Company Expects to Open 100 Locations Over Next 5 Years

October 03, 2008 // Franchising.com // (Toronto, ON)—Hand and Stone Massage Spa, a spa concept offering convenient, reliable, top-quality massage services at prices everyone can afford, will open its first Canadian franchise in early 2009.

Siblings Brett and Gigi Harding will serve as the master licensees responsible for debuting the Hand and Stone brand in Canada. They are no strangers to entrepreneurship as business is in their blood. As the fourth generation in family business, Gigi and Brett continue to follow their family’s entrepreneurial footsteps. They currently own the Master License rights in Canada for Kwik Kopy Design and Print Centres and have over 70 locations. Both Brett and Gigi worked abroad with the brand for a number of years and with their proven track record, the brother-and-sister team was certain they could find success in another industry and began searching for a concept that not only would fill a much-needed niche but also allow them room to grow like they did with Kwik Kopy. When they came across Hand and Stone, Brett and Gigi felt it was exactly what they were looking for.

“We saw a definite need for affordable and available massage services throughout Canada and Hand and Stone was positioned to offer just that in a big way,” said Gigi. “With our over 20 years of experience in franchising, Brett and I knew we could apply that experience successfully to the right concept and Hand and Stone was definitely that concept for us.”

Founded in 2004 by John Marco, Toms River, New Jersey-based Hand and Stone Massage Spas offers high quality, convenient and affordable massage spa services under one roof. Walk-in visits, scheduled appointments and yearly membership programs allow clients to tailor the experience to their busy schedules and take advantage of the spa’s 3,000 available monthly massage hours. By the end of 2008, the company expects to have 100 locations under development. Brett and Gigi will play an integral role in this expansion: The pair hopes to develop a minimum of 100 spas from Newfoundland to Vancouver over the next five years and are currently seeking franchisees to open future spas.

“As the population ages, maintains and even exceeds its high level of activity, people are going to need somewhere where they can go to de-stress without breaking the bank and without compromising quality,” said Gigi. “Brett and I are hoping to expand this mentality throughout Canada with Hand and Stone and give local residents an excuse to literally sit back and relax.”

Kelly Spors, of the Wall Street Journal, has a good insight into some bad decision making - the purchase of a franchise by a naive purchaser.

“It’s a common scenario: Someone walks into a chain restaurant, loves the food and ambiance and suddenly thinks, “I should own one of these.”

It’s tempting to pick a firkin pub franchise minneapolis based on personal experiences or love of the product.

But the fact that you’re smitten with the business or what it sells doesn’t mean it fits your lifestyle, financial situation or long-term goals.

Franchise buyers need to spend ample time exploring their options and doing some thoughtful self-exploration before signing on the dotted line.

The last thing you want is to buy a fast-food restaurant only to realize you don’t like 80-hour workweeks, chatting up customers or managing 20 people.

Many people buy franchises “thinking about how much money they can make without thinking about lifestyle issues,” says Mark Siebert, president of iFranchise Group, a Homewood, Ill., consultant to franchisers.”

What I routinely advise prospects is to work 6 months in the franchise system - the best education in the world. After that period of time, usually working for a minimum wage, you will be in a position to understand the reality behind the franchise contract, franchise disclosure documents and the practices of the franchisor.

How does Spors say we should explore their options?

“There also are so-called franchise brokers, professionals who interview prospective franchisees and then provide them with a list of compatible franchises for free.

They could help a person clarify personality strengths and goals and provide a greater level of detail about the firkin pub franchise minneapolis systems and what franchisees are expected to do.

But there are limitations to using a broker.

Many represent only a sliver of all the available franchises, and they get paid a hefty commission from the franchiser when a person buys one of the recommended franchises.”

What Spors doesn’t point out is that many of the Franchise Disclosure Documents are online at the new website www.openfran.org. Reviewing these documents are essential to making an objective decision about the firkin pub franchise minneapolis purchase.

Provides a list of popular methods and tools that individuals can use when trying to find and research franchise opportunities available for sale.

As a franchise sales consultant I am often asked what is the best way to start the initial process of researching and finding the right franchise to buy. Most of these individuals are still in the initial stages of thinking about buying a franchise, and don’t necessarily have a strong opinion either way about what type of opportunity they are looking for. My answer is that there are more resources available in today’s market then at anytime to find and research madison wisconsin franchise opportunities. Below is a list of some of the most popular methods prospective franchise buyers can use to help narrow the search process and find the franchise business that it’s right for them.

Internet Directories:

The fastest and most convenient way to begin the process of finding a franchise is via the Internet. There are now dozens of franchise opportunities directories online today that offer comprehensive listings of franchises for sale, including information about investment levels, training, availability, and how to contact the franchise company for more details. These directories are also a good source for free information about the general process of buying a madison wisconsin franchise business. You may want to visit A few different directories such as franchiseopportunites.com, franchisegator.com, and azfranchises.com because not all of then will carry the same franchise listings.

Franchise Industry Publications:

Trade publications are another good source for general information about franchises available and franchising industry news.?There are magazines available such as Franchise Times and Entrepreneur, as well as multiple online venues such as franchise-chat.com and franchisenewscenter.com that provide a wealth of free information about finding and buying a franchise.

Trade Shows & Conventions:

There are numerous franchise opportunity trade shows and conventions held through out the year and around the world. These venues offer the chance for individuals to discover and research new opportunities, as well as the unique madison wisconsin franchise opportunity to meet actual representatives of franchise companies they may have an interest in. Some of the more popular shows include the National Franchise & Business Opportunities Show, and International Franchise Expo.

Franchise Consultants & Brokers:

Franchise Consultants and brokers work with as little as a few to dozens of different franchise concepts in their database that they generally have in depth knowledge about. Considering the thousands of different franchise opportunities that buyers can choose from these days, they can be effective in helping a prospective buyer narrow their search by first qualifying them, and then showing them opportunities that could be a potential good match. Since the majority of these consultants are paid a referral fee or success fee by the franchisors if one of buyers they introduce moves forward, the buyer generally has no direct expense associated in engaging a franchise consultant to help them.

Some of the potential downsides to working with a franchise consultant can include that some only represent a few or a limited menu of franchise concepts which can potentially limit the prospective buyer’s exposure to seeing all the opportunities available in the market. And like some sales people who work on commission, the motivations of the consultant may some times not be entirely consistent with the prospective buyer’s best interest or goals. But I would say overall, that the madison franchise industry has a very good reputation for treating their clients fairly and professionally.

Business Brokers:

Many professional business brokers are also franchise consultants, and they also can be an excellent source to find existing or established franchise business for sale in your local area if you decide to go that route. Business brokers generally also have good working knowledge of how franchising works, and can often be very helpful to a prospective buyer because of their inside knowledge of the local small business market. You can find a local professional business broker in your area by visiting this directory http://www.findabusinessbroker.com

Hit The Streets:

Another good and obvious way to find a research a potential madison franchises franchise opportunity is to scope out and visit existing franchise businesses in your local area. There is no better validation that a franchise opportunity concept works than seeing a busy store or restaurant full of customers. And if they are available and have the time, you may also want to ask the owner about how business is going, are they happy with the franchisor, and would they recommend this opportunity.

Many first time franchise investors think that they should invest all of their savings. This isn’t necessarily true. To determine how much money you should invest into your sandella’s flatbread franchise boise, you must first determine how much you actually can afford to invest, and what your franchise goals are.

First, let’s take a look at how much money you can currently afford to invest into your business. Do you have savings or other capital that you can use? If so, great! However, you don’t want to overstretch yourself short when you tie your money up into an investment like a restaurant franchise.

It is important to keep three to six months of operating expenses in a readily accessible business account – do not invest that money! You will want to make sure you have cash on hand ready to pay all of the bills you night be faced with.

So, begin by determining how much investment capital you need for six months of expenses and how much you need to start the business to begin with. Unless you have funds from another source, such as an small business loan that you’ve recently received, this will probably be all that you currently have to invest.

Next, determine how much you can add to your sandella’s flatbread franchise omaha in the future. If you are self-employed, you will continue to receive a base income, and you can plan to use a portion of that income to build up your capital for future investments you might need.

With the help of a sandella’s flatbread franchise madison planner, you can be sure that you are not investing more than you should – or less than you should in order to reach your goal.

For many types of franchise investments, a certain initial investment amount will be required (Anywhere between $250,000-1,000,000). Hopefully, you’ve done your research, and you have found the right franchise that has proven to be sound (like McDonalds). If this is the case, you probably already know what the required initial investment is.

If the money that you have available for investments does not meet the required initial investment, you may have to look at other franchises.