Carol Jarred Named Franchise Woman of the Year 2009

Director of Price Attack Franchising, Carol Jarred (pictured), has been declared the 2009 “Franchise Woman of the Year” at the Franchise Council of Australia’s (FCA) Awards Evening.

Carol Jarred co-owns the 128-store strong national company, which specialises in professional hair care, with her husband Barry Jarred who is the Managing Director. Carol said she had already been surprised about taking out the 2009 “QLD/NT Franchise Woman of the Year” title in August Read more

Women in Business: Keran Wicks from Network Video

Keran Wicks (pictured) is the founder and Managing Director of The Network Group, a leading player in Australia’s $1 billion home entertainment industry. As the only woman in the world to run a movie rental group, Keran has spoken at international industry conferences; her unique perspectives and strong work ethic have made her a respected member of the Australian business community.

Without her vision and drive, the Australian home entertainment industry would be vastly different to what it is today. Keran played a vital role in the successful case brought against Warner Bros in the Australian Federal Court in 2001 that stopped two-tier DVD pricing, and has been an active board member of the Australian Video Rental Retailers Association (AVRRA) since 1998. Read more

Education for Women in Franchising

Women in Franchising (WIF), an initiative of the Franchise Council of Australia, and Westpac have partnered together to provide more education on business matters for women in the franchising industry.

WIF Committee Chair Kate Johnson said the FCA’s research findings were the main reason behind WIF’s decision to form the partnership.

“Through research the FCA has found that people in franchising, and especially women in the industry, are looking for more business advice and education opportunities,” she said.

The FCA’s most recent survey was administered to 2,995 current individual members of the FCA and of those that responded 42.2 per cent wanted franchising advice, 33.8 per cent wanted webinars, 54.7 per cent wanted an online library and 50.3 per cent wanted more networking events as value-added benefits. Respondents also indicated the education courses and seminar topics of most interest to them were Strategic Management (60.8 per cent), Leadership (53.4 per cent), Financial Management (50.7 per cent) and Marketing (49.3 per cent). Read more

The Employee Who Bought the Business

When Te-Anu Braidie (pictured) returned from her dream vacation in Egypt, the wife and mother of two worried that her employer’s sudden decision to sell the business could leave her without a job. With the global economic crisis in full swing, she knew that if the worst should happen, her chances of finding another job in her hometown were slim. Then in a stunning reversal of fortune, Te-Anu was given the opportunity to buy the business and on 1 July 2009, she took over the reigns of Snap Printing in Williamstown, Victoria.

Te-Anu Braidie had long wanted to see Egypt, but family and work commitments had always come first. As well as working full-time, Te-Anu is raising two sons, the oldest of whom is Autistic. During her son’s formative years, Te-Anu was a single parent and doing it tough financially. But then she met a wonderful man who loved her enough to take on the role of co-parent to her Autistic child. The couple married and eventually had a son together.

For her 40th birthday, Te-Anu’s husband surprised her with a trip to Egypt in early 2009. But an even bigger surprise was waiting for Te-Anu’ when she returned home. After maxing out the credit cards on her dream vacation, the news that she could be out of job was the last thing Te-Anu wanted to hear on her return to work.

“I had just arrived back home from a life-changing trip to Egypt to the news that I could be out of a job, depending on the new owners. They were actually selling because I had done a good job turning the business around,” said Te-Anu. Read more

Ladies, pitch your business idea to investors

Pitch Club provides aspiring entrepreneurs of all ages with the opportunity to connect with investors, business angels, venture capitalists and other entrepreneur enthusiasts.

Pitch Club is a fun, fast and furious business networking event like no other and offers entrepreneurs the chance to pitch their ideas from a miniature boxing ring to an audience of potential investors.

A typical Pitch Club event starts with ten entrepreneurs invited into a miniature boxing ring, where they each have ninety seconds to pitch their idea to the crowd. The audience decides who makes it to the final round through preliminary voting and then the finalists have the opportunity to interact for another five minutes with the audience through their pitch and a Q&A session. The audience then votes for the winner of the night with Pitch Club dollars, signifying their endorsement of the ideas presented to them. Read more

Bakers Delight is looking for new franchisees and apprentice bakers

Bakers Delight, Australia’s most successful retail bakery franchise, today announced plans for further expansion across its Australian, New Zealand and Canadian operations in 2009.

While much of the retail sector is feeling the pinch of the global financial crisis and in cut-back mode, Bakers Delight is trending positively against the economic downturn. As part of an aggressive growth campaign, the company is looking to recruit 150 new franchisees across its international network and will also hire 500 apprentice bakers to help facilitate this growth.

Bakers Delight says it continues to enjoy steady growth and is on track to post global revenues of $570 million in the Financial Year ending 2009 and over six per cent growth in Australia alone. Read more

Bad Times for the Economy Lead to Good Times for Franchising

In an economic environment where the news seems to go from bad to worse, interest in the franchising industry is growing daily with exhibitors queuing to be part of the Franchising & Business Opportunities Expos in 2009.

Half of the floor space at the Sydney Expo has already been sold, despite the event being still four months away. Interest is also running high in the Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth legs of Australia’s premier franchising exhibition series, as savvy investors look to escape the current trend of job cuts, foreclosures and stock market losses. Read more

Tragedy and Passion – the Curves Success Story

During their most recent visit to Australia, the founders of Curves, Gary and Diane Heavin spoke to Australian Women Online about the history of Curves and the couple’s passion for helping women to achieve optimal health and well being.

When husband and wife team, Gary and Diane Heavin (pictured) opened their first Curves club in Texas in 1992, little did they know it would become the largest fitness franchise in the world and the tenth largest of all franchise companies globally. Today there are more than 10,200 Curves clubs in 55 countries, and 5 million members, including 400 clubs in Australia. But behind the Curves story of success is one of personal tragedy and past failure. Read more

Bronwyn Butcher: WA Franchisee of the Year

Western Australia’s Bronwyn Butcher (pictured) became one half of a historic double when her Frontline Retail recruitment office in Perth was crowned WA Franchisee of the Year in the Franchise Council of Australia (FCA) MYOB Excellence in Franchising Awards.

Part of the Frontline Recruitment Group, Bronwyn will now compete with Brisbane’s Frontline Retail agency owners Colleen and Mark Hart for the national title to be announced on Saturday 18 October 2008 in Sydney.

The FCA is the peak body for the $128 billion franchise sector in Australia, making the awards the most prestigious in the national franchise industry. Read more

Mrs. Fields Cookies relaunches in Australia

Mrs. Fields Cookies are famous around the world for baking cookies made to a traditional recipe with no colours and no preservatives. There are almost 500 Mrs. Fields stores in 19 countries, including 17 stores in Australia. Mrs. Fields Cookies Australia is now looking for new franchisees to join this dynamic and growing company.

Mrs. Fields Cookies commenced operations in Australia in the 1980s, as a subsidiary of the Franchisor, Mrs. Fields Cookies of the United States. In December 1994, Cookies Australia Pty Limited acquired the Australian Master Franchise rights to Mrs. Fields Cookies from the United States.

Seeing an opportunity for growth of the concept in Australia, Debbie Benefield (pictured) and her husband Andrew acquired the Australian Master Franchise from the previous owners in 2006. Read more

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