Archive for Items Categorized 'Avanti Magazine', only excerpts shown, click title for full entry.
Most franchisees are aware by now that the cost for contract maintenance from SEI and FM Facility Maintenance has escalated. Every store should have received a packet from FM showing the new pricing summaries for each piece of equipment in your store. In the packet, FM mentions their continuing efforts to remain transparent in […]
Among independent franchisee associations in the United States, the National Coalition stands out—not only because of its 41-year longevity, its remarkable accomplishments, and its role in safeguarding the rights of franchise owners—but also because of its open and democratic governance structure. The Declaration of Independence, executed on July 4, 1776, serves as the foundation […]
Opacity is defined as “the condition of lacking transparency or translucence, or obscurity of meaning.” If something is transparent, nothing is hidden from plain sight and everything is exposed—warts and all. If an object is opaque, then nothing inside is visible. During SEI’s recent CEO roundtable discussion in Dallas with various franchisees, our CEO […]
SEI has touted servant leadership as the organizational mantra for the past nine years. In the 1970s, Robert Greenleaf coined the term in his published essay “The Servant As Leader.” Since Greenleaf’s work was published, the topic of servant leadership has grown in popularity as a method for teaching management in the workplace. The […]
Since becoming chairman of the National Coalition, one of the issues that has been brought to my attention consistently has been the reclassification of 7-Eleven franchisee operating expenses. This was brought to SEI’s attention in February, and at our Portland Board meeting in May it became a bigger issue of concern with franchisees. During […]
On August 22, the National Coalition filed a revised complaint to SEI’s new Security System and Monitoring Amendment, which allows the company to remotely monitor our stores via the new DVR security surveillance system. The circumstances leading up to this moment began in 2012, when SEI first started rolling out the new security system. […]
In my high school and college years, I proudly worked in retail. Each of my employers reminded me to always respect the customer, because without them, they would correctly say, I would not have a job. In my later years as a shopper, I have rarely encountered someone who did not treat me with […]
Where do we go from here? This is the big question percolating among members of the franchise community, SEI, and even within the vendor community. In 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. isolated himself from the demands of the civil rights movement he helped found. He rented a small house in Jamaica with no […]
In a recent article by former National Coalition legal counsel Arnold “Arnie” Hauptman, he spelled out everything I need to accomplish as the new chairman within six months before I could relax and enjoy the rest of the year. The list included encroachment, the tiered 7-Eleven charge or “Split,” franchise fees, the DVR security […]
Franchisees understand the importance of a clean operation. We understand we are competing for customers, and that we need to keep our stores clean to attract repeat business. We understand that if one store isn’t clean or keeping up with established standards, that store impacts all the other 7-Elevens around it because the experience […]
