In 2004, Enrique Roselli, an executive at Pepsi co., decided that after 17 years it was time to be his own boss. The self-described corporate refugee’s extensive operations background and the ‘incredible business opportunity in Vegas’ helped build his new franchise business, AlphaGraphics, and within 2 years of starting he’d tripled sales.
Mr. Roselli said starting his franchise – AlphaGraphics, with almost 300 shops, is the nation’s largest franchise print shop – has been one of the best business decisions he’s ever made. ‘I got a call from a [corporate] headhunter a month ago about a [job] opening in Europe. I said, I’m not going back, heck no, I’m having too much fun.’
Those are the stories franchisors love to hear and Mr. Roselli is the type of Hispanic franchisee many feel they must recruit.
‘It is imperative that franchised companies make a concerted effort to reach out to this growing segment of the population now to remain competitive in the marketplace,’ Ronald Harrison, International Franchise Association Diversity Institute chairman, has said.
Recruiting prospective Hispanic franchisees is based on sound economics, say franchising experts. Minority operators should mirror the increasingly diverse customer base of many of the franchisors, but in some key franchising areas – think of the lodging industry, in particular – Hispanics lag far behind other minority groups in hotel ownership.
‘Hispanics have become the largest minority group in the U.S. yet less than 1% own hotels in comparison to other minority groups, such as Asian-Indian Americans who have excelled in this industry,’ says Raul Fuentes, director of emerging markets at Choice Hotels. ‘Asian Americans, although considered a minority group demographically, are probably the largest stakeholder of hotel/motel franchises within our system.’ Read more.
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