Should I sell, should i franchise or should i grow ?

BOYTOYS

Hi folks. This is my first post here.I own a hobby business going into 4 year anniversary in Oct. We are the fastest growing in our trade in Toronto. We have mastered the merchandising, marketing, retailing and created a community of  customers. We ranked high on related search. We have POS, inventory system, we are very efficient small team !!Our flagship is http:/www.boytoys.ca Because of our success, we have now also ventured into a new spinoff business model called Little Scientist (http://www.littlescientist.net) and as an entrepreneur and committed founder/owner. I am now debating to either sell the retail store to help grow the new business model and scale big or to go for external funding (angel investors, VC, smart money)Does anyone have similar interests and access to smart money/capital ?Our flagship BOYTOYS have always been asked by customers ? Are you guys part of a franchise ? customers always thought our innovative retail concept were brilliant. We can scale it big too, only need more capital to grow ?We have also a good piece of news that WALMART is joining us across the street in a piece of land that was vacant for a long time. Our location is considered one of the best in the area. Our Store will only benefit from the increase in traffic flow. Our store carry products that Walmart does not carry.Should I start franchising BOYTOYS or should I just start seeking  investors in Little Scientist Only or should i  do both ?I even have Middle East ppl asking whether i wish to franchise BOYTOYS ...Any ideas or suggestions is welcome.

robertj

Ultimately your business direction (sell, franchise, grow) is largely a matter of personal choice. However, you might want to make an informed decision by examining each option in more detail. Identifying the resources required (people, time, capital) and comparing that with the potential return - might make your choice more apparent.
Robert Johnson

BOYTOYS

Ultimately your business direction (sell, franchise, grow) is largely a matter of personal choice. However, you might want to make an informed decision by examining each option in more detail. Identifying the resources required (people, time, capital) and comparing that with the potential return - might make your choice more apparent.
Robert JohnsonRobertThanks for the input. I know it still ultimately a decision. Because my side of the story is complicated by 1) a "Brick and Mortar" store, 2) An all new scalable "educational business model" 3) Scale both 4) Sell one and Scale the other...so the more opinions/case study experience from other ppl will be great inputs fr me...Tks

robertj

Daniel,
The concept looks great and would seem to have potential for franchising - at the right moment. Successful franchising does take resources - to prepare, to "sell" the franchises and to support them.
Robert Johnson  robertj2006-9-5 13:50:36

EMMYTAY

I would first contact the franchising agents.  They may find a way for you to and your new idea to your retail store and grow it from within until you can separate the two.  I have had good feedback from McGrow & Co. franchisers.  Susie Colletti is great in the followup.  They are located in Boston.  I don`t have the number at my fingertips at this moment.
EmmyTay

BOYTOYS

Thanks for the suggestions.I have decided to SELL the "brick and mortar" and committ 100% to Little Scientist which is very scalable business (worldwide) will be a great hit in HIGH GDP metropolis...All i need now is to prepare BOYTOYS to be sold in next 12-18 months and also going ahead full steam in getting VC on board of our game at LittleScientistThis will keep me busy for a long time...

Caplan

Daniel,

I am familiar with boystoys as I am a former paintball enthusiast from
the chicago area.  You have a great concept and it seem that you
are making a lot of money.  I started to read in to the
littlescientist business and I am not exactly sure what it is that you
do with that.  I believe that if you are passionate about little
scientist you should at least get it started and going but you can grow
it slowly as every business mentor in my life has emphasized.  I
have connections with different types of capital and I could assist you
at getting growth capital for badboystoys or capital for
littlescientist if you would like.  I have started and managed a
retail clothing chain and I believe that you could tone down your
involvement in badboystoys if you truely wanted to and it would still
generate profits, and I also believe due to the rapid growth of
paintball and the constant popularity of the other extreme sports you
cater to will provide a ripe market for franchising the idea and you
will probably not get the full value for all of that potencial in an
abrupt sale now.

Greg Caplan

cashprior

I think you should keep Boytoys until you are confident that LS is working for you. second, will walmart sell products that compete with what you sell?