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Covering All Bases

Have you struck out in an attempt to grow your business? If so, step back up to the plate and let Joe Luis and Rob Nash show you how to swing for the fences.

The Boston Business Journal reported the former minor league ball players have a hit with Extra Innings, their 13-year-old indoor baseball and softball training centers. Since opening their first location in 1996, Nash and Luis have grown the company to 38 locations in 16 states and plan to add 13 new locations this year. The expansion is the result of a successful franchising program that Luis and Nash launched in 2004.

Extra Innings’ system-wide revenue grew to approximately $14.5 million in 2008 from $9.8 million in 2007. The company expects to bring in about $18.7 million this year. Their offerings range from $1 for 12 pitches to $495 for a year-long program including summer camp and five private lessons but Extra Innings currently derives about 57 percent of its revenue, on average, from its on-site pro shops. To complete the retail component, Luis and Nash launched an e-commerce site, ShopExtraInnings.com in May, which Nash predicts will generate over $1 million in 2010. “It doesn’t make sense for our customers to go elsewhere for their equipment,” said Nash. “And, we want to provide more revenue streams to ensure the success of the franchisees and further grow the system.”

As for their wildly successful franchising program, Nash said, ”We had friends and customers coming in to [our facility in] Middleton all the time, saying, ‘What a great idea. Teach me how to do this.’ So we thought, we could probably teach people how to do this and develop some buying power with vendors and further develop our operational systems. Jim Wolff, an Extra Innings franchisee in Indianapolis, said that the Extra Innings team has been with him every step of the way – a support system responsible for all locations’ past, present and future success.

Photos from top left: Joe Luis; Rob Nash.

Mcdonald's shares improve with dumping of Chipotle; Wendy's hopes to do the same with Baja Fresh

The Chicago Tribune reports today that McDonald's stock has risen more than 25 percent since mid-July. Store sales are up due to new menu items such as premium coffee and the chicken snack wrap. Also attributing to the increase was the completion of McDonald's sale of its stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. Chipotle is still thriving though. Since the chain went public in January, its stock gained $22 to close at $44. It closed at $57.23 Thursday

Wendy's also made news yesterday with the announcement that it would be selling Baja Fresh Mexican Grill chain to a group led by California investor David Kim, a Cinnabon franchisee and owner of the Sweet Factory candy stores. The most shocking part of this story? Wendy's paid $275 million for Baja Fresh in 2002; Kim purchased the chain for $31 million. Unlike Chipotle, Baja has been a failure as can be seen by the bargain basement sale price.

While the impact of this sale will not be immediate in terms of sales numbers, Wendy's is hoping to continue its forward momentum. The chain recently completed its sale of Canada's Tim Hortons. Other moves to increase sales over the next couple of years include adding breakfast, the introduction of a new double melt hamburger and spending $85 million on company-owned store renovations and incentives for franchisees to do the same.

Paralegals Look to Franchise their Services

Some lawyers say they'd be lost without their paralegals. And it seems paralegals know this. Dorothy Secol and Peggy Stalford, two enterprising veteran paralegals from New Jersey, recently announced plans to franchise their freelance paralegal business.

The two women opened their freelance business, Paralegal Services USA, in 1986. The duo has since grown their business to a staff of five and annual revenues of $400,000. In today's Asbury Park Press, Secol and Stalford say that over the years they were often approached by other paralegals looking for advice on starting their own businesses.

Unlike other legal oriented franchises such as We The People and The Divorce Center whose customers are those seeking legal advice, Paralegal Services USA's customers are lawyers. Paralegals must work under the supervision of lawyers. However, Secol and Stalford say that this franchise isn't only for paralegals looking to own their own business. Those who aren't paralegals can still buy a franchise, but services offered must be handled by qualified paralegals.