The Benevolent Business Leader: The New Look of Today’s Future Franchisees

Blending business success and charitable alignment motivates the benevolent business leader.

By Philip St. Jacques, CFE

Did you feel that? There is an overt shift in the motivating drivers that bring people who are seeking business ownership to franchise brands. Financial rewards and controlling one’s future remain high on the priority list, yet a new trend that began more than eight years ago, is gaining momentum. This new trend holds a coveted place at the top of franchise seekers’ lists, as more and more people are seeking businesses and brands that align with their core values and allows them to give back to communities that they serve.

Blending Business Success and Charitable Alignment

This is a feel-good story about the emergence of the “benevolent business leader” and social entrepreneurship, a fast-growing movement that is showing up for brands with a mission, to not only find the opportunity for growth, but also those seeking to fill a charitable-shaped hole that completes their story. By blending business success and charitable alignment, that combination becomes a powerful motivator for the benevolent business leader when choosing brands to align with. Franchisors tend to fall back on the pragmatic, measurable characteristics of potential candidates. These often include geography, net worth, liquid capital, business or management experience and often the message franchisors offer about financial performances and tangible assets. Yet, what may not be readily apparent in this quest to put candidates into nice neat categories is that many successful entrepreneurs are seeking brands and opportunities that do more than generate revenue, and are asking questions such as “What do you stand for?” and “How are you making a difference?” This benevolent business leader has attained a certain level of success and in looking for new opportunities is evaluating brands on their social responsibility, value system and charitable alignment. There seems to be an innate drive to contribute to the communities they operate in for helping them achieve a certain level of success and now they want to return something to those communities.

Attracting the Benevolent Business Leader

So the big question is, “Where do franchisors find and begin to attract this highly desirable franchise candidate?” To start, franchisors need to take an introspective assessment and ask hard, truth-seeking questions, such as “What do we stand for?” and “What are our core values?”  Many brands have written mission statements and corresponding core values, but the authenticity of that mission, core values and how deeply committed franchisors are to that belief system will demonstrate to the benevolent business leader whether this is a veneer or a mission that is essential to driving the company forward.

Key Attributes

What these benevolent business leaders all have are several key attributes. They have time, choice, are capitalized and are in demand. Gayle Reaume, founder and CEO of Moolah U, knows all about the benevolent business leader. “I want to end generational poverty,” said Reaume. “Through our camps and clubs, our mission is to provide young people with the tools to build lives of financial stability and responsibility. Moolah U delivers real life and real money experiences, which starts young people on a journey to financial independence. Our future franchisees that experience our brand see this vision, have achieved success, gained perspective, and want to give back and Moolah U allows them to do just that.” Social entrepreneurship is defined as those pioneering companies that emerge to solve challenging social problems through business processes, and Reaume feels she’s one of these pioneers. “We all do better when we all work better,” she said. “I have a personal passion to educate young adults about financial literacy, and I wrapped a business around that passion. To end generational poverty it’s going to take an army of brand evangelists to bring financial literacy to the world. Franchising allows Moolah U to scale its mission, and for the benevolent business leader, it’s a perfect fit.” Taking the concept of social entrepreneurship one step further, we arrive at social franchising, a term that describes the delivery of desperately needed health and wellness necessities, through a franchise model, to developing countries. The social franchise model is often tied to a non-governmental organization or other aid agency in areas that do not have a reliable, regulated system for delivering high quality health goods and is often subsidized. This social entrepreneurship movement, officially termed “Conscious Capitalism” was co-founded by John Mackey, co-founder and co-CEO of Whole Foods Market nearly eight years ago. Mackey is quoted at www.consciouscapitalism.org that, “People just want business to do good. It’s that simple.” Mackey co-authored a New York Times and Wall Street Journal best-selling book, “Conscious Capitalism, Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business” which started the movement and reimagines the idea of capitalism based on the idea of ethical practices and a higher purpose.

Participating in the Movement

So how can franchisors participate in a movement that seems to be gaining momentum to build their brands? One such brand seems to have it figured out and makes giving back central to their franchise model. Great American Deals is a franchisor of a daily deal technology platform that attracts franchisee candidates with deep roots in their local communities. Co-founded by Pat Sajak, the Great American Deals model makes direct charitable contributions a central element of their marketing strategy. “Our franchisees’ primary objective is to build databases of quality, opt-in email addresses within their local community that meet strict opt-in requirements,” said Mark Vannuki, COO of Great American Deals. “To do this, they build relationships with religious organizations, sports programs and schools in their community. Each opt-in email acquired gives a direct dollar contribution back to that organization. It’s a win-win model. The franchise candidates that come to Great American Deals have a distinct desire to give back to the communities they live in, and they love the idea of supporting local businesses and helping them grow more, he said” For the team at Great American Deals, the benevolent business leader and what drives them is central to their communications strategy. “We message our campaigns to speak directly to the benevolent business leaders’ value system that’s authentic to our brand,” said Vannuki. “We’re an emerging brand, so our ideal franchise candidate is going to be that bold leader who’s looking to build stronger ties within their communities. We know this new breed of entrepreneur is out there and looking for a brand they can believe in, and we know Great American Deals has what they are looking for in a new business opportunity.” The benevolent business leader is riding the leading edge of the social entrepreneurship movement and is gaining in momentum. For today’s franchisors to align themselves with a highly desirable, well-capitalized franchisee candidate pool and appeal to the charitable sensibilities, brands need to embrace more than metrics. Just ask Reaume from Moolah U: “People that show up for Moolah U are looking for deeper meaning measured in something more than money. That’s the embodiment of social entrepreneurship.”

Philip St. Jacques, CFE, is a partner and chief marketing officer at St. Jacques Marketing. Find him at fransocial.franchise.org.