1 Million Franchises

Brief Description

World Franchise Organization proposes an investment in under-resourced communities designed to create over one million post-pandemic opportunities for small business ownership and millions of jobs for employees across America. 

Background Information

1 Million Franchises is one of the biggest global business initiatives helping small businesses. This groundbreaking, innovative, inner-city initiative is designed to use franchises to revitalize urban communities, improve neighborhood access to retail and services, and promote sustainable local economic development. The program aims to attract new franchisors and franchisees to emerging domestic markets and help some 125 qualified individuals in each of the nearly 8,800 U.S. Opportunity Zones become entrepreneurs through franchising.

Program Highlights

• Franchise Outreach Program – To create a grassroots network of community franchise consultants; reach potential franchisees on a sustained basis; and establish a nation-wide network of franchise business colleges where prospects can receive information, training and guidance on evaluating, funding and running a franchised business.

• Tuition-Free Franchise Education Scholarships – To educate women, minority and immigrant entrepreneurs on the wide range of franchising opportunities available to them; and to help companies expand their franchise networks and improve their system profitability by reducing franchisee recruitment costs and improving the quality of new franchisees coming into a system.

• Community Bank Franchise – To open branches in every community; help individuals finance the acquisition of a franchise; and connect franchisees to federal, state and local government programs, tax breaks and other incentives for which they may qualify.

• Tax-Free Franchise Lifestyle Centers – To create new walkable, high-density mixed-use economic centers for each community filled with curated collections of tax-advantaged franchised businesses, restaurants and shops; to provide franchise incubator and accelerator space for start-up franchises to grow; and to establish a network of offsite construction factories to develop affordable homebuilding franchises, expedite construction and reduce costs.

Additional Information

1 Million Franchises will provide all the tools candidates need to succeed — education, training, marketing, financing, mentorship, coaching, and ongoing support. All they need to provide is the drive and the passion to make the business thrive in their community. The program is expected to support nearly 10 million direct jobs, $1.1 trillion of economic output for the U.S. economy and represent 3 percent of the total Gross Domestic Product (GDP).