. Exclusive means that it is only an office and nothing else and you will not be able to run the administrative aspects of your business anywhere else if you claim your home office. One of the best things you can do if you do decide to buy a home based franchise is to be sure you have an excellent accountant who can help you to make sound business decisions in this regard.

Other benefits of at home franchises is, relatively speaking they do tend to have much less in the way of start up as opposed to brick and mortar franchise. Considering you don’t have to set up a building, you don’t have to hire on staff most of the time, and you usually do not need a huge amount of inventory, it’s really no wonder. The convenience is also a big draw, as it makes balancing work and home life a bit easier for many people who perhaps have reasons for not wanting to work outside of the home.

For more on filtafry visit filta.com.

For entrepreneurs and those fascinated by the small business world, the explosion of internet financial journalism can be both a blessing and a curse. Everyone has an opinion these days on the state of the business world, and everyone with an opinion has a blog and a Twitter feed. But every now and again, some wisdom is passed on that is so important, we must pass it on.

The Wall Street-Journal has provided 5 small business indicators that are essential for forecasting the direction of the US economy. They are listed below.

1. Real Personal Consumption Expenditures: this will “shed light on whether consumers are spending and how much”
2. Consumer Confidence
3. Producer Price Index: important to monitor because it can reveal inflationary pressures
4. U.S. Dollar
5. Unemployment Rate

The big issue, underlying most of this is consumer confidence. There will be a day, either this year or the next, when people decide it is safe to go out and spend again. This will have something of a domino-effect on the economy at large. All of these indicators will give you a great sign of where consumer confidence lies.

If you are a franchisee considering taking on extra staff or considering expansion or a prospective franchisee trying to perfectly time your entry into the market, our advice is this: monitor these indicators very closely throughout the year.

Many people have concern about keeping it local. Everyone wants to support their local economy and make sure that the money stays within the community. However, there are a few facts about franchising that you should know before you assume that a franchise is “big business” and that it is purely about taking money away from your community. It is not really the case, usually- for the most part, franchises are almost always owned by someone who has lived in the territory for some time, or at least close to it.

In any given franchise, particularly the smaller ones, there is a local person- usually someone who is actually native to the area, behind everything. Franchises are bought by people who want to be self employed, want to run their own business, but are seeking out a proven business model and perhaps brand backing to help them succeed. So the first thing to really understand about a franchising operation is this- behind it, it is likely one of your own neighbors. The bulk of the money that was going to go out of the community already did- when this person bought the franchise. Yes, there are fees and royalties, but for the most part, consider that the person who owns that franchise is probably one of your own neighbors. More often than not, franchises are not big, faceless corporations at all, but locally owned and run businesses, just like their smaller, independent counterparts.

Secondly, franchising brings jobs- even the smallest of businesses, the more successful they become, has to hire on help. The most cost effective way to handle hiring of employees is to do so from the existing pool of the population around. So, the jobs are not being taken away, either, and on the whole, franchises may be employing a great number of people in your very own community. Also, smart franchise owners usually bring in supplies and contractors from the community itself- this is intelligent business sense, as it is usually not nearly as expensive to bring in local work. So, in these ways, franchising does in fact benefit local economies in a better way. Many people find that their first job as a teen, in fact, ends up being in a food service franchise of some sort, and again- this benefits the local economy.

Behind each and every franchise operation that you may see in your community, there is an owner, a manager, sometimes sub managers and usually employees. Each and every one of those people come from your communities. As they work, they bring in money to support their own families- and, in turn, your community as well. The economic wheel moves as it does, and the local work that comes from franchising is actually a very stable and good thing- unlike independent businesses which can face economic crunches and not make it out, franchises usually already have a proven set up that has been working for them for some time. This keeps your neighbors, family and friends in jobs that support both themselves, but also, your community on the whole.

For more on filtafry visit filta.com.

The Small Business Administration has just released its newest list of failure rates by franchise brand from October 1, 2000 until September 31, 2008. This is a list of general SBA 7(a) and real estate and equipment 504 loans to franchise owners. It gives a sense to lenders and buyers on how well franchisees in a chain are financially able to perform. This is the list that the agency provides to loan officers of its most trusted lenders and banks throughout the country.

Loan officers and franchise buyers realize that there are thousands of franchise opportunities to buy from, so why mess with the riskiest?

This Report, in spreadsheet form, is the unedited data from the US Small Business Administration (SBA) reporting on franchise loan performance on the brand level during the time period of 10/1/2000 and 9/30/2008.

The table of data includes listings for all identified franchises by franchise code for loans guaranteed through the 7(a) and 504 programs. The table includes the number of disbursements, the amount disbursed, the failure percentage and the charge-off percentage. Individual loan data is not included in this report.

FiltaFry’s failure rate is only 6%. There are more than 300 brands with much higher failure rates (as high as 85%!) including:

Athlete’s Foot – 46% failure rate
Dollar Discount Stores – 44% failure rate
Carvel Ice Cream – 41% failure rate
Blimpie – 40% failure rate
Golf Etc – 40% failure rate
Wing Zone – 38% failure rate
Kwik Kopy – 33% failure rate
Mr. Electric – 33% failure rate
Back Yard Burgers – 32% failure rate
Fast Frame – 27% failure rate
TCBY – 25% failure rate
Budget Blinds – 24% failure rate
Godfather’s Pizza – 23% failure rate
Wetzel’s Pretzels – 23% failure rate
Minuteman Press – 22% failure rate
Meineke Discount Muffler – 21% failure rate
Petland – 20% failure rate
Quiznos – 19% failure rate
Lawn Doctor – 18% failure rate
AAMCO – 17% failure rate
Chem-Dry – 16% failure rate
Long John Silvers – 16% failure rate
Mr Handyman – 13% failure rate
Exxon – 13% failure rate

For more information visit www.filta.com