On Sunday I went to the Vancouver Franchise Show, which is a convention/exhibition of a variety of franchise opportunities of all sorts. While I am definitely NOT in the market to get involved in any kind of a franchise, I was quite interested in what’s out there anyhow, so I ventured out there with my friend Kris. We had a 2-for-1 entry coupon so it costs both of us $8 Canadian (the parking cost $12 for 1.5 hours though!!!).

Once inside we were surrounded by booths after booths of interesting franchises. While many of them were ideas that have been overdone already, many of the franchise opportunities were proven to be strong and continues to be effective (although very boring to me). So I decided to pick the top 3 franchises that I thought were innovative, and had potential with a great concept in mind! (My friend Kris, however, was most fascinated by candie machines and mini vending machine ideas – practical and profitable, but definitely not too interesting for a techie guy like me).

3. Niko Video (www.nikovideo.com)

Niko Video is a franchise offering an automated DVD rental system that allows you to rend DVDs through a machine. You browse through movies on a screen, pick it, and a robotic arm grabs it and dispenses it for you.

Key Features :

• Open 24 hours a day – it’s essentially a vending machine. No man-power needed, 24 hours access.
• Online/Onsite reservation possible. Through the unique interface that is fully computerized, you can book videos online on their website or at the machine, and grab it when it is available.
• Requires smaller space for operation, which saves on lease costs.

Obstacles I saw :

• I sort of enjoy walking down a video store aisle and looking at what’s out there on the shelves. There’s a certain joy to it, and this is the reason why online clothing shopping isn’t as big as it was hyped up to be.
• Vandalism could be a problem. It’s a very tough durable machine, but let’s get real – this can’t go into the Whalley area of Surrey, BC (quite a rough place I’d say).
• You need to access your account via a card that you are given, which means that if you forget to bring your card, you can’t get a DVD. At Blockbusters, I can simply give them my driver’s license and rent things.

Overall, I can see this franchise being successful at certain niche areas that have the right demographic for this type of service.

2. Kwik Kerb (www.kwikkerb.com)

Kwik Kerb offers you equipment and machinery that allows you to perform high-quality curbing work for sidewalks, gardens, and ponds/pools at homes and other places. With their innovative equipment and the portability, you can have all your stuff hooked up to a trailer on your F 250 and have a mobile business of your own. Conventionally, laying out curbs took a lot more work to shape it, lay it, let it dry, and it took more skills and techniques. With their equipment, anybody with a slight bit of experience in handling concrete, and has a handyman trait can perform the job clean and quick!

Key Features :

• Portability. That is the greatest key. You don’t need warehouse spacing or office spacing with this business. You can have this stuff in your garage while not at use, and haul it with your truck when you need to go work.
• It COULD be a one-man-show. Laying out curbs sounds like a tough job but it can be done by one person if needed be. Of course, you’ll get a job done much faster with a buddy but the flexibility is a great option.
• Low start-up cost : Call them and ask. I can’t remember the exact cost but I think it was well under $100,000. Cost, however, varies from region to region and country to country (they operate interationally!)

Obstacles I Saw :

• This isn’t much of an obstacle from the franchise’s end, but from the franchisee’s end. With this kind of a start-up cost, and ease of operation, I can see a lot of construction guys jumping into this, but how savvy are they at marketing? They need to follow the coaching/marketing system of the franchise very well, or have their own sharp sense in self-marketing. It’s not easy suddenly being self-employed – you need to know how to get your own contracts.
• Building up the initial recognition as a high-quality product would be tougher when many people still stick with the conventional, expensive labourers that provide the services.

When the right person gets this franchise, I can see it being a huge success. You could potentially own several franchises and hire younger kids at $20/hour or so to do the work and expand your profit to an exponential degree!

1. Onext Media (www.onextmedia.com)

Onext Media is offering a modified LCD TV that stands vertically and provides advertisement space. Basically, their technicians re-construct the interior of the TV so that the back of the TV contains an entire computer, a G-class router, EVDO/EDGE broadcaster and what not. At the end of the day you have a fully functioning media station/internet service provider, and you just hook in the plug (and probably a LAN cable) and it’s up and running. This is meant to be mounted at busy locations in shopping malls, food courts etc. and provide a great platform for multi-media advertising space, as well as provide free internet!!! (when I asked the guy about the cost, they say they intend to keep it free for quite some time. To read on the marketing effects of offering free internet, read my post about Starbucks and Blenz).

Key Features :

• The equipment looks nice, feels nice, and runs nice. It looks so classy and sharp, it would suit any high-end location, and mid-range locations as well.
• The intergrated router is such a phenomenal idea. I LOVE places with free wireless internet – it increases my productivity, and chances are, I will pick that spot as a lunch/meeting spot with my clients just for the hell of it.
• Media marketing is becoming larger and larger, and the conventional poster frames just don’t cut it anymore. This is the next generation of public marketing – having LCD screens with a real computer behind it to maximize its content and dynamicness.

Obstacles I Saw :

• This isn’t exactly a breakthrough in technology, and other companies can quickly catch up. These guys need to catch the niche real real quick in order to dominate the market.
• The cost for these media machines are significantly higher, which limits the available channel of investors who are willing to jump in. But hey, you get what you pay for – these have more value too!
• They need a new website. My God.

So, that’s my summary of the Vancouver Franchise Show. Overall, it was an interesting walk-through that I had which I thought was quite interesting. I always love looking at new ideas and knowing about them. I crave knowledge for the hell of it, and you know what? It always pays off.

BONUS FEATURE :

When I went to the washroom, I saw this pamphlet :

It says :

Are you a Schmuck?
Before you commit $60,000 (or more) to a franchise, simply to buy yourself a minimum wage job, Talk to me!

I’ll show you how to open your own home based business for less than $1,000 that has unlimited income potential, a FREE monitoring system, and monthly walk-away income.

This simply made me laugh, at how persistent some of these guys can be and how creative they are to prepare a flyer just like this for just this event!

Franchises, in my opinion, can go both ways. Some franchises offer you a great model of a successful business that you can easily replicate into your own, and create great amounts of wealth of it. Some franchises however, are essentially a way of giving yourself another job with mediocre pay, but with more risk, more responsibilty and more hours at the end. This also depends largely on the person who buys the franchise. The same franchise can take off, or sink low depending on who owns it, and the individual business owner’s efforts and abilities make a huge difference.

The franchise can open a way – you need to walk it to be able to take advantage of it. Even if it’s a successful franchise concept, some people will tank it.