Franchise expo moves to Orange County | franchise, expo, county ...

One of the nation's largest franchise shows will come to Orange County for the first time Friday through Sunday.

After eight years in Los Angeles, the West Coast Franchise Expo moves to the Anaheim Convention Center with about 200 exhibitors and 40 workshops, some of which cost extra to attend. The event is one of those rare time-saving opportunities for people exploring the idea of buying a franchise and franchisors seeking buyers.

Goddard School franchise owner Mike Smithers poses in one of the playground areas of the Ladera Ranch location. The school offers programs for children from 6 weeks to 6 years old.

EUGENE GARCIA, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Event: West Coast Franchise Expo

Place: Anaheim Convention Center

When: 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Oct. 12 and 13, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. Oct. 14

Website: www.wcfexpo.com

Admission: $5 in advance from the website; $10 at the door. Some seminars cost extra

What to expect: Almost 200 exhibitors including more than 140 franchisors and about 60 service providers; 42 seminars

Tips for getting the most out of a franchise expo

? Determine in advance what you can afford (costs can range from $15,000 to $1 million)

? Examine yourself: What do you enjoy? What work do you want to do every day?

? List what you're looking for in a business but keep an open mind about the specific type of business

? Look online at the exhibitor list and do some research on ones that interest you

Look for concepts that have market demand

Consider what you're buying: you will be paying monthly fees long after you know how to run the business

Get buy-in from your spouse; franchising is not cheap or risk-free

Before you buy, study the franchise disclosure documents and talk with current and former franchisees

Don't expect to buy on the spot

"We had a great run hosting (the expo) in Los Angeles, but it's important to keep events like this fresh to continue to attract new visitors who are ready to start their own businesses," said Tom Portesy, president of MFW Expositions, which produces the three-day event.

"In September 2010, as the economy began to recover, Orange County became the first metropolitan area in (California) to post positive year-over-year job growth," he added. "Furthermore, the county currently has the lowest unemployment rate in Southern California."

Franchising accounts for more than 10 percent of the U.S. economy, according to the Census Bureau, so it was hit hard by the recession and slow recovery.

After three years of decline, the number of franchise units is forecast to grow 1.5 percent, for almost 11,000 new businesses, in 2012, according to a study released in August by IHS Global Insight for the International Franchise Association's Education Foundation.

Franchises will add 167,000 jobs this year to a total of 8.1 million, the study projected.

"The franchise industry is still growing at a faster pace than the overall economy," said IFA President Steve Caldeira.

That growth, plus Orange County's faster-than-average recovery has more franchisors eager to exhibit at the West Coast Franchise Expo in an effort to reach people with business experience and access to cash who might be looking for a business instead of a job.

Goddard School, the largest U.S. child-care franchise, is glad the expo is in Orange County because this area is a target for growth, said Tony Padulo, vice president for franchise development. "We only have one school in Orange County; California is an emerging market for us. We're not an inexpensive (franchise) and we look for geographic areas that meet our demographic target in income, number of children, people of childbearing age."

Goddard has identified 12 Orange County cities that are good for its preschools, he added. "This year we are augmenting our presence (at the expo) with an open house at the Goddard School in Ladera Ranch on Oct. 23."

The owner of that franchise, Mike Smithers, attended several franchise shows before buying his Goddard franchise in 2002.

"An expo is a slam dunk. You have all these franchises in one location. You can walk around and talk to a lot of different people," he said. "But I would never buy something based on a 30-minute meeting. You have more due diligence to do."

For years, franchisors have emphasized the Internet in their search for franchisees. For example, Fetch Pet Care, a pet-sitting and dog-walking franchise, "used to do everything on the Internet," said founder and CEO Paul Mann. "But that was not developing the quality leads we want. We're focused on getting the right franchise owner ? quality, not quantity."

Fetch representatives visited but did not exhibit at the West Coast Franchise Expo in Los Angeles last year. The company bought an exhibit booth this year because "Orange County is a great target area for us," Mann said. "Our services are in demand in metro areas and suburbs that are major commuter areas with many baby boomers and dual-income families."

Fetch has a franchise in Huntington Beach, "but we believe in Orange County we can have another 14," Mann said.

Fantastic Sam's, a hair salon franchisor, also is exhibiting at this year's expo even though it already has 175 locations in Southern California, about 75 to 90 of which are in Orange County, said CEO Scott Colabuono. "This show has great (geographic) spread with many attendees coming from China, Taiwan and other western Pacific areas.

"I think Anaheim will be a little easier (than the Los Angeles Convention Center) to get to," he added.

Like Fetch, Fantastic Sam's has found that "we get better candidates at shows than from regular lead generation," Colabuono said. "Prospects are using shows to fill out their Internet research on franchises, so they're knowledgeable, and we can talk with them (at shows) one-on-one."

These franchisors realize that a trade show must provide value for potential franchisees to spend a few dollars and up to three days talking with franchisors, attending seminars such as "What to Ask Before You Invest" (11:30 a.m. Friday), and paying $95 to $145 for a seminar, "The A to Z's of Buying a Franchise (9 a.m. Saturday).

Goddard franchisee Smithers said attendees should evaluate themselves to understand what they want out of business ownership before deciding what type of franchise to study. "Know what you're looking for, what motivates you, what do you want to do every day," he said. "I really wanted to own my own business, and I also wanted something that would feed my soul. This suits me."

Goddard Vice President Padulo, who has worked for several franchising companies over 35 years, said potential franchise buyers should attend the expo with an open mind and then afterward make a list of what they're passionate about and what they're looking for.

Fetch founder Mann agreed, but added, "Choose something that has market demand and pick something that matches (your) financial capabilities. Then ask the franchisor for the franchise disclosure documents, which will list financial information and franchisees. Speak with other franchisees."

Smithers said he talked with 25 current and former Goddard franchisees before buying. He had three pages of questions. "I didn't tell the franchisor who I was going to visit."

Before attending the expo, do some research, advised Fantastic Sam's CEO Colabuono. "You'll be more knowledgeable and cutting down your list. Also make sure you have finances available. If a good location comes available, you won't have a lot of time to line up your financing."

Finally, Colabuono advised, discuss plans to buy a franchise with your spouse and get complete buy-in. "We like to talk with both the buyer and the spouse so they are both committed to making the franchise work."

Contact the writer: 714-796-7927 or jnorman@ocregister.com

Source: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/franchise-373905-expo-county.html

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