Monthly Archives: January 2015

6 Wacky Franchises You Won’t Believe Actually Exist

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Sixty years ago, the idea of passing cheeseburgers through a window to people in their cars probably sounded insane. A half-century from now, what fringe ideas will we consider mainstream? Probably not any of the following franchise concepts. But in the meantime, they’re amusing, creative and, in some instances, profitable detours from the mainstream.

Flounder Gigging -Something fishy

Captain Mac Daniel never returned our calls, so we’re not certain if his Amelia Island, Fla.-based  Flounder Gigging franchise is licensed, or if he has ever sold any units. But we bet a few hours on his boat would be a hoot. Flounder gigging involves taking a 24-foot aluminum jon boat out at night into saltwater marshes, where customers use halogen lamps and a multi-pronged spear to “gig” flounder and other flatfish that lie at the bottom of shallow waters. Then they can take their catch home for dinner.

Geese Police – Flipping the birds

Most people think of border collies as pets. But in the hands of David Marcks, they’re a livelihood. His Howell, N.J.-based franchise, Geese Police, employs specially trained dogs to run Canada geese out of parks, off of golf courses and away from business properties. Franchisees bring the canine crews out several times per day for as long as it takes to get the geese to move on. To 2014, the company has 15 franchisees in the Northeast and Midwest.

Positive Changes Hypnosis – You are getting sleepy …

At most franchise locations, if you lie back and close your eyes, the cops will be shooing you along. But at Positive Changes Hypnosis, based in Dublin, Ohio, relaxation is encouraged. Using a six-point hypnosis system, clients at the company’s eight centers are led through sessions to help them with everything from losing weight and quitting smoking to playing better golf. Side effects may include clucking like a chicken when someone says the word “squirrel.”

Buff stuff

The Naked Cowboy, aka Robert Burck, has long been a kooky fixture in New York’s Times Square. Several years ago he began franchising his concept. What do you get if you sign on? The chance to stand in the street in your underwear, boots and a cowboy hat, strumming a guitar (artfully placed to make it look like you’re naked), while strangers take your picture and give you spare change. The Cowboys also appear at events and even officiate weddings. So far 13 hearty, extroverted franchisees—seven women and six men—have gone down this career path, livening public areas in Paris, Los Angeles and Nashville. The Franchise Mall declined to search for more info on The Naked Cowboy as our security settings warned us about entering their site www.nakedcowboy.com

Lice Squad – Hairy situations

We’re not sure how their franchisees keep from itching all the time, but Lice Squad is on a mission to delouse Canada. The Cookstown, Ontario-based franchise runs clinics where a special device is used to dehydrate nits, or specialists can come into people’s homes to comb the little fellas out. And the best part is … well, we’re not sure there is a best part, but the treatment is chemical- and pesticide-free.

Fake Festivals – Rock ’n’ roll fantasy

Have you ever wanted to host a music festival but don’t have the connections or expertise to get it off the ground? Well, if you’re in the U.K., you’re in luck. Fake Festivals licenses its events to locals, who set up a stage, food stands and an area with entertainment for kids—and bring in tribute bands to rock the neighborhood. Organizers are responsible for marketing and promotion and get to keep 100 percent of proceeds. Glastonbury, it’s not, but feel free to pull on your wellies and short shorts all the same.

Thanks to Entrepreneur.com for the main portion for this article.

1970s’ Manitoba poverty experiment “Mincome” called a success.

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A controversial government experiment in the 1970s in which some households in a Manitoba town (Dauphin) were given a minimum level of income improved the community’s overall health, a professor at the University of Manitoba says.

From 1974 through 1978, about 30 per cent of the population of Dauphin was provided with a “mincome,” as the guaranteed level of income came to be called.

“We found that, overall, hospitalizations in Dauphin declined relative to the control group,” said Evelyn Forget, professor of community health science at the University of Manitoba. “We also looked at accidents and injuries, and they also declined. You can argue that accident and injury hospitalizations are strongly related to poverty.”

The goal of the program, which cost $17 million, was to find out whether a guaranteed income would improve health and community life. If a household’s income dropped below a certain amount, the program would top it up to an income equivalent to the welfare rates at the time.

‘Hospitalizations for mental health issues were down significantly,’— Evelyn Forget, researcher

The participants who worked had their supplement reduced 50 cents for every dollar they earned in an attempt to encourage people in the program to look for work.

Forget has spent three years comparing the administrative health care records of Dauphin’s citizens between 1974 and 1978 with those of a control group of people living in similar Manitoba communities at that time.

She said her research suggests that people appear to live healthier lives when they don’t have to worry about poverty.

“Hospitalizations for mental health issues were down significantly,” she said, adding that teenagers stayed in school longer as a result of the initiative.

The initiative, which started in 1974, was terminated in 1978 as political support for the experiment faded.

“Politically, there was a concern that if you began a guaranteed annual income, people would stop working and start having large families,” Forget said.

Ron Hikel, the executive director of the Mincome project, is delighted Forget is taking a fresh look at the project’s impact.

‘Politically, there was a concern that if you began a guaranteed annual income, people would stop working and start having large families.’— Evelyn Forget, researcher

“As somebody who devoted three or four years of his life to making this happen, I was disappointed that the data were warehoused,” Hikel said.

Forget has not yet been given access to the 2,000 boxes of data collected by the original Mincome researchers, which contain copies of questionnaires participants filled out and, she believes, transcripts of interviews with the families who took part.

Hikel, who is now legislative director for U.S. Rep. Eric Massa, said Forget’s research is immensely relevant in Canada and the United States. He said he intends to use her analysis as part of the current health-care debate.

“It has to do with the impact that larger social conditions have on one’s health condition and the need for health care,” Hikel said.

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You might wonder why at my reasoning for adding this page. Many of you have read my page BPPV . I feel this is related because I put to use my talents as did those who put “Mincome” to proper use. Many people have asked me what I did to help myself with the
problem of Vertigo. Then they try to treat themselves and wonder why they have little if any
success. Pardon me, but is your health not worth a few hundred dollars to go to the therapist and get proper treatment? Don’t play with your health!! You may get only one chance to do the right thing. What if there’s a residual to doing it wrong the first time? That to me is how I was fortunate to get proper initial treatment. On subsequent “blips” I sought professional help from my therapist. That’s how I conquered and will continue.

As a footnote let me say that in conversation with a friend, she told me that her daughter was VERY unfortunate to be in the wrong place when she suffered a Vertigo attack. Having no access to therapy, by the time she got to therapy it was too late. She had lost her hearing. Bad news story. You don’t want this to happen!!!!