There I was, just a young lad of about.. oops, wrong thought.

Now that I have been declared disable to go back to what I was doing for work. I am looking at something different. I want to be my own boss. My wife and I ate out the other day and on the wall they had an offer of a Franchise Oppotunity. It is a well know company. There is only one of them in Montana and it seems to be doing well. I did the alarm system for them when I was working about 3 years ago. The owner at that time was thinking of building more places here, but he died and the son left his brain somewhere else. So the area is open.

Has anybody been involed a Franchise company before? And if so, did it work out to your advantage? There is no compatition and more. I have my College back ground in this area. I have thought about just my wife and I, but I also have a close friend who has worked for another company for the past 20 years. He has been a manager and a district manager so he knows the in and outs of hiring and firing.

Is it best to go alone or with help as a partner. After the first one is up and running, there will be more to follow. It's a Sea food place based out of Minnesota.

Any knowledge help would be great. Thank you.

Tom

 

Weel my .02's is go at it alone or with your wife as a partner, this way the if it succedes it will be because you and you won't have to share the profits.also easier to make decisions.

 

No disrespect, but the things you (and most of us) don't know about running a sea food restaurant could fill a library. A GOOD franchise can provide the expertise to help you be successful including demographics/site selection, leases, staffing, suppliers, licenses, taxes/bookeeping, minus, advertising, and a host of other stuff. Problem is, good franchises (only those with a track record) cost a boatload of cash. If you want to go it alone, get a job in the business to learn the ropes before taking the plunge and do your homework. Good luck.
Dono

 

Quote:...but he died...the son left his brain somewhere else.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I can't see this being a bonus


Seriously,
Seafood in the heart fo Beef Country ?

Chicken maybe ...Seafood... too costly.

Freight will cost a fortune....... then it get higher still $$$$$$

 

As fast as your area and mine are growing, you never know what may take off good. We're getting people from all walks and persuasions. I even work with a lady who likes to eat raw fish. ( Sushi ) But, like others have said, I think I'd work the position or a similar one for a tad before trying it on my own. Food businesses are really a pain in the drain to keep good..and I highly emphasize GOOD ... help working for you. We have a Skippers here and I don't know how they even pay the power bill, much less the employees. It's just never busy. Now, right next door is a Sizzler and most nites if you don't get there before the dinner crowd, you are going to have a good line and fun finding a place to sit.

Along this line though, I always thought that an old fashioned, one row counter, one row tables old fashioned diner, with you standing there cooking right in front of the whole shebang, would be great. You make gigantic burgers, soup, the best fries in the world, a few sandwiches stacked to the ceiling and a daily special, just waiting for the Dagwoods of the world to walk in .. and there are a ton of them.

Have you thought about some kind of internet business? If you can get the right items wholesale, ebay is a good place to make some money. Someone is doing it right. I see the Powersellers constantly there, with thousands of sales. Some folks sell a healthy mix of stuff and are there for a reason.

OK ... nuff of that ... now that I've effectively tossed a brick at your fish food. Of course.. I never eat much fish or seafood. If it don't moo or have a nice hide, I prefer to not eat it.

That reminds me ... my Dr was telling me how good raw oysters are..and how easy they are to eat. ( Remember that barfing face??) NOT IN THIS LIFE TIME!!!

 

I say go into a business where you don't have to work your tail off to make it go. My step-daughter's dad opened a restaurant in this area but it never made it. He had great food too but his location was the main problem. He also worked a lot of hours at it and that interfered with his family life. I agree that if you can get an online business, that would be the way to go. I have toyed with the idea of going into business myself, but at my age, I don't want to put all the hours into it. At least with your own business, you can more or less determine your future.

 

I agree with the working there thought. Get a job at the existing franchise and work there for a month or so. DO NOT even mention you are considering purchasing one of the franchises. It will give you time to get a feel for whether it would even bee something you would want to do, without the risk of buying a franchise only to later discovering you hate it.

 

My brother bought a couple franchises. In a lot of ways, you're buying yourself a job, unless you can afford to open multiple locations at the same time and have enough cash to cover your own living expenses for a year or two.

Corporate will take a large percentage of the profit, right off the top, (like 40%). Because of this the owners end up working long hours to keep labor costs down.

For example, my brother owned two pizza places. Corp. decides everyone needs a new type of dough mixer that cost $5000. The franchises have to pay for it and have it installed by a certain date. He ended up having to cut everyones hours, but his own and doing a lot of the work himself to pay for it. For two months he made less than minimum wage. He could have got a loan, but the initial loans will strap you. There's easier ways to make a buck.

I did some work for a lady that owns 5 Mickey D's. She does OK, but those places are in great locations that have people lined up at all hours, ( I mean there isn't a time of the day someone isn't handing over money.)

If you have the time, sit in the parking lot of a prospective restaurant, and see what kind of traffic they have throughout the day. Count the employee's and try to figure overhead. It's a volume business.

 

Go with an idea if you have it and don't let people talk you out of it. At the same time, don't jump in with both feet. I looked into a franchise oppurtunity near my college campus, and just the rights cost $250,000. And as far as seafood in Montana? Where is it coming from? Maybe nearby freshwater fish would be nice, but anything else has to be coming from a tank. I don't know how a Maine lobster would taste in Montana (after traveling...don't really know how they do it, but I'm not gonna be the one to find out) I agree with a general restaraunt/bar kind of thing....beef, pork, chicken, some fish, and some other things.

Home cooking would be great obviously. I met a woman who ran a breakfast spot around here. She was about 750 years old, and she did all of the cooking by herself, with some help from her daught, granddaughter........you get the idea. But she didn't even have servers. She cooked, and called your name (not your number) and people came up to get it. They set their own tables, got their own drinks, and put their plates away to be cleaned by the small staff. Everyone knew everyone, and it becam popular just the way it was. It was a novel idea, especially in a place that is semi-urban.

Hae any breweries nearby? Small time micro brews aren't absurdly expensive, but once you get your feet wet and some $, you can transport. There's a big microbrew market out there.

 

The one in town seems to be doing good. Its located next to the mall. I want to go into a different town. There is only about 6 fast food joints. Mc D, Hardees, 2 taco joints, A&W/KFC and Pizza Hut. The sea food place is called Joey's only. It's along the line of skippers. Limited menu. Nothing like Lobster or crab. Location would not be a problem. In house dinning.

You have all given me some good questions to ask about. It was just a thought. I'm getting tired of working for somebody else. I guess I see in the next few months what happens.

Tom

 

Joey's only is a very successful Fish place in Western Canada (especially Alberta).Both Michelle & I I love eating there
In fact, if I could, I would open one where I live,right on the highway as otherwise,people will just drive by.
The fish they use is *Alaskan Polluck*
http://www.joeys-only.com/
The main thing that keep them going is the "all you can eat fish & chips on Tuesdays for $6.95"
Non-stop Pop,&

Other than that, there are better sea food places to eat like *the Red Lobster*.

Some of the Joey's shops in Alberta are coupled with a *Tennessee Jack's Fried Chicken.*

Joey's is a up days/down days business relying upon locals to fill their restaurants.


Personally, I say look the other way.

As much as I wish I saw more places in the states that were more specific to types of food (ie:fish), driving through Montana I would look more forward to eating Beef than Fish.
How about Opening a Denny's on the side of the hwy somewhere?

 

Thanks for the info Dennis. We have Dennys coming out our butt here. (Nice version) I just wanted to find something to do. I have a few other options, but just not sure on anything yet. I'm at that age that a person looks back on and try's to find what they have accomplished. Most of it has been working for family owned business where there is no growth for the workers. You reach a spot and can go no futher. I want to raise above that. I just need to figure out how.


Tom

 

If you still consider a franchise, take a very close look at their "Proximaty clause" to each other.
This has been the rise & fall of many good places.

Crispy Creme is hitting Canada a little harder now. this at a time when Fast Food places are gearing for *Less it best* calorie speaking. No more 'Would you like to Upsize that?'
Wait until more people find out that biting into a crispy creme donut is like eating a tablespoonful of lard ?

Having Restaurant experience since I was 18 ,I wanted my own restaurant 25 years ago.
If I had all the bucks in the world 20 years ago, I would have bought a grain elevator & had it retro-fit into 4 restaurants.

The main floor restaurant would be a combo Fast food /drive-thru (where the grain trucks drive through)
The 2nd floor would be of Denny's Quality
The 3rd floor would be like an Outback Steak house
The 4th (Top) floor would be a very ritsy place (with food from all over the world) where price is no object.

 

Twolf, i am from Minnesota and have never heard of a Joey's are you sure it's not Joes Crab Shack? If so they do very well here in MN and have a great atmosphere and entertainment while dining. Every one i've been to here is always very busy. Just curious as to whether it's actually Joes Crab Shack...

 

A restaurant business is absolutely the most demanding job there is in terms of energy and time expenditures. The failure rate is somewhere near 90% for first time ventures - ask a banker about fronting a new restaurant loan and watch the smile slide off his face. Not knowing the degree of disability you are saddled with, you might be better off looking for a franchise along the lines of something you really enjoy doing already.
One such example I can think of off hand is a "local" company that started out in Denver doing engine exchanges and is now looking at expanding through franchising. They have nice shops, low overhead, few employees, no nights or weekend work unless you want it. I haven't personally used them but I have seen a few of their shops around the area. Here is a link if you are interested: http://www.pin.ca/ryan_engines/FranchiseInformation.htm