Ever heard the saying, slow and steady wins the race? It applies a lot to franchising. When I was a stockbroker, guys in the office were always coming up with a “hot” stock pick. Most of the hot stock picks my clients and I invested in never worked out. Sure, they may have gone like gangbusters for a while, but they usually flamed out after a while and plummeted back to earth - and took my money with them! Meanwhile, the older guys in my office were always buying Blue Chip stocks, which means that these were stocks with steady companies in steady industries that did well in any environment. This is why I think there's an interesting comparison here between franchising and buying stocks.

Despite franchising being a safer way of doing business, it doesn't mean that it's risk free! Because of this, it's important when researching franchises to carefully look at your options, and find out which franchise systems could cause you major problems over the long run - and which franchise systems will provide you with a great formula for franchise success! Below are some of the top problem areas in why a franchise might struggle.

2015 was another year of GREAT franchise growth for Shear Madness Franchising! We began our expansion into the Northeast United States by signing a multi-unit development agreement in the late spring and now have a location open in New York State. This agreement will allow us to expand our award winning Shear Madness Haircuts for Kids concept into our sixth, seventh and eighth state and give us continued momentum going forward into 2016. Some of the reasons Todd Danni (our New York franchise owner) selected Shear Madness Haircuts for Kids was because of our franchise experience, our commitment to multi-unit development, a healthy and balanced relationship with the franchisor, and the ability to "test" market a location.