Are We There Yet? Travel Tips For A Smoother Family Vacation
WAITSFIELD, VERMONT'
Usually when they had their own families and attempted trips of their own. Resort Maps, creator of customized travel maps in more than 90 cities and towns across the U.S. and U.K. has some family travel tips that can help you optimize the pleasure of family trips and minimize the inconvenience.
'In a perfect world, every family trip goes smoothly and years later your memories center on where you went'Disneyworld or the Grand Canyon'rather than little Joey getting sick on the plane or on his sister in the car. But we all know the world is not perfect,' said Peter Hans, president of Resort Maps. 'There are some things you can do to prepare for the mini 'disasters' that happen on your journey so they don't impact the rest of your trip.'
Some of the areas to focus your pre-travel preparations include:
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Attitude ' expect a few snags and glitches both in packing and getting to and from your destination. By adopting a roll-with-the-punches approach, you really can keep the molehills from becoming mountains.
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Drugs ' there is never a drug store around when you need one. Keep this reality in mind when packing. Make sure to pack some travel size containers of cough syrup, cold or allergy medicines. Benadryl, in particular, is very helpful in getting sick children to rest comfortably on a flight or long car ride.
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Baby wipes ' even if the kids are out of diapers, wipes come in handy for a variety of quick clean ups.
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Zip lock bags ' make sure to carry a variety of sizes, which can have numerous uses. Oversized bags come in very handy for packing wet clothes.
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Night lights ' do not forget them, particularly if you're sharing a hotel room. A bad night for one of your kids means no sleep for the entire family and that certainly can impact fun activities.
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Scheduling ' if you're kids are younger, leave around the time they usually nap. This might buy you some extra quiet time for the drive. If flying, you may want to weigh the pros and cons of flying overnight. Sure, it will impact your zzz's, but it may beat entertaining a pre-schooler for six hours on a daytime flight.
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Flying ' utilize resources like SeatGuru.com to strategize where you want to sit (e.g. windows, aisles, front of the plane or back). Maybe you want to split the kids up to minimize the possibility of bickering and fights.
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Games, toys and other entertainment ' ultimately, the key to traveling with children means keeping them occupied. Whether it's playing their favorite DVD in the car, a deck of cards for the car or plane or finding some fun travel games (www.momsminivan.com has a list of 101 Car Travel Games and Road Trip Ideas for Kids), keeping your children entertained for as long as possible is the real difference maker in a good or bad trip.
'For many people, the memories of trips they took with their families last a lifetime. You'd be amazed at how a little bit of pre-planning, including having the right map of the town or city where you'll be staying, can go a long way towards ensuring that the memories of your family trips center on the fun you had and the places and things you saw,' said Hans.
Resort Maps are colorful, hand-drawn maps of resort towns and cities. Free to area visitors, each map advertises restaurants, accommodations, retail stores, factory outlets, recreation and attractions, real estate and other local services. Each advertiser is represented with a display ad surrounding the map, including a color-coded grid locator and a building drawn, highlighted and labeled making it easy to locate. With landmarks prominently displayed, Resort Maps are an easy and fun way to find your way around town whether you are visiting, new to the area or you just want to know what's happening around your town. And Kids love them so you can add Resort Maps to the list of things that will keep them entertained.
For more information on Resort Maps or to inquire about ownership of a Resort Maps franchise, please visit www.resortmaps.com or call 802-496-6277.
About Resort Maps
Headquartered in the Green Mountains of Vermont, Resort Maps has been creating and publishing advertising maps in the northeastern U.S. since 1986. In 1993, Resort Maps expanded its reach by creating a franchise model for distribution of its colorful, hand-drawn maps of resort towns and cities. Today, that network of franchises grown to nearly 90 Resort Maps in publication in the US and the UK, with several more in the process of being published. Nearly 20 million Resort Maps will be printed and distributed in 2009.
For more information on Resort Maps the company and/or the franchise opportunity, visit www.resortmaps.com or call 802-496-6277.
About the Author:
The New Faces of Franchising. Difficult economic times bring out franchisees from various walks of life.
You’d think the worst economic times since the Great Depression would discourage budding entrepreneurs from going into business on their own. Yet with corporate layoffs, record unemployment rates, shrinking nest eggs and a number of other variables, many entrepreneurs are seeking franchises as a safer track to owning their own business—and that’s attracting franchise owners from a variety of backgrounds.
“It used to be your franchise owners drew more investor-types—
Some of the areas attracting new franchise owners include:
• Corporate casualties and refugees
• Retirees
• Working mothers
• Veterans
• Students
Gerry Pelissier, a Resort Maps franchise owner creating a new map in Dennis-Harwich, Massachusetts and with an existing map in Chatham-Orleans, Massachusetts on Cape Cod, represents one of the new faces. A former executive in the corporate world, Pelissier found owning a franchise; Resort Maps in particular, to be an appealing option. “Back when I was 28 years old, I had the drive and the entrepreneurship in my blood,’’ said Pelissier, who was the founder of a double drive-thru gourmet coffee business that he successfully franchised and then sold to Chock full o’Nuts. “I just turned 50 this year and I said to myself, ‘Let’s not create a new wheel.’ There’s a lot less risk in purchasing an existing franchise.”
David and Mary Kay McLane, owners of Resort Maps’ Charleston, South Carolina franchise, represent another of the new faces: retirees.
From central Pennsylvania, David and Mary Kay purchased a second home in Charleston in 2006. Since that time, both David, a clinical psychologist, and Mary Kay, healthcare and retail sales, retired from their respective careers. Yet early on the two realized they were not quite ready for full-time retirement.
“Resort Maps is a great business opportunity for a number of reasons. First and foremost, it’s a great product that provides a great vehicle for advertisers to showcase their businesses while offering invaluable service to people visiting Charleston,”
Resort Maps began creating and publishing maps in the northeastern U.S. back in 1986. In an effort to continue the company’s growth and simultaneously maintain the quality of the product, Resort Maps became a franchisor in 1993. Since adopting the franchise model, Resort Maps has grown steadily to more than 90 maps distributed across 20 states as well as towns and cities in England and Puerto Rico.
Adds Hans, “We’re probably a little different than most franchise opportunities. It’s the charge of our franchise owners to find advertisers for the map in their territory. The time frame for which the franchise owner finds those advertisers is totally up to them. So they’re not stuck in the 9-to-5, Monday through Friday, 12 months a year grind. An opportunity like that fits into the lifestyle of many of the new faces: retirees, couples, recent graduates or even current college students.”
About Resort Maps
Headquartered in the Green Mountains of Vermont, Resort Maps has been creating and publishing advertising maps in the northeastern U.S. since 1986. In 1993, Resort Maps expanded its reach by creating a franchise model for distribution of its colorful, hand-drawn maps of resort towns and cities. Today, that network of franchises has grown to over 90 Resort Maps in publication in the US and the UK, with several more in the process of being published. More than 20 million Resort Maps will be printed and distributed in 2009.
For more information on Resort Maps or to inquire about ownership of a Resort Maps franchise, please visit www.resortmaps.com or call 802-496-6277.
Resort Maps franchises serve cities and towns in California (Carmel, Monterey), Colorado (Boulder, Breckenridge, Cherry Creek, Colorado Springs, Denver, Eagle River, Estes Park, Fort Collins, Summit County), Delaware (Bethany Beach, Rehoboth Beach), Florida (Clearwater Beach and Gulf Beaches, Cocoa Beach, Daytona Beach, Melbourne, New Smyrna Beach, St. Augustine, Tarpon Springs), Georgia (Savannah/Tybee Island), Maine (Bar Harbor/Acadia, Boothbay region, Camden-Rockland, Kennebunkport, Kittery, Portland, York-Ogunquit)
Out of Recession Emerges New Face of Franchising
By Peter Hans
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Peter Hans |
Frankly, the tough economic times are precisely why many people are looking at owning their own franchise as an option to an unstable job market. And that has brought many new faces to franchising over the past year.
Those new faces include:
Corporate casualties and refugees
This growing pool of new franchisees includes the recently downsized, who have chosen to work for themselves rather than put their fate in the hands of Corporate America again, and those who did not get downsized but are tired of waiting for the other shoe to fall.
As spokes in the corporate wheel, these individuals have seen how businesses run and bring a variety of skills to the table in running a franchise. And while the soft real estate market may have done a number on their home's equity to use as capital to buy a franchise, many have earned enough long enough to be able to raise the money to buy a franchise.
Beyond managerial and executive skills, this group of franchisees also brings an added dimension to the table. After years, even decades, of working for somebody else, these folks are now running their own show and more in control of their own fate. So rather than cruising towards retirement, these individuals are now in the game in the middle of the action. That can create an empowered, passionate franchisee willing to go that extra distance to become successful.
Retirees
According to recent surveys from the franchise research firm FRANdata, individuals in the 55- to 70-year-old bracket represent the second largest group of franchise seekers. Much like the corporate casualties, these retirees have seen their nest eggs dwindle with the stock market and determined that it just won't be enough long-term. Plus, many of these retirees took golden handshakes, perhaps before they really wanted to enter full-time retirement. That makes entering into a franchise situation, particularly one that offers some flexibility in schedule, very desirable.
Take for example my company, Resort Maps. We create more than 90 customized travel maps across the United States, England and Puerto Rico. It's the charge of our franchise owners to find advertisers for the map in their territory. The time frame for which the franchise owner finds those advertisers is totally up to them. So they're not stuck in the 9-to-5, Monday-through-Friday, 12-months-a-year grind. An opportunity like that can be the perfect segue into semi-retirement for some, especially for couples.
Women
According to Department of Labor statistics, women now make up the majority of full-time workers in the workplace. That said, that means more women are subject to downsizing or the threat of downsizing and seek franchising as a way to control their own destiny. In many cases, female franchise owners have found running their own business via a proven franchise system to be a way to make their own schedule and adjust it to family life.
Veterans
Veterans returning from duty and looking for a franchising opportunity is probably a fairly new phenomenon. Not that it hasn't happened before, but with activity overseas winding down and the economy still in tough shape, it's something we're likely to see more and more.
The veteran faces the challenges of raising capital, something difficult to fund with a military pension or wages. Still, many franchisors offer discounts to veterans, which has helped them to become one of the "new" faces.
Of course, many of the "new faces" come from areas that have consistently drawn franchisees. Those include: existing or multi-unit franchise owners; professional athletes; and managers at existing franchise locations who are ready to make the leap to ownership.
While purchasing a franchise may be "safer" than starting a business from scratch, it's certainly not without risk, especially in a poor economy. You still need to do your homework and shop for the right opportunity.
When looking at franchises, you should be looking at two things first and foremost: 1) does the franchise have a strong track record of success over the long term and 2) does the franchise have a fair franchise agreement and a collaborative franchise culture? If the answer is yes, then the franchise option of business ownership can actually provide a strong alternative to re-entering the job market. And that's probably what will continue the influx of new faces to franchising over the next few years.
There is one caveat for those who think franchising is a way to have complete control of your destiny. Franchising is not necessarily for independent thinkers who want to call all the shots. It can, however, be a happy medium for those who want to be "in business for themselves" but are willing to follow a specific business plan. If you are not used to following a defined set of rules, franchising may not be for you.
The trade-off, however, is that a strong franchise network provides you opportunities in economies of purchasing, marketing and pricing. As part of a franchise, you have an entire network of fellow franchise owners for support. So while the independent business owner is left to his or her own devices to figure out a way to better run their operation during troubled economic times, the franchise owner has a franchisor and fellow franchisees as a sounding board.
And that is a huge draw to anybody looking for a business opportunity in good times or bad one of many reasons why the influx of new faces will continue for the foreseeable future.
Peter Hans is the president of Resort Maps Franchise, based in Waitsfield, Vt. Resort Maps creates customized travel maps over 90 cities and towns across the United States and the United Kingdom. For more information, please visit www.resortmaps.com.