After a National Advisory Board meeting in Las Vegas for DECA/Delta Epsion Chi where I talked with many companies about the opportunities we all have with Gen Whyers in the next 10 years we drove to Orlando for my favorite event of the year. (Besides my anniversary!)
48 years ago, in Chicago, a man named Bill Rosenberg put a $100 down on a table and asked other people to match it. Bill was the President of Dunkin’ Donuts and he was meeting with other Presidents of franchise organizations. Bill knew that they needed an association and the International Franchise Association was started.
This blog is not just about the IFA. It is about business. And dreams. And economic growth.
And maybe your future.
This week in Orlando about 3,500 people got together for the 48th annual convention. 800 of IFA’s 1298 Franchisors were represented at the show. The keynote speaker on Sunday was General Colin Powell, the 65th Secretary of State.
Amazing. Listen to what has happened since Rosenberg slapped the $100 bill on the table.
Last Saturday I attended a Board of Trustee’s meeting of IFA’s Educational Foundation. Some pretty smart people on that committee like the Presidents of Servicemaster, Dwyer Group, Sylvan Learning Centers, Postnet, Liberty Fitness, Jani-King, Captain D’s, Meineke as well as Michael Seid, the person who wrote “Franchising for Dummies” with Wendy’s Dave Thomas. At that as meeting they talked about business and about franchising.
An Economic Impact Study was done that covered the years from 2001 – 2005. Here is what they found:
Direct economic output increased by 26% - but it was 41% for franchised businesses.
Employment grew by 3.5% - but it was 12.6% for franchised business.
The number of business establishments increased by 15.9% - but it was 18.5% for franchised businesses.
The franchising industry provides job for over 11 million American workers and continues to grow at record pace. 1 in every 7 people in America has a job created by franchising. The segment of our economy is now larger than durable goods.
An award for the Entrepreneur of the Year was given to Brian Scudamore, Founder and CEO of 1-800-GOT-JUNK? I think Brian is 33. When he was 18 he bought a $700 pickup truck, put the name “The Rubbish Boys” – which 10 years later became 1-800-Got-Junk? Brian has done fine since then. He now has 330 locations in three countries, 45 U.S. states and nine Canadian provinces.
In his speech he talked about his start and his attending an IFA convention years ago. Fred DeLuca, founder of Subway in 1965 (when he was 17 thanks to Dr. Peter Buck), was in attendance and Scudamore asked DeLuca if he had a few minutes to talk. DeLuca had another engagement and told Scudamore he couldn’t right then but gave him his cell phone number to call. DeLuca became one of Scudamore’s mentors because of that and provided guidance via the subsequent phone calls.
At Valpak we’ve done TONS of advertising for Subway and 1-800-GOT-JUNK. I had a chance to talk with both Scudamore and DeLuca and find them both fascinating. They both had dreams . . . and commitment . . . and franchisees who shared those dreams. Both started when they were in their teens. (And we wonder if Gen Whyers are capable???)
Wow. Talk about economic growth and being able to live the dream.
On Sunday Mary Kay and I had breakfast with someone named “Red” – founder of Pet Butler. He has almost 100 franchisees in just a short period of time. Pet Butler has a sophisticated system where they will take all of the inbound calls for their franchisees and do all of the schedules. All the franchisees do is go to the person’s house and take care of business.
The business? Dog poop. (I’m trying to find the proper word)
How popular is this? Red said there are now 5 companies franchising this concept. Amazing.
America really is the land of opportunities!
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