Creating Your Own Destiny: Flexibility, Diversity, and a Franchise Mindset are Fueling the Franchising Boom

When Covid-19 sent office employees home to work, no one ever considered that one of the outcomes of a medical pandemic would be a desire for work flexibility and self-determination.

But here we are in 2025, and not only have more people continued to work from home, but thousands of workers across the country have decided they liked the flexibility. So much so that when businesses compelled their staff to come back to the office, some decided it was time to go into business ownership instead. While many of these workers started businesses from scratch, the number of those who became interested in franchising grew considerably, too.

Studies show that new entrepreneurs are opting to choose franchising because, while there is still some risk involved, that risk is minimized by the fact that the franchisee is buying into a system with a proven business model. Franchising also provides them with training and a built-in network of other franchise owners who can serve as mentors.

Creating your own destiny

For the majority of new franchisees, “being their own boss” has been the most compelling reason to go into franchising.

These employees got a taste of a more flexible schedule when they worked from home during the pandemic. That resulted in an increased motivation to take control of their work/life balance. These new franchisees now have several choices with many brands that allow them to either work from home or set their own hours.

Then there are those who decided to take a second job so they could also work in a field more suited to their interests than their daily jobs provided. According to a LendingTree survey, the number of Americans with a supplemental job rose from 39 percent in 2020 to 44 percent in 2025. Many of these workers realized that they liked their “side hustle” better than their full-time job and began looking to make their supplemental source of income their primary source.

Finally, there are those workers who are simply tired of the corporate “grind.”  These franchisees grew tired of climbing the corporate ladder because it caused them to miss time with their families or prohibited them from pursuing other interests. These factors have resulted in an increased interest in franchising and the flexibility it can provide.

That’s not to say that opening a franchise isn’t hard work, but having a proven business model and ongoing support makes franchising a safer choice than starting a business from scratch.

Building a franchise mindset

Many franchised businesses have owners who come from all walks of life. You don’t have to have a lengthy career in printing or have run your own business in the past to be successful.

Thriving franchisors take the lessons their franchisees learned as engineers, teachers, or sales managers and provide them with a combination of initial training, ongoing support, and continuous learning to help them develop a franchise mindset.

Effective franchisors not only develop processes that duplicate their operational success, but they also ensure their franchisees develop the necessary knowledge, skills, and operational know-how to run successful locations. The processes are defined and perfected, and put into an operational manual so they can be replicated by anyone who follows them. The goal is to give your franchisees these tools and allow them the flexibility to put these processes into place using their own management style.

Allowing franchisees the opportunity to weave their personality and local flavor into their franchise location while adhering to a franchisor’s brand identity are the pillars of successful franchise ownership. This combination gives the franchisee the chance to put their heart and soul into their business while still running the company as efficiently as other franchisees throughout the country.

Remaining resilient in today’s economy

While franchising has become more popular over the past decade, a franchisor can’t rest on its laurels if it wants to remain successful in a changing economy.

At AlphaGraphics, we combine centralized business management strategies while offering our franchisees the opportunity to provide local support for their customers to remain resilient. 

Franchisors need to establish national programs that leverage technology to streamline marketing processes, ensure brand consistency, and manage marketing funds across multiple locations in order to stay competitive.

A franchisor’s ability to successfully recruit a diverse group of owners and provide them with the ongoing training and other tools they need to maintain brand identity while allowing them to “be themselves” is a key contributor to a franchisor’s success.

Bill McPherson is the regional vice president of retail network development for several concepts within the Fortidia family of brands, including AlphaGraphics, a leading franchisor of printing and marketing solutions, PostNet.