I Told You So – Shopping Centres & Franchises

Hi All,

I don’t say “I told you so” very often, but I felt the urge to do so after reading a detailed article in yesterday’s West Australian newspaper. The article is titled “Small retailers feel the squeeze of big shopping centre landlords”. (Unfortunatley, the article is not available on their web site).

The article backs up what I said in my blog post (on this site) on 1st April 2009. The post was titled “Sleepless In Perth”. I quote from the article in The West Australia – Saturday 5th December 2009, Business Section:

“Most (small retailers) mortgage themselves to the hilt to meet fit-out costs that they are barley able to recoup by the time their five year leases expire.

So when the leases come up for renewal, some owners find themselves defenceless against what they view as often ruthless, complicated and unfair leasing practices of the centre operators.”

This is so true. I have appraised businesses where the owner is still carrying debt from their fit-out after five years and facing a hike in rent for a new lease and another fit-out! I am currently working with an owner of a franchise retail business in a major shopping centre. I quote from his email to me:

“Rent and Electricity currently runs at approx $8,400 per month $108,000 per annum this is what we are paying today, when the new lease rate kicks in this will jump to $10,800 per month ($129,600 pa) and then increase by CPI plus 2% per annum each year for next five years.

We have a liability to carry out a shop fit prior to end of July 2010 which we will either undertake ourselves or we would be willing to discount the business sale by $70K to cover the cost of the refit to the new owner.”

I suspect the $70,000 discount will not cover the total cost of the fit-out. The West article quotes of cases like this with even higher increases in rent and higher fit-out costs ($250,000 to $300,000) and business owners closing down, going broke or moving out as a result of the high costs and demands of the centre management. Many Perth business owners are worried about extended shopping hours coming in, as this will mean another major hike in rent to the shopping centres.

It IS possible to make a profit in shopping centres and you do get the advantage of high traffic, car parking, and security. However, if you are considering a franchise business in a shopping centre and paying these high rents as well as franchise fees – make sure you do your maths first and get good legal advice on the terms of the lease! Do your homework thoroughly before you jump in and make sure your chosen business can generate the cashflow to pay the rent and outgoings (now and with the annual increases), pay franchise fees, pay any loans, pay you a good income and still make a profit. If it doesn’t do all these things – don’t get in to it!

See my post of 1st April 2009 – Sleepless in Perth. Until next time!

John Denton

If I Could Get OUT For What It Cost Me To Get IN, I’d Be Happy!

It happened again today! I was talking to a franchisee about her chances of selling her franchise business and she came out with the statement I hear so often from franchisees – “If I could just get out of it for what it cost me to get in to it, then I would be happy”.

I hear this so often from franchisees struggling to make a profit in their business. Usually they are in a retail situation in a shopping centre. After a few years they realise that the only people making any money are the shopping centre owners and the franchisors. In effect, the franchisee is working to keep the shopping centre owners and franchisors in the lifestyle they have come to expect!

Unfortunately, once you are IN and have invested the money, it can be very difficult to get out and recover your costs. And if the lease is in the franchisees name then they are stuck with that as well.

The first piece of advice I give anyone considering buying a franchise is “Find out how are you going to get out of it?”  They normally laugh and ignore my advice.

If you really must buy a retail franchise business in a shopping centre then do your homework first. In Australia we have such a strict Code of Conduct for Franchisors – as part of the Trade Practices Act – there is no excuse for a prospective franchisee NOT doing their homework before signing up. At least speak to existing franchisees and see how they are going, and if possible, franchisees who have left the franchise. Under the Act the franchisor must provide details in their disclosure document for you to do this.

To view the Code of Conduct for franchisors CLICK HERE and I recommend page 29 onwards.

Regards
John
“Committed to helping business owners realise their life’s dreams through buying and selling businesses!”
Thinking of buying or selling a business? Then attend my workshop on the 6th August – click on WORKSHOPS tab above.

Franchises: Why You Can’t Have It Your Way

In spite of my last few posts, I still get labeled as not liking franchise businesses. Well, that’s not true. I just dislike businesses (as far as selling them goes) which are not good businesses – franchise or not. In fact, I currently have a franchise business listed for sale. I was very comfortable listing it because the franchisee is making a very good net profit for a fairly relaxed 40 hours a week, Monday to Friday. The franchisor seems very supportive and they have “stringent” operating procedures and a training regime.

One of the challenges I have in selling this business, as with any franchise business, is finding the right kind of person to buy it. Franchises are not for everyone. They are certainly not for anyone who is creative or entrepreneurial. You have to operate a franchise within very strict operating procedures. That’s what a franchise is. A tried and tested set of procedures based around a good product or service which can be replicated over and over again.

A couple of quotes about franchise businesses which I believe sum it up. “With intelligent systems you don’t need intelligent employees.” I have heard that associated with Ray Kroc of McDonalds fame. Not sure about that. The other quote, no idea of the original source, is that the ideal franchisee is a retired airline pilot. Why? Because airline pilots are trained and conditioned to follow procedures – not matter what!

At the end of the day, provided that the product and systems are tried, tested and proven to deliver something useful to the market – then the success lies with choosing the right person to be a franchisee.

For more on this, I recommend you read the latest article from Dr John Hayes (How To Buy A Franchise blog) which is titled

Why You Can’t Have It ‘Your Way’ When You Buy A Franchise. Get This: It’s Not A Democracy!

Just click the title above to read Dr John’s words of wisdom.

P.S. If you are in Perth Western Australia consider registering for my latest half day workshop on “The 7 Key Steps To Developing Your Business Ready For Sale” – just go to the navigation bar at the top of this page and click on “Workshops”.

I’m not really against franchising – it just seems that way!

From previous posts you may get the impression I am against franchising – I’m not.

Buying a franchise can be a great stepping stone from being an employee to becoming an independent business owner. The upsides of buying a franchise (provided it is a good franchise) should be;

you get a ‘turn key business’ with systems and processes already done for you

you get a quality product or service ‘done for you’

you get training in all aspects of the business, sales & marketing, service and product or service

the franchise should have a track record of success ( check it out first)

in Australia the very strict Code Of Conduct for franchisors protects franchisees

you have a ready made recognisable brand

the franchisor should be doing marketing and lead generation for you

it “should be” a relatively low risk investment

There are other positives too, but you need to do your homework BEFORE committing to the purchase.

Whenever I am asked for advice on buying a franchise business I always say “Find out how you are going to get out of it.”

Why would I say that? Because I see so many people ‘trapped’ in a franchise which is very difficult to sell and unable to be sold at a price that will recover the initial costs of the franchise. As a business broker I get approached by many franchisees who want out and want to sell and when I appraise the business they are horrified at how little it is really worth. A situation often made worse by franchisors who have totally unrealistic ideas on what their franchises are worth when being sold on.

There I go again – being negative!

Seriously, the original concept of a franchise was that it was simply a license to operate a business for a predetermined period of time.

You don’t actually own a business. You have to make your money while operating the business – not when you sell it. As an independent business owner, you can do both. Make good money while operating the business AND when you sell it.

Remember, if buying a franchise – virgin or pre-owned – find out how you can get out of it and talk to people who have been there and done that. There are good and bad franchises just as there are good and bad business in any industry.

That’s it for this post – let me have your comments, questions etc.

P.S. I was a franchisee for 9 1/2 years and sold at a good price! It can be done.

There’s No Accounting For Taste

After my little dummy spit on franchises, I had a client yesterday ask me if I had a fast food franchise for sale as his wife is looking to buy one. Not only that, he mentioned a particular franchise by name. As it happens, I know one of my colleagues has one listed so we may be able to help. And that’s all fine!

However, after getting more information, I suggested his wife look at another business we have listed which would suit her background very well and in my opinion would be a much better match. They are
comparable in price so let’s compare;

Fast Food Franchise
7 days a week
Long hours
Low staff loyalty
Low gross profit
Rely on passing trade
Royalties payable

Alternative Business
5 days a week and flexible
Low flexible hours
High staff loyalty
High gross profit
Loyal niche client base
No royalties

And there’s more ……….

And so it goes on. But the client is still leaning towards the fast food franchise. Why? Because it is perceived as being ‘safe’ and the brand is well known. It comes back to that old sales maxim – sell the client what they want NOT what they need! Either business is a good buy – otherwise we would not have listed and marketed them both. And buyers have THEIR reasons for buying which may not be the same as our own.

Just goes to prove, there’s no accounting for taste!

Regards,

John

Sleepless In Perth – Franchises

I have been having a sleepless night! Why? Because I know that in the morning I have to deliver some disappointing news to a prospective client. You see, I’ve been asked to do an appraisal on a business ahead of selling that business for the owners.

So what’s the problem?

The problem is that the business is a franchise business in a shopping centre.

So why is that a problem?

Generally in these cases the owners have invested an enormous amount of money to buy the franchise and pay for the fit out of the premises. Often this can be as much as $450,000 or $500,000. Just to get started in the business! Then, every month they are paying royalty fees to the franchisor of typically 7% to 9% and possibly a marketing fee on top of that. Then there are the very high lease costs for the premises to be in a ‘quality’ shopping centre where there are no options to renew on the lease and very little room for negotiation. Then of course the business needs stock as well. Depending upon the type of business the stock value can be anything up to $250,000 and more. I have seen these levels of stock in such businesses.

So the owners work long hours – often 7 days a week – to scrape together meagre profit of $80,000 to $100,000 per year. Great looking business but a long time to get the investment back. In some cases you are looking at 5 to 7 years just to get your investment back.

So after 4 or 5 years the owners are tired and working long hours and decide to call it a day and cash in their business – sell! They go to their accountant who, in most cases, sets an unrealistically high figure on what the business is worth. You see, the accountant looks at what was put in to the business and says, OK, you have a written down value of $250,000 on the fit out of the premises, plus $20,000 plant and equipment, plus $200,000 of stock and you make $100,000 per year net profit. That makes your business worth – $250,000 plus $20,000 plus $200,000 plus $100,000. A total of $570,000.

Wrong! When selling a business as a ‘going concern’ the normal valuation method, in the vast majority of cases, is based upon the maintainable net profit after add-backs and adjustments multiplied by an ROI factor. (For detailed explanation of this visit http://www.businessreadyforsale.com/ArticleKey2.html).

So in the case of my current prospective client they have a maintainable net profit in the region of $80,000 and the business type will attract at VERY BEST a maximum of 40% ROI. That is a multiplier of 2 1/2 times. In other words $200,000 tops! And that is inclusive of stock and plant and equipment and everything else. Not a lot of reward for 5 years of effort. And on top of all of that, the franchisor wants the new owner to upgrade the fit-out (cost of $25,000) and there is only two years left on the lease with no guarantees of a renewal. Would YOU buy that business?

So you see why I am sleepless in Perth. By the way, this is a very typical scenario for a retail franchise business in a shopping centre! Remember, franchising is having a license to operate a business – not necessarily owning a business.