Financing Franchises Q&A with Stan Prokop

From the Entrepreneur Blog: Stan Prokop is the founder of 7 Park Avenue Financial.

The firm specializes in business financing for Canadian companies in the areas of working capital, asset based lending, SR & ED tax credit financing, equipment financing, franchise financing and banking.

He’s also a Platinum author on my website – you can check out his articles here. I asked him 8 questions about how to finance franchises.

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Butlers In The Buff: A Canadian and Global Success Story

From Franchiseseek.com

The UK’s most unusual export is a great success in Australia and Florida, with Canada next on the list. Focusing solely on the bottom line, Butlers in the Buff, is a global success story.

Bristol-based entrepreneurs; Jason Didcott, the brains behind the ‘male order company’ Butlers in the Buff (BITB) along with his 2 business partners, William Jones and Stacey Lynn, are serious about their international entertainment franchise opportunities which are available across the globe, after their pilot scheme in Sydney, Australia rocketed, Florida, USA followed closely behind and Vancouver due to launch in April 2012.

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Healthcare Franchise Sector Ripe for Growth

From The Vancouver Sun: The latest entrant into the increasingly competitive field of home health-care proves the industry is not only ripe for rapid growth, it's also maturing and evolving in new directions that cater to a changing generation of seniors: they want to live in their own homes and on their own terms, but that comes at a price.

It's fast emerging as one of the few truly booming industries, fuelled by an aging Baby Boom population and the resulting need for home care services, along with the reality of skyrocketing public health care costs. It wasn't the bottom line, however, that lured Brian Evans to help lead a major U.S. player into the Canadian market last month.

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Canada Small-Business Confidence Edges Up

Taken from The Wall Street Journal. An index measuring Canadian small-business confidence edged up to 63.6 in October from 62.7 the prior month, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business says.

“Judging from past history, index levels in the low 60s are still associated with economic growth in Canada, but only just,”

CFIB vice-president and chief economist Ted Mallett said in a statement.

The lobby group publishes the monthly business barometer readings.

The index stood at 61.7 in August when concerns about the euro-zone debt crisis started to mount.

It typically ranges between 65 and 75 when the economy is growing.

Business owners in Saskatchewan and Alberta are the most upbeat with index levels just under 74. Ontario and Quebec businesses are slightly below the national average. Those in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are the least upbeat with scores below 60.

Read the full story here.

The hidden realities in franchise financing

There are many myths and misunderstandings surrounding franchising. None, however, are as pervasive and as dangerous as those dealing with financing.

It is certainly important to the franchisor to "get a handle" on franchise financing issues, but it is equally important for the franchisees who buy the franchises, the landlords who rent space to the franchisor and the franchisees,

the bankers who lend money to both, the suppliers to the system, purchasers of existing franchises and entire systems, and the stock analysts and investors who have to make some determination about the future prospects of public franchisors.

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