Margaritaville
Margaritaville encompasses a business concept that creates not only fun but also excitement to customers. The founders of the business have invested in two main ventures i.e. in restaurant and the entertainment industry. They seek to provide exciting products and services to their clients. Its growth has been geared by the business’ philosophy-escape lifestyle which has led the public to recognize its restaurants as ‘Authentic American Tropical Escapism Restaurant’ (World Franchise Centre, 2012, p. 1). The franchise has been operational for the last two and half decades.
Since its launch 25 years ago, the franchise has developed several lifestyle consumer products. They include Margaritaville packaged foods, Margaritaville Tequila and mix, its own lager (Landshark) and Paradise key lemonades and teas. It has also come up with some footwear products referred to as the Margaritaville Soles of the Tropics. It has several electronic appliances among which are the Margaritaville Frozen Concoction Makers. Last but not least is Radio Margaritaville. Besides its lifestyle consumer products, Margaritaville has four branded growth initiatives. They include outdoor furniture, home fashions (e.g. linens and towels), branded apparel and resorts cum gaming.
The franchisor helps the franchisees to begin the business in several ways. Margaritaville has certified training facilities. They offer training for the franchisee personnel for eight weeks. This equips the franchisee with the knowledge and the skills that they need to operate the franchise successfully. They also hire certified international trainers to carry out on site pre and post training of the staff once a new business is opened. The onsite training takes place in two to three weeks ensuring that the staff are well-equipped as far as running the new venture is concerned. For the restaurants, the franchisor helps the franchisee with most of the equipment necessary for operating the restaurant. For instance, they provide a full set of the Margaritaville operating manuals, kitchen operating systems as well as their recipes. They also assist in the sourcing of memorabilia and artifacts fit for the franchise depending on its location. They not only offer a full set of ‘built out’ specifications but also support the franchisee in designing and constructing the business premises. In marketing, Margaritaville supports in art, designs and graphics. The franchisee also receives a sales and marketing program for establishing a market of the products within the given locality. If a given locality requires the franchisee to present a given product differently, Margaritaville assists in coming up with the new product design.
The franchisee has to play his/her part in staring and running the business. Margaretville licenses all the individuals that are interested in joining the franchise. The franchisee has to obtain the license which goes for $250,000. According to Starboard TCN Retail Group, Margaritaville does not require the franchisee to pay any franchise fees (3). The license provides the franchisee with full flexibility in menu selection as well as all other operations. Since the license is a requirement for one to start his/her business as a Margaritaville franchisee, he/she should purchase it. The money can be obtained from his/her savings or even from loans offered by financial institutions (Sherman, 2012, p. 102).
It is good to venture into this business. Margaritaville has been in business for 25 years thus well-established. It is popular and has gained worldwide recognition which is an advantage to the franchisee. Due to its fun-filled and energetic business model, Margaritaville has become trusted for not only food but also for the fun that goes with it. These are just but a few of the benefits that a franchisee enjoys in Margaritaville.
References
Sherman, A. (2012). Raising Capital: Get the Money You Need to Grow Your Business. NY:
Amacom Div American Mgmt Assn.
Starboard TCN Retail Group. (2012). Margaritaville Opportunity. Retrieved from
http://www.starboardnet.com/listing_flyers/Margaritaville_Flyer.pdf.
World Franchise Centre. (2012). Margaritaville. Retrieved from
http://www.worldfranchisecentre.com/p-detail.php?bid=92
