Let us begin by sharing a few words about franchising in general. Franchising is becoming increasingly important all over the world. One part of information which attests to it is that according to a report produced by “Global Industry Analysts” in 2012, franchises all over the world will soon surpass €3.5 trillion in yearly revenues. Even more importantly, investing in franchises has been shown to contain much less risk and can be much more rewarding than starting a business from scratch, which is why franchising is starting to become increasingly interesting for social entrepreneurs and investors as well. However, since social franchising is just beginning to gain friction, there are still many hurdles and uncertainties in the way. Thus, the aim of this article is to cover some of those and bring social franchising closer to you, our reader and perhaps help you embark on the journey towards opening an “impact” franchise yourself.

Franchising Facts & Figures

First of all, let us look at a few more facts and figures related to franchising, as you will probably agree that the number €3.5 trillion is not very meaningful or informative, as we are normally not used to operating with such big numbers. First, it will make the amount slightly more comprehensive, if we compare it too United States yearly federal budget, which nearly the same (source: Wikipedia), i.e., approaching €3.5 trillion in 2015. Other than that, International Franchise Association has reported that franchise businesses create jobs faster than any other type of business and even all other types of business combined, leading by at least 2% each year since 2007 till 2015. In addition, the nominal output of franchising organisations has been increasing by at least 4% a year as well. The most popular franchising business are within the personal services sector, quick service restaurants, real estate and retail products and services. In addition, restaurant franchise businesses also employ the highest proportion of workers within the industry. Another very interesting piece of information is that according to International Franchise Associations’ research (which is admittedly slightly or even very outdated, as it originates in the year 2000), 86% of franchises which opened in the past 5 years are still operated by the same owner, and 97% of them were still in business. This information is highly significant, especially in comparison to the high drop-off rate when looking at other types of start-ups. According to Forbes report in 2015, 90% of start-ups fail within the first year of operation, meaning that opening a franchise in order to introduce yourself to the entrepreneurial waters is probably a wise choice. 

As you can see, social franchising is yet nowhere to be seen, i.e., social franchises have not gained popularity yet. However, franchising does seem to have a high impact upon the economy, thus we assume that social franchising itself will soon gain reputation as well, one of the reasons for it being the high sensitivity to socially sustainable economic activity by the generation Y, i.e., the millennials, which was reported by Nielsen in the middle of 2011.

(to be continued...)

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