In business terms, there’s no denying the power of
franchising. Franchises foster trust by creating highly recognizable brands so
that customers know that they can count on a certain type of product and
experience – no matter where in the world they are. Franchises make
entrepreneurs’ dreams come true by making business ownership easier. And
franchises offer economic stability to communities and the nation by creating
thousands of jobs.
But franchising’s power extends
beyond the worldof business. Franchises have the power to make a difference – whether it’s by
joining forces behind a global issue, reaching out to support to franchisees in
a time of need, or taking up a cause because it’s deeply personal to one
franchisee and therefore matters to the whole brand.
Yum! Brands is the parent company to
some of the largest names in franchising, including KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. But Yum! does more than just sell chicken,
pizzas, and tacos. In 2007, it launched a large-scale initiative to combat world
hunger. With the organized help of more than 1.4 million company employees,
franchisees, and their families at 36,000 franchise locations spanning 110
countries, Yum! is making a powerful impact. In three years, the company has
raised nearly $60 million for hunger relief organizations.
In 2005, many small-business owners
were paralyzed by the devastating effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
However, thanks to the structure of a franchise system, Burger King franchisees had a very strong support to
lean on. Corporate delivered more than 50,000 bottles of water, more than 40,000
pounds of non-perishable goods, and more than 16,000 pounds of ice to areas in
need and even set up a program to hire displaced employees into positions at
Burger King locations in more than 13 U.S. cities. “Immediately following
Hurricane Katrina, the Burger King system rallied together to get restaurants up
and running again,” says Michelle Miguelez, a Burger King Corp. spokesperson.
“By providing resources, logistical support, and manpower, our franchisees could
rest assured that their restaurants were taken care of and they could focus on
their family and friends.”
And, most recently, when a
devastating earthquake struck Haiti, many franchisors immediately went into
action to help with the relief effort, including Robeks, a fruit smoothie and healthy eats franchise. As
part of a special promotion, Robeks’ 100 franchisees donated $1 from the sale of
every 24-ounce Chocolate Covered Strawberry Smoothie to Wyclef Jean's Yele Haiti
Foundation. “One of our franchisees has family in Haiti, so it was very close to
home for us,” says Steve Davidson, CEO. “With some investigation, we discovered
that many of our franchisees and customers either have family and friends there
or know someone who does. We spoke with the franchisees about it and they were
uniformly in favor of doing something to help.”
The power of franchising extends
beyond simple brand recognition and sales figures and touches on something far
more powerful. By acting as a whole, franchises are changing lives and making
the world a better place.