Back in 1954, Ray Kroc was already in his 50s when he persuaded the McDonald brothers to let him be responsible for a franchising operation. He expanded their clean, efficient, assembly-line style of marketing hamburgers from one location to more than 200 in just seven years. When Kroc died a billionaire in 1984, McDonald's fast-food restaurants were found in all corners of the globe and Kroc was extolled as the “Father of Franchising.”

In recent decades, franchising has grown increasingly popular and widespread. Sales from franchises in the United States more than doubled during the 1980s, the period of the most extensive growth for this creative form of business. Especially prevalent in the retail sector, businesses where franchising has established a strong presence include fast-food outlets, convenience stores, automobile rental agencies, and service stations.

Franchising, in brief, is a system of business based on a legal arrangement in which one party---the franchisee---agrees with the franchise owners to produce and market their goods or services on a local or regional basis. The franchise owner provides operating systems such as advertising and accounting. This system has enabled many entrepreneurs to realize their dream of owning their own business where normally it would have been impossible for them to go it alone.

The reasons for the spectacular growth of franchising are not hard to identify. To begin with, a franchise operation has already identified a potential market and created a product to fit a consumer need. This is especially true of fast-food stores, which have kept pace with the changing outlook of modern societies.

In addition, buying a franchise from an established company, while not guaranteeing success, will at least diminish the risk of failure. While around 30 percent of independent small companies go bust within the first two years, the failure rate for first-time franchisees is only at around five percent.

Another reason why so many inexperienced entrepreneurs turn to franchising is the support usually provided by the parent company. Established accounting, management, supply, and control systems give franchisees the benefit of previously accumulated business experience while still allowing a limited amount of independence.

Franchising, then, is considered by many to be the ideal way to enter business for the first time. Prospective franchisees, however, are well advised to properly research the nature of the industry and the background of the franchise holder before committing themselves and their money. Get it right, and the rewards can be considerable. In the words of Colonel Sanders of KFC fame, “buying a franchise is probably the quickest, easiest, and most successful way of becoming an entrepreneur.” And he should know.

1. extoll v. 頌揚(yáng)

2. prevalent a. 普遍的

3. outlet n. 批發(fā)商店，經(jīng)銷商

4. entrepreneur n. 企業(yè)家，創(chuàng)業(yè)者

5. spectacular a. 壯觀的，戲劇性的

6. outlook n. 展望，前景

7. go bust phr.v. 破產(chǎn)

8. accumulated a. 累積的

早在1954年，雷·克勞克說(shuō)服麥當(dāng)勞兄弟讓他負(fù)責(zé)經(jīng)營(yíng)一家專賣店時(shí)，他已年過(guò)50。短短7年內(nèi)，他便將麥當(dāng)勞銷售漢堡所采用的既衛(wèi)生又高效率的生產(chǎn)線風(fēng)格，從一處發(fā)展到200多處。1984年，克勞克去世時(shí)，他已成為億萬(wàn)富翁，麥當(dāng)勞快餐店已遍布世界各個(gè)角落，克勞克也被譽(yù)為“專賣店行業(yè)之父”。

近幾十年來(lái)，專賣店日漸普及并受到廣泛的歡迎。20世紀(jì)80年代是這種富于創(chuàng)造性的行業(yè)發(fā)展幅度最大的時(shí)期，美國(guó)專賣店的銷售量增加了一倍多。專賣店中占有很高比重的行業(yè)包括快餐店、便民商店、汽車租賃機(jī)構(gòu)，以及加油站等，零售業(yè)尤其普遍。

簡(jiǎn)單地說(shuō)，特許經(jīng)營(yíng)是建立在合法協(xié)議基礎(chǔ)之上的一種商業(yè)體制，協(xié)議一方——得到授權(quán)者同意的特許經(jīng)營(yíng)人在當(dāng)?shù)鼗蚰硞€(gè)地域內(nèi)制造和銷售他們的產(chǎn)品或提供服務(wù)。授權(quán)者負(fù)責(zé)提供營(yíng)運(yùn)機(jī)制，如廣告和會(huì)計(jì)等。這種體制使許多創(chuàng)業(yè)者實(shí)現(xiàn)了他們的夢(mèng)想，擁有了他們自己原本無(wú)法獨(dú)力經(jīng)營(yíng)的事業(yè)。

找出特許經(jīng)營(yíng)行業(yè)迅速發(fā)展的原因并不難。首先，專賣經(jīng)營(yíng)已經(jīng)確定了潛在的市場(chǎng)，也創(chuàng)造出了符合顧客需求的商品。這一點(diǎn)對(duì)于與現(xiàn)代社會(huì)瞬息萬(wàn)變的境況共同前進(jìn)的快餐店尤為適用。

此外，買下一家已具規(guī)模的公司的特許經(jīng)營(yíng)權(quán)，雖然不保證一定成功，但至少降低了失敗的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。獨(dú)立經(jīng)營(yíng)的小公司約有30%在頭兩年內(nèi)破產(chǎn)，而首次參與特許經(jīng)營(yíng)失敗的比率僅為百分之五左右。

許多缺乏經(jīng)驗(yàn)的創(chuàng)業(yè)者選擇特許經(jīng)營(yíng)的另一個(gè)原因，就是母公司通常都會(huì)給予支援。既定的會(huì)計(jì)、管理、供應(yīng)和控制系統(tǒng)，讓經(jīng)銷商從前人累積的商業(yè)經(jīng)驗(yàn)中獲益，同時(shí)仍然保持一定的獨(dú)立性。

因此，許多人都認(rèn)為開專賣店是初入商場(chǎng)的理想的選擇。然而，打算投身這一行業(yè)的企業(yè)家在將自身和金錢投入進(jìn)去之前，建議先仔細(xì)徹底地研究這家企業(yè)的性質(zhì)和授權(quán)人的背景。做得好，報(bào)酬會(huì)很可觀。如著名的肯德基的桑德斯上校所說(shuō)：“也許買個(gè)專賣店是成為企業(yè)家最快、最簡(jiǎn)單也最容易成功的方法。”而且他應(yīng)該知道得很清楚。