It’s National Small Business Week. That may not sound like a big deal with some of the national and international organizations on the BizCom roster. But upon closer inspection, many of those household names are franchise organizations, which make them exactly that — a network of small-business owner/operators championing the same brand. So, let’s queue the PR opportunities in three, two, one…
Our client Gary Findley, CEO of Restoration 1, said it best in this recent guest column for the Waco Tribune-Herald.
In the article, Gary gave some gigantic numbers to support the strength of small business:
According to the Small Business Administration, some 28 million small businesses in America account for 54 percent of all U.S. sales. And more than 120 million people work for a small business, which is over 50 percent of the working population, according to the U.S. Census. More importantly, since 1990, small businesses have added 8 million new jobs to the economy while large businesses have lost 4 million jobs because of outsourcing, moving overseas and displacing workers with advances in technology.
And Gary went on to share how franchise organizations like his, are large examples of small business success:
While many people think of franchise organizations with household names as big corporate titans, the reality is that they are a network of small-business franchise owners championing the same brand.
According to the Franchise Business Economic Outlook for 2017 from the International Franchise Association, the industry significantly outpaced the U.S. economy in 2016 and should continue to do so this year. Franchise employment is expected to add almost 250,000 new jobs in 2017. And while franchise output was up 5.8 percent in 2016, it is expected to grow another 5.3 percent in 2017, surpassing $700 billion.
Cleaning up in the service sector has made Dwyer Group a giant of small business success too.
The Dwyer Group, today announced another acquisition for its expanding service brands. With the purchase of UK-based Countrywide Grounds Maintenance, the parent company now has 19 service brands, and 17 of them are franchise networks. In total, they now have more than 2,850 franchise owners (a.k.a. small-business owners) championing those brands around the world.
The deal marks the tenth acquisition for Dwyer Group in recent years with a combined $1.5 billion in annual system-wide sales. That’s the ultimate example of small business driving big profits.
Of course, they all had to start somewhere, right? Here’s what Tariq Farid told Inc. about his early days with Edible Arrangements.
Tariq Farid, founder and CEO of Edible Arrangements, was reminded of his start-up days when he told Inc. reporter Kevin Ryan what it was like to attract vendors in the beginning. Oh, sure, Edible Arrangements is a worldwide sensation today with more than 1,200 franchisees and multi-millions in sales. But what about when it wasn’t a household name? Here’s how Ryan tells it:
When he was starting Edible Arrangements, a fresh-fruit-bouquet-delivery company, founder Tariq Farid had to persuade suppliers to work with his fledgling company. “I would research the story of the company I was meeting with to get a good idea of where they got their start,” says Farid.
“Then, during the meeting, I would remind them about their start and how, at one point, they were like us.” More often than not, this led to a deeper conversation in which the supplier would share stories of his or her humble, and sometimes tough, beginnings. “It created an immediate bond,” says Farid. This bond helped set a positive tone for further negotiations.
Here’s to all the little guys that are really, really big news today. We love working with you all!
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