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Sep
18
2020
COMMUNITY

Minority Entrepreneurship – Our Commitment to Help Minorities Become The UPS Store Franchise Owners

Minority Entrepreneurship – Our Commitment to Help Minorities Become The UPS Store Franchise Owners

Learn how The UPS Store is empowering minorities with their Minority Incentive Program for first-time buyers of a The UPS Store franchise.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 1 million businesses in the United States are minority-owned. The largest portion are Asian-owned (555,638) followed by Hispanic (322,000) and Black or African American (124,004). The Minority Business Development Agency estimates this accounts for almost 30 percent of U.S. businesses, providing employment for 7.2 million Americans and producing over $1 trillion a year in revenue.

The UPS Store Supports Franchise Opportunities for Minorities

Sahar Al-Furaiji is among those minority business owners playing a significant role in the strength of our country’s economy. After fleeing terrorists in her home country of Iraq, Al-Furaiji and her family settled in Virginia. During their first year in the area, Al-Furaiji’s husband saw a The UPS Store and thought, “Wow, I want to own one of those.” As it turned out, Sahar, not her husband, opened a The UPS Store franchise after painstakingly comparing locations to find the right population density and opportunities to support a packing, shipping and printing business. She leveraged her previous experience with logistics and business management running a nonprofit in Iraq to transition into business ownership. The UPS Store is proud to support minority-owned businesses like Al-Furaiji’s and is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive franchise community.

Minority Incentive Program

We’re empowering minorities by offering an incentive program that provides approximately 50 percent off the initial franchise fee. First-time buyers of a The UPS Store franchise who are minorities and commit to develop their centers under the new design are eligible to receive nearly $15,000 off the franchise fee for their first center. To qualify for this discount, minority candidates (Asian, Black, Hispanic or Native American) must own at least 51 percent interest in the franchise and meet additional guidelines for the incentive program (including financial qualifications and booking-process deadlines).

The Minority Incentive Program discount is not available for the purchase of an existing franchise location, renewal of a center’s franchise rights or for the purchase of a non-traditional site with an already-reduced Initial Franchise Fee (i.e. an initial franchise fee less than $29,950).

Becoming a The UPS Store Franchise Owner

Now is a good time to consider opening a franchise business, especially one like The UPS Store that provides essential services to both small businesses and individuals. Aside from providing ultimate job security by being your own boss, easy access to capital, reduced competition and the availability of prime real estate often at reduced rates are all big advantages of starting a business even in challenging times like these.

Joining a franchise network can help bypass some of the difficulties of building a business from the ground up. The UPS Store franchisee Jay Patel explains, “I wanted to go with a franchise model because, as a franchisee, there’s a comfort level in having a partner that provides you with the resources and guidance you need to grow your business. I would say the support you get from the brand, especially a brand like The UPS Store, is the main benefit of opening a franchise versus starting an independent business.”

He continues, “I love being part of one of the world’s most popular brands. It’s a positive thing for my business to partner with such a recognized brand. As an owner, I feel a lot more comfortable working with a brand that’s so well-known and trusted.”

Supporting Your Community

Owning a The UPS Store franchise also brings value to your community by broadening the cultural reach of the high-quality business services offered by The UPS Store. In addition to providing shipping, packing, mailing and printing services to neighborhoods that may not have had access to these resources previously, opening a The UPS Store creates jobs for members of the community. It can also inspire others to become small business owners.

Franchisee Brandon Phillips shares what he enjoys about owning a The UPS Store in the Queens, New York City area: “I opened a store in my community so I could see childhood friends who live in the area every day. Secondly, I work with my family; my mother is my partner, my daughter works in the store as well, so it’s a nice family environment. We have three generations working in one store and the rest of my staff is also like family. Lastly, our customers become like family, especially the regulars over time. It’s a wonderful feeling.”

Improving Your Life

In addition to helping your community thrive, owning a franchise could change your life for the better as well. Success is never guaranteed, but with hard work and the strength of a world-class brand behind you, owning a The UPS Store franchise could be the key to achieving a more rewarding career. From the financial benefits to the emotional satisfaction, freedom and flexibility that owning your own business provides, becoming a The UPS Store franchisee can be a great way to accomplish your personal and professional goals.

Franchisee Sandy Scandrett agrees, “Owning my own business, my own franchise, has improved every aspect of my life. Financially it’s bumped us up a notch.”

Franchisee Matthew Wood adds, “It’s allowed me to dream bigger and think outside the box. It’s allowed a comfortable revenue stream for me.”

The UPS Store is committed to empowering minorities and can help you achieve your dreams of business ownership, at a reduced rate for a limited time. Reach out to our franchise development team for more details or visit our website to explore potential franchise opportunities available in markets across the country.

2023 Entrepreneur's Franchise 500 Top Rated for Veterans badge

We Proudly Support Our Veterans

Participating partners with the VetFran program, The UPS Store offers qualifying veterans $15,000 off their franchise fee to start their new business. To learn more, contact The UPS Store Franchise Development Team.

Entrepreneur's Franchise 500 Ranked #4 in 2023 badge

Ranked for over 30 Consecutive Years

The UPS Store has been ranked #1 in the postal and business services category for over 30 years and remains in the top 5 overall for the seventh consecutive year according to the Franchise 500 list.

Kristin Howard

Franchisee, Michigan

The reason my husband and I decided to go into franchising and specifically with The UPS Store, is the different opportunities we're given with the business. The UPS Store has name recognition as well as opportunities to expand.

Debbie Adams

Franchisee, Kentucky

What I enjoy most about being a The UPS Store owner is working with my customers. We are the solution specialists for our customers.

Jim George

Franchisee, Illinios

My favorite part about The UPS Store network is the camaraderie with other franchisees. Everybody loves to help everybody else. You’re really part of a family.

Greg Murray

Franchisee, Florida

The interesting thing about The UPS Store is that when a customer walks through the door there's an extremely high probability that they're coming there to do something that is important to them. So at the end of the day, what we do for customers is very important and they are trusting that we are going to do it well.

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Mariana Huberman

Franchisee, Washington, D.C.

One of the things that I love about The UPS Store franchise system is that you're not ever in this by yourself. The franchisees of The UPS Store network are great.

Heidi Morris

Franchisee, Colorado

The thing I enjoy most about being a The UPS Store franchisee is I get to get up, go to work and know that I'm helping other business owners succeed in what they're doing.

Bob Brown

Franchisee, Tennessee

Owning a The UPS Store franchise has changed my life because it's finally given me the opportunity to engage my customers and my staff and be able to take real pride in what I do. As a franchisee, we get faced with solving peoples' problems every day and we do everything we possibly can to try to help.

Marie Jensen

Franchisee, Oregon

My favorite thing about The UPS Store is the variety. I love the variety of customers, I love the variety of services; getting to know the customers, meeting their needs, finding out how we can help them accomplish what they need to accomplish and seeing how happy they are. That makes me ecstatic.

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Tad Mollnhauer

Franchisee, Florida

With the products and services that The UPS Store provides we can make a difference in people's lives and that is the best reason for being a The UPS Store owner.

Joy Batchelor

Franchisee, Idaho

What makes being a The UPS Store franchisee worthwhile at the end of the day is the customers. The customers treat us like we're family.

Paul Erchinger

Franchisee, Texas

One nice benefit of owning a The UPS Store franchise for me has been that it gives me the opportunity to be more involved in the community. As I make relationships with others it seems like no matter what the environment is, in one way or another business comes out of that and that's not my objective—it's been a secondary benefit to being involved in the community.

Chris Reminder

Franchisee, Ohio

There are several things that I really enjoy about being a The UPS Store franchisee. First and foremost it allows me to get to know the people in the local community and that is a lot of fun. We get to see people on a regular basis. We get to know their life stories. That's a lot of fun.

Bruce Jones

Franchisee, Kentucky

Since we have joined The UPS Store, our life has changed by just having more time to spend together as a family. We've been very fortunate with the stores that we have and we have a great staff that looks out for our best interest and we look out for theirs.

Lonnie Williams

Franchisee, Oklahoma

What makes The UPS Store so successful is it gives each individual an opportunity to grow with the network and just meet the challenges that are brought to them on a daily basis. Every day gives us a new opportunity to help another person, to help another small business, to answer a question and to solve a problem.

Jeff Graham

Franchisee, Alabama

I love my customers. I love my employees. I love every person, every face that comes into my store. I enjoy every day going into work and I can't see doing anything else for the rest of my life.

Stacie Stigar

Franchisee, Alaska

I think that this franchise is so successful because of all of the resources that are available to us as center owners—we have marketing materials, we have so many different opportunities for help from the home office, and it just really makes for a great franchise.

Don Pollard

Franchisee, New Jersey

I think the thing that makes this franchise successful is a number of things. First of all we have an outstanding system, we have a great product, a great brand, and we're able to attract dynamic people to run these centers and run the business. So I think when you put all that together it really provides for a winning combination.

Mary Ellen Nichols

Franchisee, Tennessee

The thing I love about the franchise is that you have the UPS name backing you but yet you also have the autonomy to make your own decisions to promote.

Laura Griffin

Franchisee, Florida

In the eight short months I've owned my The UPS Store it has really changed my life. I've gone from being an employee of someone else to being an employer of my associates. It's a big responsibility but it's exciting every day.

Sandy Scandrett

Franchisee, Wisconsin

Being a The UPS Store franchisee has improved every aspect of my life. It's very rewarding financially, professionally, and emotionally. I have a large number of regular customers who are really, really appreciative of everything we do.

Kristie Robison

Franchisee, Alabama

I would say owning a The UPS Store location has changed my life to where I have more time and flexibility. In owning your own business you get your store up and running and you get employees that you can trust that are going to help keep your store running. This allows me to attend my two boys' ball games and also travel and do things with them so it has really changed my life for the better.