As a former franchise founder specializing in mobile service vehicles in the automotive sector, I learned that I could develop business models which were much more efficient that location based businesses, and still take in a good amount of revenue without the costs of a brick-and-mortar building. Apparently I am not the only one who knows this in the franchising industry. Let me explain;
Not too long ago there was a very interesting article in the Wall Street Journal titled; "Restaurant Franchisees Tried Truck'in As a Way to Grow," by Sarah E Needleman and it was published on October 29, 2010. It described how many fast food franchised food chains were developing mobile kitchens on wheels as franchise offerings - literally taking their brands and their products to the street as if they were catering trucks.
Will this new strategy work? Sure it will.
Before that there was another article in the May June issue of Utne Reader in the emerging ideas section titled "Turning Hustlers and Entrepreneurs - America Can Reduce Poverty by Enabling Underground Businesses," by Kai Wright from the American Prospect. In this article it describes how street hustlers became businesspeople and work at of mobile business locations, such as out of a big fan or box truck.
Now then, if the restaurant industry does go mobile, and if cities to allow this type of commerce, you can expect it will be copied by not only franchising companies but also non-franchised restaurant businesses. This could play havoc on fast food restaurants which have locations, as in the parking lot next door, their competition starts selling pizzas right at the back of a van. With the lower cost structure it would be hard for the brick-and-mortar company to compete with a vehicle serving meals.
I'd like you to consider all the implications this might bring to the restaurant industry, and how catering trucks in the past had been only a nuisance to the restaurant industry. This whole new dimension could change the way we think about eating and the future of the restaurant industry. Personally, I'm very intrigued by this topic, for personal reasons, but also because it's a game changer, it changes everything. Please consider all this.
Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank. Lance Winslow believes writing 21,500 articles was a lot of work - because all the letters on his keyboard are now worn off.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Lance_Winslow/5306
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