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Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame Takes off in Atlanta

The brainchild of serial entrepreneur and radio talk show host Mitch Schlimer (Let's Talk Business), the EHOF, as it will now be known, debuted its first live ceremony Saturday night, Dec. 1st at The Estate in Atlanta.  The venue was lovely--but more unbelievable the inductees were the who's who of the business world.  And only one as tenacious and dedicated as Mitch Schlimer could have pulled this off with about 30 days to prepare. And gotten these important people to show up!

The long and short of it, according to Schlimer, a Long Island resident who spends much of his time in Atlanta doing his radio show, "you can find a Hall of Fame for quilting but nowhere is there a Hall of Fame, a standing site included, for Entrepreneurs."  

The standing site is currently located at what is called the EPICenter in Atlanta  but Mitch thinks in a year or so he will have to find a bigger space.  More about this center in another blog.  

Inductees in this ceremony Saturday shared their amazing stories with a crowd of 170. The evening went long but no one seemed to mind because each speaker was so fascinating.  Dina Dwyer-Owens, CEO of the Dwyer Group was first up to accept an award for her Dad, the late Don Dwyer, the founder of Vetfran, a program dedicated to help vets get into franchising.  I saw her eyes glistening with tears before she even hit the podium. Truett Cathy, founder of Chick-fil-Awas accompanied by his son Dan Cathy who now runs the ocmpany. Truett referred to Dan as "his assistant".  The gorgeous Sara Blakely, the 41 year old billionaire founder of Spanx was a delight, and so beautiful up close I gasped. Ray Margiano, founder of Foot Solutions and Heel-Quik got the veteran's award for all his programs--the legendary Fred DeLuca, he who created Subway, told the delightful story about his partner Dr. Peter Buck and called him the smartest businessman in the world. "He comes in 4 times a year, asks me what we are doing, then says great, and then goes home. And he owns half the company". The crowd roared because everyone in business knows that the greatest ROI story of all time was Dr. Peter Buck suggesting to a 17 year old Fred that he sell submarine sandwiches-then gave him $1000 to start the business!  

Harris Rosen, founder of Rosen Resorts, told an equally hilarious story of his beginnings. And the most touching of all had to be Dave Anderson of Famous Dave's, a Native American who helps people in that community start businesses of their own.  Awesome.  As a proud member of the induction committee for this event, I can't wait to see what next year holds.  If you know someone you believe belongs in the Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame--email Mitch.Schlimer@gmail.com

Photo above from left: Fred DeLuca, Harris Rosen, Ray Margiano,  Famous Dave Anderson

Franchise Update Conference Filled with Suppliers

Franchise Update does it right--lots of good info in a day and a half and a nice awards dinner.  The problem?  Fewer franchisors attending and lots of suppliers/sponsors--maybe double the amount of franchisors in attendance.  Let's explore how this works shall we?  This is a money making venture and the money deserves to be made.  However, a conference that focuses more on sponsorships and less on attendance is very much like an "ad rag"--that's what we used to call magazines that were filled with ads and little content.  Soon they lost all their advertisers, because, whoops, no one was reading the magazine anymore!!!  Why would they? Very little content and what was there was mediocre.  So cart? Horse?  With lots of great content you get a bundle of attendees at a conference or seminar.  Then follows sponsors. 

However this blogger and several other suppliers went a step further and gave a fantastic dinner at Southern Art, Chef Art Smith's (and a friend of this blogger) fabulous and gorgeous restaurant in the InterContinental Hotel in Atlanta where this conference was held a few days ago.  Fried chicken, the best in the world, is cooked to order so we were all clamouring for more, more as they brought out platters every 30 minutes.  Beyond YUM. If it's good enough for Oprah, Obama, Lady Gaga and Queen Noor of Jordan, we franchisors can enjoy too! (Above left Chef Art Smith and this blogger)

A Long Wait but Well Worth it!

It was embarrassing enough when people watched me trying to run around the conveyor belt picking up my favorites, but when I piled 8 small plates in front of me at the sushi bar...well that kind of did it.  But I couldn't help myself.  We have been waiting for so long for YO!Sushi to open stateside.  My lucky daughter tasted hers when she was in London this summer-all she could do was send me photos. Thanks.  So of course jumped on a plane the day they opened in Union Station in D.C.  Wow how much fun is this atmosphere?  Bright, colorful, cheerful with "help" buttons on the bar that call a server at any moment you need one if you cannot decide which of the five dishes (it repeats) is coming down the conveyor belt in time to pull it off.  No, it's not too fast, but like me, do you ever find yourself staring at your own suitcase at baggage claim while it goes around? Next thing you know you've missed it!  Uh-huh, that was me at the opening of YO!Sushi.  Don't miss an opportunity to try it.  QSR Magazine is also happy they crossed the pond. 

Bagger Dave's Proves Everyone Still Loves a Great Burger!

Just when you thought that you couldn't find one more burger chain out there, here comes another-and a really good one too!  The secret?  If the meat is awesome, and the buns and bread fresh, one can make a very creative and outstanding burger.  Especially if one understands what the consumer and the franchisee want. The franchisee wants to partner up with a franchisor who "gets it"--and the best way to do that is find someone like Michael Ansley who is not only the CEO, founder and franchisor of Bagger Dave's Legendary Burger Tavern but is also a multi-unit franchisee of Buffalo Wild Wings.  Who would know more the challenges facing franchisees?  And the customer? They just want that delicious food-hot and fresh in a nice environment at a decent price point. Do that and you got yourself a winner!   Nice work Michael and team. 

Ohio Thinks Franchising is the Coolest!

ONN--yes that's a TV station in Ohio--does it remind you of CNN?  Well, that's right.  And this past week the producers were smart enough to see the merits of 3 franchise stars--WelcomeMat, Penn Station Subs and FirstLight Homecare.   

Please enjoy the roundup of this segment here

 

 

 

 

Nothing Like a Great Franchisee to Tell Your Truth!!

My good friend and terrific franchise attorney Lane Fisher

 found this lovely signage on a McDonald's. We don't know

which or where or who owns it. But we do know that

franchisees can be the success or the downfall of every

system!! This one sure has class we'll say that :-). Not

much else to say here. The pic says it all!

From the "Now We've Heard it All" Department

Spilt hot coffee, nuggets shaped like a chicken's head, and now this!  What and who will we blame next for our woes?  McDonald's employees applied there for a reason.  It's a job, yes minimum wage but it's a start. In these times kids and even older adults should be happy to be employed anywhere.  Check out last weekend's NY Times Magazine feature called Hello Cruel World about the class of 2011 college grads who cannot find a job anywhere--even as a barrista. 

Someone, somewhere will always play the victim and of course a very successful franchisor makes a great target. I have some advice for this hooker who blames McDonald's for her career.  Don't forget to get their low-cal meals from now on--you are going to need to stay in shape :-) 

This blogger is off to NYC for birthday celebration so won't be posting tomorrow--have a great weekend all.   

 

Another Great IFA Convention

Hats still off to Debbie Moss and her amazing team that make the IFA annual convention so cool--I can only guesstimate that there were upwards of 2500 people at this event in Orlando Feb. 11-14 but they make it look easy.  An APP that we could download this year and last is BEYOND convenient.  You can see at a glance where and when everything is going to be happening then just click on what you want to attend and it makes a little calendar for you.  Wish they had that the year I slept through the First-Timers Reception which I was an Ambassador to!! Jim Amos, CEO of Tasti D-Lite, pictured to the left, received the Hall of Fame award, the highest honor one can receive in franchising.  Although he left me out of his thank you speech :-) I still adore him and it seems most everyone else does too.  No dry eyes in the house as a fantastic video of his young years was viewed along with his military accomplishments and then business.  A terrific gala topped the program off with The Franchise All-Star Band (franchise people with REAL talent) and a song dedicated to ME-Unchained Melody sung by the incredible Ron Taylor of Sandler Sales Institute. 

First Watch restaurant chain plans expansion

 

First Watch is growing far beyond its Florida roots. Last week Nation’s Restaurant News reported on the chain’s nationwide expansion plans including recently inked deals for Nashville and Milwaukee.

The country’s largest and fastest-growing, privately owned, daytime-only restaurant company in the United States plans to grow to 115 restaurants, with about a dozen franchised locations open and more than 30 in various stages of development by the end of 2012. 

The chain of casual eateries, known best for inspiring menu items such as carrot cake pancakes and the signature, Crepeggs, has enjoyed positive same-store sales growth for 25 consecutive years. Total sales were $83 million in 2009 and $89 million in 2010. Average unit volume is approximately $1.2 million per year.

While annual sales for First Watch have continued to grow despite the recession, other concepts have been hit hard by a decline in the lunch daypart. Packaged Facts said that after a 4% decline in 2009 and another 3% decline in 2010, lunch daypart sales are set to pick up in 2011 which bodes well for the continued success of First Watch.

Did You Miss us? A New Look and Blog for 2012

We were down but not out! We are currently reworking and updating this blog to be better than ever with guest columnists and more artwork and fun like "Guess the Name of This Franchise Exec" and win a post and pic on here all about you, your company, your family, whatever you want!! This should all be ready by the end of the year, or more simply, in a week or two. Until then please have a safe and healthy, happy holiday season from all of us at Daily Franchise News!