What Makes a Good Franchisee?

So “what makes a good franchisee” you ask?

Watch this quick video featuring our VP of Franchising, Jim Wollman, and find out some of the key characteristics that NTY Franchise Company looks for when partnering with franchisees to grow one or more of our successful resale businesses.

Video: What does it take to own an NTY Franchise?

Do you have the skills and traits mentioned in this video? If so, you would make a fabulous franchisee with any of our five resale brands: Children’s Orchard, Clothes Mentor, Device Pitstop, New Uses and NTY Clothing Exchange!

Still don’t know if you have what it takes, or curious which of our resale brands is the best fit for you? Take our successful franchise owner quiz!

What Makes a Good Franchisee Video Transcription

Do you prefer a text version of the video or want to follow along while you watch? Then check out the full transcription below! 

There is no “best age” to start a business

Jim: We attract people of all ages- from people in their twenties to their sixties and everything in between. People come from all kinds of backgrounds and work experiences too.

Most importantly, we are looking for people with energy and personality. That’s what makes a good franchisee. We can’t teach you how to be a cool person to work for so you need to come to the table with those things that will really help you be successful in these businesses.

Some characteristics of successful franchise owners

Also important are transferable skills. If you had previous successes in your career, then you have transferable skills and that’s good.

What I’m talking about here are previous management experience, staff oversight, budgeting, and communication skills. Those are important because we are going to teach you how to maximize your business and you are going to use those skills to execute and make yourself a successful franchise owner.

NTY Franchise Company’s Proprietary Point of Sale System (POS)

We also need people that appreciate what computers and technology can do because we use it heavily to measure and manage and improve our businesses to the maximum potential. We have proprietary point of sale systems that will help you with inventory turn rates, cash flow management and with employee efficiency.

Our Franchise Loyalty Programs

We have trigger based customer loyalty programs, just like the big business out there. We are using technology to attract, retain, and bring in more customers, and more customers more often. So an embrace of the use of technology is very important. You don’t have to be an IT professional, but you do have to be comfortable with computers.

We are also looking for people who are smart enough to realize that you don’t know what you don’t know and you can really benefit from a shortening of the learning curve. This not only helps you to avoid costly financial mistakes, that one is easy to understand, but what a lot of people don’t think about is that mistakes cost time.

We teach you how to run a successful franchise

We know People want to get going and get moving, become more successful more quickly, and we can help you with that. We are not looking for people who are so entrepreneurial that they want to just change everything coming right out of the gate.

We have a very proven pathway. We have all of the knowledge, training and support that makes up our proven and well-worn operating system. So we know that if you use our tools, use our systems, and execute that you will greatly improve your chances of being successful.

Successful franchise owners “wear all the hats

A lot of people come from corporate America to begin their business for the first time. Of course we can help you there, but your background says that you wear a big hat and are a specialist and good at what you do.

This may be more narrowly defined in Corporate America. The thing about small business America is that you have to wear all the hats. The good news is that they are really small hats. And we are going to help you in areas that you aren’t as strong in and in other disciplines that you don’t feel as comfortable with. So having this ability to realize that it’s about you and wearing all the hats is an important thing for you to be able to realize and appreciate when you get into a franchise business.

Couples make great franchisees

Now this brings up the question-what are the most common profiles that make up our franchise business? One of the most tried and true profiles for us are couples. Where one covers the household expenses, the overhead, and so on. While the other gets the business up and running and started. Often times with love, opposites attract and they usually have different skill sets, but when you mesh those together they make a very good one hundred percent.

Hands off franchise investors

Another type of profile that has worked well for us are partnerships where you have one financial backer who is a little more hands-off, and another operational partner who is going to be the face of the business and run the business on a day to day basis. An example of this could be an adult with an adult child. Now in our soft line brands, apparel, we do have men who do these businesses and usually what they will do is hire a female manager who has prior retail experience. Conversely in our tech businesses, we have very successful women running our device pit stop. We really do get people of all walks of life and who are given a proven business operating system to follow.

Going solo: solo franchise ownership

Now, the one exception to what I just said is for those who are coming into the business solo. The one other thing that you have to think about is that if this is going to be your new business you may decide to run the business yourself and maybe take that managers salary for yourself in the early stages until you build the business out. But just to be safe, we would encourage you to at least have one year of household expenses tucked away in reserve as working capital above and beyond the initial investment of opening up the business which is covered on our website as well.

-end- 

So there you have it, now you know what makes a good franchisee. Think you have what it takes? Then contact us now to schedule your free consultation!

200 Stores and Counting: NTY Franchise Knows How to Build Resale Businesses

With the opening of its 200th store, NTY Franchise Company continues to grow and be a leader in the upscale resale industry. Check out the great article about the company and its five innovative resale brands from the January issue of Global Business North America:

global business north america article about NTYglobal business north america article about NTY

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global business north america article about NTY

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Click here to see the article inside the digital issue of Global Business North America.

Gifting Season: LinkedIn Article Features NTY Franchisees

Check out excerpts from a linkedin.com article below, which features several franchisees from various NTY Franchise Company brands.

Why these franchisees see franchising as a gift

By Jim Judy

The holidays are here, so what better way for me to celebrate than to hear why actual franchise owners see franchising as a wonderful gift. As a franchise consultant, I’m always happy to hear how they are thriving in their franchise business, but even I was surprised by the response I received for this story.

I’ve heard from dozens of franchisees from numerous franchise systems excited to share their thoughts on what they love about franchising.

Enjoy what they have to say, and have a wonderful holiday!

[…]

“This year we feel even more thankful than previous years. By opening our Clothes Mentor franchise we fulfilled our dream of having a family business and have the opportunity to spend more time together. Being a franchise owner has given us the opportunity to save for our retirement, and provide long term job security for our son. Our #Dream2016 has come through.” – Pieter de Smidt, Clothes Mentor of Sugarland, TX

“I’m thankful for franchising!  Combining my entrepreneurship passion with best practices, systems and tools from a proven franchiser is a winning combination.  2016 was a great year!” – Bradley R. Swenson, Device Pitstop of Maple Grove

“We are thankful for a franchise with a proven track record to give us the confidence to open multiple, very successful businesses. By following the “resale-retail recipe” provided, we are not forced to build a business model from the ground up, but to utilize the wealth of knowledge our franchisor has handed to us to create our own businesses in our market and have the freedom to be creative and find ways to improve even more on operating our own individual stores.” – Shawn & Alyssa Cox, Clothes Mentor Charlotte – Midtown, NC, Charlotte – Arboretum, NC & Rock Hill, SC

“Being part of a franchise provides a broader opportunity for success, and gives an established brand to build on.  I’m thankful for the partnership, resources, technology, and ongoing support from the franchise I am partnered with.” – Shasta Webber, Children’s Orchard Huntersville, NC

“Franchising give me the flexibility to make more family time.  There are no clocks to punch and no supervisor to decline vacation requests.” – Brad Peterson, Device Pitstop Burnsville, MN

“After just spending 90 minutes with my franchise operations manager, I feel like I have a focused business strategy to wrap up 2016…and he planted seeds for me to start developing my 2017 business goals.  I am thankful for having a built-in, business-savvy coach who wants us to succeed as much as we do.” – Chris Barnett, Clothes Mentor Springfield, PA

Click here to see the full article on linkedin.com.

Why Franchisees are Thankful for NTY Franchise Company

#thankful

From opening their stores to growing their businesses, find out what franchisees appreciate most about working with NTY Franchise Company:

“I’m thankful for franchising! Combining my entrepreneurship passion with best practices, systems and tools from a proven franchisor is a winning combination. 2016 was a great year! Our great DP Pit Crew worked incredibly hard with our wonderful customers, helping them to economize and optimize their digital life (computers, tablets and cell phones).” – Bradley R. Swenson, Device Pitstop Maple Grove

“Being a franchisee with NTY’s Clothes Mentor fulfills my dream of being my own boss while giving me the safety net of industry experts who are just as invested in my success as I am. I couldn’t imagine opening a business any other way.” – Jennifer Walters, Clothes Mentor Torrance

“This year we feel even more thankful than previous years. By opening our Clothes Mentor franchise, we fulfilled our dream of having a family business, and have the opportunity to spend more time together as well. Being a franchise owner has given us the opportunity to save for our retirement and provide long-term job security for our son. Our #Dream2016 has come through.” – Pieter de Smidt, Clothes Mentor Sugarland

“Being part of a franchise provides a broader opportunity for success, and gives an established brand to build on. I’m thankful for the partnership, resources, technology and ongoing support from the franchise I am partnered with.” – Shasta Webber, Children’s Orchard Huntersville

“There are so many things we love about franchising. One aspect is that we have a blueprint of how to run our business. We have other people in a like businesses to learn from and share ideas. We feel like we have an extended family in our relationships with our franchise companies and our employees. We could not do everything alone.” – Randi Zied, Clothes Mentor North Olmsted, Strongsville and Mayfield Heights

“We are thankful to show our children (ages 9-16) how to own a business. We’re thankful they’ll see how much hard work is required, how important good character is and what a blessing it is to work together as a family!” – Kathy and Lane Bosley, Clothes Mentor Tyler

“Franchising gives me the flexibility to make more family time. There are no clocks to punch, no supervisor to decline vacation requests.” – Brad Peterson, Device Pitstop Burnsville

“We are thankful for a franchise with a proven track record to give us the confidence to open multiple, very successful businesses. By following the ‘resale-retail recipe’ provided, we are not forced to build a business model from the ground up, but to utilize the wealth of knowledge our franchisor has handed to us to create our own businesses in our market and have the freedom to be creative and find ways to improve even more on operating our own individual stores.” – Shawn and Alyssa Cox, Clothes Mentor Charlotte Arboretum, Charlotte Midtown and Rock Hill

“I have owned several startup businesses (none of which were franchises) and it is a lot of work, more than people may think. I have now just started a Device Pitstop franchise and I am very thankful because they have taken every process and made it flawless. While I own my own business, I have a team of experts to lean on at all times. Priceless!” – Matt Paperi, Device Pitstop Overland Park

“After just spending 90 minutes with my franchise operations manager, I feel like I have a focused business strategy to wrap up 2016. And he planted seeds for me to start developing my 2017 business goals. I am thankful for having a built-in, business-savvy coach who wants us to succeed as much as we do.” – Chris Barnett, Clothes Mentor Springfield and West Chester

“People are always searching for that thing in life that provides them the opportunity to succeed. Franchising allows you to obtain independence through the fruits of your own efforts.” – Mike Thorn, Clothes Mentor Cordova

“I am thankful for the continued support from NTY with system updates and resources. Support like this is critical for the franchisees to keep up with and stay ahead of new technology. It also allows us time to focus on our store and marketing.” – Joe Ferrazzo, Device Pitstop Maplewood

“I’m thankful for deciding to open a franchise, because name recognition and corporate support from experienced franchisors, are two important factors to a successful business.” – Karla Fitzpatrick, Clothes Mentor Burnsville

“We are thankful to have found the opportunity to own a franchise CM store. Because of this, we moved back to our home state of Oklahoma to be near family, which encouraged more family to move here, too. We doubt this would have happened in the three years we’ve been here, without this major life change.” – Mike and Melanie Harris, Clothes Mentor Edmond

“We are thankful to have an opportunity to buy quality, stylish clothing from customers and then sell them at affordable prices.” – Jennifer Small, Clothes Mentor Portage

“They make the hard stuff easy!” – Scott Stansbury, Device Pitstop Anchorage

“I’m thankful that our franchise is here in our community for all women and all sizes. Our Clothes Mentor has helped women create new styles and a new sense of confidence when it comes to their fashion needs. We are thankful to be a part of that new confidence.” – Michael and Wyndy Reese, Clothes Mentor Jonesboro

“I am thankful that our Black Friday Sale is completed, on the Saturday before official Black Friday. It was very successful thanks to creative thinking of our corporate staff. “ – Don Leventhal, Clothes Mentor Bloomington

“We operate in a crowded market and I am not sure how I would break through if I didn’t have marketing support from the franchise. I wouldn’t be able to rise above the noise. From professionally designed materials to creative sales strategies, I am thankful that I have the franchise marketing support and I am not spending hours—no, days—trying to do it all myself.” – Chris Barnett, Clothes Mentor West Chester and Springfield