The word FRANCHISE is defined in the Random House College Dictionary as:   1. The right granted by a company to a dealer, retailer, or the like, to sell a product or service in a specified territory, or;   2. A contract granted by a national or regional chain allowing the non-exclusive right to operate one of their outlets within a specified area, based on payment of an initial fee and/or a percentage of gross sales, often with the parent company furnishing equipment, supplies, merchandising, and advertising.    Technically, franchising is not a business or an industry, it is simply a method of conducting business. Franchising is a system of distribution in which a supplier grants to another party the right to market its products or services under mutually agreed-upon terms and conditions, over a certain period of time, and in a specified location or area. The supplier is the "Franchisor;" the receiver of the right, the "Franchisee;" the network, or chain, of retail units individually owned by Franchisees and headed by a parent firm, or Franchisor, is called a "Franchise System."   Because of the explosive growth of franchising companies in the past twenty-five years, it appears as though "Franchise" is a relatively new word. To the contrary; the word and concept have been with us a long, long time. The Oxford English Dictionary traces it as far back as the thirteenth century, where a Franchise was a right or privilege granted by a sovereign power to a person or body of persons. Citizenship became a franchise, as did the right to vote. In some cases the person or body of persons was required to make a payment to the sovereign power to obtain their right or privilege and that payment was called a "Royalty," a term still in use today.   In this country, Franchising, as we know it, began in the 1860's when the Singer Sewing Machine Company used independent owner-operators to market their line of equipment. Automobile manufacturers began selling their cars through franchised outlets, and Rexall started franchising drug stores around the turn of the century. These pioneers were then followed by other large companies in the petroleum, soft drink, auto accessory, and variety store fields.   The sales of goods and services through the more than 500,000 franchised outlets are expected to top $900 billion this year, representing well over a third of all retail sales in the United States. It has been projected that this figure will soon top a trillion dollars and exceed one out of every two dollars the average American consumer spends.   But why has this segment of American Business continued to grow at such astounding rates, even through ups and downs in the economy? It's really quite simple.   In franchising:  EVERYBODY WINS!   The consumer, the Franchisee, and the Franchisor all reap major benefits from a well-conceived Franchise System.