The History Of Franchising - The Creation Of The Franchise
By Paul Stuart, Sat Dec 17th

Where did franchises originate? Discover the beginning offranchise opportunities.

The franchise business has been around a long time, in fact theygo back as far back as the 1850's. The notion of selling off abusiness or a part of a business in order to expand into newareas usually came from the lack of investment funds from thebusiness owner. Through their creativity they were able to keepthe business alive by selling franchise opportunities towould-be entrepreneurs.

While the business of franchising has grown over the years itall had to start somewhere. The concept of franchise businessesbegan with none other than the sewing machine manufacturer,Singer.

The Singer Franchise Business Opportunity

In the 1850's the Singer Company produced sewing machines butdidn't have enough capital to actually pay their salesmensalaries. Instead, they created a network of dealers. Thesefirst franchise owners paid Singer a fee to work in a particularterritory and earned money for each sale of a sewing machinethey bought from the company and resold.

Their significance in the start of the franchise and theopportunities it created came from the creation of the contractthat is still used today between the original business owner andthe new entrepreneur. Many feel the contract was what reallysparked the creation of franchises in the future as it allowedbusiness owners to keep some control over how the franchiseeswere run.

The Coca-Cola Company Franchise Business Opportunity

When Coca-Cola was originally created, it was only sold as afountain drink. In 1899 two men obtained a short 600-wordcontract and the permission to bottle the soda.

Thomas and Whitehead soon realized that even though they had agreat idea, they couldn't afford to actually create a bottlingcompany. As an alternative, they created a franchise companyselling the right to bottle the product to individual bottlingplants.

The KFC Franchise Business Opportunities

One of the most famous start-ups in the franchise industry wasKentucky Fried Chicken. The franchise opportunity began whenHarlin Saunders, or the 'Colonel' was about to go under. Hisbusiness started to fail when a highway was created seven milesaway from his restaurant. With his business going under, Sandershad to find new ways to get his famous chicken to people.

When Sanders finally lost his business, he went practicallydoor-to-door to sell his chicken recipe. His popularity improvedwith time and within a few years he had restaurant owners comingto him. He set up franchises and today there are over 10,000 KFCrestaurants all over the world.

Companies Leading The Way For Franchise Business Opportunities

The establishment of KFC and others like it led the way forbusinesses to expand all over the world. It also gave theopportunity for new entrepreneurs to find the path to success.Many of KFC's first franchise owners became millionaires. Peoplewho joined in with similar companies like McDonald's also foundsuccess.

Thanks to these companies, we now have the opportunity to sharein the success of other businesses and business owners have theopportunity to expand their dream. By reaching out to others,they can build a franchise empire out of a business opportunity.

About the author:Paul Stuart is a writer for whichfranchise.org.whichfranchise.org provides potential franchisees with free andimpartial information, advice and opportunities. For moreinformation visit http://www.whichfranchise.org