Innholdsfortegnelse for Summer 2024 i Entrepreneur's Startups

If you picked up this magazine, it’s probably for two reasons: First, you’re looking for something new. Maybe you’re interested in a career change. Maybe you want more control of your life—to dictate your own schedule, profit from your own labor, and call your own shots. Second, you think franchising might be your answer. Most people associate franchising with fast-food chains—and while it’s true that brands like McDonald’s and Taco Bell are huge franchise success stories, it’s also true that franchising consists of thousands of brands, providing countless kinds of products and services, and is ripe with opportunities for aspiring business owners. In short: If you want to be your own boss, but you don’t want to start a new business from scratch, then franchising has truly endless opportunities for…

Many people don’t understand franchising. That’s something we’ve discovered throughout our careers, as we’ve studied how great companies grow. When we talk with university students, seasoned executives, and everyone in between, we frequently encounter myths about franchising. They say that franchises aren’t truly entrepreneurial businesses, for example, or that they can be run lazily. Wrong! We’ve seen firsthand how franchising is an excellent model for companies looking to expand and scale, and how it provides incredible opportunities to individuals who want to be entrepreneurial and create economic and social value. Here are three of the most common misconceptions that you should stop believing. MYTH #1 ▶ Franchising can succeed on autopilot. A successful franchise business requires many different partners. The franchisor creates the brand, the franchisees expand that brand, and…

Where are the hottest franchise opportunities right now? Every year, we at Entrepreneur like to try answering that question. To do so, we consider a few factors: What trends are we seeing in the world at large? In which industries are we seeing new franchisors pop up? Which industries are seeing high unit growth? And what does our experience covering the franchise industry for over four decades tell us? We take those factors into account, and then we produce our predictions for the 10 categories we think will perform well in the near future. As always, this year’s list includes categories that have been thriving for a while, such as chicken, health and wellness, and pets. But you’ll find some exciting newcomers to this year’s list as well, including beverages,…

When people want to become franchisees, they have to make a big decision: What type of business do I want to run? There are thousands of brands and concepts to choose from—hair salons, fitness studios, lawn care companies, moving services, and more. But they all generally fall into one of two business models. There are “location-based businesses,” like hair salons and fitness studios, which have retail storefronts where the customer receives the service at a fixed location. Then there are “service-based brands,” like lawn care and moving companies, which do not have a storefront. The service is provided wherever the customer is. There are some key differences between brick-and-mortar and service-based businesses. There are different criteria to start them and to grow them. Here are the six most important. 1…

When Josh Grinstead got laid off for the second time, at 41, he knew he was at a crossroads: “Either stay on the treadmill, be unhappy, and fail to attain my potential,” he says, “or be brave enough to take that midcareer risk.” Until then, he’d worked in senior management at various colleges. But on aptitude tests, he’d always scored high for entrepreneurial instincts. As a longtime fitness enthusiast, personal training services appealed to him—so in 2015, Grinstead bought three GYMGUYZ territories (GYMGUYZ is a handy acronym for Get You Motivated, Genuine, Unique, You can do it, Zero Excuses). Today, he owns 10 of them in New Jersey and New York. His annual revenue tops $1 million, he’s first in sales among GYMGUYZ franchisees in 22 states, and last year,…

The most successful franchisees do not obsess over profit. That might sound counterintuitive, but it shouldn’t be. These successful, wealthy people focus on bigger things. Their goals are loftier, and their vision is wider. They’re on a mission to make an impact—and it turns out that making an impact can also make you more money. Often, franchisees think of charity as “giving back” to their community. But that implies you received something in the first place. Community service shouldn’t be a quid pro quo, and having a social impact shouldn’t be about returning a favor or paying a debt. Give first. Donate first. Serve first. In turn, your local community will appreciate you—and understand you as a local person operating a local business, even if it’s a franchise of a…