Thursday, March 30, 2006

Did you know this? Franchising begun by Ben Franklin in Charleston

Franchising was begun in 1731 by Benjamin Franklin (why does that not surprise me), who licensed his Philadelphia printing business to his journeyman Thomas Whitmarsh as his printing partner in South Carolina. Franklin buys the printing press and types in return for 1/3 of the profits over a six-year term — in effect becoming a printing franchiser.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Too bad we can't franchise, I mean, clone Franklin himself.

GreenLights4U said...

Clone yes, franchise maybe not. Its a model that had a rough start before it reached maturity. Some would say its now on the slippery slope of decline. A costly and increasingly risky way for an individual to buy a minimum wage job. Whatever supercedes the franchise model will need to be far more accessible to individuals with an expectation of living a more balanced life than the current day franchisee.

FYI