Coffee News Franchise Review - The Coffee News Business Opportunity

Coffee News is a weekly publication that began back in 1988 in Manitoba, Canada. It was started by Jean Daum, an advertising expert, whose independent research led her to believe that people are more susceptible to advertising while they are eating. The concept is simple- a brief newspaper that is delivered free to coffee houses, restaurants, and motels. How brief? Well, Coffee News claims that it only takes 8 minutes to read and therefore, due to its brevity, people will read it from front to back. The paper focuses only on news that is entertaining and upbeat, including horoscopes, jokes, trivia, and therefore appeals to its readers. The theory is then that readers will read not only the features but also the advertisements.

Coffee News has been franchising since 1994 and startup costs for the new franchisee are estimated at just under $10,000. There is an $8,000 franchise fee and an ongoing royalty fee of $75 per week. There is no in-house financing available for the start-up costs or franchise fee. Exclusive territories are offered and the parent company looks for individuals with sales, advertising, and marketing experience. As a franchisee, you will need to sell advertising space in your publication. This is how revenue is generated.

The Coffee News franchise can be run out of your home and it does not need to be owner operated. However, approximately 98% of the current franchisees are owner operators. A 3-day training course is offered at the company headquarters in Bangor, Maine and a mentorship program is also available for new franchisees. A monthly newsletter is also distributed by the parent company which offers tips and strategies from other franchise owners.

If advertising sales is something that appeals to you, then you might find the Coffee News opportunity to suit your needs. However, if it does not, then you probably should search elsewhere for a business startup.

The Latest News on Coffee and Health

You win some and you lose some is a common phrase, one that the coffee bean recently experienced in regards to women's health. Two reports released this month both involved the health effects of coffee on female health. One report coffee was not too fond of and, the other, coffee liked a lot, or, should I say, a latte.

The coffee cup was half empty when researchers published at article in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology that spoke of the correlation between coffee and miscarriage risk. Drinking coffee, the report states, during pregnancy can increase the chance that a woman will miscarry. This is worse news for news that was already bad: regardless of coffee consumption habits, 20 percent of pregnancies end in a miscarriage.

But, unfortunately for java lovers, coffee could make this worse.

The recent research states that women who drink coffee while pregnant nearly double their chances of not taking their baby to term. The research isn't, however, purely out to grind coffee: soda, tea, hot chocolate, sports drinks, or anything with caffeine can add to an increased risk. These findings are reported to have doctors split between telling their pregnant patients not to drink caffeine or telling them simply not to drink it in excess. Regardless of what is decided, caffeine, if not cut out of the diet all together, should be kept to a minimum.

Luckily for coffee, not all of the recently reported news was bad for the bean.

Another report released this month by US researchers stated that drinking caffeine appears to lower the women's risk of developing ovarian cancer. This is particularly true, it appears, in women who have already gone through menopause and for those who have never used oral birth control. It was concluded that the more caffeine consumed the lower the risk. Still, this doesn't mean women should drink four hundred cups of coffee a day: excessive use of caffeine can cause a whole slug of other problems.

Ovarian cancer is most common in women over 50. It remains a particularly volatile form of cancer because - unlike cervical cancer - no test exists to detect precancerous cells and prevent them from forming. Ovarian cancer also does not usually possess a plethora of symptoms in its early stages, making its diagnosis particularly evasive. When it is caught in its final stages, the outlook is particularly dire.

The research for the ovarian cancer and caffeine link was based on a study of 121,000 women between the ages of 30 and 35. While regular coffee proved beneficial, decaffeinated did not.

Coffee News Franchise Review

Coffee news started, by Jean Daum, in Winnipeg, Canada is a weekly news publication that is delivered to restaurants, coffee shops, gift shops, motels and other small eateries and shops.  Coffee news was created to offer small bite size amounts of news and advertising to the customers of individual stores and was built upon the belief that when consuming information and advertising in small amounts you have a better return.

Coffee news has benefits to local advertisers that larger print publications cannot offer.  The ads are less expensive, they advertiser has exclusivity in their area the week there ad is running, ads are being read three times per day as people are eating different meals, all ad sizes are the same allowing fair exposure and the reader typically reads the entire print due to it's small size. 

One unique component to this business is the home based nature.  This franchise was designed to allow a person to start a desktop publishing company from home.  As with any franchise you have access to the system that has proven to work.  From ad copy, to print layout, vendor contacts, marketing cooperatives, ad slicks and support the Coffee News Franchise allows you to start with no experience. 

This franchise system is a good part time business for someone looking to make some extra income.  However, looking at the model it is limited to the growth you can achieve.  As a local publication you will be limited to your ability to grow locally and will not have the ability to expand beyond 20 licenses.

The cost for the franchise fee is $8000 and is good for four years.  In addition to the up front fee you will pay an ongoing fee of $80 per week for each license you are awarded. 

It is important to fully evaluate all businesses prior to making a decision.  Understanding the strengths and the weaknesses of the model will allow for you to position yourself for business success rather than business failure.