The Franchise Blog 4 Vets

Free Franchise Ownership Webinars

 

 

If you're a Military Veteran who's been thinking about becoming the owner of a franchise business, please join Direct Capital, Franchwire, and The Franchise King® for the 1st of two free webinars.

If you're by a computer tomorrow, January 31st at 1:00 PM, ET, log on for free!

 

The title of tomorrow's webinar;

 

     Should You Become a Franchise Owner? 

 

Here's more information on what will be covered 

 

 

 

Small Business Resources for Veterans: The Small Business Navigation Program

 

Military Veterans;  if you're interested in starting a business, or growing your current VOB, there's a Virginia-based small business resource that you need to know about.

 

  

 

The Cox Small Business Navigation Program features a plethora of tools and resources for entrepreneurs....

Are You Texting For Business, Veterans?

 

Mobile technolgy platforms are growing at quite the rapid pace. Not only are more and more cell phone users texting each other, they are also getting texts; from other local businesses. Are you using this new technolgy to drive leads, or drive sales?

If you've recently become a Veteran, it's hard to imagine you not being involved at some level with new mobile technology.

But, are you using it for your small business in an effective way?

Here's How Veteran-Owned Small Businesses Can Lower Their Operating Expenses

 

It's important for veteran small business owners to look at the big picture, as it pertains to their their sales, as well as their expenses.

When it comes to operating expenses, there's lots of different things that can quietly suck the life out of your small business's checking accounts.

Kelly Spors, a former Wall Street Journal writer, is now doing freelance writing, and she's  focusing on the hot topic of green energy.

Anita Campbell's Small Business Trends, is one place that Kelly regularly contributes articles to, and she just wrote a great piece that features important data on energy use around a typical small business office. Here's what she wrote;

"What many business owners don’t realize is the potential electricity (and money) savings reaped by turning off equipment not in use and unplugging it.  Phantom or vampire power, the electricity drawn from the outlet when a piece of equipment is turned off, can account for more than 10% of all electricity used by equipment."

Then, she shared some specifics on watts used by various equipment in a small business office setting. The best part of this important article is her data concerning energy used when the equipment is on, and when it's off-and unplugged. 

Read the rest of her article titled, "Saving Money and Energy on Office Equipment," over at Small Business Trends. (Disclosure; I'm a regular contributor on the Small Business Trends website, and it's Community Promotions Director.)

 

Franchise Opportunity For Veterans; Solar Power System Sales/Design/Installation

Are you an electrical contractor? Are you the owner of a small business that does electrical installations? Have you been thinking of adding another product and/or service to your existing business?

Were you in the military? If so, maybe you were involved in;

•  The Navy's ESPC Team

•  The USAF Advanced Power Technology Office

•  The U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center

•  The US Marines Ground Renewable Expeditionary Energy System

(Solar Panel array at Nellis AFB)

Residential and commercial uses for solar power are increasing at a rapid pace, and this may be a good to to investigate getting involved in this powerful alternative energy source.

This solar franchise business opportunity (17 franchise units, as of June 2010-and a marketing/franchisor client) is looking for a few good men and women.

You'll need a minimum of $100k in liquid capital and a net worth of at least $300k to qualify.

Ground floor opportunity? That's for you to decide.

Here's a recent update on the progress of this solar franchise.

Veteran Business Owners; Check Out This Huge Collection Of E-Commerce Tools!

Do you conduct any of your sales online? Are you completely satisfied with the technology that you're currently using? Are your shopping carts the best ones available for your unique business type? Is there a way to make your online transactions even better for your customers?

Is there a way for you to make more money from each online transaction?

The folks at Small Business Trends (TJ McCue, actually) has put together an amazing list of e-commerce and shopping cart tools that you need to know about. Maybe there's one that would be perfect for your business.

Read "49 E-Commerce & Shopping Carts For The Small Business" 

Veteran Small Business Owners: Attend This Important Webinar

Tomorrow, at 1:00 PM Eastern time, three small business thought leaders will be presenting;

"Small Business, Big Wins: Innovative Tools to Drive Your Business Forward”

It's being sponsored by Dymo/Endicia, and is being held to honor National Small Business Week.

Please go here to see who's presenting, and to register for this small business focused event!

A New PC For Veteran Small Business Owners

A friend of mine does a nice job reviewing all sorts of products, websites, heck, he reviews a lot of different things. TJ McCue is his name, and he just did a review of a PC that look pretty nice especially for small business owners that are busy, busy, busy. 

From TJ, over at Small Business Trends;

"The small businessperson who is crunching a lot of data or, more likely, a lot of simple video for marketing on YouTube or elsewhere will like this machine.  Or, if you’ve been a mobile warrior and now want something fast and friendly with a powerful graphics card, this is a machine to evaluate"

Read the entire review of the Lenovo A63 ThinkCentre Desktop PC. 

Veterans; Free Online Course On Franchising Being Offered

Are you at a crossroads? Are you thinking about becoming the owner of a franchise business, but just don't have enough facts yet?

Here's a way to find out some franchise basics. Free of charge.

You'll learn about things like;

• The definition
• Investment amounts
• Types of franchises
• Pro's and con's

You'll also learn when the time may be right to invest in your own franchise, and much, much more...

Click the banner, and you'll find the Free Course!

 

Military Veterans; Maybe You Should Start An Online Learning Company

      
Online learning.                  Smart Idea.

Not all of you have the financial resources to start a franchise. I'd like to share an alternative. You can still become a small business owner...

Is there something that you are an expert at? Maybe you are really good at repairing motorcycles, or cars and trucks. Do you have good first-aid skills? How about teaching them?

Here's some other ideas on what you could teach online;

• Your experiences in the battlefield?
  

• Can you teach a course on what to know about Iraq, or Afghanistan?
  

• Maybe you can teach future recruits what they need to know about boot camp, and what they need to do to excel.
• How about family issues, before and after your tour of duty?

Online learning is not the wave of the future. It's here. More and more folks will be learning online.

Today's wireless technology allows more and more people to participate and purchase online learning modules. Your courses will be able to reach rural areas and even deserts. People can participate in an almost endless array of learning opportunities.

Would you like to learn about an easy way to teach online, and start a business of your own by teaching what you know?

If so, check this out. (Just watch the video posted at that site, and then sign up for the next one. )

(Full Disclosure; I get paid a small portion of any fees collected by this cool technology company for folks I introduce to them. Which helps support this blog...)