From Hiawatha With Keys of Love
My Day
By Dr. J. Ester Davis
As much as we love the convenience of drive-thru fast food, franchises and start up require a lot of cash.
One million dollars($1,000,000) plus, is the cost of most major fast food chains in America.
In addition to startup costs, possibly liquid asset requirement of $80,000-to-$90,000, with minimum net worth requirement, franchisees have to pay ongoing monthly fees for royalties, advertising, signage, style of décor, landscaping, kitchen equipment, maybe rent, an additional area development fee per location, construction in some cases. . . on and on and on.
Hiawatha Williams is the champion founder of Williams Chicken in the DFW Metroplex and beyond.
In his 25 plus years with his name on his chicken, Hiawatha Williams has always been doing “something” to elevate the African American culture and style. His “Pathway-to-Ownership” Program was created in 2019 and is more than an advertising jingle. The ‘huge news’ this time is centered around his celebration of National Women’s Month with a groundbreaking announcement on March 8, 2022. The “Gift of Ownership” was presented to two(2) African American Women with their very own keys as new owners to their William Chicken Franchise Store. In the franchise world that has to be a victorious ‘hail Mary’ for all African American Women to participate in. African American women are not often celebrated for their talents, intellect, business savvy not to mention loyalty. They often have to leave the brand to be promoted to a respectable salary. Mr. Williams acknowledges fully ‘most are women keeping our stores’. In return, the women receiving the keys want to ‘make Mr. Williams proud’. This is clearly a win-win for loyalty-to-the-brand and its twin dedication.
The recipients of the million dollar gift of ownership was awarded to Shauna Brown and Alythina Wynn.
Both have been ideal employees with decades of experience under the masterful Hiawatha. . . from long hours, cashier, cook, bottle-washers –to-franchise owner. The ultimate American dream. Congratulations ladies!!! One of the awardees mentioned she wanted to continue developing high school students. From the owner’s suite she plans to continue ‘growing’ the community.
We found that over the past decade, there has been a 24% increase in women-owned franchise businesses. Amazingly, of all new franchises opened in the past 24 months, 41% are women-owned business. This positive trend of women franchise ownership is noted in the greater economy where the number of women-owned business grew 58% (2007 – 2018) according to a report commissioned by American Express and the Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau. It is mighty encouraging to see women gaining representation in the historically male landscape of franchising.
In this region, we are eternally grateful to Hiawatha Williams for placing his vision into action …which will have a domino affect on equal access to start-up capital for women, open the eyes to lending institutions, break biases that exist about women leadership-at-work and I predict that the gender income gap will began to close.
Now that is something exciting to watch.
Up Next: Continuing with “Masterclass Matriarchs”
