I ran across a blog post that has lots of good facts and one huge error about opening a temporary Halloween store.  The blog is called The Daily Apple and has been publishing on blogspot since 2004. The blog post is Apple #414: Those Halloween Stores.
I’ll get the error out of the way up front so you know to disregard the sales figures and profitability guesses in the post.  The author claims a single Halloween Express store rung up sales of $70 million in 2 months (which is unfathomable).  From that he deduces what you can make, conservatively:

Now let’s …read more

In July, 2009, Franchise Pick explored the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of franchising.  I’ll let you decide which is which.
Do you know a franchise company, franchise opportunity, franchise vendor or issue you’d like to recommend for us to feature?  Email Sean Kelly at info[at]ideafarm.net.
Here’s what we covered in July, 2009:

July’s Featured Franchise:  Oxi Fresh Carpet Cleaning

Featured Opportunity: Oxi Fresh Franchise 33 Comments
Oxi Fresh Carpet Cleaning Franchise Profile
Interview with Jonathan Barnett, Oxi Fresh
OXI FRESH Pt. 2: The Green Franchise 22 Comments
OXI FRESH Franchisees Happy to be Green (1)
OXI FRESH Franchisees Happy to be Green (2)

July’s Featured Franchise Vendor:  Contour …read more

[Do you know of an noteworthy franchise company or franchisee that we should feature?  Let me know at info[at]franbest.com]
According to Oxi Fresh Carpet Cleaning®, their franchise owners use a green cleaning method that harnesses the power of oxygen to clean carpets.  OxiFresh franchise owners provide carpet cleaning that’s safe for children and pets,  leaves no sticky residue and has a drying time of only one hour.
After I interviewed Oxi Fresh CEO Jonathan Barnett, MBA, about his “green” approach to carpet cleaning. (OXI FRESH Pt. 2: The Green Franchise), I received 30+ comments from franchise owners who shared how “going green” …read more

[Do you know of an noteworthy franchise company or franchisee that we should feature?  Let me know at info[at]franbest.com]
In my interview series featuring up-and-coming franchise chains, I interviewed Oxi Fresh CEO Jonathan Barnett, MBA, about his “green” approach to carpet cleaning. (OXI FRESH Pt. 2: The Green Franchise).

I was interested to know whether being a “green” company gave Oxi Fresh a marketing advantage over the competition.  The answer was a resounding YES!
The answer came not from Jonathan, but from the 30+ enthusiastic comments left on the interview post… mostly from Oxi Fresh franchise owners.  Here’s what they had to say:
Robert, …read more

According to founder Jan Van Blarcum, Creative Tutors is a rewarding home-based tutoring franchise for experienced educators.
Creative Tutors franchisees operate a home-based educational tutoring business serving students from grades PK-12. Creative Tutors franchisees enjoy training and support systems and an Internet-based reporting and accounting system that enables them to concentrate on marketing their services and building their businesses in their protected territories.
Top New Franchises had a chance to learn more from Creative Tutors founder Jan Van Blarcum.
Share or read the comments on the Creative Tutors FanWall.

Top New Franchises: How do you describe the Creative Tutors franchise concept?
Jan: Creative Tutors franchise …read more

Part 2 of our Featured Franchise Series interview with Jonathan Barnett, Founder & President of Oxi Fresh.
Oxi Fresh Carpet Cleaning® franchise owners use a green cleaning method that harnesses the power of oxygen to clean carpets.  OxiFresh franchise owners provide carpet cleaning that’s safe for children and pets,  leaves no sticky residue and has a drying time of only one hour.   Read what OxiFresh owners have to say about their franchise at the first link below:
Featured Opportunity: Oxi Fresh Franchise (28+ Comments),
Oxi Fresh Carpet Cleaning Franchise Profile
Interview with Jonathan Barnett, Oxi Fresh
FranchisePick.com: Do Oxi Fresh franchisees service residences, businesses, …read more

Ten fresh franchise opportunities you can start!
A couple of weeks ago I started a little weekly post called OpporTUESDAY, where I invited franchisors to shamelessly brag (in 100 words or less) about their franchise opportunities, and to provide links to their websites.
I liked the idea of giving franchisors a free listing (as they get charged out the wazoo by most franchise listing portals) and giving prospective franchisees a chance to review interesting franchise opportunities that might not be advertising (and spending) heavily enough to get their attention.
OpporTUESDAY was immediately well-received, and despite little promotion we’ve received information from about 30 …read more

Brag about your franchise opportunity!
Tell us about your franchise opportunity by leaving a comment below.
Here are the rules:
-  100 words or less
-  Include a link to your website
-  Use your real email address (private – not shown or shared)
-  Encourage others to visit/comment; Retweets appreciated
-  Smile!  It’s free!
-  Come back next Tuesday and do it again!
TELL US ABOUT YOUR FRANCHISE.  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW!
image:  FranBest.com

The Top New Franchises program has been seeking nominations for the most innovative new and emerging franchise concepts.  Early nominees include Fairway Divorce Solutions, Spoon Me Frozen Yogurt, A Womb With A View fetal imaging, and an innovative early childhood education concept called Kid’s Community College.
According to the listing for Kid’s Community College on TopNewFranchises.com, Kid’s Community College collegiate campuses are innovative early childhood institutions of higher learning designed as the genesis of life-long learning for children ages 4 weeks to 5th grade. KCC franchise owners provide the new standard in accredited, high-quality, early childhood educational systems.
Kid’s Community College …read more

Franchise blogger and broker Joel Libava has an uplifting post about a local non-profit organization opening a dollar store franchise in order to provide training and jobs to the developmentally disabled.
According to Libava, the Grand Opening of the Just-A-Buck store was about more than making bucks, and it was the culmination of a group effort.  It seems that staff members of Ohio’s Cuyahoga County Board of Mental Retardation & Developmental Disabilities {MR/DD} were exploring the franchise ownership model to help employ their workers. Anne Hach, the director of Key Entrepreneur Center at Cleveland Corporate College, directed them to the quarterly …read more