Franchise Ownership in the AI Era Is Drawing New Entrepreneurs

Franchising has quietly become a stronger draw for Americans looking for stability and long-term wealth, especially as college debt rises and more traditional office careers face uncertainty tied to artificial intelligence. A recent article posted on The Economist examined how franchise ownership is increasingly being viewed as a practical alternative to the white-collar path.

When Greg Flynn graduated from Stanford Business School in 1994, the dotcom boom was pulling many of his classmates toward tech. Flynn went into restaurants instead, eventually buying eight Applebee’s locations with the help of favorable franchise financing. Today, his business includes more than 3,000 franchise outlets across seven brands in three countries.

Franchising has grown into a major force in the American economy. The United States now has roughly 850,000 franchise establishments run by around 250,000 owners. Those businesses employ about 9 million people and generate roughly 3% of the country’s GDP. Franchise models now extend far beyond fast food into industries such as boutique fitness, home services, child care and hospitality. Private-equity firms have also accelerated expansion by investing heavily in franchise systems.

The franchise model allows companies to grow quickly by partnering with local owners who put their own money into the business and manage day-to-day operations. For franchisees, the appeal is access to a known brand, marketing support and operating systems that many independent businesses have to build on their own. Local knowledge can also make a major difference.

In Seattle, Flynn recalled, managers saw that Applebee’s could perform better if the restaurants were positioned more like neighborhood bars than family dining spots. The shift helped revenue climb and supported faster expansion across the region.

The financial commitment can be significant. Opening a food-service franchise often costs more than $1 million once equipment, construction and startup expenses are included. Fitness concepts typically require investments ranging from several hundred thousand dollars to nearly $1 million. Many operators rely on a mix of loans, retirement savings and family financing to enter the business.

Questions around worker pay and labor practices continue following the franchise industry. Chains once relied on no-poach agreements that limited employees from taking jobs at nearby locations within the same system, though those agreements largely disappeared after legal challenges and government scrutiny. Even with that criticism, franchise ownership is gaining traction among people looking for businesses rooted in physical, in-person work.