Franchisee Resource Center

The answer is actually pretty simple and proves that rabid customer loyalty and a consistent menu, while not sufficient for world-beating growth, can still take a brand a long way.

In all the talk about deficits,unemployment, and the precarious state of our nation's economy, one of America's most powerful engines for recovery is often (and foolishly) excluded from the conversation -- a classic case of missing what's right under our nose. Developed and perfected right here in the U.S., the franchise business model represents the ideal blend of national heft and local business, accounting for hundreds of thousands of stores, millions of jobs, and billions in annual output.

Have you had daydreams of working from home? Of course you have! Whohasn'timagined lazily rolling out of bed, pulling on their slippers, brewing a cup of coffee, and casually strolling into the next room to start “working from home"? It may sound like a fantasy, but working from home (running a home-based franchise or other home-based business) isn’t as easy as it's often made out to be.

Here are 5 steps to get you started off on the right foot:

There seems to be a lot of confusion amongst early-stage business owners concerning use of the various trademark symbols (TM, SM, and (R)). This article addresses when to use which symbols, and when not to use any of the symbols at all.

Think about the last time you hired a plumber or an auto mechanic, or a lawyer for that matter. Without asking, you probably knew that the person you hired owed you a legal duty to perform the job in a competent manner consistent with the standards of his or her profession. The same is true when you bought a new car or built a new house. You rightly expected that the seller would stand behind its responsibility.

In the past few weeks, I’ve discussed what constitutes trademark infringement, how to protect your image and intellectual property online, and some recent developments in the law regarding use of competitor keywords in search engine marketing. This article goes back to the fundamentals, and discusses ten tips for selecting a trademark.

On the subject of “fairness” in franchising, we will try to separate the optimists from the pessimists . Hopefully, we will make an optimist out of even the most cynical readers amongst us.

Other major advantages of home-based franchise opportunities are low start-up costs and overhead expenses.The initial investment required for an at-home franchise is typically much lower than a conventional franchise, often in the $15,000-$30,000 range. Some home-based businesses can be started with just $10,000. Since franchisees do not need commercial space, work-from-home franchises also have low overhead costs and require little to no inventory.