FranSynergy Acquires Cuppy's Coffee, Smoothies & More

Business is a fast paced and sometime difficult road to manuever. It is also a series of evolutions from startup to completion. And it is in that process that Cuppy's Coffee is proud to announce that FranSynergy has acquired our fast growing coffee company to navigate it thru the next stage in that evolution. Below is a copy of the letter sent to all franchisees acknowledging the transition and welcoming the new management team to Cuppy's Coffee.

Dear Franchisees,

Cuppy's has grown leaps and bounds since our humble beginnings in May of 2006. We currently have more than 231 franchisees nationwide and 73 open stores, with many more stores in the works!

It's our ultimate goal to see the Cuppy's brand grow strong and be successful. In order for this to happen, change is inevitable. Our objective is to always keep you, our franchisee, up to date as these changes occur.

With that in mind, we have some really exciting news! We are pleased to announce that FranSynergy Inc., lead by Dale Nabors, CEO, has acquired Cuppy's Coffee & More, Inc.

Dale Nabors has over 25 years of franchising experience and worked for the Dwyer Group from March, 1995 to August, 2000....

To read the entire letter follow this link.

Cuppy's Coffee College Underway

It's Monday and Coffee College is underway. Franchisees that are attending are within weeks of opening their locations.

While at Coffee College, franchisees will learn the nuances of espresso based drinks and smoothies. But that's not all, they will also learn operational processes of running their stores that will keep their customer's coming back for more. Marketing, customer service, procedural and business development training are just some of the knowledge these attendees will take with them after graduation from the week long course.

As a refresher, Cuppy's will send a field trainer to franchisee's locations prior to a opening date to assist with training and setup of their store. Soon thereafter, franchisees can set a Grand Opening date for their customers.

The attending franchisees are from the following cities and states:

• Athens, TN


• Savannah, GA


• Columbus, OH


• Salem, OR


• Carollton, GA

Withdraw From Mind Escrow To Grow Business

Entrepreneurs and people looking to go into the coffee business for themselves, either thru a franchise or from scratch, will greatly benefit from investing a majority of their time researching the specialty coffee industry. Information and knowledge leads to a better understanding of all the variables that go into the formation of a business. Be it financial, legal and/or marketing anyone will have a clearer picture once they've done their homework.

It can be compared to banking; deposits in to a long term CD (time) plus yields and interest (information) will greatly enhance your dividends (knowledge). The escrow that you accumalate over time, you will be able to withdraw or get a refund on your investment to grow your business more successfully.

There are countless resources for anyone looking to get into the coffee business. One valuable resource can be located at www.scaa.org and/or Google 'specialty coffee business'.

All Roads Will Soon Lead To Cuppy's Coffee: Normal IL

Where Interstates 75, 39 and 55 all merge, Cuppy's Coffee will be there to serve up a true Italian espresso to commuters and travelers alike. Franchisees in Normal IL have signed a lease to open a Cuppy's Coffee restaurant.

Look for the new Cuppy's Coffee to open soon.

Marketing: An Expectation Economy

To successfully market to your target audience, it is necessary to understand the trends in which they, your audience, pays attention to. Watching and tracking cross-industry trends can help you better focus your advertising and marketing dollar more effectively. The following excerpts from an online article is a start to address capitalizing in on your share of this dynamic market.

Sure, we know that what you really, really want is to be told which trends will dictate your industry. If you're in automotive, you want to know about the future of transport; if you're in food and beverage, you're no doubt interested in everything healthy and green and organic. And of course you have a near-obsession with what your main competitors are up to. But in an EXPECTATION ECONOMY, business professionals should obsessively think and look cross-industry, as opposed to suffering from industry tunnel vision.

Here are three reasons why looking cross-industry isn't just great for inspiration, but a prerequisite for understanding how to fuel innovation in an EXPECTATION ECONOMY:

First of all, focusing solely on your own industry will obscure the fact that in economies of abundance, consumers are increasingly spending their 'play money' on goods and services that net them the experience, the indulgence, the excitement, the satisfaction they're looking for at a specific moment.

Secondly, limiting yourself to your own industry will make you miss important changes in consumer expectations, and will thus put you at risk of disappointing or even annoying consumers. Every industry has its own 'innovation competence', and the innovations they're bringing to market not only excite their own customers, they also shape their expectations for other industries.

Last but not least, if you're obsessed with what your direct competition is doing, you will always end up copying new concepts in your industry. Which means that, unless you're comfortable with being a 'smart follower', this is not going to unleash your innovative brilliance.

Now, all of this is of course not to say that you shouldn't actively track what's happening in your own industry. But in the next 12 months, do also constantly ask yourself: who are our other competitors? What experiences could our product or service be traded in for? And what can we learn from other industries setting consumer expectations across the board?

Tracking and understanding THE EXPECTATION ECONOMY is not a science; in fact it's a nice mix of experience, intuition, and knowing your sources. Grab your notebook and camera and start taking EXPECTATION ECONOMY notes and pictures.

Find competitors and non-competitors, big and small, who are setting consumer expectations much higher than you've ever been able to. Then compile what you think are now the global standards for whatever it is you do, and from there start thinking about new goods, services and experiences that at least incorporate those standards, and preferably outdo them.

With a little practice and perseverance, you will begin to see trends that you as an owner can utilize to capture your target market. Sometimes, being the biggest is not necessarily being the best.

(Courtesy: TrendWatching.com

Read the entire story at

www.trendwatching.com/briefing/)