Grow From Here

Franchise Profile – Multi Menu Foods

Home Based Business Model Franchises are growing in popularity. I recently heard them referred to a micro-franchises, but this is a different business model all together.  I first met Ron Hawkins from Multi Menu foods at The Franchise Show in Vancouver back in September. He is offering Multi Menu franchise opportunities in the Lower Mainland.  We spoke again a couple of weeks ago, and Ron told me some more about Multi Menu foods.

Multi Menu History & Overview

Multi Menu started in 1993, and has been expanding outside of Quebec since 2002.  They offer dry pet food for cats and dogs, cat litter and over 6500 accessories.  All purchases are delivered right to the customer’s home.  Customers get the benefit of lower prices, lots of choice, specially developed formulas and lower costs than by purchasing in a retail environment.  In addition, they don’t have to carry heavy bags home from the store – everything is delivered to the door.

Multi Menu currently has more than 160 franchises across Canada, and Ron is the Master Franchiser for the Lower Mainland.  He has a great story of how he got involved with Multi Menu.  Originally, his son was looking for a franchise and went to a franchise show where nothing really appealed to him except Multi Menu.  He took the product home and they loved it.  His son then asked him to get involved, and Ron did – he really liked the setup and loves seeing how customers respond to the product.  He was then asked if he would be interested in taking on the Master Franchise and growing the company here in the West.  It’s been a great experience for him and he has just added a couple of new franchises in North Vancouver and White Rock.

Benefits for Franchisees

I asked Ron about the benefits of the home based business franchise model (in general) and of a Multi Menu foods franchise in particular.  He says Multi Menu is great for people:

• who are looking for flexibility in terms of their schedule and their time
• who may not have the financial ability to make a large investment
• who want to begin part time and grow their business
• who love pets
• who are social; happy to get on the phone, ready to go to shows and meet people
• who want a well developed and proven system to be part of

I was struck by Ron’s comment that people can start with whatever time commitment works for them.  He says the business model can be tailored to the time franchisees have available, and it can start as only 10 hours a week, or be a full-time commitment.  Either way, there is a known model for what they will get out of it, and they can have the flexibility to grow into a larger commitment over time.

Another interesting part of Multi Menu’s structure is that there is no on-going royalty fee.   Franchisees pay a small monthly fee for the computer systems that support their business, and, after the intial franchise fee,  that’s the extent of the ongoing costs aside from the costs of running their business.

Best Advice for Someone Considering a Multi Menu Franchise

Ron’s best advice for someone considering a Multi Menu franchise is to talk to other franchisees.  Potential Multi Menu franchisees are given a list of other franchisees and invited to talk to any of them.  As well, they are encouraged to check out the products, try the samples, and look at the online pricing. 

For more information, check out the Multi Menu web site.

Franchise, Franchisor Spotlight

In the current economic times, many franchisors and business owners are looking at what they can do to increase traffic, sales and lead generating in a very concrete and cost effective way.  One of the options is to look at the combination of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Social Media Optimization (SMO).

There are a number of common reasons to invest in Search Engine Optimization in order to increase lead generation:

• Cost: the costs of SEO are very low compared to traditional marketing (print, radio, television) per lead generated.
• Measurability: SEO results are very easy to measure and modify and test different theories and then see the results.
• ROI: Return on Investment can be calculated very quickly – if you know how much it is worth to you to obtain one new prospect, the payoff for SEO can be seen rapidly.
• Lead Quality: SEO is ‘pull marketing’ – the quality of leads is very high because the leads you do generate are people who are searching for what you are offering, so they are likely to be solid leads.   Unlike traditional push marketing that goes out to everyone who sees it, pull marketing attracts prospects who already have the intent to purchase, so if your offering meets their need and you gain their confidence, the sale is likely to complete very quickly.
• Payoff over Time: SEO has a long payoff period – it continues to generate results over the long term (and, in fact, as you add more content over time, the results get stronger).  This is also called Passive Business Development.
• Branding: SEO is helpful in building both your brand and your credibility/authority.  Many people these days do a web search as the first ‘check-up’ on companies they are considering doing business with – the results they find will have a potentially strong effect on their eventual decision.  As much as possible, you want their first impression to be the one that you want, that speaks to your brand benefits and values.
• Competitive Edge:  Good SEO can put you far ahead of your competitors.  Although most people are aware that they should be doing some form of SEO, so many are still not doing it, or not doing it well, that there is lots of opportunity to gain a competitive advantage and be seen to stand out.

Best Practices, Business Growth, Franchise