A franchise agreement gives the individual owner (the franchisee) the legal right to sell the franchiser’s products or services.

If you are interested in starting your own business, but would prefer to minimize some of the risk of having to develop your own business plan, the franchise model is a good option — especially during this recession when financing for unproven businesses has all but dried up.

And that’s not just my opinion. The Boston Globe recently ran a profile piece of a number of new Boston-based franchise owners. In listing the benefits of owning a franchise, the article stated that:

Franchises are attractive for some entrepreneurs because they can offer opportunities for those with an appetite for some risk – just not as much as starting an entirely new venture, new owners and industry observers say. Depending on the type of business, franchises offer different levels of training and support.

If you are serious about buying a franchise, there are a few key questions you need to research first:

• Is the home company financially healthy?
• Does the home company it helps franchisees find and develop a location?
• How does a franchisee get inventory and supplies once they are up and running?
• Does the franchisee have control over pricing, or is that determined solely by the franchiser?
• What is the cost of purchasing a franchise? Does the franchisee owe royalties or a percentage of sales on top of the initial cost?
• If a franchisee wants to end the franchise agreement, what is the process?

For more information on opening a franchise, check out this week’s edition of the JobMonkey newsletter, which featured the pros and cons of buying a franchise. (If you don’t currently subscribe to the free weekly newsletter, you can do so here.)

Also, check out this recent article from the Lakeland (FL) Ledger, Own It Yourself: Franchisees Don’t Regret the Decision.

Have you thought about buying a franchise?  What companies have you looked in to?

Ordinarily those kinds of comments would be cause for sympathy, empathy, pity, charity – almost anything except exasperation, which I have to admit is what I felt when I heard them. I do remember feeling the softer emotions when she first raised these points – oh, say six or seven years ago.

The thing I realized over coffee today is that my friend has been struggling with the same issues and career questions for the better part of a decade.

Man, enough already. It’s time to make peace with the situation as it stands, or to make a plan to change it, or to pick up more jobs or … something. But to be sitting on the same problem for several years? That shouldn’t even be a fallback option.

So what did I say to my friend? "Pass me the cream, please." I couldn’t bring myself to challenge her, partly because I’d been down that path before. When I suggest solutions – and honestly, they’re not all lame ideas – she always provides reasons why they won’t work. My conclusion is that she doesn’t really want to solve these problems, or at least that she’s not ready to right now, for reasons she’s not sharing with me.

Fair enough. So my role is not to provide solutions or to challenge my friend, but to give her a chance to express her fears out loud. Done. My other job? To be sure that I’m learning more from this situation than how to bite my tongue. Which, by the way, is not a bad lesson to learn.

Walking home from our coffee date, I decided to take an inventory of my own struggles, to figure out which ones had become companions instead of problems to solve. I hate to admit it, but I think I’ve probably been doing the same thing as my friend, only with a different set of issues.

Excuse me, but it’s time to go do a little spring cleaning in my complaint closet.

Tell me, what is your dream job? And are you doing it right now? Leave a note in the comments section — I can’t wait to hear from you.

An unofficial gauge of the private labor market, the ADP Report typically comes out a few days before the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports its official unemployment numbers for the previous month. You can read the whole ADP Report here. Be sure to stay tuned for Friday, when I will let you know how the federal government says we are doing in terms of unemployment.

What do you think? Are you seeing an upswing in the job market out there? Or is it still too soon to tell?

• 663,000 jobs were cut last month, according to the Labor Department
• The national unemployment rate rose 0.4 percentage points to 8.5 %
• The number of unemployed combined with the underemployed is 15.6% — a steep jump from the 9.1 % rate last March
• 5.1 million jobs have been lost since the start of this recession — and 2/3rd of those lay-offs have come in the last five months
• January job loss numbers were updated to include an additional 86,000 workers

This article from U.S. News & World Report has some good analysis of what the report might mean to you.

My commentary: These figures are disheartening, even if you have a job — and downright depressing if you don’t. I have no doubt that looking for a job in this economic climate must seem like a Herculean task. But remember, people are getting hired everyday and there are opportunities out there. If you keep attacking this mountain, you will make it to the top!

If Congress passes President Obama’s $825 billion Stimulus Plan, you will be getting a stimulus check in the mail for $500 ($1,000 for couples — income restrictions do apply.)

So, what would you do with your check? Would you stimulate the economy by spending it? And if so, on what? Would you pay down debt? Or would you show your faith in America’s flagging financial institutions and sock it away in the bank?

I’m boring: I’d add it to my online savings account and call it a day. What about you? Let us know in the comments section.

Maybe you’re coming here to take a break from the job hunting grind or perhaps you want to gather up some strength and inspiration to make a big career change.  It’s been a pleasure to chat with you every day and I look forward to getting to know you better in the coming weeks and months.

In that spirit, would you please leave me a comment and let me know: What Are You Thankful For?

This week, we’ll be taking an in-depth look at green collar jobs — what green collar means, how many green collar jobs are available, and what you need to know to land a green collar job.

What does Green Collar mean?
According to San Francisco State University’s Raquel Pinderhughes, green collar jobs are "blue collar jobs in green businesses."  This cross-over definition seems to be the most widely accepted. In a New York Times piece, for example, the Chief of Apollo Alliance, an environmental group and labor union coalition, Lucy Blake agrees: “A green-collar job is in essence a blue-collar job that has been upgraded to address the environmental challenges of our country.” In the same Times article, the executive director of the Sierra Club, Carl Pope, said: “A green job has to do something useful for people, and it has to be helpful to, or at least not damaging to, the environment.”

Are you qualified for a Green Collar job?
Over at urbanhabitat.org, Raquel Pinderhughes blogs about her research interviews with employers providing green collar jobs in California. She lists 22 different sectors in which these jobs are available:

- Bicycle repair and bike delivery services
- Car and truck mechanic jobs, production jobs, and gas-station jobs related to biodiesel
- Energy retrofits to increase energy efficiency and conservation
- Green building
- Green waste composting on a large scale
- Hauling and reuse of construction materials and debris (C&D)
- Hazardous materials clean-up
- Landscaping
- Manufacturing jobs related to large scale production of appropriate technologies (i.e. solar panels, bike cargo systems, green waste bins, etc.)
- Materials reuse
- Non-toxic household cleaning in residential and commercial buildings
- Parks and open space expansion and maintenance
- Printing with non-toxic inks and dyes
- Public transit jobs related to driving, maintenance, and repair
- Recycling and reuse
- Small businesses producing products from recycled materials
- Solar installation
- Tree cutting and pruning
- Peri-urban and urban agriculture
- Water retrofits to increase water efficiency and conservation
- Whole home performance, including attic insulation, weatherization, etc.

Many people come to green collar jobs with a background in blue-collar work; higher education is not a requirement for the vast majority of these jobs. Employers are looking for strong workers who are willing to work hard with have good communication skills.

How many Green Collar jobs are there in America?
According to a 2007 study by the American Solar Energy Society, renewable energy and energy efficient industries currently account for 8.5 million jobs in the United States.  With federal policy to support green industries, that number could grow to as many as 40 million jobs, which is equivalent to 1 out of 4 workers, by 2030.

How much do Green Collar jobs pay?
Most green collar jobs pay by the hour, with rates ranging from minimum wage to $22/hour and more. Variances depend on job location and specialization.

More resources on Green Collar jobs:
- Green-Collar Jobs Overview @ Green For All
- Making Green While Working Green
- The Growth in Green Collar Jobs @ Newsweek