A critical alliance.Few industries have symbolized access to entrepreneurial en·tre·pre·neur n. A person who organizes, operates, and assumes the risk for a business venture. [French, from Old French, from entreprendre, to undertake; see enterprise. opportunity the way franchising has during the last decade. Franchisees turned BLACK ENTERPRISE 100s company owners range from Lonear Heard, who owns a string of McDonald's restaurants There are more than 30,000 McDonald's restaurants in 119 countries. Restaurants The first McDonald's was not a restaurant at all, but it was a sit-in stand. The company's early franchises were built to a standard pattern that did not offer seating; this was in part to prevent in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. , to Brady Keys Brady Keys (born May 19, 1936 in Austin, Texas) was an American football player. He played as a defensive back for eight seasons in the NFL. , the former football star who once owned several Burger King outlets in the Detroit area and still owns several Kentucky Fried Chicken Fried chicken is chicken which is dipped in a breading mixture and then deep fried, pan fried or pressure fried. The breading seals in the juices but also absorbs the fat of the fryer, which is sometimes seen as unhealthy. restaurants in Georgia. Dozens of other African-American franchise owners are prominent examples of franchising's heralded propensity for creating black millionaires. Yet, there is a downside Downside The dollar amount by which the market or a stock has the potential to fall. Notes: You might hear someone say that the downside on stock XYZ is $10. What that means is that the stock could fall by this amount if things got bad. to the highly visible African-American success stories in franchising. The hard fact is that all minorities, including blacks, comprise less than 3% of the $758 billion franchise industry. Blacks comprise only 5% of the 1992 BE FRANCHISE 50, our annual list of the top performing companies, when it comes to black ownership, of their respective franchise units. While several companies, including McDonald's Corp. and Kentucky Fried Chicken Corp., have prospered through aggressive pursuit of minority franchise owners, a significant number of these companies have failed to recognize the value of diversifying their franchise ownership base. Fortunately, franchise industry leaders have recognized that the industry cannot sustain the rapid expansion of the past decade without taking steps to tap everyone, including African-Americans, who comprises the pool of potential franchise owners. A major step in the right direction is the International Franchise Association's (IFA Immunofluorescent assay (IFA) A blood test sometimes used to confirm ELISA results instead of using the Western blotting. In an IFA test, HIV antigen is mixed with a fluorescent compound and then with a sample of the patient's blood. ) creation of Alliance for Minority Opportunities in Franchising, the primary goal of which is to increase the number of women and minority franchise owners. BE is a charter affiliate of the new Alliance. It's no secret that the Alliance's cause is consistent with Be's efforts to help African-Americans profit in the franchise industry. As the owner of a Pepsi franchise in Washington, D.C., it is also a cause with which I can personally identify. Our annual BE FRANCHISE 50 report has provided an annual overview of black progress in this area. In part because of the quality of those reports, the IFA honored hon·or n. 1. High respect, as that shown for special merit; esteem: the honor shown to a Nobel laureate. 2. a. Good name; reputation. b. me with their Free Enterprise Award for 1991. As the franchising industry continues to mature, it has the potential to provide greater entrepreneurial opportunities for African-Americans. Through the IFA's Alliance, and through BLACK ENTERPRISE, we remain committed to helping the franchise industry realize that potential. |
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