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Yahoo! News reports that Franchise Business Review, a national franchise market research firm, has published the Veterans and Franchising 2011, the first known survey on veteran franchisees, particularly on their satisfaction rating compared to non-veterans. “Like non-vets, veterans are looking for good opportunities regardless of industry, and many have the funds to afford a relatively large investment,” said Eric Stites, Franchise Business Review president and CEO. The findings likewise show that the veterans enjoy operating their businesses, but rate their own performance as franchisees lower than the non-veterans.

A new report released today by Franchise Business Review includes the first-known research on military-trained franchise operators and their overall satisfaction as franchisees compared to non-veterans.

The findings, published in Veterans and Franchising 2011, show that franchisees with military experience enjoy operating their businesses and being a part of their franchise organizations, but rate their own performance as franchisees slightly lower than their non-vet counterparts.

To compile the research for this report, Franchise Business Review surveyed nearly 2,000 military-trained franchisees, representing 178 brands and more than 60,000 franchise units.

Veterans and Franchising 2011 includes a listing of Franchise Business Review’s Top 100 Franchises for Veterans, the first list of its kind to include data on actual veteran franchisee satisfaction and performance. The brands with the highest franchisee satisfaction among veterans includes Heaven’s Best Carpet Cleaning, Home Instead Senior Care, American Poolplayers Association, Jan-Pro, CertaPro Painters, Proforma, Christian Brothers Automotive, Computer Troubleshooters, Brightstar, and Color Glo International.

The top companies represent an array of franchise concepts and investment ranges, revealing that military-trained franchisees aren’t necessarily drawn to sectors or services that match their military specialties. In fact, according to the report, the sector with the highest percentage of veterans is the finance and tax industry with 19.7% of franchisees having previous military experience. The average initial investment for the franchises appearing on the Top 100 list is in the area of $150,000.

“Based on our findings, veterans looking for franchise opportunities aren’t necessarily looking for businesses that fit their military training. Like non-vets, veterans are looking for good opportunities regardless of industry, and many have the funds to afford a relatively large investment,” said Franchise Business Review president and CEO Eric Stites.

Veterans and Franchising 2011 looks at the overall landscape of veterans in franchising and why military service is such a natural fit for franchising—an idea that is widely promoted by the International Franchise Association (IFA), the franchise industry’s leading membership organization.

“Veterans grow up understanding two things—systems and discipline,” said Mary Thompson, president of the Mr. Rooter franchise system (part of the Dwyer Group) and chairman of the IFA’s VetFran Committee.

According to Thompson and backed by Franchise Business Review’s research, the type of discipline and teamwork taught in the military goes hand-in-hand with the skills required to be a successful business owner. Because of this—and because they want to support our veterans—many franchise brands now offer significant cost-savings and other support and incentives to veterans interested in franchise ownership. But promoting franchise opportunities to retired servicemen and women is much more than a nice thing to do; top franchise brands have discovered it makes real business sense.

“I want to help veterans, but it’s not just that,” Thompson said. “There’s a very selfish side to this. Vets make great franchisees.”

Photo by TheBusinessMakers