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Q. What are the fees to join
eSpider Squad™ (ESS) as a franchisee?
A: The initial franchise fees
are $25,000.00 USD for a local franchise. The fee for a national franchise
is $35,000.00 USD. Fees for an international franchise are $50,000.00.
Q. What other costs/expenses
besides the initial franchise fee will I need to spend?
A:
Depending on what type of computer equipment you have now, and whether you
need to get a new computer or printer, it may take an additional few hundred
dollars or a few thousand dollars to get the equipment and miscellaneous
items you need. A complete breakdown of these costs is included in the
eSpider Squad™ FDD. These expenses are relatively low compared to most other
franchises because you will not need commercial office space, a retail
store, inventory, racks, shelves, displays, heavy equipment, leasehold
improvements, lease deposits, rent, and so on.
Q. How much start-up capital do
franchisees need besides the upfront franchise fee?
A:
This depends on how aggressively you want to market or promote your
franchise. Some franchisees may spend very little while others may spend
more. There is no set amount we can state on what start-up capital is
necessary as it varies from franchisee to franchisee. A complete breakdown
of these costs is included in the eSpider Squad™ FDD.
Q. What equipment do I need to have/get to operate an ESS franchise?
A:
Franchisees do need to have a computer, preferably a newer one, an internet
connection, preferably broadband, a telephone, not necessary but recommended
is an all-in-one printer/copier/fax/scanner. You will need a vehicle. You
might also need a few pens and some kind of desk or table to work off of,
and a calculator, but that’s about it. A complete description of the minimum
required equipment is included in the eSpider Squad™ FDD. You may, at your
option, choose to purchase additional equipment and supplies. You may also
choose to operate from a location other than your home and might then need
additional items like signs, office furnishings, etc.
Q. How much do franchisees have
to pay in fees each month?
A:
Franchisees are required to pay a 7% royalty of their sales to ESS.
Q. Are there any minimum fees to pay each month?
A: There is a monthly minimum
of $295 per month against the 7% royalty so you’ll pay whichever is
greater.
Q. When do I have to start making my
royalty payments?
A. Your first
Royalty Fee payment shall commence on the 15th of every month, following
the month you complete the Initial Training.
Q. How do I get leads or
prospects to try to sell internet marketing and website services to?
A:
ESS will train you with over 65 different marketing techniques to help you
get leads, prospects and clients. We have turnkey marketing tools for
franchisees as well.
Q. What’s the difference(s) between the 3 levels of franchises, Local,
National and International?
A:
A local franchisee can market within a 100 mile radius of their office or
home. A national franchisee can market anywhere in the U.S. An International
franchisee can market anywhere in the world.
Q. Do you have exclusive or protected territories for franchisees?
A:
No. The territory franchisee’s receive from ESS determines where they are
allowed to market, but there are no exclusive or protected territories.
Q.
Won’t other
ESS franchisees marketing interfere with or ruin my marketing if I’m
near other ESS franchisees?
A: Most of
the marketing we recommend is not what would be called “mass marketing”. In
other words, we won’t likely recommend running television ads, display ads
in your local newspaper, and other things that would be very visible, but
not necessarily cost effective. Most of the marketing we recommend could be
considered “private marketing”, which are direct marketing efforts more
directed to direct mail, targeted online marketing and referrals.
These direct
marketing efforts are designed to get a response directly back to your
business as opposed to branding your business or otherwise using generic
advertising. Since franchisees will be taught to use direct marketing
instead of mass marketing, and prospects contact you directly, it’s less
likely that they would also contact another franchisee.
It is possible that
more than one franchisee could be marketing in the same area. However, many
retail companies and franchises have numerous locations in local areas and
have managed to be successful. You may have noticed that for many years well
known franchises have operated several locations in many local market areas.
We think a key
difference between our franchisees and many of these companies, however, is
that the average customer may find these other company outlets to be
interchangeable. For example, most people who like a certain franchise’s
food would eat at any of that franchise’s locations based on whichever one
was closest at the time they became hungry. Most of those customers probably
don’t have loyalty to a specific franchise location.
On the other hand,
you will be personally consulting with your clients and have the opportunity
to develop an ongoing personal relationship. When a client hires your
eSpider Squad™ franchise, they’ll be signing a contract with your business.
Not with our company. This gives you the opportunity to develop a relation
to service their Internet marketing needs and make it less likely that
contact someone else once they’ve developed a relationship with you.
When we researched
the options for awarding franchises, we felt, in our opinion, that to award
exclusive franchises would require much higher initial franchise fees, much
higher monthly minimums and much higher royalties than we are now offering.
And would likely require minimum quotas of business volume for franchisees
to retain their franchises. Therefore, we’ve chosen to offer the territories
and fee structure as we’ve disclosed to you.
You should also
consider that the U.S. Small Business Administration estimates that there
are 25 million small businesses in the United States alone.[1]
This figure does not include the new businesses that are started each week.
Also, please remember that Experian
– one of the nation’s leading market and database research companies –
reports that only 4 million of those 25 million businesses have their own
websites.[2] That means 21 million of these
small business don’t have websites.
Q. What criteria do you use to
accept or reject applications for franchises?
A:
We have no specific “cut-in-stone” standards for franchisee approval. In
general, we want franchisees who have the financial resources to become a
franchisee, the desire to run their own home based internet consulting
business, and whose backgrounds may provide an opportunity for success. We
take each franchise application on a case by case basis, and try to take
into consideration all relevant factors and circumstances for each person as
an individual.
Q. How long after I apply to become a franchisee, will I know if I’m
accepted or not?
A:
Our Franchise Agreement provides a 30 day time period to accept or reject
franchisees. However, we expect a quicker turnaround.
Q. How long after I get accepted as a franchisee can I go to your
training class?
A:
You may attend the first available training class after being accepted as a
franchisee. Training classes are limited in number which will vary from
class to class. If the next class after you have been accepted is filled, we
will place you in the next available class.
Q. Can I start my franchise activities before going to the training
class?
A:
No. After being accepted as a franchisee, you must attend the franchisee
training class before you can begin any franchise activities.
Q. What happens in the initial training class I get to attend as a
franchisee?
A:
In the ESS franchisee training class, we will teach you how to be an
Internet marketing consultant with ESS. We will provide in-depth training in
areas that include but are not limited to:
-
Marketing
-
Lead Generation
-
Selling
-
Consulting
-
Interviewing Prospects
-
No
Pressure Consultative Selling
-
Creating Proposals
-
Contracts with Clients
-
Submission of Client Data
-
Website Design
-
Internet Marketing
-
Local Search Engine Optimization
-
Paid Search Engine Advertising
-
Fee Setting
-
Client Relations
-
Interaction with ESS Home Office
-
Payment of Ongoing Fees to ESS
-
Running a Home-Based Business
-
Legal and Accounting Issues
-
Public Relations
Q. What happens if I can’t make the training class I want to attend?
A:
You will need to reschedule to a subsequent class. You are required to open
for business within 150 days of being accepted as a franchisee. You must
attend a training class within 150 days. So even if it takes a little while
to come to the class, it’s not a big deal.
Q. What is a Certified eMarketing Consultant™, and how do I become one?
A:
A Certified eMarketing Consultant™ is the designation ESS franchisees
receive upon successful completion of our franchisee training class. This
designation is only available to ESS franchisees who have successfully
completed the franchisee training class. Upon completion of the training
class and your receipt of the designation as a Certified eMarketing
consultant, you are allowed to use the term, “Certified eMarketing
Consultant™” after your name, as well as the initials “CeMC™”.
Q. Do I have to work out of my home, or can I work out of an office?
A:
You can work out of any location you choose subject to approval from ESS
which will not be unreasonably withheld. Basically, as long as you operate
out of a legal location, ESS will not likely withhold approval of your
chosen location. If you choose to operate your business in a location other
than your home, you might have to meet additional requirements in terms of
location and office layout. In all cases, you’ll have to comply with the
local requirements for businesses to operate from the location you choose.
Q. Do I have to go see all prospects/clients in their place of business,
or can they come to my office to see me?
A:
It is your choice as to when and where you meet with prospects, clients,
professionals in your community, etc. If your office is home-based, you can
choose to go out and see everyone at their location, or if you think your
home lends itself to client visits, you can certainly see people at home.
The choice is yours.
Q. How long will it take after I come home from the training class to
start making money?
A:
We are not allowed to provide any projections as to the amount of money, if
any, or the timing of making money, if any, for franchisees. Each
franchisee’s success or lack of success will be determined by many factors,
as disclosed in the ESS FDD.
Q. What kind of money can I make as a franchisee? And can I talk to
current franchisees before I decide to buy a franchise?
A:
Please refer to our FDD for our Franchise List.
Q. If I live in multiple states
can I use both locations as my local franchise territories?
A:
No. You must choose one location to operate your ESS franchise out of. If
you want to operate out of a second location you would be required to pay
additional fees to ESS as described in the FDD.
Q. Should I have a CPA or attorney or someone review your disclosure
documents and contract before I apply as a franchisee?
A:
We strongly recommend prospective franchisees review all pertinent ESS
documentation carefully. We also suggest you obtain the advice of a
qualified professional or professionals before you make your final decision
to apply as a franchisee.
Q. How will I know how much it
will cost me to get ESS to design websites, do local search engine
optimization work, etc.?
A:
ESS will provide prospective franchisees with wholesale price schedules from
ESS’s catalog of available web design and internet marketing services.
Q. Do you recommend retail prices I can or should charge clients?
A:
We can give you suggested pricing of services to clients at the ESS training
class, however you are free to charge whatever you wish.
Q. I am very new to all this,
and have no idea how to talk to a business owner about his/her website, let
alone figure out what they need, or how to come up with a proposal and
contract for them to sign?
A:
ESS’s training program and ongoing support program will show you how to meet
with, consult and sell services to business owners even if you have little
or no experience in these areas. Since ESS will do all technical,
programming, and website services for your clients, franchisees do not need
programming or website design expertise prior to becoming a franchisee.
Q. I hate selling and suck at trying to get people to buy things. How am
I going to convince a prospect or lead to become a client?
A:
ESS will train franchisees our in No Pressure Consultative Selling which
does not require high pressure or closing techniques to make sales. Our
Consultative Selling methods are very gentle, pleasant for both parties,
easy, non-threatening, and are readily accepted by prospects, whether they
buy or not, because of the No-Pressure selling techniques involved.
Q. I am very non-technical. How am I to be expected to discuss, explain
and sell technical things about websites, search engines, HTML coding and
all that?
A:
As we stated before, ESS franchisees do not need to have prior expertise in
programming, website design, technical skills, HTML coding, etc. Franchisees
do the consulting and selling…and ESS does all the technical work.
Q. How long after I get a new
client to want to hire me/us will it take to get their website or other
Internet marketing done?
A:
This will vary from client to client and case to case. We believe our
modular system for accomplishing technical and programming work may provide
relatively quick turnaround to a franchisee’s clients.
Q. Should I try to market to new businesses without websites, or to
existing businesses with websites?
A:
Franchisees can market to either type of business, those that have websites
and those that don’t have websites. Our marketing and selling systems as
well as web design systems have been built to accommodate either type of
client.
Q. How will ESS support me if I need help or have questions about
marketing, selling, specific prospect or client issues, what to
recommend/propose to prospects. How much to charge, and so on?
A:
ESS franchisees will be provided support by our team of franchisee support
specialists who will assist franchisees with questions, problems, issues,
and basically anything franchisees run into that they need help or
assistance with. This ongoing support is available to all franchisees for as
long as they are a franchisee in good standing. This support is available
over the internet and by telephone.
Q. Will ESS do national advertising
to help build the ESS brand like other franchises do?
A:
ESS’s franchise agreement allows of the possibility of a national
advertising program. However, there is currently none in place or
anticipated in the near future. All these issues about national advertising
are subject to change as disclosed in the ESS FDD.
Q. Can I sell or transfer my ESS franchise to someone else? If yes, do I
need ESS approval?
A:
You maybe able to sell or transfer your franchise as disclosed in the ESS
FDD, and the purchaser is subject to ESS approval, which will not be
unreasonably withheld. There is a transfer fee if you choose to transfer
your franchise to someone else.
Q. Does ESS provide franchisees a website to show prospects/clients
and/or to drum up business?
A:
ESS will provide franchisees with their own version of our ESS website.
Q. Do I have to wear any kind of
uniform as an ESS franchisee?
A:
ESS may require franchisees to wear attire such as a polo-type shirt.
Franchisees will learn of the specific attire requirements when they attend
training class.
Q. Why should I listen to you
guys and give you money for a franchise?
A:
Jeff Paul, CFP and Shawn Casey, J.D. are experienced professionals who have
extensive experience with running and marketing professional practices and
internet marketing/website design. Both have trained over 200,000 people on
starting their own home based businesses.
Jeff and Shawn both have over 20
years’ experience each as licensed professionals, and have been involved in
Internet marketing and website design since 2000. ESS feels its owners and
support team have the knowledge and experience to deliver the appropriate
services to franchisees and their clients.
Q. Can’t I do this on my own?
Why do I need ESS to become a home-based Internet Marketing Consultant?
A:
Anyone can certainly become a home-based internet marketing consultant on
their own without the help of ESS or any other business training and support
companies’ assistance. Doing things on your own may work out in a manner
that’s acceptable to you. Or you may wish to potentially decrease your
learning curve and be provided with turnkey operational and marketing
systems and support through purchasing an ESS franchise. The final decision,
of course, is yours.
Q. Why would business owners pay
me as a franchisee, when they could probably get website design or local
search marketing cheaper than I would guess I would need to charge? Can’t
you just get a program like “Front Page” or subscribe to a “site-builder”
package on the web now-a-days, and get a nice site online without needing
any consultant or expert? Isn’t this a dying market as more and more
businesses do their own sites with cheap software and web-based programs?
A:
While it’s true that anyone can get a website online, on their own, or with
help from teenage relatives or any other person holding themselves out as a
web designer, we believe that many businesses would prefer to choose to work
with a professional Internet marketing consulting firm over doing website
design and internet marketing on their own, or with the help of an amateur.
There are approximately 25 million small businesses in the U.S., with an
estimated 50,000 new business starting each week.[3]
Collectively, these businesses are already spending
billions of dollars on these types of services.
Further, while a business could
choose to have anyone build a website for them or do it themselves, getting
the website online does not, for example, guarantee an effective Internet
marketing strategy, that the website is optimized to rank high in the search
engines for the appropriate search terms, or that the website is optimized
to turn visitors into leads or customers.
We don’t believe that most small
business owner or their employees have the expertise to properly manage this
process. And they are unlikely to have the knowledge to take proper
advantage of other opportunities like paid search engine advertising.
ESS believes the marketplace of
businesses that might want to work with a professional Internet marketing
consulting firm, and who also want to improve their local search engine
results, implement paid search engine advertising, begin to lead generate
and use automated follow up systems online is sufficient for franchisees.
Q. Can I see how much ESS charges franchisees with what I’m assuming is a
wholesale rate to franchisees who then mark these costs up to clients?
A:
Yes. Prospective franchisees can see current wholesale pricing available to
ESS franchisees during the pre-franchise purchase process. The link to these
wholesale prices can be made available at your request.
Q. Can I see samples of websites ESS has done?
A:
Similarly, prospective franchisees can see samples of ESS’s portfolio of
websites for over a dozen different industries during the pre-franchise
purchase process.
Q. How does ESS compare to other
business opportunities, franchises or other internet marketing/consulting
opportunities?
A:
ESS believes we compare very favorably to other internet
marketing/consulting operations and methods. A competitive franchisor
charges $49,700.00 USD for their version of a local franchise. ESS charges
$25,000.00 USD for our local franchise. There are, of course, many other
franchise and business opportunities you have to chose from and we encourage
you to check out.
[1] According to the Small Business
Association (SBA) Office of Advocacy, Census data shows that in 2006, there
were 26.8 million businesses in the United States. (http://www.sba.gov/advo/stats/sbfaq.pdf,
(p. 1) August 2007).
[2] “Capitalizing on the Small Business Market”, Experian Marketing
Solutions, Dated August 2007.
http://www.experianmarketingsolutions.com,
"SmallBusinessTitles_wp.pdf, (p.2) August 2007. Methodology –
Experian called 10 million business owners to conduct survey.
[3]
“Database of New Businesses Updated Weekly”, InfoUSA.com.
http://www.infousa.com,
online source, August 2007. Methodology – Data compiled based on
business records and telephone interviews with
business owners. |
