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I recently found some really interesting articles about the history of franchising which I thought I’d write about this week. Franchising began right back in the 1850’s, in the US, with the manual sewing machine …
Franchising started with Isaac Singer way back in the 19th century!
Isaac Singer wanted to distribute his machines outside of his geographical area and provide training on how to use the machines as people wouldn’t buy them without training and retailers did not provide this service.
“Mr Singer started selling licences to people in different parts of the country!”
The licence gave permission for the owner of that licence to sell and teach people how to use the Singer sewing machine. This bought the use of the sewing machine to the public where before it had only been for commercial use.
In 1955 Ray Kroc, a milkshake mixer salesman discovered the McDonald brothers’ on their hamburger stand. He found they were buying so many of his mixers because they had developed a high volume production system which enabled them to provide fast service with consistent results at a low cost.
Ray Kroc became their licencing agent and recruited franchisees, starting in the Chicago area. In 1961, he bought out the McDonald brothers’ and now McDonalds is one of the biggest and most successful franchise organisation ever established, unleashing the wave of franchising as we know it today.
The dictionary definition of a franchise is – “authorisation granted to an individual or a group by a company to sell its goods or services in a particular way“.
Franchising helps individuals to be their own boss, own and operate their own business, but have a support network behind them. Being in business for themselves but not by themselves if you see what I mean? There is a much higher likelihood of success when an individual buys into a franchise as opposed to starting on their own. A franchise has a proven formula in place; the services, the brand, etc. have already been established.
What are the advantages of buying a franchise? That’s a question I get asked a lot. I can really only speak for Extra Help but all good franchise companies follow a similar pattern.
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Brand awareness – The corporate image of the company and brand awareness is already established and with each new franchise area, it in turn expands that brand.
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Training – Franchisors provide extensive training and ongoing support to the franchisee, stopping all the trial and error when setting up on your own. They have made the mistakes and found the things that work, so you don’t have to make them again.
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Saving time – The franchise company already has the business model in place, enabling the franchisee to focus on running and growing a successful business.
I hope that has given you an insight into the history of Franchising and an understanding of why a franchise is a good option for you. There is a reason why franchising has been around for decades:
“Franchising is a great way to own and operate your own business!”
If you would like to know more about becoming an Extra Help franchise owner, please call me on 0845 618 2904 or click here to ping over an email and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.
Until next time …
CLAIRE ROBINSON
PS: Why not visit www.extra-help.co.uk and find out more?
