In 1971, motivated by their vision of a green and peaceful world, a small team of activists set sail from Vancouver, Canada, in an old fishing boat. These activists, the founders of Greenpeace, believed a few individuals could make a difference.
Their mission was to "bear witness" to US underground nuclear testing at Amchitka, a tiny island off the West Coast of Alaska, which is one of the world's most earthquake-prone regions.
Amchitka was the last refuge for 3000 endangered sea otters, and home to bald eagles, peregrine falcons and other wildlife.
Even though their old boat, the Phyllis Cormack, was intercepted before it got to Amchitka, the journey sparked a flurry of public interest.
The US still detonated the bomb, but the voice of reason had been heard. Nuclear testing on Amchitka ended that same year, and the island was later declared a bird sanctuary.
Today, Greenpeace is an international organisation that prioritises global environmental campaigns.
Based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Greenpeace has 2.8 million supporters worldwide, and national as well as regional offices in 41 countries.
Who we are
Greenpeace is a global campaigning organisation that acts to change attitudes and behaviour, to protect and conserve the environment and to promote peace by:
Catalysing an energy revolution to address the number one threat facing our planet: climate change.
Defending our oceans by challenging wasteful and destructive fishing, and creating a global network of marine reserves.
Protecting the world’s remaining ancient forests and the animal, plants and people that depend on them.
Working for disarmament and peace by reducing dependence on finite resources and calling for the elimination of all nuclear weapons.
Creating a toxic free future with safer alternatives to hazardous chemicals in today's products and manufacturing.
Supporting sustainable agriculture by encouraging socially and ecologically responsible farming practices.
Greenpeace does not solicit or accept funding from governments, corporations or political parties. Greenpeace neither seeks nor accepts donations that could compromise its independence, aims, objectives or integrity.
Greenpeace relies on the voluntary donations of individual supporters, and on grant support from foundations.
Greenpeace is committed to the principles of non-violence, political independence and internationalism. In exposing threats to the environment and in working to find solutions, Greenpeace has no permanent allies or enemies.
Greenpeace has been campaigning against environmental degradation since 1971 and has played a pivotal role in, among other things, the adoption of:
- A ban on toxic waste exports to less developed countries.
- A moratorium on commercial whaling.
- A United Nations convention providing for better management of world fisheries.
- A Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary;
- A 50-year moratorium on mineral exploitation in Antarctica.
- Bans on the dumping at sea of radioactive and industrial waste and disused oil installations.
- An end to high-sea, large-scale driftnet fishing.
- A ban on all nuclear weapons testing - our first ever campaign.
Greenpeace victories
September 2008: Six Greenpeace UK volunteers are acquitted of criminal damage by a Crown Court jury in a case that centred on the contribution made to climate change by burning coal. The charges arose after the six attempted to shut down the Kingsnorth coal-fired power station in Kent in 2007 by scaling the chimney and painting the Prime Minister's name down the side. The defendants pleaded 'not guilty' and relied in court on the defence of 'lawful excuse' - claiming they shut the power station in order to defend property of a greater value from the global impact of climate change. The landmark case marks the first victory of the 'lawful excuse' defense in a climate-change case in Britain. More...
From: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/
The history of Greenpeace
Doraemon History
What is DORAEMON? It is a humorous children's manga (later a TV-series) about a boy named Nobi Nobita who is so unlucky, weak and lazy that his descendants had to send the family robot back in time to help him out. That robot is Doraemon (where the "Dora" is presumably based on the word "dora-neko," or stray cat), and his four-dimensional pocket produces any number of futuristic gadgets and devices meant to help Nobita become something other than a complete failure in adulthood. Though smart and caring, Doraemon has his own foibles, and his partnership with Nobita produces both triumphs and disasters, hilarious situations and occasional poignant moments.
As a "gag" manga for children, the series has no real progression; our hero is always a fourth-grader, and rarely do changes carry over from story to story. As a glimpse into Japanese family life, though, DORAEMON is priceless. We see Nobita's parents as very typical for Japan of the 1970s, with the father a stocky and mellow salaryman, and the mother a hardworking housewife whose job it is to make sure Nobita studies hard and does his chores. Although ferocious when angry, she is also caring and smart; at heart she just wants her son to grow up to become a decent, hardworking adult with a bright future. Nobita's friends include the class bully nicknamed Gian (presumably based on the word "giant"), the class rich kid Suneo who usually acts as Gian's lieutenant, the gentle and smart girl Shizuka and the occasionally appearing super-brilliant Dekisugi (which can be read as "over done" or "overly perfect"). There's also their schoolteacher, a stern man who has no compunction against sending Nobita off to stand in the hallway for being late. In all this, Doraemon acts as the childhood friend or older sibling we all wish we could've had: caring, smarter than us, with a sense of justice, imperfect and fallible enough to not be irritating, and with a magic pocket that can produce the solution to any problem.
A typical DORAEMON story starts with Nobita suffering from the abuses of Gian and Suneo, or doing badly in school, coming home crying, and being comforted by a tried but true Doraemon. Doraemon patiently (or resignedly) digs into his four-dimensional pocket and produces a new gadget that (it seems) might offer the perfect cure for the problem...until Nobita or his friends get too greedy (and even Doraemon's been known to screw things up from time to time).
For example, after a day of forgetting his books at home and his pack at school, Doraemon produces a handbag that allows one to reach in and pick up something far away. Nobita retrieves his pack from school...and then promptly rushes out to show off the handbag to his friends. To prove its abilities, he grabs his mother's glasses from the handbag—which doesn't impress anyone—and then goes on to pull out Suneo's narcissistic diary and even Gian's suspiciously wet futon. But when he returns home, his mother is angry about her glasses—and she quickly finds the handbag very useful for retrieving her wayward son!
Doraemon also sometimes carelessly leaves devices lying around. Nobita once found a time vending machine, which allowed the user to buy products from other times with modern money: thanks to inflation, of course, things from the past cost much less in absolute yen terms. Nobita uses it to buy boxes of cheap 1933 cigarettes for his father and a mountain of jars of ink for his mother, and even fails to buy a camera from the year 745. But when Doraemon warns him not to use the machine for making a profit, Nobita naturally rushes off to do so. With his new earnings, he decides to buy something different—candy from 100 years in the future, indescribably delicious. Unfortunately, he forgot about cost inflation...and he finds himself 230,000 Yen in debt to the machine, which is now demanding its payment!
Almost every story brings a new gadget at play: a camera that turns objects into two-dimensional photos that need hot water to revert to normal (don't ask how Nobita returned to normal after he used it on himself!); a deluxe light that converts anything it shines on into a more deluxe model (which surprisingly makes some people unhappy); a cloud-shaping machine that alters the clouds in the sky (but don't let it overheat!); the flavor-sharing gum, which allows one to taste what someone else eats (great for rich friends, but very bad if a stray dog chews it); or the helping pill, which makes those who swallow it help out anyone they meet in need (and of course, Nobita winds up swallowing it instead of his friends). A few gadgets, though, return once in a while or are standard "staples" of the series. For example, the Dokodemo Doa ("Wherever Door"), which allows one to go anywhere; the Moshimo Box ("What If Phone Booth"), which allows one to go to an alternate world where a suggested proposition is true; the time machine in Nobita's desk drawer, which allows one to travel to any time; the take-copter, a tiny helicopter-style blade to wear on one's head, that allows one to fly; the time-cloth, which makes objects it is wrapped around younger or older; and of course, Doraemon's four dimentional pocket itself, which produces all these items. The stories, however, are not really about the gadgets; they are about Nobita and his decisions. The gadgets serve only as outlets for his character to shine through, whether in moments of greed, indignation, remorse or compassion. His mistakes, moments of weakness and occasional moments of bravery are what make the stories. And ultimately, the stories have a moral core. Nobita's misuse of the gadgets usually bring dire consequences back on his head, but when he champions justice and acts for worthy reasons, he usually manages to do lasting good. Thankfully, Nobita is at heart a good kid with a compassionate heart, if fraught with flaws.
A prime example of this is the story where a new transfer student turns out to be even worse off than Nobita: slower, weaker and with even poorer test scores. Nobita is overjoyed to find someone worse than himself, so he studies with, races against and plays games with the new kid; and in each case the new boy fares worse. At last, Nobita even gets him drafted into Gian's dreaded baseball games instead of himself. But Doraemon brings out a film viewer in which characters can be switched. He shows that Nobita's actions to the new kid were just like Suneo's usual behavior to Nobita: condescending, arrogant, mean and self-serving. Nobita sees the truth in this, and when he sees Gian and Suneo beating up the other kid over his poor baseball performance, exactly where Nobita would have been, Nobita jumps in and takes the beating instead.
Indeed, a number of DORAEMON stories depart from a simple gag routine and take a long, steady look at issues of moral and ethical importance. Stories have been told about environmental issues, caring for pets, self-sacrifice for another's sake, bravery in the face of danger, parental love and guidance, and the importance of reading. If not concerned with ethics, some stories are educational, touching on subjects ranging from biology, history, genetics, archaeology and geology (or even the notion of economic inflation, as mentioned above). When these elements are combined with comedy, familiar characters and a plethora of fun and fantastic gadgets, there is very little doubt about why DORAEMON became as popular as it did, or why so many Japanese can look back it with such fondness.
For anyone who has the chance to read DORAEMON, it offers an excellent look at child's eye view of Japanese home life of the 70s, and should not be missed.
Here's more about the main characters from the classic series:
• Nobi Nobita: The only child in his family, Nobita unfortunately inherited his dad's poor academic ability and his mother's poor athletic ability (along with her bad eyesight). His only two talents are cat's cradle and shooting, skills that are almost completely useless in modern Japanese society.
• Doraemon: A cat-based robot from the future, Doraemon has a four-dimensional pocket filled with useful gadgets. Doraemon loves dorayaki (a snack food made with sweet bean paste), hates being cold and he absolutely loathes rats and mice, to the point of digging out a nuclear bomb from his pocket when he thinks they're around.
• Nobita's Mother: A classic Japanese mother, good at lecturing Nobita, scary when angry and overall a sharp cookie. She also cares very much for her son, and is just as quick to bring him a snack when it looks like he's actually studying as she is to yell at him when he's goofing off.
• Nobita's Father: A laid back Japanese father and salaryman. Normally cheerful, he's ready to offer a lecture or two to his son about the hard times when he was a boy, during the war era. His nemesis appears to be learning to drive a car, though his inability to quit smoking has come up as a plotline as well.
• Gian: Gian (Takeshi) is the local bully, who forces everyone to do things his way, who takes other kids' toys, and who beats up those who oppose him. His dream is to become a singer, and he periodically forces other kids to come and listen to his mind-numbing, ear-warping "concerts." Once in a while he acts kindly towards others, but that's rare. His family is relatively poor. His mother slaps him when she finds him beating up other kids.
• Suneo: The local rich kid, Suneo finds his surest safety in obeying Gian and being his lieutenant, but Suneo secretly resents the stronger boy. His family often goes on expensive trips to which Suneo usually invites Shizuka and Gian, but not Nobita. Suneo has a narcissistic streak a mile wide and loves showing off what his wealth can buy him.
• Shizuka: The nicest girl in the neighborhood, Shizuka is also smart, pretty and gentle. Her hobby unfortunately is frequent bath-taking in the later books (yes, Japanese children's comics have nudity), but overall, she is one of Nobita's protectors and his favorite friend. In the future (as seen by time travel) it seems that she will become his wife, although Nobita was originally going to marry Gian's obnoxious younger sister. Doraemon, it appears, was at least partially successful in changing Nobita's fate.
• Dekisugi: A sometimes-appearing character, Dekisugi is Nobita's main rival for Shizuka. Handsome, athletic and smart, he appears to have no real flaws.
• Dorami: Doraemon's younger sister, who is apparently a somewhat better grade of robot. Her application of futuristic gadgets is usually more intelligent than her elder brother's, but she knows that Nobita and Doraemon are the best of friends. Dorami appears only occasionally, usually when Doraemon is in his periodic "off" state (necessary for robot health).
• The teacher ("Sensei"): The teacher is a fairly stern man who often sends Nobita off to stand in the hallway (a traditional Japanese school punishment). He doesn't hesitate to lecture poorly performing students if he runs into them on the street.
• Nobita's Grandmother (father's side): A small, gentle woman who died some years before, she makes a very rare appearance once in a while when Nobita goes time traveling. Remarkably, she accepts his story about coming from the future, and always treats him with kindness.
Five Reasons Franchises Fail
The Small Business Administration (SBA) reported that 30 percent of independent, non-franchise companies fail during their first year. Conversely, the U.S. Department of Consumer Affairs reported that less than 5 percent of franchises fail. Yet, some do fail. The reason(s) for failure could be a number of factors, most of which could have been prevented by due diligence during the early phase.
1. The idea. Whether you are franchising your own company or buying into a franchise system, how the concept is received by the community is critical. While hamburgers seem to have universal appeal not all food chains meet with majority approval. Also, if your business model is complicated, you are in for a struggle. You want to create an operational standard that can be taught to and replicated by any businessperson. A company may be successful when run by the entrepreneur who dreamed up the concept; however, if the business model or prototype is not easily duplicated, the chances for success are not so certain.
2. Bad location. Ask seasoned franchisees to name one of the most important keys to a successful franchise and undoubtedly they will say, "Location, location, location." Even with a well-branded name, if you are off the beaten path, inconveniently located, or in an isolated area the opportunity to be as lucrative as possible diminishes.
3. Poor marketing/advertising. Many well-established and reputable franchisors have marketing and advertising funds into which franchisees contribute monetarily. Chains like McDonald's and Subway have national campaigns, while other types of franchises may advertise on a local level. Some franchise concepts require a lot of legwork on behalf of the franchisee. Depending on the business you chose, you may have to solicit your own clients, as in technical and computer support franchises. If you are considering a concept that requires outside sales skills and you lack them, you may want to rethink your choice.
4. Competition. There are approximately 160,000 franchises in operation in the U.S. That means a lot of competition. If your market is already saturated with a concept, you may want to consider something that still is popular but not yet tapped out. Medical spas and restaurants offering healthful choices are gaining ground among the public but there is abundant room on the business owner side.
5. Unrealistic expectations. New franchisees are notorious for having very high expectations for their businesses. It may take 2-3 years before you see a profit and if you don't plan for that, you may sink before you have a chance to swim.
A word to the wise: If you don't like people, you should not buy a franchise. If you want to make it, you have to put in long hours and work with all kinds of personalities. It's an undeniable fact that some people are more difficult to interact with than others. As a business owner you need to be able to interact well with people from all walks of life. The ability to manage employees also is essential to the success of your business.
From: http://www.allbusiness.com/buying-exiting-businesses/franchising-franchises/2204-1.html
Top 10 Franchising Mistakes
While many people who have become franchisees are more than pleased with the results, others have been disenchanted by the dynamics and realities of franchising. Below are 10 common mistakes made by entrepreneurs who have elected to become franchisees.
1. Not being suited for franchising. Self-evaluation is one step that too many franchisees neglect to consider. Unlike opening a business of your own, buying a franchise means becoming part of a larger organizationand adhering to guidelines and structure. If this is not a concept with which you are comfortable, then do not consider franchising.
2. Not knowing enough about the product. What's to know? Those three very dangerous words have gotten franchisees into situations that they were not prepared for. Whether it is fast food or any other type of product, you need to know all about what you are selling and feel comfortable selling it. Due diligence is a key step before actually buying a franchise.
3. Not talking to other franchise owners. Many people have opened a franchise because they knew someone who did it and made it work. You need more than that to give you an idea of what franchising is all about. You need to talk with several franchisees and get their opinions before investing heavily in a business that may not be right for you.
4. Underestimating the costs. Too many franchise owners prepare only for the initial outlay of money but do not adequately plan for the ongoing financial needs. Do the math beforehand. Make sure you have a detailed budget not only of startup costs but also of operational costs for at least the first three years.
5. Failure to read the franchise agreement carefully. This should be obvious, but in the excitement of the moment, many people skim over important documents. This is huge mistake. Do some research ahead of time so you know the standard elements of the Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
6. Failure to have adequate legal counsel on hand. Franchise agreements are long and include a significant amount of detailed information. You should find an attorney who is familiar with such franchise agreements. Too often, franchisees sign documents they do not fully understand.
7. Not getting everything in writing. Company sales reps tell potential franchisees all sorts of wonderful things about the workings of the company. While hyping the company is part of the job, remember to get any promises in writing.
8. Not assessing the competition carefully. Many franchisees assume that the franchising company would open a location in a certain area only because they know it will be a success. This is not the case. It is up to you to evaluate your competition and plan your competitive strategy.
9. Underestimating the time commitment. Just because a franchise is part of a larger company does not mean that you will have less work to do. Yes, it is advantageous to start with a recognizable name, but you still have a ton of work ahead of you to start up and run the business. Make sure you and your family are behind such a commitment.
10. Lack of marketing. Franchise products do not sell themselves. Product recognition is a plus, but your customers also recognize the products of competing franchises. While the franchise company will help market the product, you need to do your share of local marketing and promotion as well.
The article Five Reason Franchises Fail can give you further insight into the hurdles that franchisees face when setting up franchises. For more information on franchising in general, check out the AllBusiness.com Franchise Center.
From: http://www.allbusiness.com/buying-exiting-businesses/franchising-franchises/3989-1.html
Franchising
You are an executive who is being displaced or who is dissatisfied with the way you are being treated by your company. Recently you have been thinking about putting your resume on the street, but more often than not you have found yourself thinking about going into business for yourself.
Whenever you think about going into business for yourself, you think about the horror stories and statistics you read in USA Today and the Wall Street Journal about the failure rate of independent businesses. Those statistics dampen your desire to own your own business.
Yet every week in those same newspapers you see ads by companies offering franchise opportunities. If you want to be self employed and are intrigued by the idea of operating a franchise and want to find out more about selecting the right one for you, read on.
What Is Franchising?
Franchising is one of three business strategies a company may use in capturing market share. The others are company owned units or a combination of company owned and franchised units.
Franchising is a business strategy for getting and keeping customers. It is a marketing system for creating an image in the minds of current and future customers about how the company's products and services can help them. It is a method for distributing products and services that satisfy customer needs.
Franchising is a network of interdependent business relationships that allows a number of people to share:
* A brand identification
* A successful method of doing business
* A proven marketing and distribution system
In short, franchising is a strategic alliance between groups of people who have specific relationships and responsibilities with a common goal to dominate markets, i.e., to get and keep more customers than their competitors.
There are many misconceptions about franchising, but probably the most widely held is that you as a franchisee are "buying a franchise." In reality you are investing your assets in a system to utilize the brand name, operating system and ongoing support. You and everyone in the system are licensed to use the brand name and operating system.
The business relationship is a joint commitment by all franchisees to get and keep customers. Legally you are bound to get and keep them using the prescribed marketing and operating systems of the franchisor.
To be successful in franchising you must understand the business and legal ramifications of your relationship with the franchisor and all the franchisees. Your focus must be on working with other franchisees and company managers to market the brand, and fully use the operating system to get and keep customers.
Throughout this article we will discuss in detail some of the benefits of conducting business as part of a larger group.
Other franchisees and company operated units are not your competition. The opposite is true. They and you share the task of establishing the brand as the dominant brand in all markets entered and reinforcing the customers's familiarity with and trust in the brand. So in this respect you are working as a team with others in the system. Other franchisees share with you the responsibility for quality, consistency, convenience, and other factors that define your franchise and insures repeat business for everyone. Increasing the value of the brand name is a shared responsibility of the franchisor and franchisee.
An "ownership mentality" destroys the reason franchised and company-operated units are successful. Think about it. If you think you "bought" a franchise, you become an "owner" and begin to think and act like an owner. You will want to change the system because of your needs, you will wonder what you are paying the royalty for, and you will begin thinking of other franchisees as your competitors. For these and many other reasons you do not want to think of yourself as an "independent owner."
As a franchisee you own the assets of your company, which you have chosen to invest in someone else's brand and operating system and ongoing support. You own the assets of your company, but you are licensed to operate someone else's business system.
Finally, your desire to become a franchisee must be grounded in your belief that you can be more successful using someone else's brand and operating according to their systems and methods, than you could if you opened up your own independent business and competed against them. You want to look for a franchisor who is building a system of interdependent franchisees who are committed to getting and keeping customers, to growing faster than the market, to growing faster than the competitors, and to do all of that with high margins. When you discover a franchisor who understands this relationship, you have a franchisor worth your consideration.
The Strength of Franchising
Franchising is the most popular system for growing a business in the United States today. According to every government survey, franchising has experienced explosive growth since the mid-70s and is expected to be the leading method of doing business in the new century.
In the United States, there are over 2,500 franchise systems. These systems have in excess of 534,000 franchise units, which represent 3.2% of the total businesses. This 3.2% of all businesses controls over 35% of all retail and service revenue in the U.S. economy.
Franchising's advantages over going into business for yourself include; opening quicker, experiencing success sooner, developing a customer base faster, having less risk and being more profitable.
Your success as a franchisee is based on the proven success of the franchisor to operate company units and upon the success of existing franchisees.
A company franchises because it wants to quickly and in great numbers replicate its successful company operations without significantly increasing its debt. Because it has been successful at teaching its own employees to operate the business, the company believes it can repeat the same success by teaching others to do it.
In franchising, the operating system becomes identified with the brand or trade name that you license as a franchisee. Each franchise system uses precise methods to service and satisfy the customer. By documenting these practices, the franchisor institutionalizes the buying experience. Because customers don't like surprises this consistency in operations, unit to unit, builds customer loyalty to the brand.
Franchising is successful because we Americans are people of habit and are brand-driven when we purchase goods and services. We trust brands that we see everywhere, every day. We tend to be loyal to a product or service delivered to us the same way all the time.
Investing in a Franchise
In reality you are taking your assets, which you own, and investing them in someone elses' brand and operating system. You will always own your assets. You will always own your corporation. But you will "do business as" (dba) a licensee of the franchisor.
Before You Select A Franchise...
Step 1: Evaluate Yourself
Your job is to make an informed business decision about whether a franchisor's business opportunity meets your needs and whether you can provide what the franchisor wants and needs in a franchisee.
You need to ask yourself basic questions:
What do you want from life at this time? What are your wants, needs, and desires? What are your goals, objectives, and dreams? What are you looking for in a business? Have you decided to leave what you are now doing, not just the job, but the profession?
Have you made a decision to become a part of another organization? Remember that in franchising you joined someone else's business. You are going to be using their marketing system to generate customers and their operating system to satisfy them.
Do you have the kind of personality that can accept running the business according to someone else's plan without feeling that it compromises your individuality? Do you have an interest in doing this kind of work for the length of the agreement? Have you ever worked for one company for five or ten years? Do you have related skills, knowledge, abilities, and work-related experiences similar to the ones required for running the franchise you are considering? Do you have the financial resources to open and operate the business successfully? Can the business support your lifestyle needs? Which of the franchises you are reviewing meets your financial needs short and long term?
Step 2: Evaluate the Franchise Opportunity
Evaluate the legal documents from a business perspective. Determine whether the franchisor has territory policies that might make franchisees less competitive in a highly competitive environment. Many prospective franchisees erroneously believe that having a large territory is best for them. It could, in fact, be the worst thing for them. For example, if you have too few franchisees in a market and competitors have more units than you have, it could leave you at a disadvantage in terms of dominating the market for your product or service in your area.
Look for a franchisor who can communicate a strategy not just for market presence but for dominating markets; look for a franchisor interested in establishing a competitive edge and increasing market share. If a franchisor cannot talk about these issues, it is entirely possible the franchisor is using franchising as a way to generate franchise fees and royalty revenue rather than to establish a competitive position in the marketplace.
Evaluate the marketing/advertising fee. Many franchisors and prospective franchisees erroneously believe that a low marketing fee is a good thing. In fact, the marketing fee should be related to the amount of money each franchisee needs to contribute to support an advertising campaign that will generate enough new and repeat business for each of them. A 1% advertising fee may look good now, but when you need 5% from everyone to be competitive, it might not be possible to convince all franchisees to participate.
Evaluate the effectiveness of the Franchise Advisory Council. Does the franchisor incorporate the franchisees' input in the decisions that affect the future direction of the system? Does the franchisor involve franchisees' input in decisions?
Be sure you can answer the question "How will I make money in this business?" There should be a very simple answer to this question. It will not violate earnings claims restrictions for the franchisor to answer it because you are not asking "How much money will I make?" You simply want to know how money is made in the business. Spend as much time as possible speaking to existing franchisees. Ask them if they would do it again. How long did it take them to recoup their investment? How much money are they making? Does the operating system work? Are they provided with good marketing programs? Do the franchisees get along well with each other and with the franchisor? What are the major problems with the business? Do they use all of the operating system? Is the franchisor's ongoing support adequate and helpful? The answers to these questions will help you make your decision.
Step 3: Evaluate the Franchisor's Business Plan
The franchisor should have a business plan for the system that covers at least the length of the agreement you are being asked to commit to. Ask for the plan for the market where you are going to locate the operation. Ask for their analysis of the competition. Ask how many units are being planned for your area and why that many. Why not more, why not less? Ask how much is going to be spent on marketing in your area.
Ask to look at the operations manuals or at least to see an outline of them. This is important because the operations manuals are your guideline to a successful operation. You need to feel comfortable that they are complete and clear and meet your abilities, needs, and goals.
Ask to receive a full explanation of the initial and subsequent training programs. Ask how people are trained. Is it classroom or hands-on practice? Are there case studies and discussions or is it straight lecture?
Ask for a full explanation of the pre-opening assistance offered by the franchisor. Understand any help franchisors give for site selection and lease negotiation. Be clear about what ongoing support the franchisor provides to the franchisees.
From: http://www.franchising.com/articles/49/
Marsupials
Marsupials: Kangaroo, Koala and Wombat
Marsupials are best known for the Australian members of the family, the kangaroo and the koala.
Marsupials are members of the mammal family. However, they are different from other mammals because they have an abdominal pouch to carry their young.
At birth, marsupial babies are not fully developed. The baby's hind legs are just nubs. The baby lives and continues to develop in the mother's pouch. The pouch, or marsupium, also has the mother's mammary glands for feeding the baby. A baby kangaroo may live in its mother's pouch for 6 months.
Koalas and wombats are a little different from Kangaroos. The kangaroo's pouch is on the front, while the koala and wombat pouches are on the back.
From: http://www.kidport.com/RefLIB/Science/Animals/Marsupials.htm
