Who is Ben Carson?

Where did he come from and should franchising care?

SPONSOREDUpdated 8:08AM • 11/25/15

Photo Credit: Albert H. Teich / Shutterstock.com

Honestly, I think about Ben Carson a lot. To anyone who doesn’t follow the political sphere extremely close, and to some that may, the answer in my opinion is, out of nowhere.

If you google “where did Ben Carson come from,” (as I did) your answer comes up as Detroit... Really?

For a very long time Mr. Carson was a neurosurgeon, and from 1984 to 2013, he was the director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Maryland. He was even the subject of a television drama entitled “Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story” (Full disclosure I haven’t seen it. But I will when it hits Netflix or when Mr. Carson’s campaign sends me back a statement on his stance on small business. For the record, they have not, as of writing).

But in all fairness to the Ben Carson campaign, is a neurosurgeon not what this company needs right now? Is a neurosurgeon not what is needed for franchising and small business? Someone who thinks extremely calculated and decisive?

There is no shortage of questions of what the country needs but there is definitely a clear need for the economy to continuing to grow and more jobs to be created. Enter franchising. According to ADP, the franchise community raised employment by 52,500 jobs.

As we continue to progress into the more formidable stages of the republican and democratic campaigns, we will discover more and more what each candidate has in store for the economy.

I was tasked with writing a profile about Ben Carson by our publisher, but his campaign refused to answer my requests for a statement on small business or on franchising.

From what I’ve seen and read on Ben Carson, he is very pointed on social issues but not as hard-nosed on business issues that can change the way business is thought of on a national scale. In no way is this a call for or against Ben Carson (quite the contrary, I think Mr. Carson is the best opposition to Hilary Clinton if she wins the Democratic nomination).

In closing; I can’t give you a clear picture of Ben Carson as hard as I try. I can give you my personal opinion of the man and his campaign, and I can continue to give you political anecdotes, but he continues to be a mystery to where his capital compass points. Either way, don’t listen to me when you choose a presidential candidate. Look inward at your family, your business and what will be best for your family.