What Veterans Love about Franchising

John Turner gets franchising. After retiring from the US Army in 1996, he held down a variety of positions at telecom and high tech giants like SISCO and NEC. When the corporate world wasn’t doing it for him, he tried sole-proprietorship, consulting and launched a startup. Still not satisfied, he turned to franchising. “I’m an operator at heart. I really didn’t have the desire to go back and work for a large corporation again, and I didn’t have the intestinal fortitude to go through the startup process again,” Turner says. “If consulting wasn’t working, franchising seemed like a good option.” Although initially overwhelmed by the sheer volume of franchising opportunities, Turner whittled down the options until he had a few select industries he was interested in pursuing. From there, he looked for a brand name under which he could open a scalable business and be profitable. Throughout the process, Turner gave little thought to the impact his military career could have on owning a business. It wasn’t until he began conducting due diligence on Verizon retailer Wireless Zone that he realized what a great fit franchising would be for a veteran like himself. The first revelation came while studying financial requirements. “I realized veterans’ benefits qualified me for some unique programs on the franchising side,” Turner says. U.S. Military veterans have received discounted fees and special allowances for some time in the franchising community, but in 1991 Don Dwyer Sr. and the IFA officially launched the VetFran initiative to provide wide-scale financial incentives, training and mentoring to veterans interested in franchising. Since then, VetFran has helped nearly 2,000 veterans become their own boss. Many brands have also created individual programs to offer similar discounts and services. The value provided by these initiatives cannot be overstated, especially in today’s economy. Lending is often the biggest hurdle for entrepreneurs hoping to own a business, and knocking down capital requirements can clear the way for veterans who otherwise may not be able to buy a franchise. Turner’s next realization occurred during talks with other franchise owners and professionals and reveals the true advantage veterans hold in franchising. “One of the things I learned is that you’ve got to be willing to sign up for a system, believe in the system, do everything they tell you to do by the book and not questions,” says Turner. “To me, that sounded like the military. “In Basic Training, they tell you what to do, what to eat, when to sleep. Franchising isn’t that bad, but it’s the same principle. If you don’t have the mentality to make it in the military, you probably don’t have what it takes to run a franchise” Like many veterans of franchising will tell you, Turner found that the respect for systems and procedures he learned in the military is the secret to making it in franchising. “Folks that were successful, they could get with the program. Strugglers were the ‘you can’t tell me what to do’ type.” --Brian Diggelmann