Startup Canada initiative embraces Canadian franchising during coast-to-coast campaign

Startup Canada co-founder Victoria Lennox.

From St. John’s to Whitehorse, the word is spreading: Entrepreneurship is a great way for Canadians to secure their futures and boost their country’s economy.

There’s a new grassroots organization that’s traveling coast to coast this year, seeking to educate Canadians about the importance of self-employment — and we’re thrilled that it’s spreading the word about entrepreneurship opportunities.

The organization and initiative is called Startup Canada, and it’s the nation’s first entrepreneur-led movement to raise awareness about Canadian small business ownership. It was founded officially May 2 but began a coast-to-coast tour in Nova Scotia in March; the group plans to visit every province before ending the tour in Vancouver in September. (For more information, visit www.startupcan.ca.)

Startup Canada will host a series of town hall meetings and other events to welcome and engage with local entrepreneurs, whom the organization wants to help form a unified plan to advocate for Canadian small business owners.

“Franchising is a legitimate business opportunity that all entrepreneurs can explore,” says Victoria Lennox, a leader in Canadian youth entrepreneurship development and Startup Canada’s co-founder. “We need to work hard to foster an entrepreneurial culture … Canada has a role to play in the world economy, and to do that, we need a strong entrepreneurial community.”

We couldn’t agree more. With our five Canada locations in addition to the 75-plus south of the border, we continue to strengthen that community by guiding would-be entrepreneurs — especially corporate refugees and women — into fulfilling careers in franchise ownership.

Gary Prenevost of FranNet of Southern Ontario, one of Canada's leading franchise consultants.

Franchising is an ideal route for a beginning entrepreneur because it provides the business owner with the strength of the franchisor’s system and step-by-step processes for running the business. That eliminates a lot of the guesswork and anxiety from starting and running a business, resulting in lower risk and higher success rates. Small business is the backbone of the Canadian economy, and entrepreneurship — anchored by our nearly 1,200 franchise systems — is on the rise. That’s why we’re glad organizations like Startup Canada have taken the initiative.

Plenty of Canadians are looking at self-employment as an alternative to increasingly shaky corporate jobs. A 2010 Intuit Canada survey showed that a third of Canadians were interested in starting their own businesses, and 35 percent of those said they were likely to pursue their goal. According to a recent Labour Force Survey from Statistics Canada, the number of self-employed Canadians increased by 46,700 from 2008 to 2010 — a growth rate of 1.8 percent in the depths of the recession, when the total number of employees dropped by 0.6 percent.

FranNet Canada has helped hundreds of people from all walks of life fulfill their entrepreneurial dreams through franchising. The Startup Canada tour and the excitement surrounding it are further proof that now is an excellent time for Canadians thinking about business ownership to make the move. Interested in talking, for free, with one of our consultants? Visit www.frannet.com.

Detailed survey results prove 42 percent higher success rate for franchises over startups

Need proof that FranNet helps entrepreneurs not only go into business but thrive?

We’ve got it, from a survey we conducted — and it’s some of the most exciting statistical information about the franchise industry we’ve seen in years.

The survey shows that 91.2 percent of the franchises we helped open from 2006-10 remained in business after two years, and 85 percent were still in business after five years.

Those are absolutely staggering numbers that way surpass any other small business success rate. They also represent a critical statistical benchmark in an industry that suffers from a lack of good, solid information about the likelihood of small businesses to succeed.

Until now, the best concrete information we had was, incredibly, about a decade old. In 2002, the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy asked the Census Bureau for a special tabulation that showed the success rates of new businesses founded in 1992 over time; what percentage was still in business after one year, two years, five years, etc.

The data showed that 64 percent of businesses that opened in 1992 were still in business in 1994; 50 percent in 1996; and only 29 percent in 2002. For years, although it was generally accepted that franchises survived at a much higher rate than startup businesses, we didn’t have any hard data to back it up.

Now we do. We recently finished a detailed survey of 1,260 franchisees who consulted us before they bought their franchise businesses. Again, do the math — 64 percent two-year success rate for businesses, according to the Census; 91 percent for franchises FranNet helped. Over the first five years, half of businesses fail. Those that consulted with FranNet beforehand survived at an 85 percent clip. What’s more: Of the franchises we helped open, 15 percent became top performers in their franchise systems.

What’s especially impressive is that the Census figures cover a period of relatively high times, the boom years of the 1990s, when the chances of business success were pretty good. By contrast, the FranNet survey years of 2006-10 encompassed the worst economic climate since the Great Depression — and our franchises still performed spectacularly!

Naturally, we’re thrilled because now we have a sound statistical foundation for what we’ve been saying for the 25 years we’ve been in business as a franchise system ourselves: that franchising is a nearly foolproof way for an entrepreneur to build a fulfilling career and realize the benefits of self-employment.

Franchise ownership is on the rise. The International Franchise Association has predicted that more than 14,000 new franchise units will open in 2012, creating 168,000 new jobs. FranData, a franchise consultancy firm that collects industry data, reports that the average franchise unit produces 10 new jobs. The better systems, training and brand awareness of franchise systems produce both a better financial investment and less risk for anyone thinking about opening a new business.

Franchising is an increasingly attractive option for so-called “corporate refugees” tired of the unpredictability and rigidity of their jobs and longing to seize control of their careers. Franchising appeals to them because franchise systems have already worked out the blueprint for running the business, greatly increasing the chances of success.

And the results are showing. We posted a record year for franchise openings in 2011 and, in the first quarter of 2012, we helped 33 percent more people start a business than the year before. Our clients don’t just survive. They thrive.

Want to see for yourself just how much sense owning a franchise business can make? Visit us at www.frannet.com.

Jania Bailey shares insights on buying a franchise and how FranNet can help

BoomersNextSteps.com recently interviewed Jania Bailey, FranNet’s president and COO, about franchising opportunities for Baby Boomers and how FranNet can help future franchisees reach their business goals.

For 25 years, FranNet has helped people achieve their entrepreneurial dreams by matching them with the right franchise opportunities. The company offers an international network of franchise consultants, perfect for Baby Boomers not quite ready to retire.

This year is shaping up to be a banner year for FranNet, which posted a record year in 2011. The company reported 33 percent more franchise placements in the first quarter of 2012 than in the same period in 2011. The International Franchise Association predicted at the end of 2011 that more than 14,000 new franchise locations would open in 2012 — and FranNet’s 2012 performance leads Bailey to suspect the IFA’s predictions were conservative.

Bailey said FranNet works to clear away misconceptions about franchise ownership and educates potential franchisees on the unique opportunities in business ownership. “When you say ‘franchising,’ most people think McDonald’s and a million dollars,” Bailey said, but it’s a far more diverse field than it used to be.

One key advantage in franchising is that all systems are already in place, taking away the overwhelming feeling of starting from scratch.

“There are so many opportunities,” Bailey said. “People have to take their blinders off and explore a little bit.”

Franchise industry needs Affordable Care Act repeal, banks to extend credit

President Obama announced his jobs plan before a joint session of Congress in September. Official White House photo.

The American Jobs Act made big news early this month when President Obama signed it into law. It was hailed as a rare instance of bipartisan cooperation in an age of intense distrust and cynicism between the two parties, and as a measure that could truly jumpstart entrepreneurship by removing regulatory barriers to investment in startups and by allowing “crowdfunding” — Web-based fundraising of small donations — up to $1 million.

It probably is a step in the right direction (the crowdfunding measure especially shows promise). But it’s only one step when the economy needs to run a mile. We think the Jobs Act is a meager substitute for real action, the kind of bold gesture to entrepreneurs we’ve been pushing hard for since 2008.

There’s more opportunity for job-creating franchise expansion than ever before, but prospective franchise owners yearning for a chance to go into business for themselves can’t even get started because of a lack of capital and fear that the government will make it too risky for them to operate at a profit.

Here’s what we think needs to happen:

• Banks need to extend credit. The economy coupled with overregulation of the financial services industry led to a 20 percent lending shortfall in 2011. Thousands of potential franchise owners with good credit and a willingness to join the franchising revolution are barred from the starting gate because banks aren’t willing to loan them enough money to cover the initial investment. It’s not fair and not good for business.
• Congress needs to repeal the Affordable Care Act. For small businesses, the “Affordable Care Act” would be anything but — especially the “employer mandate” that would require businesses with 50 or more employees to provide health benefits to their employees or face penalties from the government. We believe this would jeopardize tens of thousands of franchise businesses, which would be forced to choose between downsizing by converting full-time employees to part-time status or absorbing the cost of rising insurance premiums. Neither would help small businesses — or our economy.
• Congress needs to nullify the NLRB’s “ambush election” rule. The so-called “ambush elections” rule, which the National Labor Relations Board adopted at the end of last year, allows union elections in as little as 15 days, depriving employers of the opportunity to inform employees about unions and address union claims about employers; and denying employees full information about employer-union issues. The rule will take effect April 30 unless a pending joint House and Senate resolution, which we strongly support, nullifies it.

Now is not the time for half-steps to dig our economy out of the hole. We need strong action to empower entrepreneurs and help them start businesses that can provide good, lasting jobs to the nation’s citizens. According to FRANdata, the nationwide franchise information service, each new franchise creates an average of 10 jobs.

We urge citizens, whether they’re in franchising or just concerned about the effects of government overreach and restriction on small businesses, to contact their area Congressional leaders in the House and Senate. Tell them you don’t approve of actions that stifle business growth and keep our economy from recovering the way it should. And as always, for more information about our network of franchise consultants, visit us today at www.frannet.com.

More professionals were purchasing a franchise in first quarter, with help from FranNet

FranNet is a franchise "Matchmaker" that connects entrepreneurs with the right franchise opportunities.

We just got back from our franchisor meetings in San Francisco to find some welcome and very exciting news — we placed 33 percent more clients into franchise ownership in the first three months of this year than in the same period in 2011. That’s a phenomenal achievement!

It’s wonderful news for FranNet and for the franchise industry as a whole, a signal that the franchise sector is poised for a banner year. Franchising outperformed other sectors of the economy during the recession, and we’ve been making some serious outreach and education efforts in recent years. They’re starting to pay off as the economy improves.

Most of us thought we’d be in better shape this year than last. In December, the International Franchise Association’s 2012 Franchise Business Economic Outlook projected 14,000 new establishments and 168,000 new jobs for the franchise industry in 2012, coupled with 5 percent increases in economic output and GDP growth originating in the franchise sector.

The IFA recently announced that its Franchise Business Index, a leading barometer of the sector’s health, showed its sixth consecutive monthly increase and a level 1.4 percent higher than at the same time in 2011. All good news, to be sure.

But now, with our first-quarter numbers, we’re wondering if the IFA’s projections weren’t too conservative. Look, we know we have a long way to go, and banks still need to do more to extend credit to worthy entrepreneurs. But the early returns, you have to admit, are extremely encouraging.

We see the great numbers as validation of our collaborative approach. We’ve aggressively reached out to business organizations and other referral partners for good franchisee candidates, including referral-based alliances with the small business counseling nonprofit SCORE and the business networking organization BNI.

FranNet President and COO Jania Bailey.

We’re continuing our educational seminars and webinars, whether they’re held at our home office in Louisville or by our more than 100 FranNet consultants throughout the United States and Canada; and pursued other worthy franchisee prospects, such as veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and former professional athletes.

Our consultants have done a great job of embracing those initiatives, so our coverage has been more thorough, and we continue to get more and more people involved. It’s like a net: The more fibers you add to it, the bigger the net becomes and the better chance we have to reach the people who need our services.

If you’re interested in starting a new career path in franchising, now’s a great time to do it; plenty of people are taking the plunge! Check us out at www.frannet.com.

FranNet evaluates the top 25 things to look for when franchise shopping

Over the course of 25 years, FranNet has guided a lot of interested franchise owners towards the right fit. Our ability to match entrepreneurs with the right opportunities has helped create thousands of businesses, new careers and tens of thousands of jobs.

Our clients have had a lot of questions along the way.

“Buying a business is a life-changing decision, and you’ll want to know as much as you can about a franchise before you buy into it,” says Jania Bailey, FranNet President and COO. “You’ll also want to take a critical look at yourself. Like any career, there are good and bad fits. What I try to do is make sure that the right person winds up buying the right business so that they’ll be happy and successful.”

FranNet has plenty of advice to offer potential franchisees. To start, here are 25 tips:

1. Franchising is more than French fries. A lot of people who think of franchises automatically think of restaurants — or maybe hotels. That was a fairly accurate portrait of the franchise industry 30 years ago, but there are many new kinds of opportunities today. We’ve found that professionals often find the most success and satisfaction working in a completely new field.

2. Franchising doesn’t have to be expensive. It’s true that many of the best-known franchises are bricks-and-mortar businesses with high investment costs, but many of the fastest-growing and highest-rated franchises are home-based businesses with just one or two employees, low overhead and higher profit margins.

3. Evaluate your skills. Not every person is a good fit for every franchise. Understanding your personality and skills and how they would fit with a franchise can help you guarantee success. The better the fit, the more fun the business will be to run.

4. Have working capital. Make sure you have a buffer. New businesses take a little time to start generating profits, and you’ll want to have cash on hand to cover expenses and pay for extra marketing. It’s great to avoid debt, but it can be worth taking out an SBA loan in order to preserve working capital.

5. Plan on more marketing. Whatever the franchise system requires for a marketing budget, you should increase that number. There is a direct correlation between how much you spend and how successful your business will be. Don’t stop at the franchise system’s minimum suggested budget — or even its average budget.

6. Talk to top performers. Nobody wants to be average or low-performing, talk to at least two of the top 10 franchisees in the system and find what makes them successful.

7. Evaluate systems. When you buy a franchise, you are buying business systems. Efficient systems are what often gives a franchise an advantage over a mom and pop operation. Look into how well documented the systems are and how tested and proven they are, including the point of sale system. The better the system, the better the franchise.

8. Look for franchises that have good resale value. Some types of businesses — particularly bricks-and-mortar businesses — can be resold for a higher price.

9. Research news items about a franchise. Growing systems often produce positive PR. Do online research. Look for press releases, news articles and blog posts.

10. Research competitors. Is the franchise that you are considering ahead of the curve in its industry?

11. Research customer reviews. One of the best ways to see how a business is doing is to see how happy its customers are. Upset customers tend to be more vocal, and can leave a nasty online trail. On the flip side, an abundance of happy customer comments is a really good sign that a business is successful.

12. Look at social media presence. How active is the company on Facebook and Twitter? Are they using Pinterest yet? Social media is an important area for companies and those who don’t use it are leaving themselves at a big disadvantage.

13. Talk to your spouse or partner. It’s surprising how far some people can get into the process of investigating a business before they let their spouse in on the plan. This is a big decision — often your spouse will wind up helping you run the business. They will want to play a role in the decision.

14. Think long term. Franchise agreements generally last for 10 to 20 years, so it’s a lot like getting married. Make sure this is a company you’ll still be happy to be a part of once the diamond anniversary rolls around.

15. Learn how to speak bank. Despite what you might read in the news, there are a lot of funding options for franchises. Loans are available, but make sure you do enough research or work with a consultant to learn about financing options so you can conserve your working capital.

16. Look for earnings claims. Profitable and successful franchise systems publish Item 19 earnings claims in their franchise disclosure document or FDD. Franchising is regulated by the FTC which is strict on the financial information franchise systems can release. Not all franchises can meet the FTC guidelines which may be a sign they are not profitable so steer towards franchise systems with published earnings claims.

17. Educate yourself about franchising. It’s a very structured business model, and some of the language and the contractual relationships can seem strange. Make sure to learn what is and isn’t normal in the industry.

18. Mystery shop. If you’re considering investing in a bricks-and-mortar franchise, drop in as a customer. What is the experience like? Are the bathrooms clean? How well run is it? If you’re considering a carpet-cleaning business, hire them for a small job. Do they do quality work? Did they send someone that you felt comfortable letting into your house?

19. Evaluate the training and ongoing support. Every franchise offers initial training, but ongoing support is what separates a weak system from one that is outstanding.

20. Evaluate expansion possibilities. Assuming your first franchise is a big success, you’ll probably want to open a second or third location. Is there room to expand in your market?

21. Get professional advice on site selection. Many retail businesses require a high level of nearby car or foot traffic in order to succeed, but some business owners will set themselves up for failure by going for a location with cheaper rent and less visibility. Other businesses don’t rely as much on foot traffic, and locating one of these in a pricey high-traffic area just means that you’re paying too much for your lease.

22. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. There is no such thing as a stupid question — not when you are considering a life-altering decision. Franchisors owe you solid answers before you invest in their concept.

23. Visit as many locations as you can in person. What does a successful franchise look like? What does a typical franchise look like? Get a feel for how professional different franchisees are. How they treat the brand will affect the value of your business.

24. Get to know the leadership. Research the history and experience of the franchise system’s officers. What were they doing before they got involved with the company? Do they have a background that will allow them to guide franchisees to success?

25. Pay attention to passion. How passionate are the executives, the franchise owners and the customers? A system that is full of passion is a system with positive momentum.

We hope that gives you a good start as you begin to explore. FranNet consultants can guide you through these steps and many more.

For more information about FranNet, visit www.frannet.com.

FranNet leads professionals to fulfilling careers through franchising

People everywhere are sick of their jobs.

We wrote recently about a Gallup poll showing that 71 percent of American workers are either not engaged in their work or actively disengaged — and that these dismal results dovetail with similar surveys over the last dozen years.

Clearly, something’s wrong with this picture, and we have an idea what it is.

Even if you really enjoy your work and have the world’s greatest boss, you’re still subject to someone else’s priorities, directions and opinions, not yours. If you’re an independent-minded, skilled, driven professional, that can start to rankle after a while.

Here are five signs it might be time for you to switch careers:
You try to visualize your future — and can’t. People who are at least satisfied with their jobs tend to think of their careers strategically: What do I want to accomplish in my career and with this company, what steps can I take to get there, and what skills do I need to achieve my goal? If you try to think about your future in your current career and draw a blank, it’s time for a change.
You find yourself hanging with malcontents — because you’re one of them. We all know what misery loves, and nothing feels more temporarily satisfying while accomplishing nothing than complaining about work. If you’re unhappy, start looking elsewhere or go into business for yourself. It’s that simple.
You’re not developing. One of the best ways to stay engaged in your career is to constantly learn new information and new skills. When you stop learning — or, worse, stop wanting to — your career is dead in the water.
You bristle at directives. When you work for someone else, that person or group of people will tell you what to do, and sometimes you will disagree. That’s natural. But if you find yourself objecting by reflex, or getting hacked off at the most insignificant instruction or suggestion — “Hey, Bill, use an extra scoop of coffee, will you?” “Make your own, you lazy, mud-drinking so-and-so” — you’re chafing at your constraints like an animal in a cage lashing out at the zookeeper.
You do the old pros v. cons exercise, and you have to use an extra sheet to make room for the cons. When you lay it out that clearly, the evidence is hard to ignore.

It’s been a hard ride for everyone lately. The past few years have shown us that nothing’s guaranteed, that the foundation under your job and company can turn from granite to pudding overnight. Wouldn’t it be better to sail or sink on your own terms?

You can do it more easily than you think, with FranNet’s help. For 25 years, FranNet has helped people realize their entrepreneurial dreams by matching them with the right franchise opportunities. FranNet is an international network of franchise consultants that plays “franchise matchmaker” by carefully evaluating our clients’ interests and goals and connecting them to top-rated franchises we’ve worked with for years.

Interested in learning more about how you can broaden your career options through franchise ownership? Visit us at www.frannet.com.

It’s a dead end, the pay is dismal, you’re subject to someone else’s whims — and franchising offers a better path

You should quit your job. Seriously.

You probably won’t. But you should.

Most of us hate our jobs. Well, OK, maybe we don’t hate them. But a lot of us find our jobs dull and dissatisfying, like a relationship that ran its course months or years ago but keeps hanging on from sheer force of habit.

Don’t we all deserve better? So why do we hang onto our crummy jobs?

A tech entrepreneur named Daniel Gulati recently wrote about this on the Harvard Business Review blog, and his conclusions were pretty interesting. It’s not so much that people unhappy in their jobs are afraid of unemployment, he writes; it’s more a complex mix of conditioning, fear of ridicule in a new venture (amplified by social media) and “premature optimization,” the tendency to be satisfied with small, accessible gains instead of throwing caution to the wind and going for the big payoff. (In other words, they’re afraid of unemployment.)

There’s another way, though, one that thousands of American workers are taking toward fulfilling and lucrative careers: franchise ownership.

Franchising is growing steadily, even in a lousy economy. The recent Franchise Business Economic Outlook for 2012, prepared for the International Franchise Association by IHS Global Insight, projects the number of U.S. franchise establishments to increase by 13,928 and for the number of jobs to grow by about 168,000. Franchising’s economic output is expected to grow by five percent, from $745 billion to $782 billion. That’s astonishing growth.

Entrepreneurs are discovering how diverse franchising is, too; it goes way beyond food and hotels! The IFA report predicts strong increases from personal services (6.2 percent increase) and retail products and services (6.1 percent), and business services the highest in projected job growth at 3.6 percent. Driven professionals with a wide range of skills can thrive in franchising instead of stagnating in a dead-end corporate job.

Gallup poll shows American workers are emotionally disconnected from their jobs

FranNet is a franchise matchmaker that joins potential franchisees to the right opportunities. Screen grab from FranNet promotional video.

Is it any wonder that American workers by the thousands are flocking to franchise brokers to guide them into new careers in franchise ownership?

Just take a look at a recent Gallup poll of more than 2,000 American professionals, part of a series of polls begun in late 2010 to track worker “engagement” — the degree to which workers are connected emotionally to their jobs.

The results are alarming, and telling:

• More than half of workers, 52 percent, are not engaged in their work, and 19 percent are “actively disengaged,” leaving a mere 29 percent “engaged” — involved in and enthusiastic about their work and contributing positively to their organizations.
• Americans who have at least some college education are significantly less likely to be engaged in their jobs than those with high school education or less.
• Workers aged 30 to 64 are less likely to be engaged at work than those who are younger or older.
• Perhaps the most troubling poll result: These dismal figures are in line with Gallup’s trends on workplace engagement from assorted studies since 2000. What does that tell you?

That’s why so many American workers are opting to vacate their drab, no-future corporate jobs for a career path that’s much more fulfilling and lucrative: self-employment through small business (particularly franchise) ownership.

The recent Franchise Business Economic Outlook for 2012, prepared for the International Franchise Association by IHS Global Insight, projects the number of U.S. franchise establishments to increase by 13,928 and for the number of jobs to grow by about 168,000. Franchising’s economic output is expected to grow by five percent, from $745 billion to $782 billion. That’s astonishing growth considering the economy as a whole is still in the doldrums.

These entrepreneurs are discovering that franchising isn’t just food and hotels, either. Among franchise segments, the IFA report predicts strongest economic output increases from personal services (6.2 percent increase) and retail products and services (6.1 percent), and business services the highest in projected job growth at 3.6 percent. Franchising is an increasingly diverse field that driven professionals with a wide range of skills can thrive in.

For 25 years, FranNet has helped people realize their entrepreneurial dreams by matching them with the right franchise opportunities. FranNet, an international network of franchise consultants, plays franchise matchmaker by carefully evaluating our clients’ interests and goals and connecting them to top-rated franchises we’ve worked with for years.

Interested in learning more about how you can broaden your career options through franchise ownership? Visit us at www.frannet.com.

Coleman helps corporate executives and outplaced workers transition into franchising

Chris Coleman

Chris Phillips can’t imagine working for someone else ever again. The former banker now runs a personal electronics repair business in St. Louis, and it was FranNet consultant Chris Coleman who helped make it possible.

In a segment shown recently on KPLR-TV in St. Louis, Phillips showed off his new business, CPR, which stands for Cell Phone Repair.

Phillips met Chris Coleman through word-of-mouth after Coleman sponsored a “Meet the Franchisor” event that allowed entrepreneurs to meet and mingle with a variety of franchise executives.

Coleman talked with Phillips about what he hoped to accomplish, personally and professionally, as a small business owner — then Coleman started to do some research to find the perfect fit.

“I guess you could say we are like eHarmony, but for business,” Coleman says.

There is a lot of information available about different franchises — an overwhelming amount of information, Coleman says. A lot of people get intimidated, and give up. Coleman prides himself in guiding people through the thicket.

“It’s nice to see someone come in confused on which direction or confused what the right opportunity is for them,” Coleman said. “To be able to point them in the direction that will help them achieve their goals is extremely rewarding.”

And you don’t need to be a former regional bank manager like Phillips to buy into a franchise. There are a wide range of opportunities, even for people with modest assets to invest.

“Most people, when they think of a franchise, they think of McDonald’s, Subway, something like that,” Coleman says. “But there’s been a pretty good shift in demand for franchise businesses that are very low investment and service-based. Maybe something you can run out of your own home. Fewer employees. Let’s just call it more simplified business models.”

Franchises are a great option for entrepreneurs, since “the advantage is that it’s already been done before,” Coleman says. “There are blueprints, or a road map – a strategy that’s in place that you follow versus going out and starting on your own, from scratch.”

The still teetering economy has left a lot of people at a point of transition, Coleman says, with many people either unemployed or underemployed. A franchise allows new owners to create a new career for themselves – and for others. The International Franchise Association expects 14,000 franchises to open this year, creating 168,000 jobs.

FranNet does an excellent job of matching people up with franchises where they are likely to become top performers. What’s more, FranNet’s advice to you is completely free. Thinking about changing careers? For more information about FranNet, or to speak to a consultant near you, visit www.frannet.com.