As a franchisee, you need to be aware of the latest franchise update. The franchise world has definitely evolved through time. Opportunities exist for people who would like to venture into existing businesses. Popular brands and businesses take them as a means of expanding their market, network and therefore making their brands even more famous on a global scale.
The development of franchising has provided a steady income for those who have invested on it and gave employment on a local scale. After all, service is the core fundamental on how franchising works. It revolved around the principles set and standardized, embedded on a brand and how it is multiplied and shared across the US – and eventually the world.
But how did the franchise world evolve? Read this franchise update and find out.
History of Franchising
In the 1850’s, franchising already existed in a classic, conventional way. The first franchising effort was from Singer Sewing Machine Company which was established by Albert Singer. However, his efforts to franchise his business did not work. At the time, while convenience is necessary, the mindset of people was geared on practicality. Business owners did their own thing, using their own skills to sell their services.
It was in 1930’s when modern franchising became popular. With the growing population and food being a staple need, the food service industry boomed and in 1932, food service establishments rose with Howard Johnson’s – the first modern restaurant franchise built by Howard Deering Johnson.
The emergence of franchising hit highs in 1950’s when McDonald’s started their franchising efforts. It was only in 1955 when McDonald’s franchise came to prominence. Colonel Sanders franchised Kentucky Fried Chicken or KFC in 1952 while Burger King started franchising in 1953. At this time, franchising became a force due to the rapid growth of technology and people acknowledging more convenient ways for their needs.
The 1960’s opened the world of opportunities, not only for the leading restaurants in that era. Wendy’s franchised its business in 1969 while others such as Holiday Inn, Dunkin Donuts, Lee Myles, 7-Eleven, Baskin-Robbins, Sheraton, Pearle Vision Center, Dunhill Personell, H&R Block, Midas and Roto-Rooter followed. It can be seen that at this point in time, not only the food service industry developed their franchising business ventures. Hotels, eye services, health services, shoes and shops designed and built their own brands and patented their own marks and sold their concepts and ideas through franchising.
Franchising Now
More and more entrepreneurs these days choose franchising opportunities due to the constant ups and downs of the economy. Aspiring business owners tend to have more confidence with businesses that already have stable, built-in concepts and principles, which have proven their worth to the local and global market.
In the recent years, business services have outgrown food service industry in the franchising world. Companies revolving on personal services and retailing have emerged and set their mark in this sector as well. With the evolution of technology and countries becoming more and more globalized, more and more services continue to grow and expand their franchises on a global scale. Some giants in food retail, real estate, lodging and automotive industries have launched franchising opportunities. The growth of personal services which includes health care services, however, is the highest at 3.8%.
Among the top franchising brands in the recent years are Hampton Inn, Subway, 7-Eleven, ServPro, Denny’s, MCDonald’s, Days Inn, H&R Block, Pizza Hut and Dunkin Donuts.
The Past Two Decades in Franchising
Dramatic changes were seen in technology and trends in employment which changed the landscape of franchising as well. People still look at franchising similarly, franchise ownership is becoming an option due to job loss and people looking for more stable business ventures. With automation, outsourcing and robots changing the game, eliminating a good number of jobs, job security is definitely something that most people want to establish these days.
Google has also changed the game for franchising businesses. Owners these days have the investigative eye, leveraging on search engines to help in marketing. Information gathering poses powerful questions in asking the present status.
In 1996, there was no Google, Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia or YouTube. Neighborhood libraries were the only sources of knowledge and information. Market research had a rapid growth when social media came into the picture, with advertising opportunities growing exponentially as days went by. A lot of information is currently available. With just a click of the mouse, you can easily find out what is legal or not. You can also check out reviews to learn what consumers think about a brand.
These days, best practices are already put into place. Standard operating procedures are clear cut and policies have already been set. Marketing approach is standardized but innovative and creative methods are available now more than ever. Thus, there is the possibility of greater profits, but so is competition. Owning franchising businesses can be quite a challenge in staying true to the brand and turning mechanisms into processes that actually work.
If you are looking for franchising opportunities, check out DetailXPerts which has been providing franchising opportunities since 2008. Our franchising packages do not only care about profits. We have a solid support system to boot and a systematic procedure that anyone can follow.