Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2018 i Entrepreneur Magazine

Gary Hirshberg knew the exact amount of money he needed to save his company: $592,500. It was 1988, and his fledgling yogurt brand, Stonyfield Farm, was near collapse—rocked by the closing of its third-party manufacturer, hemorrhaging money as it struggled to fulfill orders, and unable to find new investors. But with that exact amount of cash, Hirshberg and his cofounder, Samuel Kaymen, calculated, they could open their own facility and regain their footing. So Hirshberg drove down to his local SBA office with an informal proposal. “We’ve got a bank willing to provide the loan,” he told an officer, and he said his shareholders agreed to put up $100,000. All he needed from the SBA was its 85 percent loan guarantee, which would make the bank comfortable executing the financing.…

1/ Rally together. “When morale is low, it’s usually because of a challenge that’s affecting us all as a company. Maybe projection numbers are low or certain strategies aren’t working as well as we’d hoped. We find the most effective thing to do is to bring everyone in to become part of the solution. We empower the team with all the information possible and encourage them to come up with and execute potential solutions. The team’s spirit is often lifted knowing we’re all in it together.” —ERAN ZINMAN, cofounder and CTO, monday.com 2/ Open up communication. “I find it’s not difficult situations or choppy business performance that tends to drag down morale. It’s a lack of communication. Perception of tough times is often much more damning than reality.…

What’s the best way to ignite stalled revenue, especially if you have a limited marketing budget? —MIKE, COLORADO MIKE, I THINK a little dating advice might be what you need. Many years ago, after my wedding, one of my single friends jokingly asked, “How many women do you have to date before you find your wife?” I responded by saying, “It’s not about how many girls you date; it’s about how many dates you have with the girl.” Obviously, marriage is something you build to over time with one person. But I like to think of business (and revenue) in much the same way. If someone likes your business or product, your only reaction shouldn’t be Let’s find another customer. Instead, ask yourself, How do we do this again with…

With his hippie pigtails and smart suits, Steve DeAngelo perfectly embodies the split in today’s cannabis industry. He’s an old-school activist and advocate who joined the cannabis reform movement in the 1970s, attending July Fourth smoke-ins in front of the White House and traveling the country to spread the word on the healing powers of weed. But he’s also a canny businessman with an expert read on the marketplace, which led him to begin with a profitable hemp company and later open Harborside Health Center, the largest medical marijuana dispensary in the world, which went public on the Canadian stock market with a valuation of $150 million. His most recent venture is Arcview Group, an angel investment company focused on cannabis entrepreneurs. Here, he talks about where the industry is,…

Consumer choice can be overwhelming, especially in this ever-expanding market that seems designed to confuse. Cannabidiol, aka CBD—the wellness-delivering, THC-free hemp compound that provides healing benefits from inflammation to epilepsy—is being sold in more cities, by more companies, and in more varied formulations than ever before. How does a casual consumer begin to navigate the offerings? The first step is finding a brand that values quality and transparency in equal measure. One company, cbdMD, has broken away from the pack with its unwavering standards: first-class hemp grown on nutrient-rich U.S. farms and a unique broad-spectrum CO2 extraction process—preserving the plant’s most potent benefits—conducted in their own state-of-the-art labs. The company’s website offers a streamlined product selection and serves as an exhaustive CBD resource for connoisseurs and novices alike. cbdMD co-founder…

Doug Baillie spent 30 years in the United States Navy, earning the rank of Lieutenant Commander and served as a nuclear weapons inspector for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. His wife, Peggy Baillie, faithfully followed him everywhere he went, homeschooling their children and acting as an administrator for the family. Before retiring, his former Commander reached out to tell Doug about the restoration industry and its desirable return on investment. The Commander informed them that the restoration industry was not only a lucrative one, but also allowed for developing good work ethic. The Baillies did their research and realized that joining a franchise gave them the best opportunity for success. Similar to the Navy, it would allow Doug to run his own ship, but have the necessary support if something…

VETERANS OWN MORE than 10 percent of Snap-on Tools’ U.S. franchise units. That, along with a generous incentive, helped propel the company into the top spot this year, after ranking second in 2017. In addition to honoring veterans through its franchise opportunity, the company has partnered with the Honor Flight Network since 2013 to send 311 veterans and their guardians to visit their respective memorials—for the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and WWII—in Washington, D.C.…

PUROCLEAN HAS significantly stepped up its support of veterans in the past year with the launch of its PuroVet program. The restoration company increased its franchise fee discount for veterans from 10 percent to 25 percent, and has secured deals with some of its suppliers to offer discounts and special financing to its veteran franchisees. Plus, it launched the first BeAPuroVet contest, inviting veterans to submit résumés and business plans for a chance to win a free franchise, with the winner to be announced on Lifetime Network’s Military Makeover: Operation Career.…

As a kid, I helped my father reformat computers for a lab he started at Ontario’s University of Guelph. I unscrewed cases of old clone computers to upgrade memory slots and graphics cards, or added a 56k modem to the board. He could have done it faster without me; I know that now. But he was allowing me to see how things worked. This was only the beginning of his message to me: First, understand. Then, create. He is an inventor and inspired the way I think. Like so many kids, I had a healthy imagination and came up with all sorts of ideas. Whenever I’d share one at the dinner table, my dad would drill deep, asking me questions that helped shape my vision. I conceived of a toaster…

Chip Wilson has a long, tangled history with athleisure brand Lululemon. He created the company in 1998 and stepped down as CEO in 2005 after selling nearly half of it to private equity. He has since held various roles and remains its largest individual shareholder (which makes him a billionaire), but he’s been gone from its board since 2015, following an infamous misstep: In 2013, as the company dealt with a problem of its products pilling, Wilson told Bloomberg TV that “some women’s bodies” aren’t right for Lululemon. He later said he was talking specifically about how some women were incorrectly using the product as a compression garment instead of workout gear, comments that sparked a nationwide story about body image. Since then, Wilson has routinely and publicly criticized the…

Jen Rubio and Steph Korey  Cofounders / Away Bold move/ Expanding their business from product to platform When U.S. airlines began cracking down on smart suitcases in December 2017, banning bags with built-in batteries from planes, some luggage brands went out of business. (RIP, Bluesmart and Raden.) But Away didn’t go away. Within weeks, it announced a program to swap customers’ original battery modules (which had to be removed with a screwdriver) with easily removable ones for free, allowing travelers to continue using their bags without hassle. How were founders Jen Rubio and Steph Korey able to adjust so quickly? Perhaps because it wasn’t the first setback they’d navigated. Back in 2016, when they learned that their first production run wouldn’t be ready for the holiday season, they created a…

1/ Know Your Goals! From Debra Vilchis, chief operating officer, Fishman PR When a franchise is hiring a PR firm, make sure that firm clearly understands your business objective—you’re not just going out there and getting media placements for the heck of it! A lot of PR firms get excited to get big hits, but it might not move the needle for the client in the right way. As a specialized franchise PR firm, 98 percent of the time, we find that our customers are trying to grow their systems. So it’s important that our clients tell us everything about their goals and about their ideal franchisees. We could try to do a one-size-fits-all approach and secure stories in the Wall Street Journal, but if a brand is looking for…

Chris Lopez is no stranger to being on the front lines, with ten years of military service in the United States Marine Corps and a number of professional leadership positions to his credit. In May 2011, after carefully considering his options, Lopez made the move to small business ownership with InXpress, an industry-leading shipping and logistics franchisor. “The InXpress franchise model attracted me because it delivered on more of my decision-making criteria than any other business model.” Those criteria for Lopez, and many owners today, included lower initial investment with high residual income potential, working from home, no inventory, assets or people to manage, and most importantly, a franchisor that would provide an established, proven plan for success while also handling all of the back-office operations like billing, invoicing and…

Most everyone knows that attention to detail is a priority in every branch of the military. That’s why Peter Hackett could not have made a more fitting choice for his second career. The 48-year-old became a Pillar To Post home inspection franchise owner after spending 24 years in the Coast Guard. A keen eye is a requirement for every home inspector and Peter had plenty of practice over the past two-plus decades, albeit that experience didn’t always come on dry land. “In the Coast Guard I had a strong background in inspections for all types of boats,” Peter said. “I also moved around a bit and was forced to work on my own homes. I feel this industry is a great fit for me.” Peter now services residential and business…

LINK STAFFING SERVICES held roundtables with veterans in order to understand the specific challenges they faced when looking for work, then used that information to create LinkCorps, a program dedicated to helping veterans and their spouses find jobs. Veterans meet one-on-one with Link employees to get help with understanding how their skills can translate to the civilian workforce. Résumés are revamped, and vets are given a “first-in-line” advantage to interview with companies that are actively seeking to hire them.…

THIS YEAR MARKED the 10th anniversary of Which Wich’s Flag Your Bag campaign. Between Memorial Day and Independence Day, customers were encouraged to use blue and red markers to decorate the company’s brown sandwich bags with patriotic drawings and notes of support for members of the military. The bags were displayed on each store’s community wall, then sent to the company’s Dallas headquarters to be stuffed with treats and sent to active and veteran service members. The company estimates it has donated more than 100,000 filled bags over 10 years.…

Michael Kushner and Andy Person did not create the Baboon Go-Bag for people who want to scale a mountain. Their stylish duffel-meets-backpack is for the creative class—people who might want to take an easy hike, then check into a trendy Airbnb. That’s why they commissioned high-profile designer Jessica Walsh to create a kooky monkey-and-dinosaur pattern for the bag’s waterproof lining. It was exactly the kind of touch their customer would love…but getting it right would stall their company for nearly two years. Printing bright colors and details on a ripstock-style fabric turns out to be challenging. The colors bleed, and saturation is nearly impossible. Factories kept turning them down, unwilling to go through the amount of costly trial and error it would take to perfect the print. (They also worried…

THERE’S NO SHORTAGE OF passion at Burton’s Burlington, Vt., headquarters. The 41-year-old snowboard company employs a team of 360 who love the sport their work revolves around—and when there’s two feet of fresh powder on the ground, the company closes for a snow day and encourages the staff to hit the slopes. The office doesn’t feel that far away from the mountain anyway: In addition to ski-lodge-like details that make for a cozy working space, HQ is packed with employees’ dogs, offers an expansive garden with individual plots for staffers, and features impromptu happy hours in the great outdoors. MEGAN TRACY/ Receptionist “We have a company ride day a few times a year, where we have a huge meeting and then go to Stowe Mountain afterward to snowboard. We also…

Raj and Veenu Parkash are seasoned business owners. After they married, in the ’90s, they owned and operated a garment business in Manhattan while raising their young family in the New Jersey suburbs. But after eight years of that, they wanted a way to work closer to their kids—which is why they became franchisees of an East Coast–based early childhood education center called Lightbridge Academy. Despite their past experience, launching this business felt like starting from square one. The two longtime entrepreneurs tell us how they hit reset on their careers, learned the ins and outs of an unfamiliar industry, and earned the hard-won trust of their community’s parents. What attracted you to Lightbridge Academy, coming from the garment industry? RAJ: Our daughter was actually enrolled in Lightbridge Academy in…

While head lice are not a medical hazard, they are a medical nuisance that have been with humans for millennia and have persistently outsmarted efforts to kill them. Google ‘super lice’ and you’ll find that head lice are now genetically immune to traditional lice products. We Have the Cure Lice Clinics of America franchise owners have the cure for lice—super lice included—with our patented, medically proven solution. Like hundreds of others around the world, you can build a business with a premium brand while contributing to the well-being of your community. • 12 million children contract head lice each year according to the CDC, but according to our Lice Clinics of America treatment centers, this number is under- reported • U.S. parents spend $500 million battling head lice with products…

Many in the franchise industry are passionate about supporting veterans and recruiting them as franchisees. To wit, according to the latest VetFran survey from the International Franchise Association, more than 6,500 veterans have become franchisees since 2011. Further evidence: More than 500 companies heeded the call to be considered for our ranking of the top 150 franchises for veterans, which you’ll find on the following pages. So what is it about veterans that franchises love so much? Tom Kasbohm, director of franchising for this year’s number one company, Snap-on Tools, sums it up: “Veterans have the drive and discipline needed to thrive in a proven franchise model.” And with so many franchise companies recognizing that fact, there are a multitude of opportunities for veterans interested in running their own business.…

LAST VETERANS DAY, ASP launched its #ASPHonorsHeroes social media campaign. Franchisees, employees, and members of the corporate office shared words of gratitude for active military members and veterans, and posted photos of themselves wearing ASP-branded camouflage shirts. In partnership with Mission United, ASP’s president and COO, Thomas P. Swift Jr., also presented a workshop called 10 Steps to Start a Business last year at the Georgia Veterans Education Career Transition Resource Center.…

THIS MARCH, the Neighborly Project invited people to nominate a veteran in the Jacksonville, Fla., area to receive free home services from seven Neighborly brands: Mr. Appliance (#63), Rainbow International (#108), Window Genie (#115), Mr. Handyman (#133), Molly Maid (#134), Mr. Rooter (#139), and Glass Doctor. The winner, Marine Corps veteran Robert Hearman, had $20,000 worth of work done on his house. Franchisees in other parts of the country have already expressed interest in hosting similar projects locally next year.…