It started as a family business on Florida’s east coast offering custom embroidery, screen printing, and promotional products to the area’s small businesses, high schools, and non-profits.
Sixteen years later, it’s the largest embroidery franchise in the world.
How does a small business with one storefront so quickly transform itself into a franchise with more than 300 stores in 11 counties—and offer entrepreneurs an opportunity to realize their dreams?
This is the story of how the Fully Promoted franchise began.
Vision
Embroidery is a centuries-old art form whose roots can be traced back to the Middle Ages, when professional embroiderers toiled in towns throughout Europe.
It wasn’t until 2000 that the craft was made easily accessible to the masses, thanks to a visionary named Ray Titus.
Titus is an entrepreneur who understands the power of branding, systems and structure, and service. After building Signarama into the world’s largest sign franchise, he was looking for another business opportunity and noticed that it was difficult to find a one-stop shop for embroidery, screen printing, and promotional products.
He knew there was demand. He knew that the $20 billion embroidery industry was composed mostly of large commercial operations and home-based businesses. And he knew there was an opportunity for a retail operation to thrive—because virtually every business needs promotional products and branded materials, nearly everyone would be a potential customer.
So at the turn of the twenty-first century, Titus opened the first Fully Promoted store in West Palm Beach, FL.
The store proved successful and Titus quickly began building the structure and model that would become the Fully Promoted franchise.
Focus
Titus knew from his success with Signarama that prosperous franchises focused on their local communities.
He set out to identify people around the country who knew their local communities inside and out and could focus their attention on meeting the needs of their cities or towns.
The local owners would decide what products and services their communities needed, and the Fully Promoted franchise would focus its energy and expertise on building systems and structures to support those decisions.
Titus knew that embroidery is deeply personal. The Fully Promoted franchise wasn’t likely to become an international powerhouse if it used a top-down business model.
Support
Even though Fully Promoted franchise owners would be largely autonomous in their decisions about what products and services to offer, Titus knew they would need support.
He built a robust training program that includes regional meetings, training sessions, and owner conventions that help franchisees stay up-to-date on industry trends and the Fully Promoted brand.
He made a commitment to every owner that as long as they were part of the Fully Promoted franchise, they would have the company’s full support—and the company would never stop innovating.
One of the things that differentiates the Fully Promoted franchise from the competition is the private online store that it offers to franchisees. The online stores allow owners to hand-pick items they want to offer. The company then customizes the franchisees’ websites to reflect those choices, allowing customers to shop and make purchases around the clock.
Growth
It didn’t take long for entrepreneurs to recognize the opportunities offered by the Fully Promoted franchise.
The company quickly grabbed national attention. Entrepreneur magazine ranks it number one in its category. Franchise Times Magazine has recognized the effectiveness of its system and named it one of the “Top 200” franchise systems. Owners laud the company’s training and support systems.
But perhaps most importantly of all, the franchise that started with a single storefront is still growing.
That’s the Fully Promoted franchise story. Request more information to learn more.
