If you’re interested in sharing your opinion on any cultural, political or personal topic, create an account here and check out our how-to post to learn more.
____
Like many millennials, my career journey has been one of constant discovery. I unearthed my passion for dance at the “old” age of 16 and studied a variety of dance styles in the years that followed. I started my career in the entertainment industry as a professional dancer, working with recording artists on music videos and with popular consumer brands on commercials. After a few years of exhilarating and fun work, I began to think about my long-term professional goals and how I could best use my gifts to help others. And that’s when I decided to enter the world of business and franchising.
When I began my entrepreneurial journey and started my assisted stretch studio business, I spent the first year studying franchising so that I could fully understand every aspect of it. It was an unknown world for me and I questioned why more people who looked like me were not a part of it. I realized there are tremendous opportunities in franchising, especially for millennials, and as a Black millennial franchisor, it has become my duty to help others like myself explore the benefits of the franchising world.
Black millennials are often not aware of the possibilities in the realm of franchising, due to a few reasons. First, there isn’t really a rule book that explains exactly how to get into franchising or what avenues you can take to become a part of it. Most of the information available is shared via word of mouth or scattered across the internet for people to piece together. I spent hours scouring the internet when I decided I might want to franchise my business. Fortunately, I came across a consulting firm that was able to break down how the franchise world works in layman's terms for me.
Typically, these firms start off at $30,000 minimum for information alone, which leads me to my next point. Access to capital is a key element that prohibits more Black millennials from getting involved with franchising. In my experience, I haven’t come across many millennials who have $30K laying around that they don’t need. Throughout our lives, we’ve been told to go to school and get a good job; however, most jobs don’t pay enough to allow us to save enough to fully invest in something. But if more of us with useful information and firsthand experience in franchising shared our resources, we could empower other aspiring franchisors and franchisees to successfully take on the challenge.
Another reason that few Black millennials are entering the world of franchising is because of a lack of representation. There aren’t many Black franchisors in our communities that people can turn to for positive examples, and people often aren’t willing to travel down a road that they haven’t been exposed to. As the self-proclaimed Ray Kroc of the stretching world, and as a first-generation Black female franchisor, I’m learning from all of my mistakes, gathering more information than I could ever dream of and sharing my entire journey with those who are willing to listen.
Exploring opportunities in the franchising world can help transform our communities by helping us build generational wealth. Once tested out and refined, we are able to create strong systems that can be passed down to generations to come. In 2019, the economic output of franchise establishments in the United States was approximately 787.5 billion. That’s a lot of dollars that could change the current situation for a lot of people. Our people.
As we are all actively navigating the developments and the uncertainty of the COVID-19 outbreak, I challenge everyone to use this downtime to create plans for a business that can help sustain you and your family in times of need. Creating your own business, after this pandemic is over, could help ensure you have a strong system in place, so if something like this ever happens again, you could be in a strong position to make sure both you and your family are OK. One stream of income is sometimes enough, but multiple streams of income, particularly through franchising, can help create stability, advance the culture and foster more promising economic opportunities in our communities.
____
