Finding Your Fortune in Franchising
Franchising is hardly a new topic for our editors to tackle. This sector is and has been an important contributor to the U.S. economy, and if tapped into properly, it can serve as a viable avenue through which African Americans can build wealth. In our inaugural issue of Black Enterprise, in August 1970, we produced a franchising feature that included such high-profile entrepreneurs at the time as then Pittsburgh Steelers superstar Brady Keys, former astronaut Ed Dwight, and rock and roll legend Fats Domino. And 23 years ago, in our September 1987 issue, we viewed franchising as such a significant area of opportunity that we developed our black enterprise Franchise 50 to help readers identify franchise businesses that offered the lowest barriers to entry.