Archive for Items Categorized 'Avanti Magazine', only excerpts shown, click title for full entry.

Survivorship Agreement: What You Must Know

  It has been a very long time since I have written an article in which I described your rights under the survivorship provisions contained in every store agreement in Exhibit F. The rights given to you in these provisions are extremely important but, from my experience, all too few storeowners are aware of its […]

Communication + Relationship + Opportunities = Success

  Communication is the core of all relationships. The speed and velocity of change in communication and communication technology since the beginning of the millennium has been breathtaking. The term “revolution” often feels like an understatement. We are now continuously bombarded with text messages, emails, tweets, and voice mails ad infinitum. While the methodology of […]

The Co-Prosperity Model: Franchisees, 7-Eleven, Inc., Vendors

  The National Coalition and franchisees place a very high value on relationships with our vendor community. Our vendors provide the products that we sell in our stores, and support our customers with brand awareness. Every year, year after year, franchisees are flooded with information on innovative new products, changes in packaging and flavors, and […]

The Fresh Foods Goal

  I think everyone would agree that SEI’s goal of building fresh foods sales to 20 percent of overall store sales is a great strategy. It will help us make up for shrinking margins in other critical categories that we’ve depended on in the past, and it will help give us an edge over the […]

Incorporation—Is It For You?

  It appears to me that many, if not most, franchisees are now entering into store agreements in a corporate capacity rather than as individuals. On the other hand, most franchisees who signed or renewed an agreement some years ago are still operating as individuals. That’s probably because SEI only began, a relatively short time […]

Paying The Price For Other’s Mistakes

  Consequences. Life is full of them. Some occur whether you are expecting them or not. If you put your finger into a flame, for instance, your finger will get burned. While this may have been an unknown consequence the first time, you undoubtedly learned the consequence to this action immediately afterwards. Furthermore, you learned […]

Thank You For Allowing Me To Serve

  I’ve had the honor of serving the franchise community for 30 years, mostly with the Southern California FOA and more recently as a vice chairman of the National Coalition. Over this time I’ve had the privilege of working with and befriending some of the most hardworking and devoted franchisees in the system. I’ve seen […]

Product Mix And Center Of The Store Sales Plan

  I recently received an e-mail from one of my field consultants regarding the center of the store sales plan for the months of January and February. The plan included recommendations on what products to add in certain parts of the store. Most of the suggested items were for the snacks, candy, HABA, and energy […]

How Important Is Communication?

  As 7-Eleven grows towards 10,000 stores—the company’s goal by 2015—communications between franchisees, 7-Eleven, Inc., and vendors becomes increasingly critical and at the same time increasingly complicated, not just because of the size of the organization, but because of the time it takes to generate informative, high quality communications. Today we have Zones with 500 […]

Influencing Legislation That Could Impact Our Businesses

  With the economy still on the mend, it appears many state and local governments dealing with budget issues are looking for quick fixes, and these fixes usually end up affecting small businesses like ours one way or another. Whether it’s a tax on sugary drinks, a ban on plastic bags, or new menu labeling […]