VetFran: Helping Veterans' Franchise Ownership Dreams Come True

by Patricia Schaefer

The Veterans Transition Franchise Initiative program – known as VetFran – was created to honor and assist those who have served our country. VetFran helps veterans become business owners; specifically, by providing financial incentives not otherwise available to other franchise investors.

Launched by the International Franchise Association (IFA), VetFran was originally created when the Gulf War was underway in 1991, and was the inspiration of the late Don Dwyer, founder of The Dwyer Group. This voluntary program, says IFA spokesperson Terry Hill, “is now offered by more than 200 companies that are members of the IFA, and has helped 500 veterans become business owners since 2002.”

50 percent of VetFran’s efforts is to enlist companies, says Hill, and the other half is devoted to veterans outreach. This outreach is accomplished primarily through the Department of Veterans Affairs, the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Small Business Administration, and The Destiny Group, a privately held corporation appointed to promote VetFran.

Much has been said of late about veterans’ excellent suitability for franchise ownership, and their becoming highly-desirable franchisee candidates for many franchisors. Reasons include veterans’ discipline to follow operational procedures, willingness to work hard to reach specified goals, ability to function as a team within a system, superior motivation, and leadership qualities.

In order to participate in VetFran, a franchisor must be a member of the IFA, and must offer a financial incentive to honorably-discharged veterans. “Since there are more than 75 different industries that use franchising as an expansion model,” says Hill, “VetFran allows each company the flexibility to determine its own financial incentive offered to honorable-discharged veterans. Some companies reduce the initial franchisee fee, others waive training fees, but the main idea is to help lower the upfront costs to veterans since they are typically cash-strapped upon leaving military service.”

One such participating franchisor is Geeks on Call, a leading provider of on-site computer service. Geeks on Call currently has eight active franchise owners who utilized the VetFran program. Veterans who become franchisees receive a 10 percent franchise fee discount. Matt Nelson, Geeks on Call communications manager, feels that veterans are a good fit for their business: “As long as they have the necessary high-tech certifications, their experience in handling extremely stressful situations makes them well equipped to deal with the stresses that often arise when facing common situations in our line of work; i.e., dealing with hard-to-please customers, or working on computers that contain a company’s critical data and therefore must be handled delicately.”

Geeks on Call franchisee Matt Lewis is a former Avionics Technician with the United States Navy. Lewis purchased his first Geeks on Call franchise in 2003, and says his 10 percent franchise fee discount helped when purchasing the franchise: “The discount was about $2500 off the franchisee fee, and, yes, it helped. Any kind of discount is nice and it’s appreciated. Veterans should use every advantage they can including VetFran.”

Another franchisor very much interested in having veterans as franchisees is Comfort Keepers, which provides non-medical in-home care to thousands of people across the United States, Canada, and the UK. Executive Vice President of Franchise Development Jeff Bevis shared Comfort Keepers’ tremendously effective method of identifying veterans amidst their prospective franchisees: “On ‘Discovery Day’ when we sit down with prospective franchisees, we ask point blank, ‘Are you a veteran of the United Stated Armed Forces?’ In almost every case, the veteran was not aware of VetFran until we asked.” As a result, Comfort Keepers has had six veterans who have become VetFran franchisees, plus “four in the works.”

Comfort Keepers provides up to a total of $990 in credit toward start-up costs for things such as promotional items and online training. Bevis says Comfort Keepers has found that “Veterans are very aligned with following systems, procedure, and protocol. Their entrepreneurial spirit is alive with the sense of independence, but they know the importance of following a system.”

The IFA remains hard at work in their endeavors to bring additional benefits to those who have served. In their continuing efforts to help make franchise ownership a reality for today’s veterans, Hill told of IFA’s ongoing discussions with the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs with regard to their franchise training cost proposal. “We’re hoping to get the GI Bill amended so that the cost of franchise training would be included as one of its education benefits.”

For additional information about VetFran, a listing of the franchise companies participating in the Program, or information on how to sign up for VetFran, go to: http://www.franchise.org/content.asp?parid=356&contentid=549.

Copyright 2006, Attard Communications, Inc.