Commentary & Analysis
Allegra Network the "E-harmony" of the industry
By Adam Dewitz
Published: December 27, 2007
The Denver Post has an article on Allegra Network's updated franchise model which matches franchisees with print shop owners looking to sell instead of creating new franchises:
Although the company has been around since 1976, Allegra in recent years has shifted its approach from placing franchisees into new shops to helping them acquire existing ones.
Nationally, Allegra has about 400 small print shops and 200 sign shops within its network. In Colorado it has only two shops, one in Wheat Ridge and one in Colorado Springs.
Allegra should gain a more commanding presence here with plans to place franchisees in another eight shops in the state, four in the metro area and four outside, Darryl Buchanan, the company's vice president of franchise development said.
"Denver doesn't need more print shops; it needs stronger print shops," Buchanan said.
Adam Dewitz is CTO at WhatTheyThink. He has detailed knowledge of: Printing and Publishing Technology, Web-enabled Print Production, Software Development, Web Development, Information Systems, and has served in production and technology roles in printing companies.
Extremely aggrogant approach. Strong printing companies have seasoned management, not corporate cast offs trained by the Allegra Network. A red flag should be raised to anyone looking acquire a franchise that is outright advertising it's over abundance of shops for sale. Seems like their having a supply and demand issue. If the business model was so successful and these franchises are so profitable and easy to run why would anyone ever leave?
There is certainly no intent on our part to come across as aggrogant. This is a difficult process and we have worked hard to perfect the model for the last five years.
We certainly realize that there are many printing companies with strong seasoned management. However, many of these businesses, particularly smaller ones under $3 million in annual sales do not have many alternatives when it comes to exit strategy.
We have qualified buyers (not corporate cast offs) with sound management skills that want to enter the industry. This is where our matchmaker program dubed "eharmony of the printing industry" in this article offers a serious alternative for independent printers to sell their business.
Incidently, when our franchisees come up for renewal over 90% of them choose to stay in the franchise system. These businesses are certainly not easy to run and our successful owners tap in to all of our resources to be successful. The same is true for the new owners that we bring into the industry.
To post a comment Log In or Become a Member, doing so is simple and free
Recent Articles by Adam Dewitz
More articles by Adam Dewitz
WhatTheyThink Full Disclosure Statement: Our editors work with several companies within the industry and may have ongoing projects or discussions with companies named in articles. These companies play no role in the direction of these articles. The views expressed by our contributing writers are their own and may not reflect those of WhatTheyThink.com. WhatTheyThink.com may have formal business dealings with companies named in Premium Access articles. However, these relationships play no role in the editorial content at this site. See our complete editorial policy by clicking here.
Email | 
Print | 
Order Reprints
