Francorp - An Introduction to Franchising

Upon my return from Ohio I had one day off then was up at the crack of dawn (if the crack of dawn takes place at 5:45 am) to head out to Millbrae at 6:30 am to attend a franchising seminar. At the moment I don't have any plans to franchise The Flirty Guide. This was simply an investigative learning experience. Because I have received some inquiries as to when I'll be creating more Flirty Guides by both brides and industry professionals nationwide, I thought I should learn more about franchising now as a future possibility for later.

So back to Thursday morning at 7:30 am at the Westin with Christopher Conner. I'm constantly learning new things. I simply love to learn. I'm not only motivated by the gain of knowledge but thoroughly enjoy the discovery process that learning entails. In the past two years the majority of what I've learned has come from taking self imposed immersion courses on the internet reading blogs, news articles, Googling and reading anything and everything I can find on topics like blogging and search engine optimization (SEO) to learning more about online social communities and entrepreneurship.

So to go somewhere, so early in the morning, to learn something was a bit out of my ordinary when it comes to how I've chosen to gain knowledge about business aspects I'm unfamiliar with. But boy was I glad I went!

The presentation a group of 7 of us were given? Far exceeded my expectations. Christopher led the seminar with a casual air inviting us to interrupt with questions or comments whenever we wanted to. After introducing ourselves to the group and discussing where our businesses were at now and what our future plans are, he spent the next 3 hours explaining the franchising process. I came away with a firm grasp not only as to what franchising is all about but because of both the presentation and some one on one time after the seminar I learned how, in particular, my own company will be a viable business model to franchise someday, if I'm so inclined.

I'll be reading this book as soon as I finish "The Tipping Point."

There was much to be gleaned not only from Christopher but from some of the other attendees as well. One in particular, Justin Moreau of Fireplant Media, made a comment that really resonated with me:

"When there is a failure in the economy it creates another opportunity."

He was talking about business owners being able to adapt to what is going on around them. That we can't always just keep doing what we've been doing and remain successful. I love to meet people who recognize that sometimes not only is change necessary but one can embrace it as a progressive challenge to overcome, not an insurmountable obstacle that tolls the impending doom of how "things used to be."

My thanks to Christopher for his time and expertise. If anyone has questions about franchising I would highly recommend you read his blogs and contact him to learn more about what makes a business franchisable and how to do it successfully.

Christopher J. Conner
Vice President of Francorp
www.Francorp.com