What do Ray Kroc, the innovative businessman who took the Mc Donald's hamburger worldwide, and is recognized as the acknowledged leader in franchising in the U.S., Dave Thomas, the man who single-handedly gave Ray Kroc a run for his money by opening a competing hamburger joint (which he named after his daughter, Wendy), and an early 20th century female entrepreneur with cascading long hair, have in common?

Success.

Success and an entrepreneurial spirit. Yes, we can also say they all possessed a keen business sense but it was their inherent understanding of how to do business, a sense that was as much a part of their nature as their shoe size or their eye color, that propelled them down the road of success.

So, why is it that I can mention Ray Kroc or Dave Thomas and you immediately know who I'm speaking of, but if I mention Martha Matilda Harper, you haven't a clue who I'm talking about? I submit that it's because Martha Matilda Harper was a woman far ahead of her time. Her gender has relegated her to invisibility. Despite her outstanding success in a world that did its best to deny women a place in business, Harper, not Kroc or Thomas, single-handedly invented the franchising business, as we know it in America today.

It's All About Martha

Martha was a small woman, less than five feet tall. Her defining feature was her luxurious mane of long, flowing hair. How she raised herself up from a world of poverty to the status of an educated, successful business entrepreneur-- virtually on her own - without financial help from family or friends, and how she managed to gain the friendship of women such as Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Mrs. Alexander Graham Bell, as well as the wives of several U.S. presidents, and even some royalty, is a tale burdened with moments of despair and desolation, but one that ends in triumph and tribulation.

Born to a poor family in Ontario, Canada in 1857, Martha was bound out to relatives at the age of seven. Her father was determined to hold onto a parcel of land he'd no business purchasing in the first place. The only way to do that was to send Martha into servitude! Perhaps her mother did not care to see seven-year old Martha sent away from home, perhaps the young Martha was devastated to be sent away from home, but society at the time dictated that women do as their men required, so Martha was sent away.

After twenty-two years of domestic servitude in Canada, Martha immigrated to Rochester, NY, at the age of 35. She continued in service for three more years managing to secure positions in upscale homes, and, having learned over the years that a pleasant, helpful attitude put her employers in a better mood each day, Martha became a trusted friend in addition to being a servant.

It was this attitude of helpfulness that would help make Martha's fortune for her. Yes, she had a product that proved popular, and in her stubbornness, was able to get a store location that would attract upscale customers, but it was her customer service - an unheard of idea at the time - that was the true foundation of Martha's success.