From A to Franchisee: The Podcast for Smarter Franchise Buying

Barriers to Diversity in Franchising

• Franchise Business Review • Season 1 • Episode 12

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In this episode, Michelle Rowan and Toni Harris-Taylor discuss the importance of diversity in franchising. Toni, a dynamic leader in the franchise world, emphasizes the need for awareness and inclusivity, debunking myths about financial barriers for minorities entering franchising. They explore the lack of representation at franchise events and the need for franchisors to engage with diverse communities. Toni shares her efforts to connect aspiring entrepreneurs with franchise opportunities and highlights resources like the International Franchise Association's Ascension initiative. The conversation underscores the value of diversity in business and the importance of showing up and networking to foster growth and success.

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Michelle Rowan (00:04)
Hello and welcome to our conversation today where we are going to be tackling the importance of diversity in franchising. Today, I'm very excited for our guest, Toni Harris-Taylor is joining us. If you don't know her, she is the dynamic force behind the multicultural franchise connectors and drastic franchise matchmakers. As the executive director and president, Toni is passionate about educating and empowering

minorities to explore franchise opportunities, fostering community growth and economic advancement. Through drastic franchise matchmakers, she connects aspiring entrepreneurs with their ideal franchise opportunities, transforming dreams into thriving realities. Toni's dedication to inclusivity and bold action makes her a leading voice in the franchise world. Today, we are going to be talking about the importance of diversity in franchising and all business, really.

and Toni's extensive work in that space. So thrilled to have you here, Toni. Thank you. Thank you so much for joining us.

Toni Harris Taylor (01:04)
Thank you, Michelle, for inviting me and bringing what is a sensitive subject today to the top, because this is something we can't just sweep under the rug. Let's have the real conversation.

Michelle Rowan (01:18)
Absolutely. Toni and I, think we were connected because you just reached out after an IFA or something like that. But, Toni has been a speaker at our FBR summit. she's everywhere. We were just talking about that before we hit play. She really is out in the community, just spreading the word. Part of it is just letting people know that franchising is an opportunity as a wealth creator. So that's number one. so I want to start by talking about what do you think? And there's a lot, but what do you think are the

barriers to getting more minority owners into franchise opportunities. Let's tackle that first.

Toni Harris Taylor (01:53)
It's not financial. And that's the biggest myth that I feel that the franchise community feels like minorities don't have access to capital. So we have 700 credit scores. We have 10 % down. We're not aware that, and we're gonna talk about that second.

Michelle Rowan (01:55)
Interesting.

Toni Harris Taylor (02:17)
But we're not aware that you can fund a franchise like you fund student loans. And so it's not financial. So can we take that off the table?

Michelle Rowan (02:30)
We

can, because that was actually on my list, Toni So already learning something. Yeah, excellent.

Toni Harris Taylor (02:35)
So

right away, the first thing that comes to my mind, the barriers is awareness.

Franchising is not in our networks telling us what's possible. Now, you know I do a lot of conferencing. That's how we got connected. So I do conferences on both sides, the franchise side and the ethnic community side. And I'm not even talking about ethnicity because this is also a women's issue. They're not at women's events.

Michelle Rowan (02:51)
I love that.

Yes.

Toni Harris Taylor (03:10)
They're not at black events. They're not a Hispanic events. And so it's a lack of awareness. So when I straw poll my network and I say, when I say the word franchising, what do you think every time Chick-fil-a McDonald's subway Starbucks, then I say, ⁓ okay, I'm going to level that and let you know that there are home-based

lower cost franchises that you can get into. And then I say, what do you think franchising is all about? And they know that people know that it's a proven system. They know that they get support. They just think they can't afford it. So on our side, there's a lack of awareness on the franchise side. There's a lack of awareness.

So on the franchise side, franchise brands don't know that they can show up in the rooms where we are. Give you a great example. I went to Vegas, the nationals, you're have to jump in and stop me, because I did. Okay, so I'm gonna breathe, because I get passionate about this, because off.

Michelle Rowan (04:21)
Let's hear it.

I promise I will.

I can hear it, it's great.

Toni Harris Taylor (04:36)
Let me say what I was going to say. So I went to Vegas in August to the National Sales Network Conference. Look it up, people. National Sales Network. There are 1,200 African-American people there, primarily pharmaceutical sales and medical device sales people. 70 to 80 % have that background. Now let's talk about it.

In franchising, one of the biggest challenges is getting your franchisees in the mindset to sell. Here we have an organization full of college educated, brown people who already know selling is important. And y'all ain't there. And so.

Michelle Rowan (05:22)
Yeah, that's great. Was

there anyone besides you there talking about franchising or no? Okay. All right. So you do work with candidates. So you help candidates find brands that are a good fit for what's in their goals, how they want to make their money, how they want to grow their business. And you also speak to franchisors and to their franchisees because you are a franchisee as well. So you have this kind of

Toni Harris Taylor (05:27)
No! No! No!

Yes.

Yes.

Michelle Rowan (05:48)
You know what it's like to run a business in franchising. You're helping to educate franchisers on how to make their franchisees grow their businesses by selling, by networking, by being in their community. you're kind of educating it from both sides, which I really, really love. What I want to do is just, I'm going to pop in some of our data. So I was just looking it up so that we could kind of understand what the landscape of franchising looks like.

according to our data. So again, this is based on brands that have taken part in our survey. 30,000 responses we're talking about. Roughly 29 % of franchises are owned by people of color versus 17%, which is a number I found of independent businesses. we have a lot of work to do, but we do have good representation compared to standalone businesses versus franchising. I'm not saying it's a great number. And 32 %

of the franchisees that responded to our survey are owned by women. So they're not super impressive numbers, but I want to just kind of talk about that. That's where we are. That's where we are today. Tons of room for improvement, but that's what we're seeing in our data today. So mostly a male white response is happening in our data. So we're going to change that. so you're. Yeah.

Toni Harris Taylor (07:01)
Yes, we are. And thank you for sharing those numbers.

They're better than I found. So I'd like for you to send me those numbers and the sources. So the next question is, then why aren't these people of color in the room at the conferences I attend?

Michelle Rowan (07:10)
Yeah, sure. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. So what I want to talk about is when you go to these networks, so I'm focusing on the potential franchise owner side. So when you go to these events, how are you positioning franchising to them? It's just the end. And also, I want to go back to your straw poll that you do. I'll do that amongst my friends as well, and I get the same answers. So we all have a better job to do of just talking about how we make our living in franchising and the opportunities that are available here.

to grow your own wealth. across the board, everybody should be talking about that. But tell me when you go into a space, your mindset is you want to make sure that people understand franchising is a vehicle that they should consider as far as if they're making a change in their career or how they make money. What do you say to them? How do you pitch franchising to a person that only knows the Chick-fil-A, McDonald's type of model in the world?

Toni Harris Taylor (08:16)
Yeah. So first of all, I my fly backpack. My backpack is flashing. Don't start a business, buy a franchise. So it strikes up a ton of conversation. And so people say, okay, well, and then my name tag says, all right, so correct.

Michelle Rowan (08:27)
Love that.

Ask me about franchising, just for anyone that's

just audibly listening to this.

Toni Harris Taylor (08:43)
Yes,

so it says ask me about franchising. so Toni, tell me about franchising. Well, did you know that over 60 % of franchises are not food? No, we didn't know that. So many of them are less than $150,000. They are home based. They are,

Michelle Rowan (08:46)
Love that.

Great start.

Toni Harris Taylor (09:10)
easily accessible. The SBA gives you loans and all you've got to do is come up with 10 % down. Did you know that? No, I didn't know that. My favorite franchise to talk about now is the Pet Waste franchise. Come on now, the average franchisee is making over a million dollars picking up dog poop. Did you know that? No.

Michelle Rowan (09:19)
Love it.

We gotta get rid of that poop.

Toni Harris Taylor (09:40)
and they used to do it every day all day and so then I say franchising is is accessible for us now I gotta also just I put in there it costs you nothing to explore and I just want to educate you on what's possible when I tell you the guard goes way down

Because people are like, I don't want to get into food and I don't have a million dollars. Great, because I'm not really, I mean, I'll put you in one. But I just educate them. But it starts with just bringing the barrier way down. home services, I really talk about home services because a lot of those are small office or home based and they're making a killing.

And so I throw in things like residential cleaning, pet waste, and I remind them you're the owner. That's the other thing. I'm not selling jobs. I'm letting them know they are the business owner and that these businesses can make a big difference.

Michelle Rowan (10:55)
I love it. So I want to talk about some, some resources specifically, to the community, the, people of color community of how you can, connect them with others or what type of support is out there. I'm going to start with, the international franchise associations franchise Ascension initiative, because again, I don't think that a lot of people know about it. but I think that this was put together two or three years ago, with a,

a focus on getting underrepresented groups that are at an economic disadvantage, education, mentorship, accessibility to those resources to help them get started in franchising. So that is something to check out, IFA's website, franchise.org. That's one potential way that you could look for more education. They actually pair you with mentors if you apply to that program.

coaching. So you're going to get a lot of access to resources that can help you get into ownership. What are some? Yay. Yeah. Excellent. Excellent. So yeah, I was going to say, yeah. So what other, what other resources do you point people to or what other resources are you partnering with so that people don't feel like they're going at this alone?

Toni Harris Taylor (11:52)
Yes, and I signed up to be a mentor, so yay. As if I'm not busy enough.

Well, first of all, I launched multicultural franchise connectors a 501C3. We are working on our programming right now as we speak to steer people in the right direction. But the truth is, it is not much out there. It's just not. I haven't found it. And please send it to me and LinkedIn. If you know of a resource that is talking to our communities,

besides IFA and shout out to IFA for putting the Ascension program in place. It's a beautiful start, beautiful start. But we need more voices

Michelle Rowan (12:47)
have a couple I'm going to share. Key for Women from Key Bank, ⁓ they put together a program that is financial advice and solutions, also teaching leadership skills, mentoring and networking targeted at women. So that you can check out Key for Women if you just Google that. That's one of that I know of. I know that there's some franchisor brands that are doing more as well to try and bring more people of color and women into their systems. It doesn't mean that they're,

educating people that the opportunity is there. But I think that once they find the brand, they are trying to put more into place to help them get into business. The Multicultural Food Service and Hospitality Alliance, they have a program that's called Pathways to Black Franchise Ownership. PepsiCo has donated a lot of money to try and help educate and get more black owners into franchise restaurants specifically. So that's also a resource if you are in the food mindset to look at that as well. And then

Toni Harris Taylor (13:40)
love it.

Michelle Rowan (13:40)
And then I think there's also too there's an opportunity, you know, I sit on the University of Louisville's board, they have a franchise center, but we're seeing more franchising classes or education pop up at the undergrad level in colleges. And I think that there's an opportunity for those programs as well to try and target minority students to get that type of education. And I think we can hit them at a younger age when they're thinking about those careers as that's an opportunity that they could kind of.

try and find a path forward to. those are some ones that I pulled together for our conversation today.

Toni Harris Taylor (14:11)
Yeah, and

I appreciate those, again, send me all these resources. But here's the common thread with those. They're mostly food. They're mostly food. So you trade brands, neighborly, authority, horsepower, need to put together trade programs to help reach the people.

Michelle Rowan (14:20)
Yeah, that's.

Yes.

So what do you think are some things, and this is for everybody, when people are looking at a franchise opportunity, what advice do you give them? How do you tell them to look at the brand or red flags to kind of keep their eye out ⁓ if they are considering a franchise?

Toni Harris Taylor (14:55)
So first, of course, as a broker, we start with the introduction. So we have to do our research ourselves. then, know, ChatGPT is our friend now. So we can put that FDD in ChatGPT and ask them, what are some of the red flags? Uh-huh.

Michelle Rowan (15:12)
I love that. You're the first guest

that has suggested that.

Toni Harris Taylor (15:16)
Yeah. And then, of course, validation. And I help them with what questions to ask during validation so they can ask the hard questions, but also set up their expectations that franchising is not easy. It's easier, but it doesn't mean it's easy. People fail at franchising because they won't show up. And so asking the hard questions as well.

Michelle Rowan (15:43)
Do you think that there's anything they can do to suss out the culture of the brand to make sure that it is a team or just a brand that is focusing on the success specifically of their minority owners? Because I think what we see is the franchisors that put the most emphasis on initial training and getting you open.

are having a better result and making sure that those franchise owners are off to a great start. So what kinds of support and things should people be looking at to make sure that they feel supported once they sign on that dotted line?

Toni Harris Taylor (16:17)
Yeah. So again, that's a validation question that asking direct culture questions, asking, not being afraid to ask, what are you doing for women in your brand? What are you doing for minorities in your brand? And then also the best candidate is going to ask, well, how can I help you? Right. to further the charge as well. And so,

Michelle Rowan (16:44)
love that.

Toni Harris Taylor (16:46)
It is a group effort and it's not just, teach my people who come in my ecosphere, they know you've got to be a giver as well as a receiver. And so even when you are looking at a franchise, what can you bring to the table that will help that franchisor be successful as well?

Michelle Rowan (17:06)
I love that. Yeah.

Yeah. You're always so good about asking what you can do for me when we talk. it sometimes is uncomfortable because I'm not the person that asks for a lot of help. So I think offering help and also asking how you can help people is a great mindset to get into. I'm always happy to help and ask people what I can do to help, but I'm not the easiest to offer up how you can help me. So I always appreciate, I'm always ready for that question when we talk.

Toni Harris Taylor (17:31)
It does, and

it's the question that will stump the person. People are like, oh, I wasn't prepared to answer that. But if you're, and this comes with networking training, I'm just going to throw that in there because you got to learn how to answer that question so that you can receive what you really want to get.

Michelle Rowan (17:35)
Yeah.

Yeah.

you we talked about this before we started, but diversity is very good for business on your teams and your franchise networks and your customers. This is what we should all be striving for because it makes our our businesses healthy and strong and having the most opportunity to grow. there's not a lot of people of color in the broker networks. We need to see people being successful.

in the areas that we're envisioning our future So we all have a responsibility, women, people of color, to tell our stories so that other people can see that we're successful in these areas. I loved that you said if you also are a part of a franchise network, how can you help your franchisor be better at telling those stories or showing what ownership looks like for everybody, every type of person that's being successful in the model? I think that's a really good

Tip, look for those photos, those visual cues on their marketing materials, on their website, ask those questions, talk to those owners in the system. I think those are all really great ways to kind of figure that out.

Toni Harris Taylor (18:48)
Sure.

And it

has to be more than a check the box. And if you really, and franchisors development people hear this, if you're really serious about diversity, you got to get in the rooms where we are, because we don't know y'all exist either. So somebody's got to take the first step to show up in the rooms.

Michelle Rowan (18:57)
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Yeah.

Toni Harris Taylor (19:16)
And so we gotta start inviting franchise curious people into the room. And so I'm having an event and so whenever it's appropriate, I'd like to mention.

Michelle Rowan (19:27)
Yeah, go ahead, because I was going to ask you, know, what types of events or what kind of resources are out there? Do you think that there are for candidates to learn about franchise opportunities? So I think you're go ahead and tell us about your event now.

Toni Harris Taylor (19:36)
Yeah.

So you know I'm drastic, right? I just got to the franchise broker side of things and they're like, you're having an event again. I've not seen anybody do this. It could be happening, ⁓ I do Tarji Carter. So shout out to Tarji. But I'm having a virtual event where I'm putting 15 franchisors in front of franchise curious people.

potential candidates and it's Saturday November 22nd from 9 to 5 Central Time and you can find it at franchise connect live.com franchise connect live.com and I'm so proud because I've got a diverse group of franchisor representatives

with a diverse audience, come on y'all. And so share it with those who might be franchise curious. And let's just come up with something that is going to change the trajectory of people's lives.

Michelle Rowan (20:32)
Love it. Love it.

Love

it. Yeah. There's also expos. There's different organizations that do they're called franchise expos. They're usually regional. ⁓ there you just came from one in LA. There's one in New York. So I know national franchise events is one, MFV is another one, but I think those are, those are low, ⁓

Toni Harris Taylor (21:01)
MFE.

Let me say something about those expos, can I?

Michelle Rowan (21:07)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Toni Harris Taylor (21:11)
I've been to three of them with MFV shout out to the MFV family. The people walking through them through there are not white. The people coming through the franchise Expos to buy are not. I'm like, wow, the word is somehow the word is getting out,

Michelle Rowan (21:20)
That's awesome.

I just, want to just go back to those expos because our, our audience might not have ever attended one. So the, the, these shows are the franchise brands have booths and they're trying to sell their dream to you walking the floor. So what I want to say, it's a low barrier of being hard sold, that you can just be curious, walk those aisles, see the variety of franchise brands that are there. There's a variety of investment levels. There's a variety of segments of business that they're in.

Toni Harris Taylor (21:37)
Okay.

Michelle Rowan (21:58)
So I think it's a great way to just, if you are curious, I also love this franchise curious term you're using. It's the first I've heard of it. ⁓ It's an easy way to just go see what's out there, ask questions. There's usually some educational component to it. Our founder, Eric Stites, will do, how much money can I make? Biggest question that people wanna ask and he's trying to help people understand how to get there. So I think that those are worth checking out because there's usually no cost to attend them if you're just...

curious about franchising and there's usually an education component. you can just Google what might be in your area. Cause a lot of brokers will do regional ones as well. it's an opportunity in person to ask some questions or see what they're about. But yeah, continue on what you're going to say about the Expos.

Toni Harris Taylor (22:36)
I love that. I

love that. And yes. So here's the other message. All money is green. And if you're not getting in those communities, you're lacking green money. I heard ⁓ Van Jones from CNN speak recently. And I want to speak now to the other side, the people who have communities that are minorities.

what he said was

As African Americans, as minorities, we are sending the wrong message to the Caucasian community. In other words, the message is, y'all got too much. We have too little. You need to give us some of what you got versus us saying, well, money is green. We can help you grow.

We can help you to win and both sides win. I can see what he was exactly saying when he said that. Listen, y'all need to come get this green money. Because the truth is the population is changing, the demographics are changing and the age is changing. Millennials is a culture. So when I did multicultural,

It wasn't just ethnicity. It was women, pre-retirees, veterans, and then also millennials. Lord knows they're culture all in themselves. that has nothing to do with ethnicity. Let's show up where these people are and let's make green money together, y'all.

Michelle Rowan (24:24)
Yeah,

that's great. Excellent. Is there anything that we haven't talked about, any advice that you want to give to people that are curious about franchising? What would you tell them where to show up? Obviously, they can reach out to you directly. We want them to ask questions. We're happy to answer questions. I will also say we have done, Franchise Business Review has done a top franchises for black entrepreneurs, for black enterprise. They're a great publication.

They cover all business, not just franchising. Cause again, that's too, that's kind of our mission at FBR too is we want to help people explore franchising to understand if it's right for them. There's still other opportunities for people that are interested in entrepreneurship or just being part of corporate teams. There's lots in franchising that you can be involved with. anything else that you would offer to this community of how to connect with others.

find information or just figure out what their next move is in their career.

Toni Harris Taylor (25:17)
So as you can see over my head, my slogan, show up, be up, follow up to blow up. So that's the formula. That's the formula for life success. You got to be in the room where your prospects are. You can't just say we have a plan for diversity, check the box, and you're not even showing the plan to the people who can make a difference.

You gotta have good energy. You gotta be welcoming. You've got to just everybody can come in here. Let's grow together and then follow up. So, you know, that goes without saying you're in sales. We are all in sales. Follow up and your life and your business will blow up. And I just can't say it any better than that. Pick up the book if you want to, to really get the formula. But I call me.

Michelle Rowan (26:07)
I love that.

Toni Harris Taylor (26:16)
I want to help. want to help.

Michelle Rowan (26:18)
Yeah.

Yeah, I love that. And I think also to just remembering that franchising is a pretty special space. We do want to share and help encourage people. And what I think is so special about franchising is it's an equal playing field. You have access to a playbook to start and grow a business and it is a great way to come in. And as I know, it's used a lot, but I do like it that you are in business for yourself, but not by yourself. have access to other people.

that are running the same brand or same business as you that you can learn from, learn from their mistakes, share best practices. So I think this is a community, there's tons of people in franchising that are focused on getting a more diverse look at owners and franchising, suppliers. We wanna see it all because it does make us stronger as an industry when we're all successful. I don't know if you have anything else that you wanna do to wrap this up, but really.

Toni Harris Taylor (27:10)
always want to say

thank you to you, FBR, Eric, your family. You guys have been such a voice and y'all challenge things and I appreciate that. And so I just love what FBR is doing.

but Michelle, y'all's love, you wear it on the outside.

Michelle Rowan (27:33)
⁓ thanks. We do. We love franchising, but there's plenty of opportunity for us to be better. And we're hoping to continue raising the bar and getting everybody on our love fest party train. But thank you for always being so great about FBR and sharing your your love of us, because we do appreciate it. And we just see all the great things that you're doing for our community, too. So thank you for always showing up and challenging us to be better and invite more people in to our franchise party. Thanks so much.

Toni Harris Taylor (27:59)
Awesome.