Save the Date: September 9 in Atlanta

While we have yet to announce the special location, (be sure to tune in to our LinkedIn Group or our Facebook Page later next week, for details) we have announced the date for the next Atlanta Franchise Alliance networking event and meeting. It is Wednesday September 9, 2009 (Yes, that’s 09, 09, 09), and we will be presenting a powerful expert and speaker, to help us all navigate the tangled mess that has resulted from the recession and credit freeze, and its impact on franchising.

On 9/9/09, come hear one of the foremost authorities on franchise finance, the state of the credit freeze and its impact on franchising, as Ron Feldman, CEO of The Siegel Financial Group (and a RetroTax franchisee) updates us on how we got here, where we are and more importantly, where we're heading.

As those of you regular attendees know, most of our events are purely centered around networking, so having a speaker is a treat... but having Ron Feldman as that speaker, provides an exponential "added value" to the 9/9/09 event. Whether you are a franchisor, a franchisee, a member of a corporate team from either, a supplier, an attorney, ir any an interested party, who's income is dependent upon the well being of those in the franchise space, do not miss this event.

Again, be sure to check out our Web site, LinkedIn or Facebook later next week for additional details – and of course, as always. check my blog. Hope to see all my franchising bretheren on 9/9/09. Check back soon, for updated 411 on the location.

Networking: How To Get The Most Out of Networking Events

With the Franchise Leadership and Development Conference right around the corner (September 23-25 at the Drake Hotel in Chicago), I wanted to go over a few networking opportunity tips that I have come to learn over my years attending events like these.

TACKLE OTHER PEOPLE’S MISTAKES
It never ceases to amaze, how many times I meet someone at a networking event and they do not have a business card with them. Make your business card like your AMEX card: “DON’T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT IT!”

Don’t rely on your memory. When you meet someone at an event and exchange cards, make notes on the back of their card as a memory trigger for reference. If you work your way through a networking event correctly, you should have collected far more cards than the average person’s memory can account for, without a reference point.

EXCHANGE OF BUSINESS CARDS
Meet and swap cards with as many people as possible and save your more in-depth conversations for a follow-up call or meeting. Taking too deep a dive at the event will limit your opportunity to meet more potentially interesting and valuable contacts.

STUDY YOUR APPROACH CAREFULLY
Approach the same level of interest and sincerity as you would exhibit in a meeting with a new or existing client, but remember the timeline is more like a lightning round than that of a longer, fact-finding or consultative session.

Also, approach networking opportunities with interest in learning just enough to make you want to know more; conversely, sharing just enough to make someone meeting you want to learn more as well.

Finally for preparation, here’s the trick I use: keep your business cards in your left pocket, and those that you collect in your right. You NEVER want to give someone a card that has notes on it—yours or someone else’s.

I will execute these simple, yet effective, strategies at the upcoming Franchise Update Leadership and Development Conference, one of my favorite events for networking within the franchising community. While many in attendance will be those that I already know well or have met at past franchise events, I will also meet dozens of franchising industry professionals for the very first time. In the almost 10 years that I have been attending this event, great things have always resulted from the networking that I did during the conference.

I have continued to come back for this conference annually because it is laser targeted and specific in its content. It is big enough to attract high quality industry leaders, speakers and keynotes, yet small enough to still feel intimate. One can actually look for and find just about anyone that they may want to circle back to and have a deeper conversation and not have to compromise “official” networking time to do it.

3 Questions With Brian Schnell

Brian Schnell, Partner at Faegre & Benson, LLP

Brian Schnell focuses his practice in franchising and product distribution law. He is a leader of the Faegre & Benson Franchise Team, a premier international franchise practice representing more than 200 franchisors with headquarters based in 35 states and seven countries.

Based at Faegre's HQ in Minneapolis, MN, Brian counsels both emerging and mature franchisors in a variety of industries with regard to all aspects of their franchise programs. He is the lead corporate franchise lawyer for more than 80 franchisors, ranging from companies with thousands of locations worldwide to companies who are in the initial stages of building their franchise systems. These clients operate in dozens of industries including restaurants and related food businesses, hotel, health and fitness, media, automotive aftermarket, pets, convenience stores, children's, and many commercial and residential service and retail segments.

Brian is a past chair of the International Franchise Association (IFA) Supplier Forum and a member of its Legal/Legislative, Awards and Membership committees. He also serves on the board of trustees for the IFA Educational Foundation and the Franchise Advisory Board for WomenVenture. He is a frequent and well-regarded speaker and author on franchising. The first male to receive the IFA Women's Franchise Committee Crystal Compass, Brian was distinguished for this honor in 2009 based on his leadership in franchising. He also is one of only eighteen franchise lawyers recognized worldwide by Chambers Global.

What can guests expect at this year’s Faegre Franchise Summit?
As delivered at past Summits, our Summit guests can expect lively and robust discussion on financial, social media and leadership topics. Our Summit speakers are all industry leaders who will facilitate a passionate discussion on best practices that will make an absolute difference to franchisors and franchise systems.

What are the hot legal topics in franchising this year and what do you foresee coming in 2010?
Candidly, there is not much new on traditional legal topics other than perhaps how franchisors should legally address social media and its utilization in their franchise systems. The hot topics exist on the legislative front with what is happening on Capitol Hill regarding financing availability for small businesses, health care, employee free choice act and other critical small business issues. If there ever was a time for franchisors and franchisees to attend IFA's Public Affairs Conference and reach out to their legislators, September 2009 is that time. In addition, a number of states are increasing their efforts on the tax front in order to help state budget shortfalls. 2010 will be an interesting year on the legal front, as much of what happens next year will depend on how franchisors and franchisees resolve their differences in these economic times. Franchisees and franchisors will struggle and some will fail. If the parties resort to courts and arbitration to resolve problems in confrontational and expensive proceedings, we will see new law (not necessarily good law) that will impact the future of franchising.

When do you foresee an improvement in our economic climate?
We are beginning to see early recovery signs now, but it likely will be the first quarter 2010 before the recovery really catches stride. In that regard, it is critical for franchisors to continue to act now in order to assist franchisees to get through this tough period and understand changes in consumer buying patterns and then be poised to take advantage of market share opportunities.

BONUS: What is your favorite restaurant in Minneapolis and why should people try it?
Manny's (http://www.mannyssteakhouse.com/ 821 Marquette Ave; Minneapolis, MN 55402; (612) 215-3700) There is nothing better than a great steak coupled with a fantastic bottle of wine.

Three Questions, interviews conducted by Stan Friedman, President and Co-Founder of RetroTax, appears twice a month exclusively at http://www.retrofacts.blogspot.com/.

Economic Improvement Continues – My Economic Predictions

For those of you that read my blog regularly, you know that I remain optimistic about the future, despite these challenging times that we’re all living through. It’s been a while though since I last commented on how I see things, so an update seemed in order. While on some fronts I believe that economic conditions surrounding the recession may finally be close to bottoming out, I’m still a bit concerned about the potential for another meltdown in real estate. This one though, on the commercial front. With so many business failures recorded during the first half of the year, there is the potential for a commercial crisis, stemming from landlords unable to meet their mortgage commitments on unoccupied retail and office spaces.

Needless to say, when it arrives, economic recovery will be good for all businesses, franchised or otherwise. I think though, that it will take a bit of time for demand to catch back up with supply on the real estate side. Overall, as a business model, I believe that franchising would have weathered this storm with far less stress, but for the perfect storm caused by the simultaneous impact of the recession and credit freeze. More than anything, it was the latter that has gummed up the works for franchising, keeping displaced employees from becoming aspiring new entrepreneurs.

Through all of this, IFA members should all be extremely proud of their membership in the International Franchise Association. Now, more than ever, the IFA, it’s Board of Directors, its Government Relations Team, and members on all fronts, franchisors, franchisees and suppliers have made their voices heard at the White House, on Capitol Hill, at the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury.

Don’t miss your chance to do the same by voicing your concern to your elected officials at http://www.franchisingvotes.com/ and by attending the IFA’s fall Public Affairs Conference on Capitol Hill in mid September. More about that opportunity to meet with your elected officials can be found at http://www.franchise.org/publicaffairs.aspx. Each of these efforts support the loosening of the purse strings so that banks again begin lending to existing and/or soon-to-be franchisees. That will provide the best assurance of sustainable growth for our economy and the creation of new jobs and businesses on Main Streets across America. In addition to the obvious value propositions provided by the IFA, like education and networking, in my opinion, there is nothing more powerful than the voice it provides in terms of political action.

As for the future – or the end of this economic drought -- I wish I could read those tea leaves and see through the haze. I do think though, that what happens (or hopefully doesn’t,) between now and summer recess on Capitol Hill, will speak volumes to where we can expect things go from here.

As the old saying in TV news goes, “film at 11.”

RetroTax Welcomes Bob Ritter, Franchising Industry Veteran, to the Team!

As the co-founder and President of an emerging franchise concept, supporting existing franchisees, along with the ongoing growth of the network, are my two top priorities. Well this week, in one move that I am extremely proud to share with you here, RetroTax has accomplished both, when Bob Ritter, veteran franchise professional, joined the team as Vice President of Franchising and National Accounts.

As has been the case with so many industry peers, I met Bob Ritter through the IFA. Bob and I first connected at an Annual IFA Convention back in the day, and we have become really good friends since. I’ve always been impressed with Bob’s tremendous appetite for knowledge and how well networked he was with the franchising community’s leadership. It’s been during the past two years though, that we developed an even stronger business bond and personal friendship. All of this occurred at the same time that Al Newcomb and I were creating and launching RetroTax.

During this period, I’ve been traveling more frequently to Bob’s home-town of Indianapolis. Indy also happens to be Home Base for RetroTax. When Bob and I first began talking about my new business concept, (over a beer or two, I might add) he became extremely intrigued by the RetroTax concept. Like me in years past, Bob has spent a great deal of time involved with a concept that occupies a highly competitive, crowded market space. Conversely, RetroTax represents a unique b2b offering and is a virtual stand-alone, in terms of competitive franchise offerings. Before learning too much more about our concept, this fact alonw, captured Bob's attention and interest.

As Vice President of Franchising and National Accounts, Bob will perform multiple roles, as a powerful utility player on the RetroTax team. His diverse experience will be called upon to assist with the development and training of new franchisees, support of existing franchisees, and the growth and management of our National Account relationships. Additionally, Bob’s skill sets will also provide a real boost to the leadership development of our Indianapolis-based franchise support and tax credit processing teams.

Recruiting someone with Bob’s expertise and strength of reputation is a major coup for the RetroTax team and we are extremely proud to welcome him to the family.

Back from the 4th, Let's Talk About a Slice of Americana!

For business owners and executives, being involved in groups and associations that are intertwined with your business model is a very important component of success. As a franchisor, I believe that it's essential to be involved with the IFA, (International Franchise Association) because of the opportunities that it provides for political advocacy, education, the sharing of best practices and obviously, for networking with other franchising professionals.

Equally as important in my view, is the need to engage with commercial/civic associations that help to advance the core offerings of your business model and it's concept. For me, that screams the value proposition being served up by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and their BCLC. (Business Civic Leadership Center).

Last March, I was exposed to the U.S. Chamber and the BCLC for the first time, as I was invited to speak at their Annual Conference. The program was themed around “Corporate Community Investment" and my topic was, you guessed it: "The power of wage-based, tax credits, and the impact that they can have on your bottom line." (See previous blog posts for more about this topic) This event brought together, some 300 business and civic leaders from all over the U.S.A.

When I arrived at the pre-conference reception, my first impression was that the gathering seemed a bit small, given that this was a national conference. That impression was quickly erased though, as I started talking with some of the other speakers and attendees. In fact, I was very quickly reminded why it is NOT a good idea to judge books by their covers. Truth is, there was a great deal of power harnessed in this group and it was the BCLC that brought it all together. This assemblage represented a cross section of America's DNA, it's very engine, if you will. Included were: for profits, not-for-profits, representatives of both the public and private sectors, executives from large corporations, mom and pop operators from Main Streets across America, fledgling, community-based non-profits, standing alongside representatives of mega-large corporate foundations. Representatives of local and regional Chambers of Commerce attended, as did the Mayors of large and small American cities. Also found in the mix were representatives of the U.S. Governors Association, the U.S. Small Business Association, The Department of Defense, even the White House was represented at this conference. Beginning to get the point? It was no doubt, an eclectic group.

Regardless which market sector you represented when you got there, the BCLC and the Chamber brought this public/private sector conglomeration together for the purposes of attacking a single common focus: that being, how to expedite economic recovery in America. In fact, "Together for Recovery" was the subset of this entire summit. A lot of incredible results were born out of this conference, but there is still a lot of heavy lifting left to be accomplished. Look into joining the BCLC and the U.S. Chamber. If you are not aware of the good that they do, visit www.uschamber.com/bclc/about/default , and get involved! Help make a difference, as only YOU can. Whatever effort you put forth, will pay you back ten-fold.

Personally, I developed some great relationships as the result of this two-day BCLC conference. Consequently, I am now working closely with several organizations that I might never have otherwise been introduced to. I’ve also been smitten by the BCLC, the U.S. Chamber and the dedicated team of professionals that make this organization work. This has culminated in my commitment to do more for and through this organization for the common good of myself, my business, the BCLC, the U.S. Chamber, its members and the people that they serve.

Five Things You Didn’t Know About Tax Credits, But Should

Many business owners and executives don’t know the first thing about wage-based tax credits. Frankly, that’s OK with me, especially since that’s what we’re all about. RetroTax was conceived to help remedy that problem and then assist with the administration of these very complex programs.

Business owners that do know about these programs often stray away from them because they seem too complicated to manage. Once again, RetroTax provides the fix to that dilemma. Here then, are five things you didn’t know about wage-based tax credits, but you should:

1) These programs are not only available to mega large corporations: In fact, wage-based tax credits are available for all companies – small or large. You don’t have to be the big guy to benefit from these credits – you just have to employ people. They need to meet certain demographic or geographic criteria, but odds are that some percentage of your employees will qualify for something.
2) In reality, almost any business employing 10 or more people will be eligible for something: So, don’t leave money on the table, especially in today’s economy. There could be significant amounts of money available, that you are missing, simply because you didn’t know these programs existed for you to benefit from.
3) Tax credits are like money in the bank, as they can be carried forward for as long as 20 years: So, even if you are not tax liable for some reason in the year you earn these credits, that’s no problem, you can hold on to them and apply them in future years.
4) Several of these programs are retroactive: Meaning that just because you didn’t know about this previously, you actually still go back and reclaim credits that you were eligible for, from the past three years.
5) April 15th is the only day to focus on for tax credits: WRONG. As many as eleven categories that qualify you for these credits only apply to future hires. So, each and every day that you wait could cost you thousands of dollars.

There is absolutely no reason why any business shouldn’t at least inquire about these possibilities. All it takes is a simple conversation and a little research into the possibilities. So, what are you waiting for. Give me a call today!