Jeff Bevis, writing for Forbes, published an article yesterday highlighting the positive impact of franchises on local communities across the United States. Bevis points out that franchised small business are true local businesses, even though the brands themselves are regional or national. This is because the franchise owner is usually a local, the employees are local, and they often do business with local vendors and businesses. By bringing in a franchised model to the community, they're bringing in a model that's proven to work accompanied by a training and support system. The hope that working with a franchise will improve an entrepreneurs likelihood to succeed extends to the employees and community. Successful small businesses are a bedrock of communities, bringing stability in employment, services, and taxes. A 2017 article published by David Kirby of the Huffington Post commented that the majority of jobs and nearly half of U.S. private payrolls are produced by small businesses operating in communities across America. Kirby wrote, "Our nation’s stability is in part predicated upon a stable economy and the financial strength derived from these businesses."

Bevis cited four main reasons for how franchises support their communities. Franchisees become emphatic members of their communities, increased business longevity, decreasing employee turnover, and recruiting invested employees. I would add that franchisees often do all of these things in a way that transcends their personal relationship with the community. In many cases, franchised business will continue across generations or be sold to new business owners. The services offered and jobs provided continue past one owner's involvement, bringing an element of stability to the community.

In addition to their positive economic impact, franchises often impact their communities through charitable commitments. Increasingly, charity is a common component of nation-wide brands, franchises included. In a 2017 article on 1851franchise.com, Christian Albrecht wrote about how many franchises have committed to giving back. Christian writes that community involvement "individualizes the location differentiating the franchise from one that the customer visits down the street or in the past." An example Christian gives in the article is of a Two Men And A Truck location giving back to the Veteran community in Omaha, NE. You've Got Maids understands the need for a relationship with communities and encourages all of its franchisees to do so. Accordingly, we have partnered for years with Cleaning For A Reason, a non-profit aimed at aligning cancer patients with free cleaning services.

If you're looking to build a business for yourself AND your community, consider working with a franchise. If you furthermore see the value of recurring clients, low entry costs, and scalability inherent in house cleaning, then we should talk. We'd love to go on this discovery process with you and see if it's a fit. We're convinced that we have a unique offer, and would love to tell you more about it.