Franchise Prospector » Franchising for Women
Women Thrive as Fast Food Franchise Owners
Can women own and operate successful fast-food franchises? Just ask Carol Chin, who owns seven of them.
If you don't think women can run fast-food franchises for super-sized incomes, think again. Women own franchises. According to The Center for Women's Business Research, more than 30 percent of franchisers surveyed were owned by women. More and more women are not only financially independent; they are the primary breadwinners in their households. Consequently women are branching out into successful entrepreneurships that include owning fast-food franchises.
According to the Women's Franchises, the number of women-owned businesses in the country is growing at twice the rate of all new businesses combined. One of them is owned by Carol Chin, a woman who quit her position with Board of Education in New York City and opened a McDonald's fast-food franchise in New England. She liked the idea of starting her own business, and liked the idea of letting a franchisor do all the business modeling for her. Some fifteen years later, Chin owns seven McDonald's fast-food franchises in the greater Boston area.
Chin appreciates the financial freedom and flexible scheduling of owning a fast-food franchise that allows her to spend prized time with her loved ones.
Training and Support for Women's Franchise Owners
Organizations like The National Association of Women Business Owners help provide resources for entrepreneurs operating the country's 10.6 million women-owned enterprises. Executive Director Erin Fuller says one of the real benefits of franchising is that women can benefit from corporate training by the franchisor as well as ongoing marketing and sales support. She calls it a "just-add-water" experience.
Many women initially choose to franchise from one of the giants, hoping to benefit from brand recognition and long-established consumer habits. Midwest business incubator Gaebler Ventures reports that McDonald's is the fast-food industry leader, with more than 30,000 franchises world-wide. Burger King has 12,000 franchises; Taco Bell, 6,000 franchises; Del Taco, just under 500 franchises; and Orange Julius, with approximately 250 franchises, many of them in shopping malls.
Not all fast-food franchises require full kitchens and complicated assembly operations. There are sandwich-shop franchises, for example, that provide all the materials cut and sized into portions--and your employees simply assemble the order. There are fast-food baked goods, shakes, yogurt, and other non-hamburger-related enterprises as well.
Don't be fooled, however, into thinking fast-food success is automatic. Franchising takes long hours, an initial financial commitment, and stamina. Women need to evaluate their prospects carefully, speaking with other franchise owners who are willing to share their fast-food experience.
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