Top New Franchises

This story on FranchisePick.com features an unhappy franchisee offering advice to those considering a new franchise. Criston Menz shares the story of her struggles with Cuppy’s Coffee:

  (FranchisePick.Com)  We were immediately impressed with how friendly and family oriented the entire Cuppy’s Coffee organization was…. Once they had our money, everything changed. 

Criston Menz on UnhappyFranchisee.com.

Next week, at the AAFD (American Association of Franchisees and Dealer’s) convention in Newport News, VA, Cuppy’s Coffee will celebrate the first anniversary of the highly touted Fair Franchising award they received from the franchisee association.  The award was granted despite widespread complaints about the company’s franchise practices, including its habit of not returning $40,000 refundable deposits.  The award has since become a prominent marketing tool in selling more franchises and collecting more $40,000 deposits.

Two of the unhappy franchisees who share their stories and advice on a new website called UnhappyFranchisee.com will not be sending Cuppy’s Coffee anniversary  cards anytime soon.  Both Criston Menz, of Albuquerque, NM, and Robyn and Corey Rivera, of Houma, LA,  share their cautionary tales of what can go wrong when you join the wrong franchise organization.  They offer tips for would-be franchise owners to avoid the same mistakes they made.

"I am tired of being bullied by a company that did me wrong."  Criston Menz

Criston Menz and her partner were excited when they answered an ad for the opportunity to own a Cuppy’s Coffee cafe franchise.  They were even more excited when after meeting their warm, friendly staff.  However, says Criston, that all changed as soon as the company had their money:

The initial contact was comfortable with people who knew our name, our background, and made us feel valued and wanted us as a part of their organization. The support was FABULOUS until they got our 20% down payment of $39,500 paid to Elite for the construction of the build out.

Once they had our money, everything changed. From then on, we were ignored and left wondering what was going on. Trying to get anyone from Cuppy’s to call us back was like waiting for it to snow in the summer time.

"Instead of a check, they sent us a settlement agreement…"  Criston Menz

The $39,500 deposit made to Cuppy’s Coffee affiliate was refundable in the event the Menz’s did not get financing for the rest of the investment.  In March, 2007, Criston sent a letter requesting the return of out $35,900 refundable deposit, per their agreement.  Said Criston:

Instead of sending us a check, they sent us a settlement agreement that stated they would keep the franchise fee of $15k and pay us $20,900 in 8 equal installments over 8 months. They stated that they had invested our monies in their “new” company.

We found that unacceptable and unethical. We thought they had our refundable deposit set aside in escrow, as a professional company would have…

To this date, neither Cuppy’s Coffee, Elite Manufacturing, nor their parent company Medina have returned a dime of the money Criston paid more than a year ago.  To would-be franchise owners, Criston offers this advice on UnhappyFranchisee.com:

Read the blogs. You will find out more information regarding any company by reading the blogs and asking all the right questions there. Be informed, very informed.

To read Criston’s story and advice from other franchisees, visit UnhappyFranchisee.Com.

If you would like information on sharing your story on UnhappyFranchisee.com, email UnhappyFranchisee[at]gmail.com.

 WHAT DO YOU THINK?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

Photo source:  Criston Menz

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Visit FRANBEST’s: Unbiased franchise information, franchise interviews and detailed, searchable information on 400 franchise and business opportunities.

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Franchisees, customers & experts vote for their favorite new franchises at Top New Franchise: Who’s hot. Who’s not.

Popularity: unranked [?]

 (FranchisePick.Com)  It’s a dirty job but somebody had to do it.  Dirty Dog Hauling, the Harrisburg, PA start-up franchise, dazzled the judges and cleaned up at a recent business plan competition. is already making its presence known by bringing home two national awards.

Delaware State University’s College of Business participated in the Eighth Annual OFC Venture Challenge Business Plan Competition for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) offering MBA/Graduate Business Degrees, in Atlanta, Georgia on April 17-20, 2008.

The College of Business’ team presented Dirty Dog Franchising Group, LLC (DDFG), co-founded by Leland Nelson and based in Harrisburg, PA, which markets and awards the proven Dirty Dog Hauling franchise system to qualified individuals or entities that are ready to capitalize on a high demand and fragmented industry.

The team members included:

· Leland Nelson, Founder and President of Dirty Dog Franchising, Boubacar Thiam, Luther Wynder, Ganesh Iyer, and advisors Young Kwak and Lisa Dunning.

During the competition, Team Dirty Dog competed among 20 HBCUs, and was selected as the first place winner of Track 3 to advance to the Final Rounds. For the finals, six (6) teams competed and Delaware State University placed 2nd and also received the “Outstanding Presentation” award of the competition. Team members received a total of $5,000 for placing 2nd in this competition.

Leland Nelson stated that this was a great opportunity to compare the Dirty Dog  Franchising system and concept to other high-tech, low-tech and no-tech companies in the competition. “Attendees now have a better appreciation for professional junk removal and franchising”. “In addition, the name Dirty Dog continues to be recognized as a great brand which is critical for continual growth.”

About the Dirty Dog Hauling Franchise Opportunity

Dirty Dog Hauling is receiving inquiries from individuals interested in learning more about learning about the benefits of joining the Dirty Dog franchise family.   

For more information on Dirty Dog Hauling, please visit dirtydoghauling.com and for franchise opportunities visit www.franchiseadirtydog.com. For additional information please contact Leland Nelson at 717.232.4175 or Lisa Dunning @ 302.857.6905.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

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Visit FRANBEST’s: Unbiased franchise information, franchise interviews and detailed, searchable information on 400 franchise and business opportunities.

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Franchisees, customers & experts vote for their favorite new franchises at Top New Franchise: Who’s hot. Who’s not.

Popularity: unranked [?]

(Top New Franchises) Top New Franchises is the interactive scouting report for finding and promoting the best new and emerging franchise opportunities. If you have information about this franchise opportunity, or if you’d like to nominate or promote another new franchise opportunity, email us at info[at]ideafarm.net.

Founded in 1996 and based in Middleton, MA, Extra Innings provides practice facilities, professional instruction and a nationally recognized Pro Shop to baseball and softball players of all ages and ability levels. Extra Innings Franchise Company is committed to providing these same opportunities and services to ballplayers across the country with its franchise initiative. Extra Innings currently has over 30 locations nationwide. Additional locations are set to open in Michigan, New Jersey, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Texas, and Washington in 2008.

Extra Innings, with over 30 locations nationwide, sets itself apart from the competition with its unique triple threat of training, instruction, and pro shop. Extra Innings Shelby Township will be the premier indoor baseball and softball training facility in Macomb County, dedicated to fulfilling the needs of players of all ages and abilities. Their state of the art, year round, indoor facility will have over 17,000 square feet of training area with 24 foot ceilings, 6 multi-use indoor batting and pitching tunnels, 3 coin-operated batting cages, a fully stocked pro shop, private circuit training area, and private birthday area.

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Visit FRANBEST’s: Unbiased franchise information, franchise interviews and detailed, searchable information on 400 franchise and business opportunities.

High-traffic, influential and controversial. Explores today’s hottest franchise issues and discussions at the world’s top franchise blog.

Popularity: 7% [?]

(Top New Franchises) Top New Franchises is the interactive scouting report for finding and promoting the best new and emerging franchise opportunities. If you have information about this franchise opportunity, or if you’d like to nominate or promote another new franchise opportunity, email us at info[at]ideafarm.net.

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BlueLens Franchise Group A Leader in Emessaging and Search Marketing

A unique opportunity and a unique business model
The BlueLens Franchise Group offers a franchise opportunity that taps into the exciting world of online marketing – including email marketing, search marketing services, and strategic marketing services – to help you build a business based on recurring revenue and long-term customer relationships.
Use their proprietary technology and business model to build your own internet marketing company.

BlueLens provides the support you will need to get started.
The BlueLens Franchise Group creates great business opportunities for motivated people who want to build their own business — but not build it alone.
We offer a number of products that help marketers acquire prospects, transition them into customers, and provide them with the best emessaging services available.

Bluelens assists every step of the way, from generating leads for you, to handling billing and collections. You focus on strategic sales and helping your customers grow their businesses, while Bluelens focus’ on exceeding your customers’ expectations.

Our Support and Services include:

• In-depth BlueLens training at our offices
• Field support
• Sales tools, demos and site evaluations
• Marketing collateral
• Market-leading proprietary technology
• Assigned BlueLens customer service manager

What sets us apart from all the rest?
Bluelens parent company eWayDirect, Inc., has been a market leader in online marketing services for over seven years.   The BlueLens Franchise Group sells products and services to franchisees at costs designed to generate profits for the franchisee and the reseller in today’s competitive marketplace. While BlueLens Corporate provides suggested pricing based on its review of competitive service providers, franchisees and resellers are free to establish their own prices. In fact, it is not uncommon for resellers to generate significant incremental revenue by bundling the charges for BlueLens products and services with other value-added products and services provided by the reseller.

We know it works and we’d like the chance to talk with you about the prospects of you becoming a BlueLens franchisee.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
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Visit FRANBEST’s: Unbiased franchise information, franchise interviews and detailed, searchable information on 400 franchise and business opportunities.

High-traffic, influential and controversial. Explores today’s hottest franchise issues and discussions at the world’s top franchise blog.

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Popularity: 9% [?]

(Top New Franchises) Top New Franchises is the interactive scouting report for finding and promoting the best new and emerging franchise opportunities. If you have information about this franchise opportunity, or if you’d like to nominate or promote another new franchise opportunity, email us at info[at]ideafarm.net.

Pack it at your place. Store it at our place.

Investment:  $500,000 to $700,000  Franchising Since:  2006

Financing:  No  Existing Units:  8

Franchise Overview

Looking for a new business venture? If explosive growth opportunities interest you, then the new franchise program offered by Big Box Storage Franchising, Inc. might be just for you. At Big Box Storage, we combine the stable, long term growth of the self-storage industry with the high convenience levels demanded by today’s consumers.

Big Box Storage Franchising, Inc. was founded in an effort to capitalize on the golden opportunities created by the rapidly growing portable storage industry. Via our franchise program, we are focused on expanding our portable storage network of committed entrepreneurs throughout the United States. After reviewing the information herein, should you have further interest in our franchise program, we’ll be delighted to provide you with more insightful details.

Franchise Benefits

The Big Box Storage franchise program provides franchisees with tremendous benefits. The program’s tools for success include:

• Brand Name

• Site Selection Assistance

• Exclusive Territories
• Advertising and Marketing Support & Materials
• Corporate Website
• Collective Buying Power
• Equipment Acquisition and Leasing
• Comprehensive Training & Manuals
• National Customer Support Center
• And so much MORE!

WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
____________________________________

Visit FRANBEST’s: Unbiased franchise information, franchise interviews and detailed, searchable information on 400 franchise and business opportunities.

High-traffic, influential and controversial. Explores today’s hottest franchise issues and discussions at the world’s top franchise blog.

Popularity: 9% [?]