First of all, we should understand that most new businesses fail at a higher percentage than franchise businesses do in Canada. That's because the tried-and-true model of the marketing, the advertising campaign and the discipline in how the business is run is already written up for the person who's going into the business.
I say to people that we'll take a look at an oil change business, for example, and we'll look at a franchise agreement. If you want to be on your own, this is the type of model you should seek out if you don't want to franchise. The franchising piece is basically this: You know what you need to put up; you know what you get for service; and you know you have somebody to support you in the marketing of the business. If you're a person with discipline who can follow the rules in a franchise, like a member of the military who has the training in being disciplined, is on time and is prepared to work hard—because any franchise or any business is a lot of work—a franchise opportunity is much more ideally suited to you, and to most people, to enter into your first business.
Having said that, it would be beneficial if the Canadian Franchise Association, which has trade shows on franchising and what have you, was in a relationship with the Canadian Armed Forces and said, “Look, we have all of these different franchises. We know which ones are successful.” It could be a food service. It could be an automotive service. They franchise just about everything today in some way or another. You can learn an awful lot from it. If you had that relationship, you could ask, “Would you take the time to give us, as the military, a franchise show at our bases to show our veterans who will be moving on what the opportunities are in business through a franchise?”
They're easier to finance. You can actually attract investors to it, because they see the discipline as well. It can work very well.