Do your business with god

Franchisees turn to faith-filled businesses
Wed Jun 17, 2009 9:15am EDT
By Deborah L. Cohen

CHICAGO (Reuters.com) - The economy is down, 401Ks are ravaged, and once-trusted Blue Chip corporations like General Motors are bankrupt. Who can you trust?

For some newly minted entrepreneurs trying to carve out a niche for themselves in uncertain times, faith-based franchises are providing the answer. With familiar names like Chick-fil-A, ServiceMaster and Christian Brothers, franchise companies with religious underpinnings offer operators with like-minded beliefs proven business models and an added measure of comfort: a familiar set of core spiritual values. (Niles note: I used ServiceMaster for some work, and after they completed their work, they left religious booklets in the house. ServiceMaster companies include Terminix, Merry Maids, TruGreen, ServiceMaster Clean, American Home Shield, Furniture Medic, AmeriSpec. See
http://www.ownafranchise.com/why/objectives.html - "Our corporate objectives are: * Honor God in All We Do....).

"I thought that was a really positive aspect," says Rodney Yie, a former public school principal who opened an Office Pride commercial cleaning franchise in the Denver suburb of Centennial, Colorado a little more than a year ago. "Going into it I had absolute faith that it was the direction I should be going."

Yie, 37, made the shift to business following a 12-year career in education. After deciding to be his own boss, he picked an Office Pride franchise because the prospects rang true for him - low cost of entry, a seemingly recession-proof sector and a corporate culture where operators openly share their Christian beliefs with each other.

"They take their faith very seriously," says Yie, whose business is profitable. "The personal philosophy I have - it mirrors the philosophy of the company."

Indeed, parent company Office Pride Commercial Cleaning Services, based in Franklin, Indiana, makes no secret of the religious principles on which it was built. Its website includes a popular quote from the scriptures and its mission is clearly stated: "To equip people to build a profitable business that glorifies God."

Along with general corporate information, there is also a banner for Promise Keepers, the well-known international men's ministry the company sponsors.

Founder Todd Hopkins estimates that some two-thirds of Office Pride's more than 100 total franchisees are practicing Christians. That makes the Golden Rule and other core biblical tenets easier to communicate, understand and incorporate into business practice, he says.

"They're all committed to honesty, integrity and hard work," says Hopkins. "Those are the three things you have to bring to the table."

Despite the openness about its religious mission, Office Pride -- like most faith-based franchises -- does not proselytize to customers. Much of the fellowship takes place behind the scenes, woven into the attitudes displayed by management and cemented during company events, where prayer breakfasts and workshops give franchisees a chance to network around shared beliefs.

"We're not out there saying, ‘Mr. Customer, you should hire us because we're Christian,'" Hopkins says. "At the end of the day, we've got to deliver and take care of the customer." To be sure, some franchises identified as incorporating a religious message into their corporate culture might come as a surprise to the general public.

They include names like Keller Williams, the realty company, Curves International, a chain of women's workout facilities, and Jackson Hewitt, the tax preparation services firm. Their approaches vary, with some marketing their messages publicly and others assuming a more private stance reserved for employees.

Little data exists on the numbers of faith-based franchisees affiliated with these businesses or whether the economic downturn is actually contributing to a pickup in activity. But franchise consultants say it's not surprising that this facet of the business world has natural appeal for religious entrepreneurs, particularly during times of economic hardship.

"There's a sense of community," says Blair Nicol, a San Diego-based franchise broker for FranNet who has worked with clients looking to purchase faith-based businesses. "It's one of the reasons people go to church."

Houston-based auto repair chain Christian Brothers, which carefully screens would-be operators and only includes born-again Christians, has seen a recent uptick in interest, says founder and CEO Mark Carr.

He attributes the trend to a variety of factors, including increasing numbers of laid-off corporate types looking to change careers and the overall resilience of the automotive repair sector, where business improves in a sour economy as consumers look to get longer life out of their cars.

But he's not discounting the appeal of a company whose religious principles have helped build a reputation for honesty in an industry tainted by endless stories of abuse.

"They almost always say they've wanted to be involved in a Christian business," says Carr of new candidates. "Our one liner is this - Love your neighbor as yourself; there's no one race, creed or color in the world that doesn't get that."