Could you guys tell me what the ups and downs are if a shop decided to go with this?I see on the most recent glassbytes that they are making it a little easier if you are smaller to join.How do they decide which ones to contact,size,volume,rep.thanks

Better yet, why don't you tell us the benefit of the added expense? You’re an existing shop and you are willing to give them $8,000 to $14,000 then buy signs, letter head, re-letter trucks, new uniforms and totally change your identity all to give up 10% of your existing sales?

What guarantees are they willing to give you in writing? Will they give you your $$ back and let you out Scot free if you don’t double your sales? Remember G/D is not in the glass business they make all the money in franchising! If you do a million dollars in sales and loss $50k, they still get there $100,000 in franchise fees (that means you lost $150K.)

Furthermore, why does anyone have a sale, because they cannot get rid of inventory.

The last time a question like this was asked it turned out to be a G/D employee using the forum for a sales pitch.

I am not a employee ,I am just asking a question!Relax dude!!!

Rat,

We license all six of our brands to only one franchisee in a given area. You won't get a good response to your question on this forum. Chances are responses are from those that already have a franchisee in their area that competes with them.

The reason for moving into the smaller markets with a "sale", is the same as I stated... Most of the country is not available any more.

I worked for 2 differnt glass doctor franchises back in the day . Thye had real cashflow problems and were even bouncing paychecks both went under .

Theres just not enough profit in glass anymore to be sharing it with any franchise brass.

Nathan,

While I respect your point of view regarding the viability of GD franchises, I take exception to the "you guys are just jealous" defense.

I think it is as simple as people growing tired of someone trying to get their hands in independents pockets...... I know, it's a win/win etc... the point is, this industry has quite a few middle men, the arrival of which coincided with wholesale losses in profitability for the very same people you are pitching.

I do feel that if someone has a branding issue or feels a franchise is their best path, it can't hurt to look at your product. I just get tired of reading about how great it is... from you. We get the point, lay off the subtle commercials. There are only two franchises in the US. Those that are interested will come to your door.

DL, exploring who we are is all I ever suggested. Diversifying into flat glass, buying better, pricing better, building a business around systems instead of one person. If you took the top three issues that the independent faces, we have an answer to each. It may not be the right answer for a particular business owner or yourself, but when the answers are there to explore, and it doesn't cost a single penny to explore them, why not explore it? Isn't that why you guys and girls are here on this board, to explore solving problems to issues you face? You will fly across the country to attend this glass show or that for 3 or 4 days, but stop short of picking up the phone and seeing what someone else might know that might impact your business? If there was a book entitled "How the largest full-service glass company in the Country does service retail" and you didn't even have to buy it, but could go check it out at the local library, you'd go get that library card and read the book.

Alright, Nathan. I have nothing against Glass Doctor, but you need to stop with the advertising. If you cant bring anything onto the forum besides a sales presentation, please stop posting here. I have a feeling you dont know much about this industry, so please prove me wrong, and offer a legitimate viewpoint on some issues that doesnt involve buying a franchise.

We considered purchasing a G.D. franchise because of branding and we didnt have one in our area (closest one was 60 miles away) but after we made the phone call two days later we had a G.D. mobile truck in the parking lot across from our shop checking us out. The tech driving the truck even stopped one of our customers who crossed the street (to grab some food while we worked on her car) asked what we charged her and then proceeded to tell her they offered better glass and a cheaper price. Our customer came back and explained what had happened. We decided that we would just keep doing it our way and seems to be working. Oh did I mention Nathan was the one we spoke to on the phone

AMEN to that owner!

AH I don't quite understand the connection between your speaking with me, and a Glass Doctor technician showing up in your backyard. Our franchisees can serve any area they want, unless it is owned by an existing franchisee. If it was me you spoke with, then you know I am up front, honest and I care about the people I work with.

PLEASE Nathan, enough pushing your product!

Excuse me Webmaster but, I thought we were not supposed to promote our businesses on this website. Seems to me Nathan is a spider who has taken up residence on this web and is trying to snare as many unsuspecting prey as he can.

I don't really feel like he has promoted his business. glassrat started the thread by asking about the franchise and Nathan works for them so who better to answer the question. He hasn't given out his phone number and told anyone to call him or left an address or email. Besides - wouldn't it really be a colossal waste of time to try to sell you guys a glass doctor franchise? I'd probably have a better chance trying to convince you guys to sign up for Metryx.

Plus - my boss reads this forum and she would've been the one to decide if he had crossed the line and would've had instructed me to take it down.

I tell you what really bothers me. How in the heck does the number 8 seed in the western conference make it to the stanley cup finals? Sheez! Go Canes!

Webmaster - It's because the western conference is the toughest in the league (also the toughest conference I've seen in a very long time). The 8 seed in the west probably would be a 1 or 2 in any other conference.

Oh. That must be why an Eastern conference team won the last stanley cup and an Eastern conference team has a 2 games to none lead at the moment.

Thanks for clearing that up for me.

By the way - that was friendly, good spirited sarcasm. I have a good buddy who is a red wings fan and he would've probably said the same thing.

Ok, by a show of hands, how many readers south of the Manson-Nixon line (thank Robin Williams for that one)had any idea what a stanley cup is. Isn't stanley a catcher for the Reds? why does anyone want his cup?

By the way, you hockey guys need to come to the realization that the ice melted long ago and you need to move outdoors now.

Hockey is truly the greatest sport on earth and I was born and raised in Virginia and currently live in Virginia. You NASCAR fans are the ones with a warped sense of what is actually a sport. Yeah, lets spend and entire afternoon on Sunday watching a bunch of rednecks driving fast and turning to the left. Woo hoo!

But seriously, if you think hockey is all about fighting and complain "I can't follow the puck" then its probably best that you don't watch it.

Happy Friday everybody. Have a great weekend. If you wish to insult me because of my NASCAR comments you can do so in person at an upcoming show this fall. I'll be in the glassbytes/AGRR booth.

Bryan..come on dude...NHL ratings are the lowest in history. Weren't much higher before the strike/lockout last year. NASCAR ratings continually climb, these are simple facts my brother.

NASCAR ratings are climbing because they're finally putting cable in the trailor parks.

WHERE IS THE ICON FOR BITING MY TONGUE????? i KNOW stop yelling! Quit knocking us race fans!!! Have a great weekend all!

Let's see...home of NASCAR is FOX/NBC. Home of NHL is OLN, which has 37 subscribers, wait, 38 including Webmaster.

i used to love hockey in the glory days for edmonton, they were such a finesse team. we have hockey here locally that is like junior teams, i guess these kids get scouted for college schollarships.

they had a pro exhibition game here once, those guys are almost to fast for my eyes. it is amazing the difference in speed from level to level.

our lightining team plays in a arena that is only 13 rows deep, the atmosphere is awesome. the college team around here, isn't near as exciting, and the arena is bigger.

that is why i like bull riding here, you are close enough to touch the fence, not like in big arenas.

I should mention, Bryan, I am huge fan of College Hockey. Wisconsin men's and women's teams both won NCAA championships this year, that was pretty cool. When you fight in college hockey, you are tossed and usually suspended a game or two. Speeds up the game and makes for quicker, cleaner skating. As opposed to watching grown apes punch each other every ten minutes and hit each other from behind with weapons, oops, I mean hockey sticks.

OLN did a terrific job this year with the hockey coverage and NBC is picking up the remaining finals games starting tomorrow. OLN (soon to be Versus) has the hockey contract again next year which I think is great. I get OLN with my expanded digital cable package. I love any kind of hockey and would peewee hockey if it was on t.v. We only get college hockey on PBS during the championships so unless you know its coming on you usually miss it. And then they hound you for pledge money every 10 minutes.

But honestly - since when do t.v. ratings and networks determine the greatness of a sport? Fortunately pro hockey hasn't been overrun with a bunch of over-paid criminals yet like a couple of other major sports. The new rule changes instituted this year have done wonders for the game and the fighting is no where near as bad as it was in the previous decades. Check out game 3 tomorrow night in Edmonton on NBC (7:00 p.m. EDT). I think if you give it a chance you'll find you really like it.

But Webmaster - I don't understand icing.

Have a good one guys.

College Hockey is always on FOX Sportsnet...the Championship was on ESPN2. Methinks the criminals in hockey are the guys hitting another player on the skull with their sticks.....anyways, the NFL is the greatest thing going nowadays.

I have to admit that was a good burn bryan!NICE!!