Hello and welcome to this week's edition of The Insider.

So, can you feel it sneaking up on you? Can you smell that unmistakeable scent of fruit cake and fresh pine needles?  Listen closely at any major shopping centre and any day now and you will definitely hear it .... POW! ...... carols!

It may be hard to imagine, but there are only 100 sleeps to go until the jolly guy in the red suit comes to town.

Also in today's News columns we have:

Celebrity Pizza      Secret Recipes      Award Winners   

and even:  Cows & Rainbows     (yes, really!)

And the ARA comments on the latest Retail Award draft.

All of this, and much more news from around the globe in this edition.

Still looking for the perfect franchise opportunity for you? Visit our website today for more than 750 franchises for sale!

Have a great week!

Christmas Cheer - Qld Designer Wins National Design Award

“I’m just thrilled about this, it’s made my day!” said Josh when he won.

The cards, which picture non-traditional Christmas scenes lampooning petrol prices, water restrictions and energy saving, intrigued and amused both Worldwide and the competition’s independent judges, Desktop magazine.

Editor Jo Spurling and the team at Desktop magazine, an Australian design-focused magazine chose the winner from the top bunch of entries.

“Our decision was based on a few factors.” explained Jo. “We considered originality, relativeness to an Aussie Christmas (snowy scenes were a bit off the mark) and creativity – we wanted someone who was thinking outside the realm of the obvious Xmas connotations.

“Finally, we gave points for touching on the current issue of environment and sustainability, and for the use of humour, which I think is a very Australian quality.”

Josh’s designs will be one of a collection of cards by the top 10 entries that will become Worldwide’s Christmas Card selection for 2008.

“Somehow, the Rudolphenergy saver bulb card idea came into my head,” explained Josh, “and from that idea I developed a set of cards that were themed on how Christmas could be today.”

Part proceeds from every Christmas card digitally printed by Worldwide from their design competition range go to Camp Quality, the children’s charity giving laughter to kids with cancer. Josh’s winning designs will soon be available on the Worldwide website.

Click here for more information about Worldwide Online Printing Franchising and to visit the website

It might seem an unusual solution, but a case of having the ‘blues’ has helped to make one of Australia’s most popular sweet treats even better.

After six months of extensive product development, Wendy’s Rainbow Ice Cream – a family favourite for decades – is now made with natural colours and flavours.

“Our Rainbow Ice Cream is one of our flagship products and it has always been a popular choice for kids,” Peter Lokan, Wendy’s General Manager of Marketing, said.

“With an ever-increasing focus on children’s food as well as the shift towards consumer preference for natural ingredients, both by parents and society in general, we wanted to make Wendy’s Rainbow Ice Cream a more wholesome choice for families.

“However, in recognising the iconic nature of this product for our young customers, we didn’t want to compromise on flavour, or the bright and vibrant look of this product – so we invested significant time into matching the product flavour and colour profile as closely as possible to our current Rainbow Ice Cream.”

“We can’t promise there’ll be a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow but we can promise you a delicious treat that’s now even better for you and your family.”

With three colourful twists of smooth and creamy ice cream, Wendy’s Rainbow Ice Cream is also a source of calcium for kids.

Wendy’s new Rainbow Ice Cream will be available in stores from Monday, September 15.

Click here for more information about Wendy's Franchising

Nicholas Bradley-Qalilawa from the Manly Sea Eagles was announced as winner of the inaugural ‘Mortgage Choice / Imminent Wealth Academy Entrepreneurial Player of the Year Award 2008 supported by the RLPA’, at a special event held on 4 September.

He is a partner in fashion company ‘Daniel Avakian’, which designs, produces and manufactures high quality garments for women.

 
The entrepreneur award is a legacy left behind by Manly Sea Eagles legend Steve Menzies, who, along with a group of current and former NRL stars / successful businessmen, rallied together to create the award from a passionate belief in players receiving greater encouragement to prepare for career success after sport. There is a misconception about footballers’ incomes, with some earning $50,000 per annum or less. Hence, being business savvy early on is very important.

Mortgage Choice Managing Director, Paul Lahiff said, “We are proud to contribute to the business education and support of a worthy up and coming entrepreneur. It is a privilege, especially given we have elite footballers in our mix - Paul Gallen is a Mortgage Choice franchise owner with business partner and ex footballer Matthew McPherson”.

Click here for more information about Mortgage Choice Franchising

Peak retail industry body the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) said the simplified draft retail award handed down by the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) last week has ignored Minister for Workplace Relations Julia Gillard’s objectives for modernisation.  

ARA Executive Director Richard Evans said the new retail award’s focus on simplification and rationalisation failed to answer retailers’ call for a penalty rate structure recognising the modern deregulated retail market.

“Minister Gillard’s call for modernisation has been sacrificed for a more conservative simplification and rationalisation outcome. Modern workplaces, modern consumer demands and modern workforce arrangements have not been acknowledged in the draft award.

“The ARA’s submission to the AIRC strongly recommended a retail award (for 1.2 million employees) should reflect community demand for deregulated shopping hours by producing penalty rate structures within the context of a seven day / 24 hour trade period – but this has been ignored. The penalty rate structure in the draft award is reminiscent of the 1960’s regulated market of Monday to Friday working weeks. This is not flexible enough for the modern retail market,” Evans said.

“The modern consumer wants seven day trade, and in some cases, 24 hour shopping access. Retail is very competitive and driven by consumer demand. A retailer should not be penalised for being open to meet consumer demand, but under the current structure for penalty rates they are. Penalty rates such as overtime and loadings should take effect after prescribed working hours and not prescribed days. Why should someone flipping burgers on a Sunday get paid more than someone doing the same job on a Monday?

“Retailers are risk takers, they are creating employment – yet they haven’t been listened to. Instead, the new draft retail award provides more bad news to the retailers who have already been hit hard with this year’s interest rate increases and rising petrol prices.

“There are always winners and losers – and unfortunately this time the loser is the consumer. The new draft retail award has ensured prices will go up and the consumer will pay.

“The ARA’s call for rostering over a 12 month period rather than the current four week structure was also dismissed, disregarding the seasonality of the retail sector.

“The ARA will now work with retailers and the industry groups that have been considered under the draft to be part of the retail award (including pharmacies, hair and beauty salons, butchers, bakeries and take-away food and video stores) to respond to AIRC the within the two week deadline,” Evans said.

If you would like information on how to be a contributor in our newsletter, or an advertiser on the Inside Franchising website, contact us here for more information

Vodafone Australia says it has reached agreement with Crazy John's widow, Patricia Ilhan, to acquire her stake in the mobile company.   The sales figure is believed to value the company between $150 and $200 million.

> Click here for more about this story

Eagle Boys Pizza has appointed an international chef to spearhead the creation of new pizzas and menu items for the company.

Born in Zimbabwe, Melanie Townsend is the new Eagle Boys National Product Development Manager and will be responsible for researching and developing new pizza bases, toppings and side products. She has almost two decades experience in the industry having worked as a chef in the United Kingdom and South Africa.  She has cooked for celebrities such as Dusty Springfield, Kristen Scott Thomas and Joseph Fiennes.

> Click here to request more information about Eagle Boys

2008 Australian Business Awards

Congratulations to ecowash Mobile for picking up awards for Environmental Sustainability; Service Excellence; Enterprise; and International Trade at the 2008 Australian Business Awards. Congratulations also go to franchise Xpresso Delight for their Enterprise Award.

The Awards recognise organisations that demonstrate the core values of business excellence, product excellence, sustainability and commercial success in their respective industries.

> Click here for more about this story

ACCC NEWS

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has acted quickly to freeze the assets and suspend the operations of internat company Designer Brand Outlet following complaints from consumers worldwide.

It is alleged that the company directors do not currently reside in Australia and have been operating the website from China for approximately one year.

The ACCC alleges that false, misleading and deceptive representations were made on the website including representations that items of genuine designer label women's clothing were available for consumers to purchase when in fact either no items were supplied at all or the items of clothing supplied were counterfeit copies.

Click here for the full story

Interested in all the latest news from the ACCC?

> Click here to visit the ACCC News Centre.

Slump? What slump?  Despite the apparent slump in consumer confidence, Australian shoppers are expected to spend more than $100 billion on their credit cards over the next six months.

MasterCard Worldwide Index of Retail forecasts retail forecast consumer spending to grow 4.5 per cent this calendar year compared with 2007.

> Click here for more about this story

POSTNET, a diversified resource centre operation servicing the SOHO (small office/home office) market and encompassing a worlwide 900 plus franchise network, is set to make significant inroads into the Australian marketplace following the official opening of its headquarters in Cremorne, Sydney. 

The one-stop convenience business centre concept includes among its services: copying, printing, finishing, digital - incorporating graphic design and digital output -  computer/internet and packing, shipping and mailing.  Additional services include private mailbox rentals, passport photos, fascimile services, signs and banners, posters, greeting cards, promotional items and office products and supplies.

POSTNET aims to have 120 franchise stores operating Australia wide within three to five years.

> Click here to request more information about POSTNET franchising

From the Inside Franchising
“Things that make you go hmmmm ..." department:

KFC's original secret blend (handwritten by the colonel himself, on a now-yellowed piece of paper) was recently moved temporarily to an undisclosed location to make way for security improvements. 

It may surprise you to know that even after all this time, the spices continue to be mixed in two parts by two different companies, a modern touch is added with a computer processing system now used to standardize the blending of the products.  All of this is in place to ensure that no single entity holds the complete recipe.

> Click here for more about this story

And the Winners are......

Ever wanted to know more about a particular franchise? How much does one cost?

Is there an opportunity available? What kind of experience is needed?

Simply visit us at Inside Franchising

to view our full list of opportunities!

www.insidefranchising.com.au

There is always a lot to see and do !

Would you like to advertise with Inside Franchising?
Send all enquiries to:
webmaster@insidefranchising.com.au

*The content of all news items published in this newsletter are published in good faith and are reproduced from information provided by the individual companies or their agents, the subject of said news items. Inside Franchising Pty Ltd takes no responsibility whatsoever for information and content being true and correct.