Potential buyout offer has support of family of founder Dave Thomas

COLUMBUS, Ohio – It was reported in the Mansfield News Journal 6 that the owner of 134 Wendy’s franchises wants to make a bid for the nation’s No. 3 hamburger chain with two private-equity firms.

David Karam, president of Cedar Enterprises Inc., said Wednesday that he and his partners have been invited by Wendy’s International Inc. to a second round of talks. He is backed by Kelso & Co. and Oak Hill Capital Partners.

“I’ve been involved in the brand,” he said. “I see the great potential of it.”

Cedar Enterprises, based outside Columbus, owns Wendy’sfranchises across the country that have a combined annual revenue of $200 million.

Karam’s first-round proposal was enough to garner entry into a second round next month, where bids are expected. He would not disclose how much he is willing to pay for Wendy’s, but said the company’s current stock price is rich.

Wendy’s shares rose 20 cents to $33.26 Wednesday.

“Fundamentally, there’s great upside with the brand, but the reality is no one wants to overpay,” he said.

Billionaire investor Nelson Peltz has said his company, Triarc Cos., is prepared to offer $37 to $41 per share for Wendy’s in a deal that would peg Wendy’s total value between $3.2 billion and $3.6 billion. Triarc owns the fast-food chain Arby’s and is also a major Wendy’s shareholder.

Peltz said in July that he and his allies had increased their Wendy’s stake to 9.8 percent of all outstanding shares.

Wendy’s formed a committee in April to determine how best to boost its stock price, including a possible sale. Wendy’s spokesman Denny Lynch and Peltz’s spokeswoman Carrie Bloom declined to comment Wednesday.

In the past year, Wendy’s has spun off its Tim Hortons coffee-and-doughnut chain and sold its money-losing Baja Fresh Mexican Grill following pressure from Peltz and other investors to boost the value of Wendy’s stock.

As a franchisee, Karam said he fears Wendy’s sales and product development would continue to stagnate under owners who do not know the chain as well as he does.

Karam’s father, Joseph, was one of Wendy’s original investors and became a franchisee in 1975. David Karam has run Cedar Enterprises for 22 years.

Karam has the backing of the family of Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas, said Pam Thomas Farber, Thomas’ daughter. The family would like to see the company turned over to someone involved in the company, she told The Columbus Dispatch, which first reported Cedar Enterprises’ bid.

“We don’t want the company to leave,” she said. “It’s been very hard on the family.”

Wendy’s, based in suburban Dublin, operates about 6,600 restaurants in the United States and abroad.

It trails rivals McDonald’s and Burger King.

Cross Posted at: Let’s Talk Franchising

In 1996, the bagel business was taking off, with several franchises expanding rapidly across the country. Franchises of Brueggers, Einstein Bros., Manhattan, Noah’s and Chesapeake were selling like hot cakes (bagels that is).

The prospects for the bagel business altered dramatically in June 1997 when Dunkin’ Donuts announced that its 2,000 stores would begin to sell bagels. This, in one stroke it became the largest bagel retailer in the nation.

At about the same time fresh bagels were being introduced in supermarkets across the country. In 1996 Modern Baking Magazine reported that Fresh bagels sales were up 50% in supermarkets and represented over $125 million in sales nationwide. By 2000 the total was over $400 million.

Bagels were now everywhere: big grocery stores, fast-food menus, middle-America cafeterias, even frozen-food sections. In 1988, Americans ate, on average, one bagel per month; in 1993, it was one every two weeks. According to Modern Baking (May 2007), fresh bagel sales are over $500 million dollars per year in supermarkets alone.

Some say even the Bagel itself changed, over the years bagels have undergone a transformation from small, dense, and satisfyingly chewy into large, puffy, and a mere platform for sandwiches.

Sales dropped, franchises stopped selling and the bagel franchises closed many stores.

Brueggers, Einstein Bros, aren’t just about bagels anymore. They all have re-branded themselves as bakery café’s.

Einstein Bros. Cafe is just one example of a bagel concept reaching beyond the bagel. Bruegger’s Enterprises Inc., based in Burlington, Vt., also has expanded menu offerings and started redesigns on its 250-unit Bruegger’s chain to place itself in the fast-casual segment.

Bruegger’s once famous for authentic boiled and baked bagels, now offer a variety of other stone-hearth baked breads, such as Ciabatta and the exclusive Softwich, a softer, square bagel ideal for sandwiches. The redesigned Bruegger stores now offer a warm, comfortable café setting for guests to enjoy breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Cross Posted at: Let’s Talk Franchising

Are the number of Franchise Consultants, and Brokers going to continue to grow? Or, as I predict, will this part of the Franchise industry start consolidating?…….

In the last 3 articles I have written about the phenomenon that is taking place..Too many consultant/brokers in the franchise world, and the  plethora of  new ones just entering an already crowded field. Here are links to Parts 1, 2, and  Part 3, just in case you wish to refresh your memory.

Am I writing about this just because I am a franchise consultant? Am I writing about this  because I do not want more competition? Am I writing about this because I just left a Franchise brokerage group that I really am not feeling the love for?
I am writing this to open up a discussion. I want to know how consumers feel about us. I want to know how franchise company execs feel about us. I am also writing this so that some prospective franchise brokers that are being courted by the franchise brokerage groups to buy their franchises that sell franchises to others, can take a breath..and find out before they buy, just what  it is that they are buying.

Janet Sparks, a veteran franchise industry writer, just wrote about one such wonderful franchise company, “The Entrepreneur’s Source” that once again is  is the position of defending itself against a class action lawsuit brought on by former franchisees. Article
They have a large number of franchisees, and at one time in little old Cleveland,Ohio, had 3-4 franchisees at the same time.
{As of this post, I only know of one franchisee in Cleveland who remains in business}
So, if “The Entrepreneur’s Source” as an example, has no problem selling 3 or 4 franchises in a shrinking metropolis like Cleveland, Ohio, multiply that by another 6-7 franchise brokerage groups that are trying to sell franchises of their own franchise brokering franchise, and you have some future headaches.

If you are reading this blog because you are thinking one day of investing in your own franchise as a way to “get where you want to go”, getting some advice and help makes sense. After all,there are over 3,500 different choices out there currently in franchising, and it does get quite confusing.
Here is the $100,000 question.  Would you want to work with:
A. A franchise consultant/ broker who like you, just lost his or her job, and is now a “franchise specialist” after a 2 week training program/
Or
B. A franchise consultant/broker who possibly either owned his or her own business before, or one that came from the franchise industry, and is now in another part of the industry?

If you chose A, are you really going to be comfortable working with someone who is new, and who is really learning about franchising at the same time you are? Are you really going to be comfortable with
their suggestions on how you should invest your $150+  in this new business venture?

If you chose B, at least you have access to a large number of folks who have already worked with this experienced franchise consultant/broker, and can share their personal  experiences with them.
However, working with an experienced  franchise consultant broker won’t guarantee success. Just like in any industry in which consultants get paid for a sale is the model, stuff can happen.

The bottom line is that if you are thinking about getting into franchise ownership, and you don’t want to do it on your own, using the right person can be very productive. Get references.

If you are thinking about buying a franchise brokerage franchise, make sure you know what you may be up against. {An industry that is getting ready to consolidate}

I really enjoy what I do. I get to help others with their dreams of business ownership. I get to do a lot of public speaking. {I was graced with good pipes..Here is a radio interview }
I get to meet some really smart people! All in all, my life is pretty darn good……

SoupMan Bid to Turn ‘Seinfeld’ Fame Into Empire Goes Off the Boil

David B. Caruso, Associated Press reports:

The chef who inspired the Soup Nazi character on “Seinfeld” makes a heck of a crab bisque, but a group of stewed investors says he’s having problems expanding his popular stand into a franchise empire.

Soupmaker Al Yeganeh closed his original Manhattan shop, famous for its strict ordering rules, in 2004 to focus on franchising Original SoupMan stores across the country. The company launched around 40 stores in its first two years and introduced its frozen soups to groceries.

But disgruntled franchisees say many of the new shops didn’t make it through their first year: At least eight have closed for good. Two more have shut their doors for now, although the company said it has deals in the works to reopen them.

Other franchisees told The Associated Press they want out of their contracts because of poor profits or bad relationships with the company. Several have sent the company letters threatening to sue.

Kevin Long, whose Original SoupMan franchise in Scranton, Pa., lasted just one winter, accused the company of misrepresenting how much it would cost to open and run the business.

He and other franchisees said the company also had early problems with its bowl and cup sizes, which were larger than expected and inadvertently gave patrons more soup than they paid for, and never lived up to promises to provide a product line that would sell during the summers, when demand for hot soups is low.

“They are just trying to get as many stores open as possible, and they aren’t supporting them whatsoever,” Long said.

Prices of $7 to $11 per 12-ounce bowl also made it tough to attract repeat customers, he added.

At least three stores have closed, at least temporarily, in New York City. Shops also have shut in Myrtle Beach, S.C., Harrisburg, Pa., Boulder, Colo., Colorado Springs, Colo., and Ottawa, Canada.

Franchisees in locations including Stratton Mountain, Vt., and Ridgewood, N.J., have asked to be released from their contracts so they may try staying open as a different type of business.

Original SoupMan spokesman John Rarrick chalked up the store failures to the normal “growing pains” associated with any new restaurant franchise.

“This is very common,” Rarrick said.

Of the struggling stores, he said, “They were really pioneers, and certainly there are risks associated with being a pioneer.”

Rarrick said the company had fixed the problem with the bowl sizes, abandoned an early idea of having most of its franchises operate as inexpensive carts and kiosks and struck a deal with Cold Stone Creamery that will create hybrid stores that will sell soup and ice cream.

He added that the soup company had delayed a plan to open 50 franchises in Britain while the it refined its business model.

“There are some really happy, really successful franchisees,” he added.

Original SoupMan opened its first stores in 2005, simultaneously capitalizing on and distancing itself from the “Seinfeld” episode that made Yeganeh famous.

On the show, a steely eyed chef makes his patrons follow a strict set of instructions dictating how they must order their soup, and he barks “No soup for you!” at those who fail to comply.

In real life, Yeganeh’s Manhattan store had similar rules posted: “THE LINE MUST BE KEPT MOVING. Pick the soup you want! Have your money ready! Move to the extreme left after ordering!”

Yeganeh, though, chafed at the Nazi nickname, which he felt insulting, and has discouraged his franchise owners from mentioning “Seinfeld” or saying “No soup for you!” on the job.

Crosds Posted at: Let’s Talk Franchising

The tech-savvy community at Slashdot.org in 2006 had an interesting post and comments on the viability of a Gaming Cafe and what branding, culture and services have shown to work.

Re:Yes we have one. (Score:5, Insightful)
by Orangejesus (898961) on Friday August 11, @11:56PM (#15893072)

you have to understand that most people don’t go to gaming cafes for the games perse, they go for the social interaction, they go to play with their friends and be able to yell at them, they go to hang out with people with similar intrests. I have a better PC than the local place I go to game at and so do most of my friends, but it’s easier to spend a few bucks and just go to the gaming place down the street than drag a bunch of computers around and fool with networking them and making sure everyone has the same version of what we want to play and working cd keys and ect. the gaming place I go to is open 24/7 and after 5 hours is free, (5 an hour) So it’s pretty common for us to just go and set up shop and do an overnight there playing till the wee hours of the morning. When I was on break from college one summer about 6 of us litterally lived up there for almost a week straight sleeping on the couches and ordering pizza. I mean we probably didn’t smell very good by the end of the week but it still ranks as one of the most fun times i’ve ever had. The key to a good gaming place is to make it somewhere that people just want to go to hang out and escape and not be bugged. I don’t know how long this place will last but it’s been open for over 5 years now and it’s just a small 10 computer place in a small town. the key is that the owner is a cool guy, he lets people play sometimes if they are a little short or he’ll let them owe him and ect. people like him people like the others who play there, people keep coming back and the place stays full all the time.

Re:Yes we have one. (Score:5, Informative)
by DarkMantle (784415) on Friday August 11, @11:57PM (#15893075)

There’s a place in town here (Cambridge Ontario Canada) That does fairly well (open for a year now) They use memberships for people that want to play regularly to make most of their rent. They also have food/drink there (pop and chips kind of stuff) and gamer and geek T-Shirts as well (similar to Think Geek [thinkgeek.com]). The WiFi is cool, secure it though so you can control who’s on it better. There’s another one in London Ontario that has a “Internet Cafe” in the front, so people can check email and surf the web. Then the back room is the gamer room. Combine the front Internet cafe style with a bit of a real cafe (watch out for the licensing if you’re selling food/drink you make there) with a few tables at it so people can grab a coffee and do a quick email check on their own laptop/PDA while there would be a neat idea as well. Best advice is to look at the area and ask what is needed. Maybe hang out near the local EB Games for a day or two and ask people as they’re leaving/entering if they’d fill out a 5 question survey about it. You may be able to avoid the mistakes the other places made.

wwtdd (Score:5, Informative)
by antiphoton (821735) on Friday August 11, @11:23PM (#15892941)

I live in Brisbane, Australia, and gaming cafe’s are quite popular in the major cities. I know of at least four around inner city brisbane that have been open for years and are quite successful. From my observations their main revenue intake is based around these key concepts: 1. Location 2. Word of mouth Location is imperical, and you need to strike deals/lan nights to get word of mouth generation. Setting up shop near a school (preferably private school) can sometimes make this type of business a success, as i’ve seen in Brisbane. If you start all nighters and events it will generate a decent amount of friends telling other friends and so on to bring in business and customers. Anyway, these are just a few suggestions i’m guessing you already know about, hope it helps. PS: If you have the room, get a pool table!

depends on how you do it (Score:4, Insightful)
by grapeape (137008) on Friday August 11, @11:33PM (#15892978)

I had entertained that idea myself for a while but after going to ones outside my immediate area but within driving distance one thing I observed was that while they all mostly started out great with good staff, top of the line machines, local advertising, a pleasant atmosphere and a good selection of games, within a year or so most are pits with low staffing, unkept facilities, outdated machines and poor selection of games. I dont know if their budgets run out, or if they just found that the majority didnt care about the latest and greatest so it wasnt worth the investment. One theory is that those that are hardcore games already have systems as good or better at home

I did find a few things I would do differently, for one I would like to see a bank of printers, scanners, etc so that during certain hours (maybe school hours and few after that, the machines could actually be used for study, business etc. I also thought of adding a gamestop type game exchange with maybe a points program for time rented and maybe tournaments and contests (monthly high score, etc). Another idea would be to have certain nights that are 18+ and special events on a monthly basis. For rental time I wanted to use a keycard system like gemstar to keep track of time and charges. I had also thought about working out an advertising/sales deal with a local vendor to help with equipment costs.

I wrote an entire business plan but then got a job offer I couldnt pass up and just kind of threw it aside for now. I belive “cyber cafe’s” are viable here but they need more of a hook than just “PC’s for rent”.

Acquisition monster GameStop (they have merged with Software Etc., Babbages, Gamesworld, Funcoland, EB Games) looks like it is planning to begin franchising next year. Our forum mavens have heard the confirmed rumors and preparations at GameStop’s annual gobal manager’s conference in Vegas this weekend. From the forum:

Quote from: brem on August 27, 2007, 05:07:11 PM
GameStop Offering Franchises? I’ve been in the video game industry a while and thinking about a franchise and just heard from a well connected distributor contact of mine in the business that GameStop’s looking at starting to sell franchises for their stores in the near future. As the dominant game retailer, I wonder what that will do to other video game franchisors that have to deal with all GameStop’s aggressive competitive marketing and their volume cost advantages with game manufacturers. Need more info on pricing, etc, but this might be my way in — seems smart to join forces with the giant instead of trying to compete against it.

Well, here we go. I’m out at GameStop’s annual gobal manager’s conference in Vegas this weekend with several of the other distributors / industry players and heard other sources rumbling about GameStop’s plans to start franchising (prepresents new income opportunities for many in the business to set up franchise service networks to work with them). After the second source discussed it, I’m trying to find out where the sign-up list is.

The industry players are apparently a little dissapointed because it requires dealing with “onesie / twosies” versus one stop shopping for consolidated groups, but apparently GameStop’s not doing what a lot of the more sophisticated franchisors like Pizza Hut do and only sell franshises to massive, deep pocket franchise groups that can afford to buy up a whole cities worth of stores (although this would be good I suppose for the average franchisee wanting to get in).

Gamestop has the strongest reputation in the gaming business. If they can keep the customer experience and value add above the usually cheaper online retailers, they can avoid the same demise as Blockbuster.

On Donnie Deutch I just saw an interview with the new CEO of Just Fresh Kitchen Café, Dana Sinkler, who previously was a chef at a four-star NY restaurant and coincidentally founded and sold for $25 million the Terra Vegetable Chip.  Dana was previously a franchisee and has spent the past year revamping the menu launching the Kitchen Cafe concept, characterizing it as an innovator in Fine Casual Dining.

The new Kitchen Cafe menu looks ideal for my increasingly healthy-focused palate (South Beach Diet / Body for Life style diet foods – salmon, shrimp filled omelettes, marinated chicken, veggies…you get the point).  And, it takes the focus off the cookie-bread centered menus.  Last I read there were 73 franchises under contract, mostly the Carolinas and Georgia.

The restaurant claims to provide a fresh, great-tasting food and the atmosphere of a table service restaurant with the speed and pricing of a quick service restaurant – all in a setting that’s friendly to the senses and the environment.

Why would I spend time writing about this place? Because it shows what can be done when the franchisor-owners are willing to take a risk and let a successful entrepreneur and chef take the lead.  This brand was suffering the past 10 years but now the new Kitchen Cafe concept extention seems to have the right menu, management and financial backing to expand at will, raising the bar above Panera Bread on gourmet fresh food and fine dining food in a fast casual atmosphere.  See below for examples of what the brand and food looks like.

Valerie Killifer reports in Fast Casual The culturization of yogurt  when a little-known frozen yogurt shop opened in West Hollywood in 2005, Californians from the Valley to the Hills (Beverly Hills) couldn’t get enough.Pinkberry unsettled an otherwise quiet neighborhood and gave health-minded patrons the ability to indulge. It also reinvigorated consumers’ taste for frozen yogurt.

Since the launch of the TCBY franchise more than 25 years ago, frozen yogurt has experienced a pop-culture roller-coaster ride of popularity. But with the launch of several new frozen-yogurt concepts, and the success of existing custard franchises such as Culver’s, the segment has completed its latest uphill climb and is once again ready for accelerated growth.

Pinkberry’s owner told the Los Angeles Times on Aug. 4, 2007, that she understands the consumer desire for low-calorie, healthy food. And she’s not alone.

Concepts such as TCBY and Beautiful Brands International are banking on that same mentality for the success of and launch of their premium and frozen yogurt franchise concepts, Yovana and FreshBerry, respectively.

Yovana brand manager Rob Hanson said the concept was created in response to consumer health trends and features proprietary premium and frozen yogurt offerings in addition to yogurt-based smoothies.

“Yovana took TCBY’s expertise in yogurt beyond frozen yogurt and presented a healthier alternative to consumers,” Hanson said. “I think it fits very well with where consumers are going.”

Yovana has four open locations, two in airport locales and two standalones, but Hanson said the concept is still in the test phase.

“Really, we’re refining the concept,” he said. “We’re making sure the menu is right and everything operationally flows the way it should.”

FreshBerry as well is in its infancy.

The first location is slated to open in October after sitting in concept development for about a year.

“The public is ready for a reinvention of frozen yogurt,” said Carolyn Archer, senior vice president of operations for Beautiful Brands. “FreshBerry is the antithesis of the yogurt shops of the 1980s and 1990s. The whole idea is light, refreshing and really healthy. It’s the new wave of yogurt shops that’s going to hit the country.”

The berry of it all
If the success of Pinkberry is any indication, consumers are more than ready for a frozen-yogurt resurgence — and healthful toppings are leading the way.

While ice cream and gelato shops offer toppings such as gummy worms and candy bar crumbles, yogurt concepts such as Yovana, FreshBerry and Washington, D.C.-based Sweetgreen are capitalizing on fruit, nut and granola toppings trends.

Hanson said Yovana’s most popular topping is fresh fruit, which fits with the trend Beautiful Brands is seeing, too.

Darren Tristano, executive vice president for Chicago’s Technomic Information Services, said yogurt concepts are successfully capitalizing on healthful toppings instead of ones bogged down with preservatives and sugary syrups.

Unique flavors also are driving the segment.

Pinkberry only offers two flavors — plain and green tea — but there is plenty of room for innovation, Archer said.

“The Italians have been doing gelato in herbal flavors for decades,” she said. “And that’s coming over into the U.S. People are more adventurous in trying new flavors.”

Tristano also believes Korean-style yogurt concepts, such as Sweetgreen and Pinkberry, will continue to spread across the United States.

“We’ll see more of them and they’ll branch out more from the West Coast and areas popular with smoothies and ice cream and traditional frozen custard,” he said.

Pinkberry alone has 21 locations in California and New York, with plans for 50 more by the end of 2007. And another concept, Red Mango (with more than 130 locations in South Korea), made its U.S. debut this fall in Los Angeles.

Cross Posted at: Let’s Talk Franchising

I don’t know anybody who hates McDonald’s coffee the way some hate Starbucks coffee (mostly they say it is too strong or bitter).

Nevertheless, McDonald’s is testing the McCafe concept in Japan. The company opened 15 “McCafe” cafe-style outlets in and around Tokyo, aiming at catering to a wider range of customers and serving soft drinks, soups, sandwiches, pastries and ice creams. 10 McCafe’s were opened inside existing traditional McDonald’s restaurants, while the rest were launched by renovating smaller restaurants.

It looks exactly like the Starbucks tucked in the corner of Target, or the cafes in Barnes & Noble.  From the photo, you can clearly see the snacks are well above the quality of the hot apple pocket pie served by McDonald’s – you can see large cakes (carrot cake), danishes, and other pastries you expect to find in a Panera Bread bakery, albeit none of the goodies are baked onsite at McCafe.  I am sure this has been in the works for many years, and was confirmed to launch as a competitive response to Dunkin’ Donuts successful coffee brand upgrade in recent years.

A Krispy Kreme franchisee is closing several stores citing lease problems.

…said it plans to close about half of its 15 Chicago area stores as it reorganizes under court protection.

Sweet Traditions LLC, of St. Louis, blamed a lease dispute involving highway oasis for its financial problems, as well as a dearth of new products from troubled Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc., which has suffered accounting lapses and a change in managers. The company said it will cut about 110 to 140 jobs from its current payroll of more than 600.

Sweet Traditions abruptly closed its three highway oasis locations in May, citing high rent and low foot traffic. Schlegel said the company had been obligated to pay leases at a total of seven oasis location, even though it had shuttered three and had not built stores at the other four.

“We were needing to get out of those leases,” Schlegel said. Bankruptcy allows companies to void unwanted leases.

So the franchisee filed bankruptcy to get out of those leases – drastic measure for choosing bad locations.

I see this problem all the time in my law practice. Leases can bring down franchisees very quickly, and writing that monthly lease check is as painful as writing that royalty check. All successful restaurateurs I have spoken to say a great lease (low price, great visibility and attractive traffic flow, etc.) are one of the important pillars in deciding on whether to open a location.

Schlegel said some corporate practices at Winston-Salem based Krispy Kreme had also hurt her company. At one time the company required its franchisees to build large factory stores, where all doughnuts are made on site. The stores cost about $3 million each, Schlegel said, a large capital investment that was difficult to recover.

I’ll say. Making up the $3 million investment by selling $.79 donuts is long road.

Schlegel said much smaller stores can do well at far less cost.

“Union Station is 800 square feet,” she said. “Its a great location and does great business.”

Krispy Kreme suffered accounting problems for several years and replaced some in top management. Schlegel said that distracted the company from bringing out new products.

Now the company is experimenting with ice cream, she said, which is being tested at her stores in Peoria and Bloomington. “Its doing very well,” she said.

So, is their really going to be a shakeout in the Franchise industry, as it relates to the overcrowded franchise consultant/brokerage field?
There has to be…….

The numbers will bear this out, I believe. The math:

Number of US Citizens interested in exploring business ownership is S {Smallish}
Number of Franchise/Business opportunities is I {Increasing}
Number of franchise consultants/brokers is RS { Really Scary}

So if S + I is divided by TMC {Too Many Choices}and divided again by FDW {Future Downsized Workers}, then the equation must be recalculated to reflect the Ginormus {Huge} amount of new Franchise consultants/brokers entering the field.
However……..The FR {Failure Rate} must be put into this newer equation as an IN{Infinite Number}.

So, according to my calculations:
1. More people will be downsized, and may start exploring opportunities in the world of franchise ownership.
2. More and more new franchise concepts will be introduced, with franchise companies using different ways to reach out to prospective franchise owners.{Consumers are already being bombarded by thousands of marketing messages every day, so this will only add to the confusion}.
3. With more and more choices in franchising being offered, and the possible number of new franchise consultant/brokers that could be in the market in the next year or two {who will also be adding marketing messages to the already bombarded consumer}, a consolidation in our industry will be inevitable.
{I feel this is starting already}

So what type of consultant/brokers will be the survivors?
{End of Part 3. Part 4 Soon}

Posted by Joel Libava, from his  The Franchise King Blog