have your say: Jose Merille | President Estrella Insurance
The Importance Building a Bilingual, Multicultural Franchise Brand “
In addition to rewarding those that are already bilingual, provide opportunities for franchisees and their teams to get language training support.
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America more entrepreneurial, more likely to be employed, younger, and increasingly affluent. They are contributing disproportionately to America’s productivity and economic growth and becoming a critical driver of the country’s new mainstream economy.
Did you know there are more Spanish speakers in the United States than there are in Spain? In fact, about 43 million people, or 13% of the U.S. population, speaks Spanish as a first language. What’s more, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that by 2060, the Hispanic population will more than double to nearly 30% of the nation’s population. The Spanish speaking population is, therefore, a hugely important economic group controlling nearly $2 trillion in buying power in 2020, an increase of 87% from 2010 according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth. The purchasing power of Hispanics in the U.S. could increase to $2.6 trillion over the next three years, which means the facts are clear: Latinos are making 18 Franchising MAGAZINE USA
The concept of diversity can seem somewhat broad and esoteric when it comes to creating and implementing these types of initiatives in a company or brand. Despite the franchise industry promoting efforts for diversity and inclusion, and leaders in organizations saying they’re serious about spearheading efforts for diverse franchisee networks and teams, progress continues to be slow on many fronts. So, how to move things along? At Estrella Insurance, we made the decision decades ago that to properly scale our franchised insurance business, being bilingual would be the key component to allow us to expand into growing markets and tap into a domestic customer base that was often neglected. Estrella’s investment in bilingual development allowed the brand to cross the $500 million mark in systemwide premiums for the first time in the company’s nearly 40-year history in 2021. That’s in part because insurance coverage is a non-negotiable commodity, something that has allowed Estrella to remain a
pandemic-resistant, and even a recessionresistant, business opportunity for aspiring entrepreneurs. We soon found that new customers were only one benefit of having a multilingual approach. Bilingual teams not only opened new consumer revenue streams at the unit level, but greatly enhanced our ability to interact with a larger and more diverse prospective franchisee pool – something that has helped to boost long-term retention and satisfaction among our network. Simply put, bilingual franchisees, office personnel, marketing materials, websites, mobile apps, and more have fostered a more innovative and diverse business that has provided countless intangible benefits. As more companies and franchised brands realize these benefits, the competition to find and hire a multicultural and bilingual system will only heat up, especially as the world continues to become increasingly interconnected. As a Miami-based, Cuban American franchisor, navigating multiple languages has always been one of our greatest strengths for creating and fostering a multicultural business. For franchisors looking to create a similarly effective bilingual culture we offer these tips for success.
