The UPS Store has been ranked top five franchise brands for seven consecutive years.
The UPS Store has done it again. The world’s largest franchisor of retail shipping, postal, print and business service centers has been ranked among the top franchise brands according to Entrepreneur Magazine’s 2023 Franchise 500. The only retail business service center brand in the top 5, The UPS Store was ranked #4 among the 1,000 franchise brands evaluated and #1 in the postal and business services category. This marks the 33rd year the brand has appeared on the list and its seventh straight year in the top five overall.
“Once again, The UPS Store is grateful to be recognized by Entrepreneur Magazine as a leading franchise brand,” said Tim Davis, president of The UPS Store, Inc. “The strength of The UPS Store network is driven by the passion and commitment that franchisees have for their business, their customers and their local communities across North America.”
How Entrepreneur Determines the Franchise 500 Ranking
Since 1980, the annual Entrepreneur Franchise 500 has been one of the most prestigious and comprehensive franchise rankings, celebrating franchise brands across 17 distinct business categories. To be considered for the list, franchise brands must meet these requirements:
- Have a minimum of 10 units open and operating
- Have at least one franchise located in either the U.S. or Canada
- Be seeking new franchisees in the U.S. or Canada
The ranking has become increasingly competitive over the past 41 years as more and more businesses embrace franchising as a means for expansion and apply to be ranked. One look at the list shows just how varied the franchise world has become, offering prospective franchises opportunities across a wide array of industries from restaurants to CBD outlets. After determining eligibility, Entrepreneur looks at more than 150 data points and ranks the 500 companies with the highest overall scores. Some of the key factors influencing a brand’s score include:
- Costs and fees – franchise fee, total investment, royalty fees
- Size and growth – open and operating units, growth rate, closures
- Support – training times, marketing support, operational support, franchisor infrastructure, financing availability, litigation
- Brand strength – social media presence, system size, years in business, years franchising
- Financial strength and stability – audited financial statements
What Makes The UPS Store a Top Franchise Brand
For entrepreneurs looking to franchise, The UPS Store offers opportunities backed by superior brand strength and an established business model that has helped thousands of franchisees achieve success.
Some of the benefits that make The UPS Store a top franchise brand include:
- Lower initial investment than many franchise brands.
- Competitive pricing model for franchise fees that also vary based on the store type, size and location.
- Flexible financing options specifically suited for The UPS Store franchisees.
- Special discounts for veterans including $10,000 off the franchise fee, which includes 50 percent off the initial application fee. The $29,950 franchise fee was even waived for the first 10 eligible U.S. veterans that qualified between May 1 and November 11, 2019.
- The brand’s commitment to supporting entrepreneurs of all ages and backgrounds including veterans, females, minorities and retirees.
- A growing network of franchise owners with a number of opportunities to network and learn from one another.
- A variety of franchise opportunities including non-traditional locations such as hotels and convention centers, college campuses, military bases and even store in store centers within pharmacies, hardware stores and supermarkets.
- Award-winning comprehensive training program to ensure new owners are fully prepared to meet the demands of their business.
- Ongoing support and guidance including advertising and marketing communications to help franchisees grow their business.
A Franchisee’s Perspective
Greg Murray - Tampa, FL
“For my wife and I, we had three criteria: it needed to be interesting and challenging, it had to be meaningful and it had to have the opportunity to be financially rewarding. The UPS Store fulfilled all those criteria and we have not been disappointed in any of that.”
“I came out of a corporate background, which was good. I worked for very, very, very large companies. One of the things I wanted in a small business, which is what The UPS Store is, is a lot more flexibility and a lot more control.”
“What The UPS Store has done for us, is given us a lot of flexibility, a lot of control. We hire the types of people we want to hire, we motivate them the way we want to motivate them, we reward them the way we want to reward them. We get to treat our customers exactly the way we want to treat our customers and get rewarded, or not rewarded depending on how well that goes. So, unlike Corporate America where you’re kind of in a box, when you’re running a UPS Store, you really have a lot of flexibility and control over what you do and that’s one of the things that we enjoy the most within this system.”
“The beauty of The UPS Store is that it has many, many profit centers. There’s many things that you can do. You have a base shipping business that kind of comes to you naturally. But, there’s many other services that are very profitable that you can offer your customers.”
“What we like most is, we like dealing with our customers. We have a term, we call it, ‘we’ve turned the customer.’ Invariably you’re going to have people coming into your store that are just not happy. They’re not happy in life, they’re not happy right then, something has gone terribly wrong, and they’re just not pleasant people. We like turning them. We like giving them enough service and keeping them happy and solving the problems to the point where they become our most loyal customers. They come back time and time and they tell all of their friends. The people who come in with the biggest problems and the biggest issues, if you turn them and if you keep them happy, they are your biggest fans and your biggest advocates and your greatest supporters. So, of all the things my wife and I enjoy about the store, those are things we enjoy. And, if you do those things, you do get rewarded with very strong growth and very strong profitability. The first thing is customer service. The other stuff is a positive side effect coming out of that.”
To learn more about The UPS Store franchise opportunities, visit our Franchise Opportunities page, reach out to our franchise development team, join one of our weekly webinars or attend a live event in your area.
