Building Your First Franchise? Don't Miss Six Steps To Success

Popeyes retail pad, Las Vegas, Nevada

CSHQA works with local, regional and national chains throughout the US.  Our experience with franchises ranges from kiosks and mall tenant improvements to stand-alone pad stores.  In our experience, first-time owners are the most likely to run into unplanned obstacles during design, permitting or construction.  If you are a first-timer - or not - these six tips will make you a pro.

Hire your architect early.  Very early.

You’ve selected a franchise brand and your realtor has found three potential sites.  How do you choose?  Aside from location, location, location and price, you need some critical information before you sign on the dotted line.

That’s when you engage an architect who can provide entitlement services including:

§  Site Investigation Report – Zoning, utilities, permitted uses.  Know your restrictions going in.

§  Property Condition Assessment.  What is the state of the property (building or lot)?  Will you have to fix someone else’s problem?

§  Site Survey and Conceptual Layout – Will your program fit?

Architects are experienced at uncovering the details, organizing a vast array of information, then solving potential challenges.  Before we even think about design, our role is to plan and advise for a successful outcome.

 

Understand the ‘Rules.’

You know the Franchise has a complete set of branding and operational standards and as your architect, we’ll follow them.  What about the community and the landlord?  Will you be subject to design review?  What are the local codes regarding signage?  What other codes will impact your project?  Does the landlord have his own set of restrictions? Your architect is instrumental in determining the impacts.  This step should also proceed your final purchase or lease decision.

Don’t wait until bidding to talk with contractors.

Contractors are your best source for current information on costs of materials and, in today’s building environment, labor.  The recession cost our nation tens of thousands of experienced trades professionals.  This is the cost to closely watch.  Contractors can also advise on lead times for major equipment, ideas for materials staging and cost-saving construction options.

Plan enough time…for everything.

Be realistic.  Plan time for ordering long-lead items, solving an unexpected problem, resolving delays caused by weather or labor shortage, and permitting.  Some things cannot be overlapped to make up time.  Plan for contingencies.

Write a comprehensive budget with room for surprises.

Franchise purchase + professional services + construction services + local fees + materials + supplies + contingency.  Plan to use your contingency.  If you don’t, it’s a bonus.

Trust your team and have patience.

Every site, every project, every store is unique.  Prepare good plans, plan for contingencies, remain proactive and enjoy the process.  –

James G. Murray, AIA, LEED GA is a principal with CSHQA, and specializes in retail design.  His expertise includes national chains, downtown urban renovations, mall tenant improvements, pad sites, anchor stores, multi-tenant plazas and multi-use residential and hospitality developments.  Recent clients include Dunkin’ Brands, T-Mobile, Tropical Smoothie, Starbucks, 7-11, Red Robin, Rite Aid, Safeway, Albertsons, Walgreens and JC Penny. 

Jim will be presenting these and other insights at the National Franchise Institute two-day training, September 21 and 22, in Glendale, Colorado.  http://www.nationalfranchiseinstitute.com/events/

 

 

Leadership - The Sixth Core Value

CSHQA's core values are incorporated into the interior graphics of our office.

Collaboration | Knowledge | Creativity | Integrity | Excellence
 

These are our core values as discussed, debated and finally selected by CSHQA in December 2012.  It was a challenge to limit to five only. In the end, a few words missed the cut, including Leadership.  We are definitely Leaders.  In design and innovation, in our profession and in our communities. Three recent stories demonstrate what we might call our Sixth Core Value.
 

Helping Clients Win Valuable Grants

Jim Murray, AIA, LEED GA has been assisting Colorado school districts with BEST Grant preparation for five years, even for districts that aren’t our client, and even if they don’t technically owe us the resulting work.  We have a growing record of accomplishing essential projects such as roofing, kitchen remodels and security.  Not glamorous, but very valuable to our clients.  And the conversations are now turning to new schools and classroom additions.  This  May Jim was two for two for districts awarded funds for 2015-2016 projects.  We are already on board for one and hope to win the second, who happens to be talking high school planning in the near future.  Congrats, Jim!

Moving the Needle in Urban Design

In a recent meeting with Boise’s Capitol City Development Corporation [CCDC] Project Managers, Doug Woodruff and Karl Woods, CSHQA received a very nice compliment.  Kent Hanway, John Maulin, Kyle Hemly, Jeff Ward and I were meeting to talk about urban planning and place making projects on CCDC’s agenda.  The conversation turned to our efforts to get approval for diagonal parking and a paver storm-water management system at the Boise building.  Long story short – it took patience and persistence from civil engineer Jeff Ward PE (and others) to bring several agencies to the table and persuade them of our ideas.  Doug Woodruff commented “You are innovators.  You made things happen and moved the needle in [Boise] urban design.”  Our efforts are now examples of best practices and part of the urban took kit.  Jeff modestly says the timing was right. I say Jeff was the right person.

Inspiring Young People to Think Big
Canyon Springs High School in Caldwell is working to broaden horizons and share new experiences with its students.  It is challenging freshman to get out of their comfort zone and visit area businesses for short tours to learn about different professions.  Two small groups of students recently toured CSHQA, learned about our building, and met and talked with staff at their work spaces.  Amy Dockter, PE, Jose Gallegos, AIT and Andrew Lauda, AIT each shared how their early interests in art, music, math, science, drawing and/or engineering led them to their professions.  They explained they didn’t always know what they wanted to do, but they kept looking, kept doing what they really liked, and found ways to add it together.  We know it was inspiring because three students wrote to thank us.

One wants to switch from mechanical engineering to architecture; another, who wants to be a lawyer, listened and asked good questions; and a third, who was a bit shy, really liked the computer animations and found them very interesting.  Sometimes we lead by simply doing.  Thank you, Amy, Jose and Andrew.  –

KK Lipsey is Business Development Director for CSHQA.  She welcomes your comments, feedback and thoughts on leadership, innovation and design.

 

Do Green Schools Make Better Schools?

Raymond S. Kellis High School Media Center, Peoria, AZ combines natural and interior lighting.

We believe energy efficient schools designed around principals of abundant natural light, healthier materials, lower energy use, healthy, low-contaminant air, and connection with views and nature are better for students and teachers alike.

A June 4, 2015 online article in Mountain States Construction magazine shared news about an inter-disciplinary team that will research this issue. The team, led by Colorado State University, will conduct a three-year study to learn if green environments have measurable effect on student learning, behaviors, health and well-being, and test scores.  [http://bit.ly/1GsHlDa]  Their goal is to take what we anecdotally believe to be true and closely study the effects of green schools on student performance.

Research team members are being drawn from CSU’s Institute for the Built Environment, plus several disciplines including sociology, economics, and environmental health sciences.  The St. Vrain Valley and Poudre School Districts in Northern Colorado will participate, helping researchers collect and measure data.  The four-year, $1 million grant is funded by the US Environmental Protection Agency.  


Eastern Arizona College Skilled Nursing Facility, Thatcher, AZ 

A Prior Study

A 2003 study conducted by Heschong Mahone Group regarding daylighting, windows and productivity in 450 Fresno, California schools was unequivocal in its findings that visual environment, including outside views, is very important for learning.  [http://bit.ly/1I1VZxV] 
 
Student learning was improved with outside views of nature or human activity, in rooms with ample daylight with methods to control glare and heat, in rooms where teachers used whiteboards vs. chalkboards (particularly for math), in rooms with good quality air, and in rooms where noise levels were controlled both within and without.  In its summary HMG found:

 The Importance of School Design Choices

These findings suggest the importance school planners should give to the architectural design of schools. The statistical models repeatedly demonstrate that physical condition of classrooms and schools are just as likely to affect student learning as many other factors commonly given much more public policy attention. Variables describing the physical conditions of classrooms, most notably the window characteristics, were as significant and of equal or greater magnitude as teacher characteristics, number of computers, or attendance rates in predicting student performance.

What Might We Learn?

So while the Colorado study is not the first study of green education environments by far, the timing, duration and multi-discipline approach should make it stand out.  We’re looking forward to learning the results and translating the findings into design refinements for future schools.  –


Queen Creek High School Cafeteria and Student Center, Queen Creek, AZ

Look for upcoming blogs on our healthy and energy efficient work in new and renovated schools.

Jim Murray, AIA, LEED GA is a principal with CSHQA and practices architecture in Denver, Colorado with an emphasis on designing healthy and energy efficient buildings.  He works with Colorado school districts on upgrades to critical systems such as security, food service and roofing replacements, as well as long-term planning and design of new and renovated K-12 facilities.

In Arizona, Scott Beck, AIA and Michael Harris, AIA provide education design services to school districts, community colleges and universities throughout the state.  Both of them bring over 30 years education design to new and renovated projects for classroom, food service, athletic, arts and performance, and vocational education spaces.   
 

 Efficient appliances speed cooking, reduce energy use, Lone Star Elementary School, Lone Star, CO