Jennifer Strom-Simonte: Growing Belly Dance Maternity Through Franchising

Jennifer Strom-Simonte needed to decide whether high growth through franchising would work for her six-year-old venture, Belly Dance Maternity, a brick-and-mortar and online women's clothing boutique targeted at 24 to 35-year-old women who wanted to continue dressing fashionably during their pregnancies. Since Belly Dance Maternity's fashions had been featured in several Chicago and New York City magazines, Simonte had been approached by several people interested in buying franchise rights from her. Simonte investigated the merits and risks of franchising her business and found that as of 2005 franchising revenues contributed toward 11% of U.S. GDP and employed 15% of U.S. workers. Should she embark on establishing Belly Dance Maternity as a franchisor, she would be required to systematize and document all aspects of the company's operations. Included in the case is pro forma financial information on a typical Belly Dance store, comparable information from a public company specializing in maternity retail, and FAQs written by a franchisor to an audience of potential franchisees. This case is an introduction to franchising.