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South Fulton Hopes to Cultivate Next Wave of Entrepreneurs with Franchise Seminar

As part of its economic development strategic plan, the City of South Fulton is investing big in small business.

On Tuesday, the city celebrated the launch of CollabSouth as part of its National Entrepreneurship Week festivities. The coworking and business resource center will be located in the Old National corridor and in the Red Oak district. The city is also holding the 2020 Franchise Seminar this Saturday to help inform and empower new and aspiring business owners.

“Economic development has changed a lot in the sense that we’re not just trying to get big box stores to come in and hire hundreds of people,” said Christopher Pike, economic development director.

He said that instead, the city is being more “more creative and thoughtful” in its economic development approach by prioritizing the support of the city’s existing and new business owners. And the 2020 Franchise Seminar is designed to help new entrepreneurs be successful from the start.

Franchise seminar attendees will have an opportunity to meet with financial experts to discuss how to fund a franchise, learn the financial model of franchising and dig deeper into the nuances of franchising through an in-depth educational workshop.

Entrepreneur magazine has ranked the top franchises in the U.S. for more than 40 years based on cost and fees, size and growth, support, and brand and financial strength. Some of the top 50 already exist in the City of South Fulton, including McDonald’s, Pizza Hut and Smoothie King. An Ace Hardware is coming soon to Old National Marketplace.

There are lots of top ranked franchises that are not located in the city, like Planet Fitness, the UPS Store, Budget Blinds and Baskin-Robbins. There are plenty of opportunities for new franchisees and lots of space.

John Perlman of Adams & Company Real Estate, Inc. recently broke ground on the Publix shopping center that’s set to open in the Sandtown community near Camp Creek and Campbellton later this year. He’s encouraging South Fulton residents to take the plunge and open the businesses they want to see in their community.

“We have 18,000 square feet of local shop space,” said Perlman at a Sandtown Community Association meeting. “We encourage any entrepreneurs in the community to come and talk to us about opening a business here.”

The 2020 Franchise Seminar will be held at the South Fulton Tennis Center, 5645 Mason Road from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Registration is free via Eventbrite.

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