Franchising’s $936B Forecast for Small Business

It was the best of times; it was the best of times.

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I’m not flubbing Dickens. I’m just saying that’s how we’ll look back on this year and a total franchise output projected to exceed $936B.

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According to the 2025 Franchising Economic Outlook released by the International Franchise Association , the franchise community will also add 20,000 new small businesses, create 210,00 more jobs, and for the second consecutive year grow faster than the U.S. economy. Boom!

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Matthew Haller , President and CEO of the IFA, credited another historic upward trend, “thanks to a more favorable economic environment overall and improving policy conditions for franchise development.”

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I know. Tell me something I don’t know.

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The success of the franchise business model, the small business economy it drives, and the big economic output it delivers are the grit and perseverance we’ve all come to love. Regardless of market swings, franchising is our constant.

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Speaking for the zors on the BizCom Associates x Thunderly roster that awarded more than 1,000 franchise agreements last year, everybody expects to best their numbers. In fact, in the time it took to put the Christmas tree back in the attic, announce record growth for ‘24, and identify new markets for expansion, fran dev teams were off to the races.

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But here’s what feels different about 2025 from the client meetings and industry events I’ve already attended this year. And let’s hope it gains as much momentum as the fight to put flags on the map.

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• More franchisors will focus on strong unit-level economics as the best of all selling points when attracting future investors. If they don’t already have that, they know they have work to do.

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• More franchisors will grow the HQ staff alongside the growth of the franchise network to better support training, marketing, and overall success of their franchisees. Fractional staffers are fading into the background, and serious full-time hires across a variety of skillsets are proof of franchisors’ commitments.

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• More franchisors will allow happy franchisees to be the validators of their franchise opportunity. They are ten times better at attracting your next prospect than the corporate speak from the corner office. Our video crews are booked solid on these assignments.

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• More franchisors and platform companies looking for their first PE partner, exits to that next level, or even an IPO will be head-down in operational excellence to put the house in order for the right move vs. the right-away move. This is a year with serious investors keeping score.

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• More franchisors, franchisees, suppliers, and professional communicators will remember that franchises are small business. And they will say so. That will continue to morph into marketing messages, community outreach, sales and operations and more. The bigger franchising gets, the bigger this identity crisis gets. Less of the “f” word in favor of “small business,” please.

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The more these tactics continue to make it to the front of the room and off the backburner, the stronger the performance of franchising overall.

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As Mary Thompson - CFE , CEO of BNI Global and the incoming chair of the IFA, said on a Social Geek Radio interview this week, “We’re finally far enough away from the pandemic that you don’t hear people saying pre-pandemic and post-pandemic. We are in the world where it is.”

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And, oh, what a world we live in!

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