Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2017 i Entrepreneur Magazine

THE INDIGNITIES MOUNT. First, Murr is told that he has to compete in a bodybuilding competition. And to be clear, Murr is nobody’s definition of fit. Stripped down to an American flag Speedo, he looks like a fillet of cod—a soft, slender, floppy whiteness untouched by the sun. Next, his three best friends—Joe, Sal, and Q—oil him up and spread on a nice layer of bronzer. Murr seems amused. He’s done worse with these guys: He’s faced off alone against a professional dodgeball team, he’s been stuffed inside a piñata and hung from a crane, and he’s even had his nipple pierced. So twitching in front of guys who could bench-press him? Sure, why not. Murr is waiting with a bunch of meatheads when his name is called. He is…

After a lifetime of martial arts and more than 80 professional kickboxing bouts, Shannon “The Cannon” Hudson was in the best shape of his life, but noticed most of the people around him were not. He thought, “How do I take the grueling in-ring workouts and create a non-intimidating, convenient circuit workout format that the average person could enjoy without getting hit?” After much thought, 9Round was born in 2008. Everything is Full-Body Taking its cue from boxing and kickboxing, the 9Round program is established around a proprietary and copyrighted system of challenging workout stations developed by Hudson himself. The workouts consist of nine, three-minute stations of activities that include cardio, weight training, core exercises, plus kicks and punches on 100-pound, double-end, upper-cut and speed bags. Members have a 30-second…

Many couples are looking to go out on their own and leave Corporate America behind. This trend is definitely on the rise! As career-minded individuals contemplate such a change, they focus on owning a sustainable business venture that will allow them to maintain a strong work/life balance – something that’s been missing in their career to date. Owning a preschool franchise is a viable option. The demand for quality childcare is exploding with more dual-income families and single parents than ever before. This phenomenon is expected to continue. Also, there is an abundance of information supporting the benefits of educational childcare – and this focus on early childhood education has been making headlines this year. Corporate Warrior parents are choosing to own a preschool, as it affords flexibility, freedom and…

Where Your Love of Being an Entrepreneur Meets Your Passion for Cycling If you are just as passionate about cycling as you are about being an entrepreneur, you’ve already completed the first step in the journey to owning your own bike shop. velofix Franchise Partners come from various backgrounds and disciplines, but they all have one thing in common: they love riding bikes. The velofix Opportunity With the cycling population growing, coupled by people having less and less time to get things done, the opportunity is clear. At velofix, we seek to partner with like-minded people who have a strong desire to drive change in the cycling industry and pursue their passion for cycling. Solution to an Industry Changing Consumer Model velofix is providing a last-mile, white glove assembly/delivery solution…

ON NOVEMBER 8 LAST YEAR , Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steak-burgers (#66 on our list) made its own history. For the first time, the company opened five restaurants across the country in one day, from Orange Park, Fla., to San Marcos, Calif. “It truly was a team effort,” says Zach Woodburn, Freddy’s director of franchise support. “Everyone in the company wanted to pitch in, including other Freddy’s franchisees; several of them extended offers to send team members from their own restaurants to help. That’s what makes us Freddy’s: We’re a family.” That concept of being a family—not just a franchise system—is central to the Freddy’s brand, according to Andrew Thengvall, senior VP of strategic growth. The company even calls its annual convention the Freddy’s Family Reunion. Since the restaurant’s founding…

“People want to engage with me. I need to force myself to get up. It’s a lot easier to transmit energy face-to-face than to transmit it electronically.” By texting with Lola agents, users can book hotels and flights, get restaurant recommendations, and get help with itinerary planning. Were you a fan of travel agents back in the day? Really back in the day, I used AAA. But I’ve also used a cruise travel agent, Wayland Travel for a safari, and, last year, American Express’ concierge service in Japan. The trip to Tokyo was motivated by the documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi. I was obsessed with it—not because of the sushi, but because of this whole idea of what happens when a human being commits their life to perfection. Immediately after…

“When people start a new habit, they want to talk to their friends about it.” —UJ Ramdas UJ RAMDAS had an idea he knew people would love but that no publishing house would ever take seriously. Here it is: a mostly blank book. See the problem? And blank journals such as Moleskine are a dime a dozen. “We didn’t even approach book publishers,” Ramdas says. But those blank pages weren’t a gimmick. They were a carefully considered, earnest offering—a space for journaling, which Ramdas claims is a key to a more productive life. “I believe it was the author Robert Cialdini who said, ‘If you think about what you want to do and write it down, you’ll be more likely to do it,’” Ramdas says. He began journaling regularly at…

IN 2011, NOAH LEE AND DANE JENSEN were young guys a few years out of college and in search of a business idea. They stumbled across a story about a company selling black Italian socks. Just black. Just Italian. By subscription only. The company had tens of thousands of subscribers. Jensen got excited, built a website, and called it Sock of the Month Club. “I was more dismissive,” Lee admits. But he went along. It was a part-time gig. Plus, most people wear socks. And they can’t all just want basic black, right? Six years later, Lee and Jensen are shipping 40,000 to 50,000 pairs of socks monthly and annual revenue approaches $4 million. But the business turned out very different than they expected (and now has a shortened name,…

1 STAY FOCUSED “Having your own company is a lot easier than working in-house. Working at Uber is much busier. It’s easy to get caught up in the busyness here, but my boss put it very succinctly to me one day: ‘Just focus on the work.’” —Peter Markatos, director on brand team (previously cofounder, MM) 2 BE AGGRESSIVE “Many others will pursue the same idea as you in parallel. So how fast you move, big you bet, and relentlessly you pursue the mission of your company is likely to be the difference maker.” —Andrew Macdonald, regional GM of India, Southeast Asia, LatAm, ANZ (previously founder, ShopMyClothes) 3 EMPOWER ALL “This yields radical results. Giving and encouraging true ownership from everyone, be it the leaders of large teams or individual engineers,…

#1 TUFT & NEEDLE Phoenix LESSON: GIVE GENEROUS BENEFITS 2_Procore Technologies, Carpinteria, Calif. 3_KnowBe4, Clearwater, Fla. (See next page) 4_ TSheets.com , Eagle, Idaho 5_N2 Publishing, Wilmington, N.C. 6_Asana, San Francisco “We have a huge focus on employee health and wellness. No one is running around frantically or coming into the office weekend after weekend. We have a balanced approach, which helps us avoid burnout.” 7_Bounce Exchange, New York 8_Power Home Remodeling, Chester, Pa. 9_Impact Networking, Lake Forest, Ill. 10_Elite SEM, New York 10_TCG, Washington, D.C. 11_Fluent, New York 12_Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Ambassador Real Estate, Omaha 13_nCino, Wilmington, N.C. 14_First American Equipment Finance, Fairport, N.Y. 15_LaSalle Network, Chicago (See next page) 16_Hireology, Chicago 17_WillowTree, Charlottesville, Va. 18_Seismic, Solana Beach, Calif. 19_Service Express, Grand Rapids 20_Bankers Healthcare Group, Fort…

JOE BEAUDRY WAS COMBING Seattle for a way to decompress from his high-stress job. This was back in 2011, and he’d heard of “floating”—shorthand for going into a water-filled sensory-deprivation pod. The only one he could find was in some random guy’s spare room, and bravely, he gave it a try. “I left there feeling incredible. My head was clear, I was focused, I could even see better,” he says. He was convinced more people needed to try floating—just not in random rooms. This wasn’t exactly a new idea, though at the time he didn’t know its backstory. Back in the 1960s and ’70s, these tanks were all the alternative medicine rage. Practitioners floated in complete darkness and silence in giant tubs of Epsom-salt-saturated body-temperature water, claiming it promoted deep…

Master Franchise Model The Master Franchise model is sometimes referred to as the “C-Suite of Franchising.” That’s because it attracts corporate executives like you who are looking to use their transferrable skills as business leaders to grow a large organization. As a Master Franchisee you get to help people start and grow a home-based cleaning franchise. You will train & support your franchisees, help with selling and marketing to get them customer accounts and you provide all of the back of the house accounting support for your franchisees. Are you ready to build a large business for your family while applying your executive management skills? You will have the opportunity to develop an organization while helping others get into business for themselves. Why JAN-PRO? Did you know that JAN-PRO is…

Pillar To Post Home Inspectors, the largest home inspection company in North America, has had very impressive franchisee growth for the year 2016. The company added 78 new Pillar To Post locations throughout North America in 2016 and continues to expand its growth, technology and services. Among the highlights for 2016, the large cover story featured in Real Estate Magazine’s December 2016 issue is an extreme honor, given that this magazine is the “Bible” of the real estate industry. Entrepreneur Magazine continues to recognize Pillar To Post Home Inspectors in a variety of prestigious rankings including; Entrepreneur Magazine’s 2016 Top Franchise for Veterans, Entrepreneur Magazine’s Franchise 500 issue for 2016 and 2017 ranked them at No. 1 in Home Inspection industry, Entrepreneur Magazine’s Best of the Best, Entrepreneur Magazine’s Fastest…

MANY OF MY FRIENDS are entrepreneurs. And when they used to tell me about their challenges, I would always think, I can never take those risks and face those obstacles. I liked to play things a little safer and found comfort in familiarity; it’s why I stayed in one job for six years straight. I wasn’t unambitious. I just wasn’t one to throw caution to the wind. Eventually I did switch jobs, but the move wasn’t right. I spent a lot of time feeling angry, upset, and trapped. Around that time, I started reading Stoic philosophy, thanks to Ryan Holiday and Tim Ferriss. This quote from Seneca jumped out at me: “We are more often frightened than hurt; and we suffer more from imagination than from reality.” It made me…

IT’S 10 A.M. ON A WEDNESDAY at Diageo, one of the world’s largest producers of spirits (and owner of brands such as Johnnie Walker, Captain Morgan, Guinness, and Smirnoff). Dozens of its 150 Manhattan-based employees are clustered around the office bar, adjacent to the entrance of the company’s 56,000-square-foot office. But they’re not here to drink—even people who work for booze companies have their limits. (Alcohol is primarily served at night during events and employee happy hours.) Instead, by day, the bar becomes a casual meeting point. MARGARET LU DIRECTOR & SENIOR COUNSEL, CONSUMER MARKETING, DIGITAL & PRIVACY “It’s more like your own personal café. You can grab a table by the window, there’s usually jazz in the background—you’re working but not isolated, so you’re not inaccessible. I love that…

#1 BELAY Cumming, Ga. LESSON: TRUST YOUR EMPLOYEES 2_The Penny Hoarder, St. Petersburg, Fla. 3_Lessonly, Indianapolis 4_Uproar PR, Orlando, Fla. 5_Vanderbloemen Search Group, Houston, Tex. 6_The James Agency, Scottsdale, Ariz. 7_Rustic Cuff, Tulsa 8_Bateman Group, San Francisco 9_Causely, Lexington, Ky. 10_Applied Fitness Solutions, Ann Arbor, Mich. 11_YouEarnedIt, Austin, Tex. 12_Kinetic Sports Rehab, Seattle 13_GetUWired, Dahlonega, Ga. 14_Higher Learning Technologies, Coralville, Iowa 15_SpatialKey, Broomfield, Colo. 16_Click Rain, Sioux Falls, S.D. 17_Sir Kensington’s, New York “Our secret ingredient is our people, and we listen, nurture, and develop that ingredient to its full potential. Without it, we’re just a condiment.” 18_Ervin & Smith, Omaha 19_JEBCommerce, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho 20_Bonanza, Seattle 21_Krilogy Financial, St. Louis 22_FlexJobs, Boulder, Colo. 23_QuotaFactory, Framingham, Mass. 24_The Goal, Reston, Va. 25_Clarke EyeCare Center, Wichita Falls, Tex. 26_97th Floor, Lehi,…

» On a recent Thursday morning in Cambridge, Mass., Alessandro Babini straps his company’s palm-size wearable device onto his arm. He’s the cofounder of a startup called Humon, which makes a next-generation fitness gadget. It monitors how well a user’s muscles are processing oxygen and then relays that information to an iPhone screen, which indicates whether the user can safely push a workout harder or should stop and recover. Although the product has been tested with Olympians, Babini sees the technology having applications beyond professional sports—helping improve health for the masses, as well as fostering a deeper understanding of how the body works. “It seems crazy,” he says, “that people know more about the car they drive than about the body they put behind the steering wheel.” That’s typical entrepreneur-speak,…

Someone in Madison, Wisc., has conjured Greek food. They went to MrDelivery.com, picked their local Greek restaurant, and made their order. That information then zipped off to a centralized data center in South Africa (long story, hang on), which acted like a control tower. It notified the Madison restaurant, then located the closest delivery driver, calculated a guaranteed delivery time for the customer, and sent directions to the driver’s phone. And then the driver picked up the food, zoomed toward the customer’s house, and ran into a problem no algorithm can solve: The addresses on some older houses are small and often hidden in shadows. That’s why Emin Buzhunashvili, owner of the local Mr. Delivery franchise, is now leaning out the window of his Jeep Cherokee in single-digit temperatures on…

Cruise Planners is in great company as the #1 travel franchise and the #3 fastest-growing franchise in the nation according to Entrepreneur. We are more than just a travel company and our franchise owners are a part of something bigger – the CP Family – as they build a home-based travel business and foster their entrepreneurial spirit. Cruise Planners has a network of 1,800 dream builders who create customized vacations for their clients while working from home. Franchisees join our team for various reasons—they all have a passion for travel and want to make the world better by designing life-long vacation memories that break down barriers and connect travelers with the world we live in. The company’s CP Cares initiative is a great example of giving back and making an…

Paint and Sip Pioneer The U.S. arts, entertainment, and recreation sector has a combined annual revenue of about $235 billion, according to research by Dun and Bradstreet. Pinot’s Palette has built a system that capitalizes on the arts and entertainment industry making the traditional painting class interactive, social and fun. By elevating the customer experience and transitioning the traditional art class to entertainment, first-timers and experienced artists alike can become inspired while spending quality time with friends and connecting with new ones. A New Kind of Night Out The Pinot’s Palette concept is simple: Guests bring their friends and enjoy wine at a Pinot’s Palette studio for a group painting event they’ve registered for online. Pinot’s Palette provides the canvases, paint and wine glasses. During the two- or three-hour event,…

Carly Chalker and her family have experienced ups and downs over the last decade. But with every life experience comes lessons learned and opportunities to grow. Carly, 33, and her husband, Jonathan, have been the backbone of their PuroClean business since it was opened. Carly worked for an insurance company for eight years while Jonathan came from a construction background. The pair started a family toward the end of the 2000s and are the proud parents of three children. But around the time their third child was born, the economic recession of 2008 hit. They were able to start a construction business that paid the bills but did not give them the sense of fulfillment they had before. “We had to do something to expand our business. We knew that…