BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Continued from page 84.


small business owners. In 2007, the Diversity Institute began “One-Day Franchise Opportunities for Women and Minorities” educational seminars throughout the U.S. A poll conducted by the IFA Edu- cational Foundation found what basic roadblocks stood in the way of minori- ties trying to buy and start a franchise. t alo identified oe diffiultie en- countered by franchisors who wanted to recruit minorities into their network. These fall under three major categories: informational, relational and capital. The seminars offered a way to over- come the educational and relational gap. Franchises themselves are ideal businesses for those who do not have a lot of knowledge in that area because of the amount of support given to the budding entrepreneur. They provide a blueprint on how to start, operate and expand a business. The franchise head- quarters usually provides equipment and advertising as well as the name recognition vital to attracting custom- ers.


Capital, though, is still a major ob- stacle for many minorities. With an industry-wide buy-in average exceed- ing $60,000 many minorities are simply shut out of franchises. Every business that participates in MinorityFran how- ever has made a commitment to do what it can to make owning a franchise finanially poible for inoritie Financial aid like that offered by Lawn Doctor should help close the capital gap. The company participates in a webite peifially et up to lit franchise opportunities for minorities. There it states, “Now investing in this established company is easier than ever, because we’re investing in you. Lawn Doctor belongs to the Interna- tional Franchise Associations’ Minori- tyFran program and as such will offer ignifiant aving ualified andi- dates are eligible for a $12,500 discount. That is half off the franchise fee. Lawn otor alo provide  franior fi- naning to ualified andidate to elp


88 HISPANIC NETWORK MAGAZINE


you get started without delay.” Burger King and 7-11 convenience


tore alo offer peial finaning to minority owners. These and many other franchises also work closely with minority organizations to recruit more minority businessmen.


How do the top franchises for minorities reach the minority audience?


One way is through the hard work of Rob Bond, founder and president of Source Book Publications, located in Oakland, California. His sole focus for the past twenty years has been the dissemination of timely and in-depth information on franchising through books and websites. Source Book Publications currently maintains six websites, including one dedicated solely to minority franchis- ing opportunities. It is a sortable data- base that includes information on over 450 North American franchisors who


Celebrating 19 Years of Diversity


actively seek out and support minority franchisees. Source Book also publishes books on franchising including “The Minor- ity Franchise Guide” which is a printed version of the website. The book ex- pands to provide relevant resources for the minority investor.


Recognizing the need for a national


forum to address the under-represen- tation of minorities in the U.S. fran- chising community, Bond created the National Minority Franchising Initia- tive which hosts ten seminars annually throughout the country.


Due to the encouragement of en- tities like Source Books and Minori- tyFran, companies have become en- thusiastic about supporting minority entry into the franchise industry. One example of a franchise company that expanded opportunities to minorities is Comfort Keepers, a non-medical home-health franchise. As far back as 2005, Comfort Keepers was already listed on the Franchise Honor Roll in Black Enterprise Magazine’s as one of


www.hnmagazine.com


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100