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Franchise Industry Reaches out to Veterans

Written by: Michael Hemenway

Article Overview: The VetFran program is for our glorious soldiers who are looking forward to a healthy civil life. The participation is voluntary and the member businesses offer various discounts to the prospective franchisees. It is one of the most popular programs of IFA.

Franchise Industry Reaches out to Veterans

We can never pay our soldiers their dues for the service they do for us. But when they return to the civil society as veterans, they sometimes feel left out. So, as an effort to appreciate the role and contribution of the veterans towards the society, International Franchise Association, the most prominent franchise association of America, introduced the VetFran program. Though the Department of Veterans' Affairs and other military and federal agencies support it to some great extent, none of them fund the program. The program is totally funded by the franchise companies. The program’s main aim is to reach out to the veterans looking to buy a franchise and simultaneously, court the franchisors.

The soldiers who are honorably discharged from active duty can apply to participating franchise opportunities as veterans. The franchise companies help the veterans in many ways. Some concepts offer discounts on the franchise fee while others provide additional supports. Some businesses waive the training fees whereas some give priority to those veteran candidates that have replied to their franchise business for sale offers. The process is totally flexible; each franchisor is free to decide how he is going to help his veteran franchisees looking forward to buy a franchise from him. One of the major objectives of the VetFran program is to lower the start-up costs of even the best franchises. Most veterans are cash strapped while leaving the army and the program helps them to get a firm foothold in the business world. In exchange, the participating companies can put the VetFran logo in their franchise business for sale advertisements and also get promoted in various veteran-dedicated websites and associations.

It’s not that only the veterans benefit from the VetFran program; the franchise companies also profit considerably by joining the program. The veterans make excellent franchisees, because years of disciplined military life responds very well to the restrictive nature of franchise business. Also, veterans know the value of working in a team as well as heading a team. It makes them excellent choice for franchise opportunities that requires the franchisee to lead a team or manage a group of employees. The program has been so successful that by the end of 2007, there were around 1000 veterans who have started or is starting a franchise under the VetFran program.

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Article Tags: active duty, business for sale, business world, department of veterans affairs, foothold, franchise busines, franchise business, franchise companies, franchise fee, franchise opportunities, franchisees, franchises, franchisor, franchisors, international franchise association, leaving the army, military life, participating companies, restrictive nature, vetfran program



Related Forum Posts
Re: VetFran Program - Hi Michele, Interesting video on the link you provided, especially when IFA President Matthew Shay was saying how Veterans are perfect for running franchises since they're accustomed to working within a system, and how franchising isn't for people who are independent and who want to do their own thing. More importantly, Matthew warns that you better love the franchise industry you're in because you'll have to wake up to it every morning, stay late and even work weekends to ensure its success. The article never stated how much of a discount they give to Veterans.
Re: Enticing Franchises - Top 9 List - All Franchise listed above are in millions of dollars. Do you have the list of Franchise in thousands
Re: Info for would be franchisers... - [quote="Sebastien":1d29sdv1]Like Franchise Times, Franchise Update is a very practical magazine. There is no blah blah, just straight facts that anyone in the franchise community can relate to. I just want to mention that all these magazines are NOT franchisee oriented. I mean these magazines are for franchise professionals. If you're looking to buy a franchise, you won't find much information in there. To answer your question, getting published in Franchise Times was fairly easy. I don't want to brag too much but I think I am known in the franchise industry. I was the marketing guy at Franchise.com for a few years before joining my new company, the World Franchising Network. So people know me and I have a very good relationship with Nancy Weingartner, the Managing Editor at Franchise Times. I was talking with her at the last Franchise Expo South in Miami and she mentioned she'd like me to be profiled. I was like "ok, sure!". I like this franchise executive profile thing in Franchise Times as it is rarely BS. People are usually really natural in there.[/quote:1d29sdv1] Thanks for the follow up Sebastien! And I can't say that I'm surprised that networking with the right people and managing your relationships with them properly are the keys to being published. I guess the old adage holds true of "it's not who you know, but who knows you" that's important.
how much for a franchise fee? - Dear Colleague There is no easy answer to this question. Things to consider: [list=] The sizeof the Franchise Clent base Expected Turnover Intellectual Property costs (recoup) Number of Franchises Number of employees Original Set up costs Franchise admin costs An example: A franchise that I was involved in setting was to a simple "lawn mowing/home repair" franchise. The Franchise included national/local advertising - preparation of client lists - general admin - central accounting etc The Franchise involved 300-500 clients - and an annual turnover of about $300,000 . The annual franchise fee was $30,000. Hope that this gives you some idea Take care Ian[/list]
Re: Franchise Surveys - Another good tool to researching a franchise is to speak with their existing franchisees. This contact information is included in most Franchise Disclosure Documents. In order to get a Franchise Disclosure Document or FDD as it is often referred to, you will have to complete a basic franchise application. The franchisor will then usually provide you with the FDD at that time. Included in that book of information is a list of the existing franchisees, the contract, the investment information etc... This information is required by Federal Law to be disclosed to your prior to making a purchase. So be sure to do your research and start with the Franchise Documents to get the initial information.


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