That's the conclusion of Robert and Karen Maudlin, who today own and operate a New York Subs Fresh Deli franchise at the World Golf Village in St. Augustine, FL.

"Finding what turned out to be the right franchise for us did not happen by accident," the Mauldins say. "We spent many hours doing research on the Internet and combing through franchise guides in our search to find a business that we would be able to operate successfully as a family.

"Eventually, our research steered us in the direction of the food service industry, an area where we had an existing connection on a couple of fronts. At the time we were conducting our franchise search, our daughter was working in a restaurant and was often praised for her customer service skills and ability to increase customer sales."

Both spouses also had some related work experience. Karen was running her own residential cleaning business at the time they began searching for a franchise but had several years of prior experience in the food industry. Robert had previous experience overseeing large food service departments for conventions.

For the past 21 years, though, Robert's career has been in banking, where he currently holds a position as a vice president. The family wanted Robert to be able to continue his career in banking, but they worried that might be difficult if they opened a franchise in the food industry.

FINDING THE RIGHT MATCH
"We looked at a lot of different franchises in the food sector, but we ran into a variety of roadblocks," they recall. Start-up and equipment costs were too high in some franchise systems. Others required hours of operation that would have been in conflict with the needs of their young son, who was just about to start kindergarten.

Two of the franchise concepts they liked were in the gourmet sandwich and coffee shop segments of the industry, and they came up with the idea of trying to find one franchise that combined the best of both those formats.

"Our search led us to New York Subs Fresh Deli, which fit the model and the concept we were looking for," they say. "However our decision was far from over. There were several sandwich franchises in our area that appeared to be prospering and seemed to be getting the support they needed to succeed. But we questioned whether we would be able to get the support we needed from a franchisor based in the Phoenix, some 2,000 miles away."

The couple also had concerns about the franchise's lack of a strong brand identity in their local marketplace and the effect that would have on its ability to compete with established franchise sandwich shops in their area.

"Visiting another New York Subs franchise went a long way in helping us make our decision," they relate. "We visited a New York Subs outlet on four separate occasions, each time choosing a different product. On all four visits we both were pleasantly surprised—not just with the quality of the menu items we selected, but by the upscale décor of the shop, as well."

Karen and Robert agreed to buy a New York Subs Fresh Deli franchise and made the trip out to Phoenix to attend training sessions at the franchisor's facility. "We were overwhelmed by the training and support we received while we were attending the sessions in Phoenix, but we have been just as impressed by the ongoing level of support we have received since returning to Florida and opening our franchise," they say.

Among the support services the Mauldins consider most valuable were the help they got with site selection and equipment purchase, assistance in setting up their food vendor supply chain, the additional on-site training they got for the store opening, and help in choosing a contractor to do the store build-out.

IMPORTANT DECISIONS
Even with all the support they got from their franchisor, opening their franchise still entailed a great deal of planning and discussion on the family's part. They came to a decision that Robert would continue in his position at the bank while taking on the role of general manager at the new business. His responsibilities would include expense control, food purchasing and marketing.

Karen would function as the store's operations manager, assuming responsibility for the day-to-day running of the franchise. She would be in charge of staffing, food preparation, quality control, and training and coaching staff members on issues such as customer service and the importance of following the recipes exactly as they had been developed by the franchisor.

The couple's 18-year-old daughter also got involved, assuming a role as one of the new business's lead workers and helping to teach fellow staff-members important skills such as promoting specific products to customers and suggesting the purchase of additional items in order to increase the average cash register ring.

Even their son, now six, found a way to help. He became one of the new franchise's most enthusiastic marketing representatives, passing out promotional flyers to everyone venturing within range of the store's parking lot. It's an activity he enjoys so much, his parents sometimes have trouble getting him to take a break.

Staff development is an important area of concern for most franchise businesses, but it was even more so for the Mauldins because Robert would not be working at the store on a full-time basis. "We knew the importance of developing quality employees who would be capable of running the store when we were not able to be there," they note.

They realized that starting this process and ultimately succeeding at it would require strong interviewing skills, a knowledge of what kinds of questions to ask and some guidance on what to look for in potential job candidates.

"We spoke with other franchisees to find out what the going rate was in terms of wages for employees," they say. "Then we began our search for the kind of quality staff members who would be capable of living up to the very high level of customer-service standards we would demand—and would be willing to do it."

Although their initial expectations were somewhat muted, the Mauldins were pleasantly surprised by what they were able to achieve in this area. "We developed a group of high-quality employees who treat our store as their own," they report. "They are cross-trained in all areas related to successfully running our store at a level that consistently meets our demanding standards."

PEACE OF MIND
So confident did the Mauldins become in the abilities of their new staff, in fact, that they had enough peace of mind to take a vacation during their first year in business.

"The thought of taking a vacation from a new business would terrify many new franchise owners, and yes, it certainly put a scare into us at first," they admit. "However, the staff we trained responded beautifully. In fact, they performed beyond our wildest expectations in terms of maintaining the performance of the store during the period we were away."

It's a rare new business venture that gets launched without a single hitch, and the Mauldins' franchise is no exception to that rule. Asked if they would have done anything differently, given the chance, they acknowledge there is one area where they wish they had followed their franchisor's advice more closely.

"Generating a growing level of customer awareness that your store is open and ready to meet their needs is a critical aspect of starting a new business, but it's one that requires quality marketing to achieve," they point out. The technique they were taught by their franchisor is called "soft marketing," and it involves paying personal visits to other local businesses to introduce them to New York Subs and its underlying concept.

"You can get a lot of bad advice and waste a lot of your start-up capital following it, if you're not careful," they lament. "If we could do it all over again, we would stick much more closely to the soft marketing techniques taught to us by our franchisor."

Click Here For More Information on the New York Fresh Deli Franchise Opportunity

Source: The Franchise Handbook