Franchising implies a financial arrangement, and I am always pleased to consider those.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
When we first started the company, I didn't have any thoughts of franchising. We just had company-owned stores.
Higher unemployment generally bodes well for franchising. People are looking for a new opportunity, and people who have jobs are a little less confident they'll always have a job.
In 1974, we began franchising. We didn't have any big thought process except that, 'OK, franchising will help us get to our goal of 32 stores and help us run stores farther away from home.'
Franchises are independently owned and operated businesses whose owners are responsible for their operations.
How can you franchise hospitality?
The insurance of working with a big, already successful franchise just gives you the chance to do other things on a more personal level.
For a franchise system to work well, you really need people with an entrepreneurial mind-set because, while you have a large, overarching system that everybody has to work with, a lot of local issues have to be handled.
From my point of view, my job is just to work hard for our franchisees, so they can maintain the position they're in, and to grow market share.
From my point of view, what I really like, what I think is really terrific about my work, is that the company's had the opportunity to train literally thousands and thousands of brand new franchisees to successfully run their very first business.
There's nothing magic about working with franchisees. What you have to do is help them improve their business.