SUCCESSFUL FRANCHISING MAGAZINE
CONTACT: Mary E. Schmidt
COVER STORY
(619)-595-3133
REVISED 6/13/97
YOUR OFFICE: A BLUEPRINT FOR TOMORROW’S BUSINESS
Proven International Business Center Franchise Lands in America
It may be an American original, but franchising today has gone global and almost every U.S. franchise operator is jumping ship to test the international waters. Not so with IB Your Office, Europe’s number one and fastest growing business center franchise network – "been there, done that," says the franchise’s founder and CEO Uwe (pronounced "Uva") Brettmann. The highly successful international franchisor launched his business center franchise in Europe as a "blueprint for tomorrow’s business" and is now looking to the land of plenty simply to round out his global network. Indeed, he even Americanized the IB Your Office company name for his U.S. operations, calling it Your Office USA .
For Brettmann, 35, the United States represents the ultimate franchise challenge. "Our success outside the U.S. has been substantial. Now, our goal is to establish an American franchise network which further utilizes and even enhances our proven international concept."
Back in 1989, Brettmann, and his colleagues carved out a market niche for selling their unique business center idea. "Our success overseas came from offering personal and professional business support to today's home-based entrepreneurs. As one of the world’s fastest-growing business segments, home-based business has virtually been ignored by the franchising industry," says Brettmann. "We saw this as a golden opportunity to introduce a new business center franchise concept developed for the special target group."
When one looks at the statistics, it's no wonder home-based businesses are being called the next economic generation. Current stats put this group at more than 43 million full and part-time U.S. home-based businesses and the number continues to grow. Consider the following:
One in five U.S. businesses start in the home.
37 percent of U.S. households include someone who has founded, tried to start, or helped fund a small business. (Source: Entrepreneur Research Consortium)
Income-generating home offices grew almost 7 percent in one year to a total of 20 million households. (Source: IDC/LINK 1996 Small/Home Office Market Update)
In just eight years, Brettmann’s business center concept has found its niche. Today there are more than 100 IB Your Office franchises spread around the globe and the company continues to sell master licenses at a record pace. Currently they have master licenses in place in over 40 countries around the world in Europe, Asia, North and South America, and the Pacific Rim.
According to Brettmann, what sets his business center concept apart is a turnkey approach to supporting home-based and small business owners. "We are not an executive suite, copy center, postal packaging center or a purveyor of fast food. Our business centers offer much more through a professional staff who use a personalized approach to provide essential support services to help clients grow their business."
Unique Infrastructure Supports Home-Based Workers
The Your Office franchise takes the form of a total business support center for home-based workers, small business owners, reps on the road, service professionals and business executives, field representatives, and large and small start-up companies. Each center offers a low-overhead solution for clients in need of a business infrastructure on a full or part-time basis. Centers are strategically located in suburban business settings and provide convenient and easy access to meeting rooms, technology, personalized business and marketing services and small business networking support.
Managed by a professional and customer-service-oriented staff, the center’s on-site services include: business address, private phone/fax number and personalized telephone answering (which can be patched into the client’s home), voice mail, private mailbox service, computer rentals, video conferencing, an array of business and administrative services, marketing and high-tech facilities and support, office and conference room leasing and rentals, access to a worldwide network of business centers through a private intranet, ongoing business networking seminars and more.
In The Beginning
Brettmann’s idea for reaching the home office market-niche through the Your Office franchise network originated in Cologne, Germany. Initially, Brettman and his executive team sold a master license for Germany along with a number of franchises in the country. The company’s expansion then continued into other parts of Europe with the sale of master licenses to Belgium, France, Luxembourg, and Switzerland.
In 1995, Brettmann entered into a joint venture with a Malaysian investment and advisory group to set up IB Your Office Asia to lead its expansion into the area. The sale of master licenses -- for the Philippines, China, Taiwan, India, Nepal, Hong Kong, Pakistan, along with North and South Korea -- quickly followed. In addition, Brettmann’s corporate office in Asia soon sold a master franchise for Indochina, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia.
Also in 1995, Your Office entered into a unique franchising partnership with Johor State Economic Development Corporation (JESDC), a profit-driven arm of the Malaysian government dedicated to improving opportunities for the country’s growing population of small business owners. As part of its support function, JESDC saw the Your Office business center concept as a convenient and low-cost solution to providing a complete infrastructure for Malaysian small business owners and as a forum for accessing western technologies.
The Challenge of the U.S. Market
Brettmann’s next challenge: Entering the U.S. market. He did his homework, researching the needs of the burgeoning U.S. home office market and competitive franchise environment. Brettmann, who has been labeled the dreamer’s dreamer, soon discovered that the United States held special challenges for imported franchises. "The barriers to entry are much greater in the U.S.," he admits. "However, the U.S. market is in need of this type of opportunity degree of success you can achieve can be infinitely more rewarding."
Brettmann himself came to the U.S. to relocate the company’s international headquarters to San Diego, Calif. "To demonstrate our commitment to this market, I knew it was critical that we have a strong presence here."
And, so when he Americanized the IB Your Office company name, Your Office USA also took on a decidedly more American tone. "In addition to being high-touch, we are also now a more high-tech franchise organization," says Brettmann.
He explains: "U.S. franchises operate more on a ‘high-tech’ level while outside the U.S., franchising focuses more on ‘high-touch.’ This simply means that franchisers outside the United States place more emphasis on building one-on-one business relationships and less on high tech overtones. In bringing our franchise concept to the U.S., we hope to blend the European high-touch with the American high-tech service approach to help us successfully establish our unique business center concept on American soil."
High Tech Solutions Sets Franchise Apart
Brettmann’s focus on high tech ultimately resulted in the creation of Your Office-Net, an exclusive worldwide intranet support system for the Your Office international franchise network. Developed as a support tool for franchisees and a marketing tool for their clients, Your Office-Net provides franchisees with easy access to online training manuals, networking Q & As, secure franchisee e-mail, worldwide and regional franchise news, and much more. The system also allows franchisees to quickly and simply assist clients with online presentations, web design, translation services, client-to-client marketing, e-mail, electronic commerce, international business start-up packages and more. "Our franchisees don’t have to be experts in all the services they offer. It’s as simple as faxing a form and receiving a document presentation or web design online to fulfill a client transaction," says Brettmann.
Your Office-Net also gives the company’s franchisees multiple opportunities to help their clients grow their own businesses. The private intranet system provides a variety of outsourcing and networking resources by and through a worldwide network of Your Office franchise owners and their clients. Clients become part of an exclusive worldwide Your Office club, which, according to Brettmann, gives them "a unique and competitive advantage, which they could not access on their own. Once we locate potential customers or vendors for a client, we set up a personal video conference introduction as a way to ‘kick-start’ the networking process," he explains.
As in any franchise organization, Your Office also provides franchisees with an excellent support program, including: assistance with site selection, lease negotiation and space planning; classroom and on-site training; ongoing marketing and public relations support; grand -opening programs; franchise networking; advisory councils and annual meetings.
Brettmann is eager to gain a stronghold in both North and South America. Since coming to the United States, the Your Office system has expanded to include master licenses in Canada and Venezuela and area franchises for a nine-state region in the U.S. "We have begun full scale efforts to sell and open business centers throughout the U.S." he said.
Current Your Office USA area franchisees include: Seana Malone who will handle franchise sales and service for the states of Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, and, Shaw Siddiqi and Robert Montes, who will sell and support franchises the four state area of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas.
For the U.S. operation, Brettmann has put together a seasoned team of professionals who together boast more than 50 years of franchising experience in the area of sales, marketing, training, legal, accounting and franchise relations. Overall, his goal is to reach 5,000 franchise locations worldwide within the next 10 years.
As a European franchiser and investor in the American dream, Brettmann is quite philosophical. The "dreamer’s dreamer" is also down to earth enough to know what it takes to make franchising in the U.S. work. "Our goal is to blend the best of European traditions with good old fashioned American technology and know-how – it’s our personal blueprint for tomorrow’s business."
###
(SIDEBAR)
ELECTRONIC OUTSOURCING THROUGH YOUR OFFICE-NET
Franchisees and Clients Share Access to Global Opportunities
Your Office USA has elevated the support concept far beyond the typical level that a franchiser provides. With its Your Office-Net, this exclusive worldwide intranet support system serves as an outsourcing service for the Your Office franchisee network, giving them access to a full array of online support services as well as outsourcing opportunities for their clients.
Here’s how client-to-client marketing works:
The Your Office USA franchisee in Denver has just acquired a new client whose business is antique doorknob sales. In her interview with him, Ms. Franchisee learns that her client has always dreamed of distributing his doorknobs in Europe. Ms. Franchisee logs on to Your Office-Net and within minutes receives a list of five clients who are in hardware and home fixture distribution and who are located in Western Europe. Contact is made with a German distributor through a personal video conference introduction made via the Frankfurt Your Office franchisee. This initial connection allows the client to establish a number of key on-going relationships, which ultimately allow him to secure overseas distribution. The client's goal of expanding his business to a worldwide market is easily achieved.
(To reach Your Office USA, call toll free 1-888-400-5139.)