Stanley White could be the poster child of the military veteran-turned-franchise owner. After a 6-year Army stint in the mid-1990s, he became a successful insurance salesman, hitting a 6-figure income by the time he was 30.
By 2005, however, he was restless. His long commute, the hours missed as a husband and father to two growing boys and the desire to ‘do my own thing’ - all nagged at him. ‘I wanted to run my own business,’ White said. ‘I wanted to do a 180, go crazy and jump off the cliff all the way.’
That kind of abandon took some careful planning. In August, after more than a year of research, he dove into small-business ownership, opening his own Cartridge World outlet, an ink-cartridge refill company tucked into a small shopping center.
White, 35, is among the growing force of military veterans who’ve plunged into the world of franchise ownership, thanks in part to the franchise industry’s nationwide push to recruit more vets. Since the program was re-launched in 2001, after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, more than 600 military veterans have purchased a franchise using VetFran incentives, according to the International Franchising Association, the Washington, D.C.-based trade group that sponsors the VetFran Program.
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