News

Military veterans gravitating to franchising careers

November 11, 2014

More than 50,000 veterans have found employment in the franchise industry within the past year and more than 400 veterans have become local franchise business owners, according to a new Veterans-in-Franchising Study released y by the International Franchise Association.

"Franchise businesses realize that creating employment and small business ownership opportunities for veterans, military spouses and wounded warriors is not only the right thing to do, but it makes good business sense," IFA CEO Steve Caldeira said in a news release. "Veterans thrive in the franchise industry because they are used to following systems, structure, working as part of a team and they truly understand what leadership is all about. This is exactly how the time-tested model of franchising works, by following that same proven and successful template."

The study surveyed a variety of industries and company sizes. According to the survey, conducted by Franchise Business Review a total of 52,333 veterans have found employment opportunities in the past year across 13,446 business locations.

Additionally, 62 participating franchise brands successfully recruited 416 veterans as new franchisees during the same period, and an additional 350 veteran franchisee candidates are currently under consideration. The survey also found that 70 percent of the franchisors surveyed indicated they had hired a veteran or the spouse of a veteran in the past year.

The most popular industries among veterans coming into franchising include Automotive (16 percent), General Services (17 percent), Food (14 percent), Residential/Home Services (14 percent) and Business Services (9 percent).