Chattanooga - The Tennessee Small Business Development Center (TSBDC) provides a large number of free seminars and services for prospective small business owners and will offer a free seminar called “Explore Franchising” on Monday, October 7, from 8-10:30 a.m. at the INCubator Building training room on the first floor of 100 Cherokee Blvd. Registration for the seminar is now open and can be made by calling 756-8668. Reservations are requested by October 3.

Sponsored by Chattanooga State Community College, Small Business Administration and the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce, the featured speakers include David McDougall, CEO, Backyard Burgers; Ray Morgan, Zone Director, The Krystal Company; and Jerry Bird, FranNet of Alabama and East Tennessee.

According to Entrepreneur, franchising is defined as “A continuing relationship in which a franchisor provides a licensed privilege to the franchisee to do business, and offers assistance in organizing, training, merchandising, marketing and managing in return for a monetary consideration. Franchising is a form of business by which the owner (franchisor) of a product, service or method obtains distribution through affiliated dealers (franchisees).”

Funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. All opinions, conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA. Additional funding is provided by the Tennessee Board of Regents and the State of Tennessee. Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities will be made if requested at least two weeks in advance.