February 2017 | Business View Magazine

122 123 the benefit of joining a franchise to do that. This year alone we’ve had about seven or eight new franchisees join us that way. BVM: How do your stores compete in a very competitive marketplace? What sets them apart? JT: “Obviously there are a lot of other sign companies. There were many in business be- fore we came onto the scene and there are still many out there, both independent and franchised. I think that the first thing that sets us apart is that full-service mentality - that full-service concept.We’re interested in going after the higher end client; somebody who is concerned about the visual integrity of their branding, their products, their services. “And, I think the personalized service is defi- nitely a differentiator for us. Many sign com- panies, today, sit back and wait for customers to come find them.We believe in a much more proactive and service-oriented approach.We’re each year there are at least three major franchise shows that are part of the In- ternational Franchise Exposition.We do a large Paris show in the spring; we do shows in Sydney and Melbourne; we do shows in South Africa, Canada, the UK. So, franchise shows are still a large part of finding both domestic franchisees as well as master license partners. Of the 60-plus countries that we’re in, today, we franchise directly only in the United States and Australia. Every other country we’re in is through a master license partner – someone who has purchased the rights for the Signarama brand in their country. “There’s also our own website and the UFG website; both have a lot of infor- mation for prospective franchise buyers.We get a majority of our leads for new franchisees through our own corporate sites. There are referrals from existing franchise partners; we do a lot of work with brokers; a lot comes in from franchise portals.And we have a lot of success with conversions of independent sign or print companies who are looking to take their business to the next level and they see AT A GLANCE Signarama WHAT: An international sign and advertising fran- chise company WHERE: Headquarters in West Palm Beach, Florida WEBSITE: www.signarama.com Signarama