Starting a Business Beats Looking for Jobs(Interesting prospective)

Starting a Business Trumps Job Searching
Looking for jobs can be a very shortsighted process.  Long gone are the days when people worked at the same company for decades and retired with a nice pension.  Since at least the 1980s, most professionals change jobs every three to four years, and it’s usually the employer’s choice rather than the worker’s.  Starting a business can be a scary proposition – especially if you come to the process with a lot of unanswered questions in your mind – but a job search can take up just as much time, effort and even capital.  Besides, here is all you’re left with at the end of that road – just another job that you might hold for five years, after which it’s the same process all over again, except you’re now five years older!

Four Reasons to Drop Job Searching for Entrepreneurship
If you have reached the stage in your career where you’re earning a comfortable living as an executive or someone with skills honed over many years in business, there are many strikes against you on the job search front.  Here are four reasons why starting a business may better serve your long-term financial goals:

· Experience – Few companies hire at a senior level and expect people to come aboard in an entry- or mid-level role.  In your own business, you’re immediately at the top of the heap, both in earning power and in the decision-making process.

· Location – The job you want may not exist in the city where you live, which either forces you to relocate or else downgrade your desires.  Starting a business allows you to work wherever you wish.

· Security – While it’s true that new businesses can fail, there are no guarantees these days that a 50-year-old company will still exist next year, either.  By starting a business, at least you have it within your personal power to be successful.  If you’re just another cog in the wheel, most of your own financial future is in the hands of others.

· Personality – The corporate world forces people to conform to a particular mindset.  Not all of us are cut out to operate in this manner, but having a maverick-type personality is oftentimes a dead-ender when working for others.  This is, however, the exact trait that makes a terrific entrepreneur.

Take These Steps to Start Your Business Search
Instead of looking for jobs, try these things instead.  Make a list of your skills and experience.  Seek out small business owners in your area and find out what skills they had before they took the leap – people love to give advice, after all.  Check out various franchising opportunities on the Web, since buying a franchise is one of the easiest ways to own a business.  Explore your local community college and sign up for a course in entrepreneurship.  People just like you who took the plunge and never again looked back at the job searching process are usually the ones who teach these classes.  If you’re currently employed but nervous as to how long your job will be there, begin doing some freelance work or consider starting a business on the side.  This will let you see if you’re cut out for the entrepreneurial lifestyle, bring in some extra cash, and provide a welcome landing spot if that pink slip shows up someday on your desk.

Closing Question
Where would you be today – both financially and emotionally – if you had started your own business the last time you were slogging through a job search?

The New Franchise Candidates (Interesting article)

Today’s franchise candidates reveals that they are more sophisticated, more creative, more dedicated and more technologically advanced than before. They’re  extremely cautious because of the economic downturn.

Today’s candidates are spending more time researching opportunities at a much slower pace. More time is spent online pouring through page after page of information, constant bookmarking, and moving back and forth from new information to saved information in order to be diligent in the process. They compared notes to other franchise candidates on social networking sites and they’ve gained valuable insight through monitoring online discussion groups and forums.

Today’s franchise candidates desire, is in need to be certain that  franchise opportunity perfectly suits to your status and personality. After previous recessions in the past, franchise candidates took their capital gains and invested in a franchise opportunity. More often the left their principal investment untouched. There was a sense of throwing caution to the wind because they were investing profits. Does anyone remember when money markets kicked out 17% profit margins?

All of us are looking for franchise opportunities in different ways because we have to decide wisely. Most of us are transitioning corporate executives staring at the back end of illustrious careers trying to squeak out just ten more years before retirement. With the challenges we’re facing like younger talents, new technologies and a fast changing business environment, business men opted to  ”BUY” a job and explore franchising and small business ownership.

Here’s the difference between today’s recession, and of those in the past. As huge fortunes have been lost, and large gains have not been realized in current financial markets, today’s candidates are forced to invest all or part of their remaining nest egg in order to enter the world of business ownership. In yesterday’s business environment, many franchisees and business owners were “gambling” with profits although business men were aware of the risks involve in having a business.

No one wanted to have a business just to loose their money. For today’s candidates, failure is not an option because fallback opportunities are fast becoming non-existent. I believe many of today’s candidates might not have even considered franchise or small business ownership in the past.

Most of us are exploring our options and most of us will focus more of their efforts online. Franchisors must embrace the fact that they have to dedicate more resources to the internet and look to social media to complement and not to replace their traditional franchise marketing strategies. If they do, they’ll realize multiple benefits for their entire system and this includes:

- Creating or further developing brand awareness with franchise candidates and consumers alike
- Generating franchise leads that are genuinely interested in exploring what franchising and small business ownership has to offer, and how a particular concept may be the vehicle to achieve their goals and objectives
- Establishing an interactive environment of communications and information sharing that will become the backbone of future franchise relationships throughout franchise systems

Lastly,  franchise candidates viewed franchising and small business ownership as a way of achieving their success. Today, it’s more about goals, objectives and necessities. We need to fully realize this and understand the mindset of today’s franchise candidate. Thank you!

July, 2009

2009 Canadian Franchise Show dates

The Franchise Show is Canada’s largest franchise-only exhibition, bringing together the largest number of brand name franchises under one roof with investments at all levels!

Upcoming Show Dates:

Toronto: October 24 & 25, 2009
11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Toronto Congress Centre

Vancouver: November 21 & 22, 2009
11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre

Montréal: January 23 & 24, 2010
11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Place Bonaventure

Toronto: February 20 & 21, 2010
11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Toronto Congress Centre

Admission
One day pass – $10.00, Weekend pass – $15.00
There are no advanced ticket sales. Tickets must be purchased at the door.

Not all shows are the same. Many, while claiming to be franchise shows, have few franchise exhibitors and in many cases showcase low-investment business opportunities that tend to lack the support typical of franchise systems. This 2-day show is designed to let you meet the industry’s most accomplished franchisors face-to-face.

Come and learn more about specific companies and the industry as a whole. Franchises offer the support, the systems, and the brand name recognition to help you succeed from the start!

• Make invaluable connections with credible franchisors.
• Learn from free informative seminars.
• Talk one-on-one with experts at the Ask The Experts booth.
• Meet over 100 franchise systems.

If you are looking to join a franchise, The Franchise Show is definitely a must! Don’t be fooled by imitations. The Franchise Show is the largest tradeshow produced by the Canadian Franchise Association, the industry’s only national trade association and The National Voice for Canadian Franchising.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Damiano DeMonte

Damiano@bullseyepr.com

(212) 671-1080 X102

Franchise Expo Partners With Original SoupMan

to Create “Stimulus Package” –

Hall of Fame Legend Reggie Jackson to Give Away SoupMan Franchise!

NEW YORK, New York (April 1, 2009) – North America’s largest Franchise and Business Opportunities Expo and New York’s own The Original SoupMan, makers of the legendary soups of Al Yeganeh, who inspired the “Soup Episode” on Seinfeld, joined forces today to announce a stimulus package contest to help one lucky winner realize their dream of owning their own business. Interested applicants can apply online by submitting, in 100 words or less, their story detailing the reasons why they should be the awarded ownership of a brand new Original SoupMan franchise. The winner will be announced by Hall of Fame slugger, Reggie Jackson, at the opening of the New York-New Jersey Franchise Expo, April 18, 2009, 10:30 a.m., at the Meadowlands Exposition Center, in Secaucus, NJ.

“With many people out of work and Americans unsure about how to create a solid financial future, we wanted to help the economy one person at a time and create a contest that can do just that. Original SoupMan so graciously stepped to the plate and immediately wanted to be on board”, states Fred Cox, President of National Event Management. “A franchise is the easiest and safest way to become your own boss and create financial stability. In spite of the current credit crisis, many franchise companies have financing options available to new business owners. By buying into a franchise one buys into a proven concept and exponentially increases their success rate”.

The contest kicks off Wednesday, April 1, 2009. For more information, visit www.franchiseexpocontest.com. All entries must be submitted by April 13, 2009 at 12 Noon EST.

The New York-New Jersey Franchise Expo also provides valuable educational resources and a wide range of advisors and suppliers for current and future business owners. The show includes free daily seminars from reputable and insightful professionals, including the Small Business Association, that have information that entrepreneurs need to know. Topics include: “Securing a Loan for Business Start Up” and “Legal Aspects of Buying a Franchise”.

“Small businesses—the stores that employ a dozen people—those will be what ultimately turns this economy around,” said Robert Bertrand, President of The Original SoupMan. Bertrand said the idea of waiving SoupMan’s standard $35,000 franchise fee for someone who has the entrepreneurial drive to succeed but might lack the financial resources to fund an entire start-up is, “a stimulus package that just makes sense.”

The Franchise and Business Opportunities Expo, a member of the International Franchise Associations suppliers group, takes place Saturday, April 18^th & Sunday, April 19^th at the Meadowlands Exposition Center, 355 Plaza Drive, Secaucus, New Jersey. Hours of operation are Saturday 10am-5pm and Sunday 11am-4pm. Admission is $10. For more information, visit www.newyorkfranchiseshow.com.

About The Franchise & Business Opportunities Expo

The Franchise & Business Opportunities Expo is produced by National Event Management. National Event Management is the producer of 27 annual business ownership events across North America showcasing over 1,700 businesses to 65,000 prospective business owners each year. For more information on National Event Management visit www.nationalevent.com.

About The Original SoupMan

Founded in 1984, legendary soup man, Al Yeganeh, set the standard for delicious, world-renowned soups at his New York City location, Soup Kitchen International. Now, with the international growth of his franchise, The Original Soup Man, Al and his team will give the whole world the opportunity to experience soup as it was meant to be. The company also sells the Original SoupMan soups in Grab-n-Go packages in the frozen food aisle of grocery stores nationwide. To learn more, visit www.ORIGINALSOUPMAN.com. For franchise information, call (877)-SOUPMAN