Claus Etzler is the name behind Etzler Franchise Consulting (EFC), a consulting firm that helps entrepreneurs during the business start-up stages.

The company is focused on small business and franchise consulting, and offers a variety of services including preparing business plans and market research and finance.

Etzler said his business is geared to those relatively new to Canada, individuals with business smarts who just need help navigating through the red tape.

"I send people in the right direction," said Etzler describing his business. "The may not know the nuances of starting up a business and that is where we can help."

Etzler founded his company in 2003 after applying his trade in a corporate environment for more than a decade.

He spent about eight years at one of Canada's largest food service companies- Cara Operations.

During his time with Cara, Etzler worked on franchise development for the company's high profile brands like Harvey's, Swiss Chalet and Second Cup.

Etzler said companies are naturally selective when choosing a franchisee, and what discouraged him during his corporate stint was that good, capable people were often turned down because of a lack of "Canadian experience."

With just a bit of guidance and direction, a lot of those applicants could have succeeded in their bid to secure a franchise.

That experience provided the inspiration for his business, he explained.

"I met many intelligent people who had the desire and the knowledge to take on a franchise, but just didn't have that Canadian experience," he said. "They had to have Canadian experience in running a restaurant, or Canadian management experience. And so that fuelled the notion that maybe there should be someone out there to help these people get started. Because really that kind of service just didn't exist."

In addition to helping clients set up businesses from scratch, Etzler said he works to match clients up with the right franchise business.

In order to do that, Etzler researches the chosen franchise and then considers the individual's performance profiling, business aspirations and financial resources.

Once that is done, EFC assists with the franchise application and then provides coaching for interviews with the franchisor, assuming an applicant gets that far.

EFC provides market assessment and research for selected locations, including profiling the local market.

For his services, Etzler charges either a flat fee or hourly rate.

For more information on EFC, visit the Web site at www.efconsultants.ca or call 647-401-7013.