Annette Kirby Shingle Inn Franchisee Annette is a glamorous Coffee Shop owner who works 12 hour days. She opened her first Shingle Inn cafe in Caloundra in December 2009 and her second Shingle Inn Cafe in Sunshine Plaza in December in 2011. She was the “first on file” franchisee in the Shingle Inn franchise system. Her Caloundra store was the second franchised store in the Bellchamber family owned, Shingle Inn Café brand. The original Shingle Inn was famous for its […]

Katie Richards Virtual Legal & Franchise All-rounder Entrepreneur, Lawyer, Educator, Author and Innovator. Katie is a commercial solicitor passionate about systematisation and efficiency. As previous commercial legal advisor to corporations like Domino’s Pizza, National Australia Bank, GE Mining and Ecowash Mobile both in Australia and in the USA, Europe and Middle East. As a strong advocate for the provision of access to legal services Australia-wide regardless of financial position or geographical location, Katie set about the establishment of Virtual Legal, […]

Mark Norman From Farmer to Franchisee   Mark and his wife Liz bought their first franchise, Mr Rental in Toowoomba in June 2003 and their second store in Ipswich in December 2003. Both stores were “Greenfield” sites that Mark and his team have grown to now have 1100 customers each. Mark’s stores service the area from the Regatta hotel in Brisbane west to the town of Roma in South West Queensland. During my conversation with Mark he shared: Opening your […]

Employee management is one of the most frustrating and time-consuming parts of your franchised business. Being an employer requires you to adhere to workplace legislation. It is quite in depth and the onus is always on the employer to get it right. The penalties are staggering.   Here are ten ways that the Franchisor helps you, the franchisee, to be an employer.   Employee Induction Process – inducting employees into your business is a process that is very detailed and […]

I was so excited when I bought my first franchised business.  Finally I was a business person.  I got to make the important decisions.  I was in charge.  Little did I know that there was a lot I had yet to learn.  Not only that, I didn’t realise that I had to concentrate on three particular areas to be sure that running this franchised business was going to be a positive experience.  Had I concentrated on these areas I would not […]

Heike Tye The Accidental Franpreneur Heike Tye became an “Accidental Franpreneur” when she married.  Her first franchised business was Pizza Haven where she learned very valuable franchising lessons.  After leaving Pizza Haven, Heike and her husband took 1.5 years to find a new franchise system that they wanted to be part of.  That was when they found “Hogs Breath Café”.  They entered Hogs Breath with a store in St Mary’s in 1999 when it was a new and emerging brand […]

Selena Knight The Retail Biz Strategist   Selena Knight is the Retail Business Strategist, but this was not always the case. Selena started life as a Tree Surgeon. As her business grew she found herself managing teams of people eventually managing over 100 contractors. Eight years ago Selena ventured into retail and opened a retail store selling baby and children’s products. Selena’s passion now is to create a vibrant and supportive community for retailers. With so much information freely available […]