Did you know…
The real boom for the franchising industry came during the baby boom era. World War II was over, the world was getting back on its feet, and people needed lots of new products and services. This gave rise to a string of new franchises throughout the 1950s and 1960s, including one that would eventually morph into the biggest fast food chain in the world – McDonald’s.
One of the more interesting McDonald’s franchise facts relates to how it evolved from a humble burger stall to a chain of restaurants. The person credited for this success wasn’t one of the McDonald brothers but Raymond Albert Croc.
Before stumbling onto McDonald’s, Croc was selling milkshake mixers. One day, he learned that his regular customers, the McDonald brothers, managed to use eight of his machines at the same time like a conveyor belt. Coincidentally, the brothers were looking to turn their business into a franchise. It was a match made in heaven, and just a few years later, there were 500 restaurants across the United States. Today, about 80% of all McDonald’s locations are franchises.