Group Effort

A number of other minority franchisee groups are also working to ensure members are accorded fair treatment. Two of the most prominent are the National Black McDonald's Owners Association (NBMOA) and the McDonald's Hispanic Owner Operators Association (MHOOA).

NBMOA was founded in 1972 as a self-help group, in part to deal with some of the unique differences of doing business in urban inner city areas. "Back then, there were very few African American operators. So six or seven from across the country formed an organization to help each other," says Craig Welburn, NMBOA chair and CEO. "They shared information on operations, personnel issues and purchasing of new restaurants."

The MHOA followed a similar route. It was founded as a self-help group in 1977 and has evolved into an organization working collaboratively with the McDonald's corporate office to ensure that advertising, hiring, marketing and products include a reflection of Hispanic culture.

Bridging the gap between the perception and the reality of franchising will take a concerted campaign by minority organizations and franchisors. And, if the effort is successful, the bottom line will be that much better for everyone involved.

This article was originally published in the November 2000 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Group Effort.