listen to this

Wednesday night, I had a fascinating conversation with the nicest guy. Granted, he was married and 60 years old, but still... nicest guy.

Mr. Striker owns the Blue Ridge Bird Seed Company in Blue Ridge, Georgia, home to the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway, an out of this world rail line that takes you all the way to Copperhill, Tennesee. It's stinking cute, from the engine to the caboose.

Anyway, back to my conversation. In an earlier post, I mentioned that I'd contacted SCORE Atlanta, the counseling arm of the SBA. My counselor told me about a store owner in Blue Ridge who'd left Bellsouth to start his own store. I went to the website and contacted the owner, telling him about my interest in franchising and wondering if I could ask a few questions.

As it turns out, Mr. Striker had once considered the very same franchise I've been researching, then decided to go out on his own. I think he had to be the perfect first contact for me to make. We spoke for almost an hour -- about franchising, about birds, about his business profile, about his supply chain, about site selection, financing, the size of his operation, about marketing and trade shows.

And he gave me some excellent leads, complete with names. And some excellent advice. And encouragement.

I have spent so much time focusing on being the ideal franchise owner that it was a real wake up call to see the business from the perspective of an independent owner. And he made it sound.... well, wonderful. True, he had some business experience. He had collateral when he started. He also was able to buy an existing store. In fact, he started with 300 square feet in an antique mall. Today, he has a 1500 square foot store. That's progress.

He's given me so much to think about.

--Laura