General Business and Finance Blog

With over 30,000 locations and fifty years in the burger business, the McDonalds brand is the most recognized and successful franchise in the world. Not surprisingly, before considering anything else many would-be franchise owners ask themselves: How much does a McDonalds franchise cost and how can I buy a McDonalds franchise? They hear it only costs ,000 to get a Mighty Mac franchise, an investment that’s quite within their franchise affordability range.

The McDonalds Franchise Fee
As with most things in life, a little information is a dangerous thing. While it’s true McDonalds charges a ,000 franchise fee, this is only the initial franchise fee for licensing rights – the upfront fee charged to join the network. There’s a LOT more financial commitment and cost involved to buy a McDonalds franchise after that. On top of the investment, there are other qualifications besides having the money.

Different McDonalds Franchise Ownership Options
According to McDonalds, there are two ways to buy a McDonalds franchise and enter their system. The first, and most frequently used method is purchasing an existing restaurant, either one operated directly by McDonalds or from a McDonalds franchise owner/operator. The second, infrequently used way is obtaining franchise rights for a new restaurant. Let’s consider these in reverse order, since McDonalds provides few financial details on the first, most frequently used method.

Buying A New McDonalds Franchise
For franchise licensing rights to a new McDonalds, the company charges its standard ,000 initial franchise fee, except if the franhise is for a McDonalds in a gas station or convenience store, the fee is rduced to ,500. There is also a reduced franchise fee for McDonalds Satellites located in universities, hospitals, etc.

The other cost categories for a new McDonalds franchise include real estate, signage, seats, equipment, decor, opening inventory, training and working capital. These are broken down in Item 7 of the McDonalds FDD.

For a Satellite McDonalds, the range is 8,375 to 8,400; for a McDonalds located in a gas station or convenience store, the range is 0,750 to .2 million. The standard, new McDonalds restaurant clocks in with a range of million to .8 million.

So, basically a new McDonalds franchise is a 8, 375 to .8 million investment depending on the model selected.

The factors impacting new restaurant costs are: size of the McDonalds restaurant facility, area of the country, pre-opening expenses, inventory, selection of kitchen equipment, signage, and style of decor and landscaping, McDonalds says. A detailed breakdown of the initial investment costs into discrete categories, including a working capital component, is provided in the McDonalds FDD Franchise Disclosure Document which can be obtained at the Franchise Foundations website (see link below).

Owner/operators must pay forty percent (40%) of the total cost from liquid, personal assets and may finance the remainder from traditional lending sources.

Buying An Existing McDonalds Franchise
What about the most frequently used way to buy a McDonalds franchise – purchasing an existing restaurant from a current McDonalds franchise owner or one that’s company-owned by McDonalds and sold as a “turnkey franchise”? Unfortunately, details about how much this type of McDonalds franchise costs are not specified, other than the following statement:

“The purchase price of an existing restaurant varies and is dependent upon a number of factors including sales volume, profitablity, occupancy costs, reinvestment or improvement needs, competition and location.”

To get a better handle on this statement, when existing, “turnkey franchises” are sold in any industry (McDonalds franchises included) the purchase price reflects the value of the business as a going concern, generating (in the case of McDonalds) $ X million in sales and $ Y in profits. A typical McDonalds restaurant that’s been operating for at least one year produces over ,000,000 in annual sales, with profits in the low six-figure range. I estimate the sales price of an existing McDonalds franchise (or company-owned restaurants sold as turnkey franchises) to be in the million to million range, plus or minus. Twenty-five percent (25%) of the purchase price must come from liquid, personal assets and the balance can be financed from traditional lending sources.

Ready to whip out your checkbook? Even if you are, there’s a lot more to obtaining a McDonalds franchise than just have the investment capital.

The McDonalds Franchise – Item 19 Financial Performance Representations
According to the McDonalds FDD Item 19, the average annual sales volume of traditional restaurants in the U.S. open at least one year as of 12-31-09 was ,37 million in 2009. The highest sales volume for a U.S. McDonalds in 2009 was .3 million (the “star” performer). The lowest performing McDonalds clocked in at 7,000.

Item 19 of the McDonalds FDD goes on to list proforma financial results for restaurants that hit three different sales levels – million, .2 million and .4 million, showing cost of sales, gross profit and operating profit at each level. Unlike other franchise companies with similar investment levels, McDonalds steps up to the plate and provides franchise earnings information in Item 19 of its FDD.

Getting the McDonalds FDD Franchise Disclosure Document
If you would like a copy of the entire 383-page McDonalds FDD published 2010 (or just particular sections of the FDD, like Item 19 Financial Performance Representations or Item 7 Estimated Initial Investment) to review and get further information, go to the McDonalds Franchise page of the Franchise Foundations website.

copyright 2008-2010, Kevin B. Murphy, B.S., M.B.A., J.D. – all rights reserved

For further information, visit the Franchise Foundations website

Best Adult Home Business Opportunities – Low Cost Start Up Home Adult Business

5 Best Adult Home Businesses with low start up cost and good path to profitability.  These Home Business ideas are all designed to start out as part time Home Based Businesses and not to be taken as some overnight success business opportunity.  To some extent there is a home business start up formula to these ideas which is basically the following:  Low cost, high demand, easy to learn, easy to manage and efficient home based business marketing with a path to quick profitability.  Here are the 5 Best Home Adult Business Opportunities.

1.  SELLING ADULT TURNKEY WEBSITES

Selling adult turnkey websites has got to be one of the most lucrative Online Home Based Business Opportunities today.  Just look at the number of people searching for porn every day and the number of people unemployed in this country or at the very least looking for a part time job.  Right now if you worked out of your home with your own adult turnkey website business you would only need to purchase a computer and a phone line.  Usually a cell would do just fine with a computer and internet access.  You could even purchase a magicjack these days and only pay a year for your phone service.  So without talking this into the ground this would be a very low cost start up online home business opportunity.  The cheapest way into this business would be to just contact one of the adult turnkey business owners who is doing well and get the right to sell the websites with him.  Questions of how to set this up email jt@jtsec.com  Point you in the right direction.

2.  CLEANING

If you want your own home cleaning business such as a residential house cleaning service might be perfect for you.  If you’re a neat freak this type of home business is right up your alley.  Buy some cleaning equipment for a few bucks and make up some pamphlet, leaflets, cheap 0 website and a listing in the yellow pages and your off and running.  Go to rich areas for housekeeping opportunities or you can go to section 8 housing units which are also great prospects for this Home Business Opportunity.  Section 8 housing and Community Residentials (CRR’s) that house people with disabilities are apartments that have to be inspected every year.  You can easily get work at these places and there are hundreds of them either in the cities or within 30 miles in the suburbs.  Lot’s of home business opportunities for you in cleaning.  If you can clean a house you can clean anything so the growth in this type of home business is endless.

3.  MAKING KEYS

If you’re considering starting a key-cutting home business you think the same way I do.  Low start up cost and tremendous need for a quick fix.  Key-cutting is a simple home business that is very profitable with most people starting in this business just purchasing a used key cutter off of Amazon or some other online store where you can buy used goods for cheap prices.  This business truly takes off if you can land a AAA contract but even if you don’t you only need to invest a few bucks and do some cheap marketing and it is all profit within a month or two.  This is a terrific part time business for I know two different successful business people that started their entrepreneurial careers this way.  Place an advertisement on your car, leaflets, yellow pages ad and even a local online presence can bring in business.  Even though you are out of your home more than in it you still have a Very Good Home Business with making keys for a living.

4.  AFFILIATE MARKETING

Affiliate marketing is a marketing practice in which a business rewards affiliates for each visitor or customer brought about by the affiliate’s own marketing efforts.  As an affiliate you are basically assisting a company push their product or service and getting paid a percentage or set amount of money per sale.  Total cost is a couple hundred bucks and if manage this correctly you can return a good deal of money to yourself.  Not going to make you millions as people proclaim but with some efficient work it will provide you a good income stream that will continue to grow as long as you keep expanding the home business to push other products and services you can get paid for promoting.  You make a bit from each.  The whole concept is to not put all your eggs in one basket.  You can’t bet the farm on one product or service; you have to play them all.  Make a piece from each.  That is the way this Online Home Business works and the only way it works.

5.  EXTERMINATOR

Buy used equipment and supplies needed for the extermination business. Purchase a used vehicle to use for the home business. Have a business logo designed for your auto, obtain a listing in the yellow pages and introduce yourself to restaurant owners. Professional pest control supplies can be obtained on the cheap if you shop around.  You can even purchase almost all supplies used.  Not much but regulations to follow to make sure you are abiding by code.  Drive your used vehicle around with your logo and phone number,   a cheap 0 or so website and you are in business.  Hire a kid to help you with the heavy stuff and you will be doing well shortly.  Just like the other home businesses don’t spend more money than you need too on this home business.  Low cost, efficiency and profitability will be right around the corner.

Home Based Businesses are a dime a dozen but they are not equal in start up cost and ease of path to profitability but these 5 are the Best I can think of.  I personally know Home Business Owners in each of these 5 home businesses and they all started their home business part time and then a couple years down the road evolved to full time.  This is the path to small home business success I have always believed works best.  Start small after much planning on how to keep start up costs extremely low.  Buy used not new.  Be a smart efficient home business owner not a bankrupt one.  Good luck to you.  Want to share about your experience please email jt@jtsec.com.  Love to read about your personal successful home based businesses.

Marketing a business can be fun, exciting and creative. It can also be very frustrating and expensive if one doesn’t know what outcome they are looking for or how to evaluate cost effective methods of marketing. Over the years people have come to know me for my unique ability to develop low cost and no cost strategies to market and promote a business, product or service. Strategies that have realized incredible returns. Some of my successes have included: – Before my last book was published I pre-sold over $8,000 in books – Over 250 people registered for a recent seminar in less than 2 weeks and the cost to promote was under $25 – One company used my strategies for a career expo and made over $180,000 in consulting fees – One speaker sold over $23,000 in product sales back of the room at a two hour seminar with strategies outlined in my program I don’t share this to impress anyone, rather to impress upon you when using the right strategies for your market, you can realize some incredible results. People have also come to know me as someone who is a stickler when it comes to putting systems in place. My marketing successes are a direct result of the systems I have implemented. With a bit of forethought, planning and desire, you can successfully market your business in a very effective manner. Below are seven proven strategies sure to increase visibility, leads and sales. 1. Business Cards Business cards are often one of the most underutilized tools in one’s marketing. Use the front and back of your business card to gain full benefit. Depending on your market you can put some very valuable information on the back such as a sports schedule, emergency numbers, or special date’s people want to remember. Keep some in your wallet, your automobile, on your desk, and some at home. Be sure to carry them with you wherever you go and be willing to hand them out as opportunity presents itself. Creatively distribute your card. When you eat out you can leave one with the tip. If you borrow a library book, use one as a book mark. Hand them to clerks in stores who may know other people who could use your product or service. When someone gives you their business card is sure to enter their information in your database. Send them a short note or email within 48 hours of meeting them to keep your name fresh in their mind. 2. Send a picture A great way to keep your name fresh in a customer’s mind is to send them a picture of when they purchased a product or service from you. Put a picture of a buyer’s auto purchase in a beautiful calendar. Likely, the proud owner of the vehicle will display the calendar for the next 365 days. For specialty gift shops, when a customer makes a substantial purchase, have a picture taken with the shop owner. Frame the picture and send it to the customer. Chances are very good the picture will be displayed proudly for friends and family to see. A dentist who specializes in smile makeovers can easily arrange to have a professional makeup artist and photographer capture the patient’s beautiful new smile. No doubt the patient will be more than happy to show others their new look. 3. Associations Associations particular to your market are a great resource for marketing. There are associations specific to virtually any industry, job type or business. A quick web search will likely show you how much is available. A major opportunity within many organizations is the chance to network. Additionally, to make presentations. Along with presentations come publications. Often, when you do a presentation, you will get a mention in the association newsletter, their Ezine and/or on their website. In many cases, when an organization has a newsletter or Ezine, they welcome the presenter writing a press announcement for them. It saves them time and often assures you have a better chance of the information making it into the publication. They may also welcome you writing an article for their publication or website. This lends itself to pre-presentation visibility. Additionally, you will position yourself as an expert and increase credibility. Most organizations have the following opportunities that can help you to gain visibility and do some very effective marketing: -Newsletters -Internet listings -Links to you website -Discounted advertising rates -Networking opportunities -Business referral services -Special recognition events -Education seminars -Business and membership directories In many cases you will need to be a member of the association to take advantage of the multiple marketing opportunities. In other cases membership is not necessary. 4. Committee Involvement Committee involvement is a great way to give back to the association or community while building visibility for you and your business. In some cases, you may even want to get involved in a committee where you have little experience or knowledge. This will give you an opportunity to stretch yourself and meet and network with individuals you may not have otherwise had the chance to meet. 5. Contests and drawings Contests are a favorite for many businesses such as restaurants or those that have high foot traffic. Contests are a great way to build your database quickly. You are generating very hot leads when you have a contest with people who have already frequented your place of business. The key though is to do back -end marketing. Far too many businesses hold contests, get lots of names and do nothing with them. In this case, it is a complete waste of time to hold a contest. You can advertise a contest to gain new foot traffic in your place of business. Trade show booths are a great place to hold a contest. Pre-show marketing helps to generate traffic at your booth. Invite people to stop by booth # _____ (whatever your booth is) to enter to win. Creative contests can also generate free publicity. 6. Cross-promoting Join with other companies who have products or services that compliment yours and promote each other. Let’s say you have a massage business. You could partner with a candle company to sell their candles to your massage clients. They can give out coupons for your massage business. Or the candle company can partner with a gift basket company. Cross-promoting is only limited by your imagination. This can considerably cut down the cost of business promotion and allow each business to use promotion techniques that might be too expensive to implement alone. 7. Bonuses Secure special offers from various businesses who want to share a similar market as you. When a customer buys a minimum amount they receive a bonus packet with the various offers from the other vendors. This is a win/win all the way around. The other vendors gain visibility, you have something extra to offer you customers and the customers get incredible value for their purchase. Be aware of who you cross-promote and joint venture with. You want someone who will be equally committed to a campaign.

While you make search for small business finance with a bad credit tag, one aspect that should be at the upper most on your mind is the costs. Any such loan that drains away larger portion of your finances towards the monthly outgoings will result in stress on your trade.

If you have a history of late payments, defaults, arrears or CCJs, then the loan approval will be harder to get. You should save money for making greater down payment, which gives a sense of security to the lender and the approval comes with ease.

One way to ensure a less burden some finance for your trade is to approach the lenders with an excellent or good credit rating. Make sure that your FICO rating is above 600 or in the vicinity of it. Get copies of your credit report to make it fully free of any misrepresentation of the facts about the payments you made in the past. In case of the rating being lower, then make timely payments for few months for improving it, before applying for the loan.

Ensure that you have made a convincing plan of repaying the finance. You would be using the loan for variety of purposes like buying the raw material; equipment, machinery etc. hence, keep a good amount of money in your bank for few months at least. This will give the impression that you can repay the loan installments, without depending on our business.

You can choose to borrow small business finance in secured or unsecured options. Greater funds can be accessed under the secured loan against your residential or commercial property. Lower interest rate is the main advantage of the loan. you can repay the loan in 5 to 30 years. The unsecured loan has no risks for the business people, as it comes without collateral. However, only smaller amount will be approved for 5 to 15 years, at higher interest rate.

First, apply for the rate quotes, so that you can have access to select Small Business Finance bad credit, which are of lower rate and few additional charges. Repay the loan on time for escaping any debt accumulation.

20 years ago a franchise would have cost you an arm, a leg, and probably your house. However things change and technology now means we can work from home without the need for expensive offices. Types of franchises have changed also and the widespread use of the Internet now presents us with a whole new range of online franchises.
A low cost franchise is generally anything under the 15k mark. Still a lot of money but compared with the shop front £250k franchises they are well shy of the hundreds of thousands it can cost to buy into the likes of McDonalds or Burgerking.
The myth that a low cost franchise is unlikely to bring you in much money is true in ways but quite simply you get what you pay for, however I would be wary of unsubstantiated claims of earning £150,000 per year for a franchise that costs £7,000. However as with many franchise you get what you work for and it is very possible to pay from 3,000 – 15,000 for a franchise and with a lot of hard work have a business with £30,000 + per year returns.
Some low cost franchises are nothing more than a system, you can pay a few thousand pounds for someone else’s business plan and method and you are then given limited training to go out and follow the plan. although there is nothing wrong with this type of franchise there are certainly many out there who make money from selling the system only and not by running the system itself. Be careful of anything which looks to be multi level marketing opportunities as these in many cases just do not work and you will find yourself in the position where you have just lost your franchise fee and have no way of getting it back. I do use the word “franchise” very loosely for all multi level marketing “opportunities”
As with all franchises you really do need to do your research before diving in head first. Contacting other franchisees to ask them how they are getting on with their franchise is an absolute must and asking the franchisor how long they have been in business before and after franchising will give you an idea on whether this is simply a fresh start up on a long established company. We highly recommend you make a list of up to 10 franchises and start whittling them down to three or four that you find are genuine opportunities, once you have your short list you can then really start to put some proper research into action and make a decision on which is the right franchise opportunity for you.
Low cost franchises give everyone the opportunity to be in business for themselves and in this day and age not everything costs several hundred thousand pounds, even many shop front franchises come in at very reasonable rates now so look at your available capital and make your choices partly based around that. Here is to your success!

With over 30,000 locations and fifty years in the burger business, the McDonalds brand is the most recognized and successful franchise in the world. Not surprisingly, before considering anything else many would-be franchise owners ask themselves: How much does a McDonalds franchise cost and how can I buy a McDonalds franchise? They hear it only costs $45,000 to get a Mighty Mac franchise, an investment that’s quite within their franchise affordability range.

The McDonalds Franchise Fee As with most things in life, a little information is a dangerous thing. While it’s true McDonalds charges a $45,000 franchise fee, this is only the initial franchise fee for licensing rights – the upfront fee charged to join the network. There’s a LOT more financial commitment and cost involved to buy a McDonalds franchise after that. On top of the investment, there are other qualifications besides having the money.

Different McDonalds Franchise Ownership Options According to McDonalds, there are two ways to buy a McDonalds franchise and enter their system. The first, and most frequently used method is purchasing an existing restaurant, either one operated directly by McDonalds or from a McDonalds franchise owner/operator. The second, infrequently used way is obtaining franchise rights for a new restaurant. Let’s consider these in reverse order, since McDonalds provides few financial details on the first, most frequently used method.

Buying A New McDonalds Franchise For franchise licensing rights to a new McDonalds, the company charges its standard $45,000 initial franchise fee. The second cost category associated with establishing a new McDonalds franchise is “Equipment and Pre-Opening Costs.” According to McDonalds, these costs range from $995,000 to $1,843,000. So, basically a McDonalds franchise is a $1 million to $1.8 million initial investment. The factors impacting new restaurant costs are: size of the McDonalds restaurant facility, area of the country, pre-opening expenses, inventory, selection of kitchen equipment, signage, and style of decor and landscaping, McDonalds says. A detailed breakdown of the initial investment costs into discrete categories, including a working capital component, is provided in the McDonalds FDD Franchise Disclosure Document which can be obtained at the Franchise Foundations website (see link below). Owner/operators must pay forty percent (40%) of the total cost from liquid, personal assets and may finance the remainder from traditional lending sources.

Buying An Existing McDonalds Franchise What about the most frequently used way to buy a McDonalds franchise – purchasing an existing restaurant from a current McDonalds franchise owner or one that’s company-owned by McDonalds and sold as a “turnkey franchise”? Unfortunately, details about how much this type of McDonalds franchise costs are not specified, other than the following statement:

“The purchase price of an existing restaurant varies and is dependent upon a number of factors including sales volume, profitablity, occupancy costs, reinvestment or improvement needs, competition and location.”

To get a better handle on this statement, when existing, “turnkey franchises” are sold in any industry (McDonalds franchises included) the purchase price reflects the value of the business as a going concern, generating (in the case of McDonalds) $X million in sales and $Y in profits. A typical McDonalds restaurant that’s been operating for at least one year produces over $2,000,000 in annual sales, with profits in the low six-figure range. I estimate the sales price of an existing McDonalds franchise (or company-owned restaurants sold as turnkey franchises) to be in the $2 million to $5 million range, plus or minus. Twenty-five percent (25%) of the purchase price must come from liquid, personal assets and the balance can be financed from traditional lending sources.

Ready to whip out your checkbook? Even if you are, there’s a lot more to obtaining a McDonalds franchise than just have the investment capital.

The McDonalds Franchise – Item 19 Financial Performance Representations According to the McDonalds FDD Item 19, the average annual sales volume of traditional restaurants in the U.S. open at least one year as of 12-31-08 was $2,311,000 in 2008. The highest sales volume for a U.S. McDonalds in 2008 was $9,552,000 (the “star” performer). The lowest performing McDonalds clocked in at $491,000. Item 19 of the McDonalds FDD goes on to list proforma financial results for restaurants that hit three different sales levels – $2 million, $2.2 million and $2.4 million, showing cost of sales, gross profit and operating profit at each level. Unlike other franchise companies with similar investment levels, McDonalds steps up to the plate and provides franchise earnings information in Item 19 of its FDD.

Getting the McDonalds FDD Franchise Disclosure Document If you would like a copy of the entire 375-page McDonalds FDD published 2009 (or just particular sections of the FDD, like Item 19 Financial Performance Representations or Item 7 Estimated Initial Investment) to review and get further information, go to the McDonalds Franchise page of the Franchise Foundations website.

copyright 2008-2010, Kevin B. Murphy, B.S., M.B.A., J.D. – all rights reserved

For further information, visit the Franchise Foundations website