How Franchising Gives Veterans a Career Path After Retirement

Many military positions, including recruitment, translate well to a new path in franchising.

By Paul Arrington, U.S. Air Force Veteran and franchisee with Property Management, Inc.

My path was a little different from most veterans-turned-franchisees. Growing up in Ocala, Florida, I was looking for opportunities after high school outside of the traditional college route. My father was a POW in WWII, and I had always loved mechanics, so I enlisted in the Air Force to work on planes. I spent 21 years in the U.S. Air Force — first working on fighter planes and then moving into recruitment. While in the Air Force, I also earned my Bachelor’s in Business Administration.

When I retired from the Air Force in 2002, I realized that working in recruitment had essentially set me up to be an excellent salesperson. Real estate was always something I wanted to do, and I felt equipped to enter the industry because of the valuable skills I gained from my time in the military. So in 2002, I started working in real estate sales.

A few years later in 2008, I seized an opportunity to start my own property management company. My company covered sales, property management, homeowner association management and more. In 2016, I joined Property Management, Inc. as a franchisee. Even though I was already qualified as a broker, I went through all of the same processes and training that every other franchisee goes through so that I could fully understand the business.

Through franchising, I have access to much more than a proven business model, but an experienced executive team and a network of other franchisees that are mutually invested in the success of the company. Over 20 percent of PMI’s franchises are owned by other veterans and, like many franchises, the brand offers a discounted franchise fee for veterans. I owned my own business for years, but I had never thought of it to the degree of the systemized manner that franchising provides, or how well working within a proven business model aligned with my experience as a veteran.

I’m able to provide support to 13 PMI franchises as their broker and regional mentor for the Florida market. The franchise system really brings structure to property management and it became my job to bring that same structure on the brokering front. Whether you are just now exiting military service and looking for a way to reenter the workforce, or have built a career on your own and want to apply the skills you have developed as a veteran to a highly sophisticated, systemized model that is ideal for goal-oriented people with a strong work ethic, it is never too late to consider franchising. Franchising offers an avenue for people of all experience levels, at any point in their career, to leverage a robust brand network for growth and success. Property Management, Inc. has certainly done so for me.

Paul Arrington has 21 years of military service in the U.S. Air Force to his name and a comparably long and fruitful second career in real estate that began in 2002. Arrington joined Property Management, Inc. and uses both his experience in real estate and military service to inform his work as a broker for 13 franchises throughout Florida. Find out more about Property Management, Inc. here.