Claudia Ang71296

Well finally some progress. After six months the Mayor's office finally came back with the Certificate D'Urbanism which unfortunately came back negative on the application for the extension and the permission to run the place as a business. As you can imagine Alex and I were slightly concerned about this and were seriously on the verge of calling it a day. Thankfully the Estate Agent face with the possibility of not getting their 14 grand commission finally started to do some work and organised a meeting with the Mayor. In this meeting he apologised about the delay in the applications and put them down to some serious squabbling between departments, which resulted in the one dealing with out case pretty much turning down every application it received without even looking at them. Very professional. The upshot of it all was that he explained that since we were only catering for four rooms in out Chalet that we didn't need a business licence and could run it as a private enterprise. It might have been nice for someone to tell us that earlier. As for the extension, it's not so drastic as we can almost certainly build a garage in its place and convert the stable area on the ground floor to our apartment. Similarly it's good news on the bank loan since we applied for a private loan. It seems the banks are happier to offer a loan guaranteed solely by Alex's salary than with one guaranteed by Alex's salary and the income for the Chalet. Go figure.

The upshot of all this is that we have finally managed to get the keys and move in despite not signing the final papers for a week or so. It seems like most of the bureaucratic nightmares are behind us now and we now face the new challenges of getting the place renovated. On arriving we found that two of the radiators have cracked with the cold, the bathroom sink leaks and the toilet doesnt flush. Thankfully the current owner is responsible for leaving us with all these problems solved so is fixing and replacing as I write. Hopefully tonight we will be able to crank up the central heating and will be living like Kings.

We have already checked out the local pub and a restaurant. The owners of our local which is in walking distance are Dutch and seem very nice, although are not going to help my chances of improving my French. The local Village of Venosc is about five kilometres away and is much more French, so should help. Basil the dog absolutely loves it here as we can open the back door and he is off into the woods and the river. Hardly any need to walk him unlike our flat in Chamonix.

All in all Alex and I very happy and settling in well. Yesterday I got my first hint of cabin fever, so we may take the lift up to Les Deux Alpes for lunch and to check it out to remind ourselves that we are not far from civilisation.

On a much much lighter note we have started the new year in the right direction as on a recent trip to Zermatt, long over due I asked and Alex agree to marry me. Lets hope 2007 continues as positively for us. Ecrins Mountain Lodge

As a franchisor it is imperative that you seek, find and recruit the best franchisees to maintain a strong franchise system. Your current Franchisees are your very best sales people, sometimes without even knowing it. As a franchisee starts making more money, it will show. Soon they will be moving out of their apartment or home into a nicer area. They will be driving a nicer car. They will be frequenting nicer eating establishments. A female franchisees husband will tell the guys at work in a bragging way how great his wife is doing and that he plans on quitting his job to help her. A male franchisees wife will brag to her friends that she is planning a vacation of that they bought a new indoor four-person Jacuzzi. Her friends will entice their husbands and boyfriends to look into the franchise, franchise companies should encourage this scenario and spend more time and money on referrals than straight sales. Sure mass marketing works, but throwing spaghetti at the refrigerator until something sticks is not very becoming of a star rated franchise system. Many times people at the franchisees old job will start talking, Hey, did you hear about Skip?, Hes really doing well with that new franchise thing he doing. Yah! Have you seen his new Corvette.

Relatives are also great prospects. They may be lacking work ethic however. Many times you will find that they are very interested in making lots of money, but not in doing lots of work. The best way to sell this is to put them in a very busy store or outlet on a busy Friday. (Work em.) Make them run, sweat, get them up early. Usually they will have second thoughts. This does three things: Gives Them Total Respect For Their Relative Who Is A Franchisee; Keeps The Franchisee Happy For Giving His Relative A Shot At It; Weeds Out Unwanted Derelicts With Poor Work Ethics.

Another fall back to relatives of franchisees is that they are calling only because their spouse wants them to make more money. Usually it wasnt their idea. They are not committed to the concept. They will never be committed to the company or the customer. They need to be committed to the: Company, Concept, Customer, Quality; not the money alone. Before they can be committed to any of these, it must be their idea. So after you run em you dont call them back. You wait a few weeks. You let it bounce around in their head. Then they will be forming ideas, taking a look at their life and making conclusions. Thats when they will call you back. At that point your dedication factor will take hold. They will be committed to their choice, their idea and your franchise systems s concept, company, quality and customers.

Even when they are committed, they must possess good credit. You may have to give them three more weeks to find a way to secure a loan or find the money. If they are truly committed about their future, they will find a way. Referrals from family and friends always make up the best franchisee teams; ask any franchising veteran. Its no secret, yet so many companies are still tossing the spaghetti? Think about it.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance in the Online Think Tank and solve the problems of the World; www.WorldThinkTank.net/