Joel Libava
Social franchising, on a purely spiritual level, is a beautiful idea. On paper, I’m not so sure. Why is that?
Because people with a lot of wealth, in this case, philanthropic investor partners- have their limits. Let me explain.
Social Franchising And Everytable
Everytable is a 5-year old grab-and-go restaurant business located in Los Angeles.
(Everytable social franchise image courtesy of their Facebook Page)
Their mission:
To transform the food system to make delicious, nutritious food accessible to everyone, everywhere.
That’s a no-brainer. And now they’ve decided to use the strength of the franchise model to make nutritious food more accessible. How? By empowering local entrepreneurs in cities across the country.
According to Next City, local residents who want to own their own business can apply to start an Everytable franchise. But here’s where the franchise model starts to get stretched to its limits.
Wanted: Desire And Talent
In the case of Everytable, prospective franchisees don’t need to have an up front investment.
In addition, unlike most franchise opportunities, would-be franchisees aren’t required to have a minimum net worth to qualify, nor do they need to have good credit. From what I can tell, the only thing they need to have is the desire and the talent to start and grow a local food-service business.
That said, there’s something else every franchisee gets as part of their franchise startup package. Something crazy. Something so non-franchise-y…
But first, what is social franchising?
According to Franchise Direct:
Social franchises are established by people who recognize a problem in society and strive to solve it by using the entrepreneurial principles that make up traditional franchising to create, organize, and manage a venture.
Now that you know what a social franchise is, you’ve got to see what Everytable is doing for their franchisees.
Everytable Franchisees Receive A Guaranteed Salary
No…your eyes are not playing tricks on you.
In fact, every franchisee will be paid a salary during their 6-12 month training program. A salary???
Moreover, their compensation will be guaranteed during their first three years in business. That’s incredible. And highly unusual.
At this juncture, I’m guessing that you’d like to know how much their salary is. I would too, but I couldn’t find that figure. But whatever that number is, it certainly gives new franchisees breathing room.
Will The Everytable Social Franchise Idea Work?
In my view, it’s great to see a California community come up with a new way to distribute needed, healthy food to underserved areas.
Not only that, it’s great that Everytable wants to grow their business through franchising. I’m all for helping more people get into business. I’m just not sure the franchise model can withstand this new twist on franchising.
So what do you think?
Can this social franchise opportunity perform?
Will awarding franchises to people who don’t have any of their own money invested in the business work?
Finally, will the philanthropists behind Everytable stay in it for the long-haul?
