Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2018 i Entrepreneur Magazine

A FEW MONTHS AGO, my wife and I were brainstorming ways to market our novel. We spent three years writing it together—it’s called Mr. Nice Guy, and it comes out October 16. And as any author knows, publicizing and marketing a book is tough. It’s a crowded space, few publications cover books in any meaningful way, and readers are hard to reach. We stared into the air for a while. Then I thought, What would happen if I stopped looking at this like an author, and started doing it like an entrepreneur? And with that, a new world opened up. I don’t see entrepreneurship as a career choice. It’s a mindset. That’s the thing I marvel at most when spending time with brilliant entrepreneurs, and it’s the skill I think…

Q I’m a small-business owner, and we’re in a stage of growth. Do I really need employees and potential partners to sign NDAs? —CHRIS P., NEW JERSEY THERE ARE MANY big-business practices that don’t necessarily apply to smaller companies. When you’re a startup, you can cut a lot of red tape without worrying about repercussions. The use of NDAs—that is, nondisclosure agreements, which serve as legal contracts of confidentiality—is not one of those cuttable corners. Chris, here’s a cautionary tale of my own early ignorance. When I started Pen Name Consulting, I used a basic NDA—just a file I found on the internet. I wasn’t blind to the importance of NDAs, but I was cheap and stubborn, even though my father is a lawyer and advised me against this move.…

1 ZURIXX Cottonwood Heights, Utah; financial education 2 UPSIDE TRAVEL Washington, D.C.; travel services 3 8Z REAL ESTATE Boulder, Colo.; real estate 4 CBH HOMES Meridian, Idaho; construction 5 N2 PUBLISHING Wilmington, N.C.; publishing 6 DUOLINGO Pittsburgh; language education 7 METRIC THEORY San Francisco; advertising 8 ACCELERATION PARTNERS Needham, Mass.; advertising 9 HNI RISK SERVICES New Berlin, Wis.; insurance 1O YTEL Foothill Ranch, Calif.; telecommunications 11 LIFTOFF MOBILE Palo Alto, Calif.; software 12 HIREOLOGY Chicago; software 13 RELIAQUEST Tampa, Fla.; cybersecurity 14 ACCOUNTINGDEPARTMENT.COM Bonita Springs, Fla.; accounting 15 SPAREFOOT Austin, Tex.; moving and storage 16 SPARKPLUG CAPITAL Louisville, Colo.; real estate investment 17 EXPRESS LIEN New Orleans; web-based services 18 PAN COMMUNICATIONS Boston; public relations 19 ACV AUCTIONS Buffalo; automotive 2O MX Lehi, Utah; financial technology 21 VIVAX…

GUY FIERI Chef, author, TV personality, Donkey Sauce maker Have a great relationship with your attorney before you need to,” says Guy Fieri. “And with your accountant—don’t wait till you’re sitting in the middle of all kinds of questions to try to understand how your accounting system works.” This isn’t how Fieri talks on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, or any other of his Emmy-winning TV shows. You won’t hear him like this if, on some lucky night, you happen to catch him at one of his more than 60 restaurants (he does pop in!), dishing out the most bewitching condiment to ever grace a sandwich, his signature Donkey Sauce. But Fieri didn’t become a celebrity chef superstar phenomenon—a career that now also includes running a winery and authoring a shelf-load…

“We connect a shopping experience to user experiences, which has never been done in ecommerce. Imagine shopping for your favorite cannabis, CBD, and vaporizers, and also searching by symptoms and using AI to connect all of the data being collected. ”— Namaste Technologies Co-founder and CEO Sean Dollinger COMPANY: Namaste Technologies CO-FOUNDER AND CEO: Sean Dollinger LOCATION: Jupiter, Fla. HTTPS://WWW.NAMASTETECHNOLOGIES.COM Namaste operates a global cannabis e-commerce platform with more than 30 websites in 20-plus countries under various brands. Namaste’s product offering includes vaporizers, glassware, accessories, and CBD products. Namaste leverages technology including artificial intelligence and machine learning to optimize and personalize a consumer’s on-site buying experience across its platforms. COMPANY: Meadow FOUNDER: David Hua LOCATION: San Francisco HTTP://MEADOWPOS.COM In 2014, Meadow launched an on-demand directory, Getmeadow.com , connecting patients to…

“My favorite aspect of working as a lawyer in the cannabis industry is having the ability to operate at the tip of the spear of a burgeoning industry. We set new legal precedent, define industry standards, and help to create brands and businesses that already are, or soon will be, household names.”—Frontera Law group cofounder Jeff D. Welsh COMPANY: Frontera Law Group FOUNDERS: Jeffrey D. Welsh and Luke K. Stanton LOCATION: Sherman Oaks, Calif. HTTP://FRONTERALAWGROUP.COM Frontera Law Group is a law firm in California serving the industry’s preeminent cannabis businesses. Frontera provides strategic advice, helping clients navigate the ever-changing landscape to build successful and sustainable enterprises while also complying with California’s complex, evolving patchwork of state and local regulations. COMPANY: Shevin Law Group FOUNDER: Eric Shevin LOCATION: Sherman Oaks, Calif.…

Your brand’s name is the message you broadcast to the world. While companies may come and go, their names last forever. But too often, entrepreneurs treat the naming process as an afterthought—a fun thing to brainstorm about over bagels or a drink, not a serious step in a brand development strategy. The key is to find a name that both describes the essence of your brand and differentiates you in the marketplace. Here are some key questions to ask yourself. WHAT’S THE SOUL OF MY COMPANY? Before writing anything down, ask yourself what your product or service is all about. What story do you want to tell? Cannabis is a “very intimate product that people want to connect with,” says Scott Milano, founder and managing director of Tanj, a boutique…

1/ Ease Into It! From Keith Gerson, president and chief customer advocate, FranConnect When franchisors come to us, we hope they have very specific goals and problems they’re trying to solve. We make sure they can prioritize them and understand what tools would be best. We provide different bundles based on needs—we have one focused on training and team development, for example, and another on field operations—and it’s problematic when franchisors have what I’ll call waterfall syndrome, and want to take it all in all at once. That’s challenging from an implementation standpoint. You can outstrip the capabilities of a franchise organization by taking on a project of that magnitude. Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Take your time to make the right selection, both in terms of…

AS RE/MAX’S FRANCHISE count continues to climb, so does its agent count. At midyear, the company hit an all-time high of 123,082 agents working under its name. According to CEO Adam Contos, these agents sell more real estate than any other brand, as measured by residential transactions. They also help raise millions of dollars every year for charities. This past July, for example, RE/MAX auctioned off a tiny house to the tune of just over $47,000, all of which went to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.…

LIKE MOST FRANCHISES, AtWork charges its franchisees an ongoing royalty fee, as well as an administrative service fee, totaling 6.5 percent of gross revenues. But in situations where franchisees are competing for a large volume of business and must offer a lower margin rate, the company discounts this fee to 2.6 percent so the franchisees can still make a profit. AtWork also offers discounts on these fees for franchisees who open multiple units, renew their franchise agreements for multiple terms, or generate higher revenues. “These incentives really motivate our owners to focus on building their business,” says president and COO Jason Leverant.…

While studying to be an engineer in Kanpur, India, Pooja Sankar’s shyness became a problem. “I was surrounded by brilliant students but didn’t have access to them,” Sankar says. “I’d fight through assignments alone.” She thought the problem was unique to her—that is, until she got a job at Facebook, and Sheryl Sandberg gathered female employees to discuss challenges they’d faced in their education and careers. That’s when Sankar discovered many others suffered just as she did. She wanted to help people like her, so she enrolled in Stanford Business School and set out to build Piazza, an online platform where students can anonymously ask and answer questions on assignments and gain feedback from other students and professors. Since launching in 2010, Piazza’s community has grown to serve two million…

Founder-led businesses of all sizes that get it right. We all want to love where we work. But not every entrepreneur knows how to make their workplace enjoyable—and investing in a Ping-Pong table won’t cut it. “Recognition isn’t something organizations can buy,” says Doug Claffey, CEO of Energage, a leader in employee research. “It’s an achievement they have to work for.” Get inspired by the following three pages, where we name the 150 companies with the best cultures. Entrepreneur partnered with Exton, Pa.–based Energage to survey hundreds of companies and sift through 34,613 individual employees’ responses. The survey was open to for-profit employers with at least 35 employees. Here’s who rose to the top. GOOSEHEAD INSURANCE/ No. 1 Career Development from Day 1 FROM THE MINUTE an employee steps into…

1 SCRIBE MEDIA Austin; publishing 2 HUGHES MARINO San Diego; commercial real estate 3 MAZ New York; content logistics 4 CHOOZLE Denver; advertising technology 5 VUESOL TECHNOLOGIES Alpharetta, Ga.; information technology 6 ADVICEPERIOD Los Angeles; wealth management 7 COCKROACH LABS New York; database solutions 8 SERUR AGENCIES Wilmington, Mass.; retirement planning 9 PEERFIT Orlando; digital health 1O BUTTON New York; mobile marketing technology 11 COOL BREEZE BEVERAGES Tampa; distribution 12 BITGO Palo Alto, Calif.; cryptocurrency 13 GROW Norfolk, Va.; digital advertising 14 QUALBE MARKETING GROUP Haltom City, Tex.; digital marketing 15 HIGHER LEARNING TECHNOLOGIES Coralville, Iowa; edtech 16 CLIENT COMMAND Cumming, Ga.; advertising 17 TRIOS SALON Omaha; beauty 18 LOGOMIX Boston; branding 19 HARVEST GROUP Rogers, Ark.; consumer goods 2O POLYSET COMPANY Mechanicville, N.Y.; materials 21 SMASHTECH San Diego; e-commerce…

DURING THE SPRING OF 2017, the world was getting nasty toward Nasty Gal’s Sophia Amoruso. It wasn’t a treatment she was used to. Until then, she’d been an entrepreneurial darling: the It-girl founder of a booming clothing retailer, frequent subject of magazine covers (including Entrepreneur’s: January 2013), regular headliner of conferences, and author of a best-selling memoir. And then, on April 21, the TV version of Sophia streamed out to 130 million Netflix members. It was a comedy called Girlboss, based on her book—a loose retelling of Amoruso’s life (“real loose,” the opening credits stress), in which a Dumpster-diving college dropout launches her fashion empire from an eBay store at only 22. The series, frankly, wasn’t very good. But that wasn’t the problem. The problem was that, simultaneously, in a…

“There are plenty of automated tools in other industries but cannabis has a unique need for gentle handling. Our challenge as an engineering company is to design products with the ability to scale up production, without sacrificing quality.”— Cullen Raichart, founder of GreenBroz COMPANY: GreenBroz FOUNDER: Cullen Raichart LOCATION: San Diego HTTPS://GREENBROZ.COM/ GreenBroz, Inc,. makes a full line of automated harvesting equipment. It says its flagship, the GreenBroz auto-trimmer, is the best dry trimming solution available. COMPANY: urban-gro FOUNDER: Brad Nattrass LOCATION: Lafayette, Colo. HTTPS://URBAN-GRO.COM/ A cultivation technologies company, urban-gro delivers systems, solutions, design services, and technologies for commercial cannabis cultivators. Customers include some of the largest commercial cannabis cultivators in the world, the company says. urban-gro helps its customers achieve sustainable scalability through innovative technologies, resulting in lower operational…

Walk into Century 21’s headquarters in Madison, N.J., and it’s clear the company is in transition. A few things seem off and slightly out of place. The walls. The furniture. And most notably, the Ping-Pong table—that clichéd symbol of a Silicon Valley startup, which sits awkwardly abandoned in a corner. The table arrived in 2017, a corporate gift to welcome Century 21’s then-new CEO, Nick Bailey, who took over that summer. He’d arrived from Zillow, one of the very tech companies putting pressure on Century 21, and carried with him no allegiance to his new employer’s past—including its office design. His mission, in fact, was to largely tear the place up: to overhaul what many have come to see as a tired brand, a former real estate giant that lost…

1 uBreakiFix Electronics repairs STARTUP COST $60.4K–$225.4K TOTAL UNITS (Franchised / Co.-Owned) 393/28 2 Kumon Math & Reading Centers Supplemental education STARTUP COST $69.6K–$148.97K TOTAL UNITS (Franchised / Co.-Owned) 25,854/27 3 CPR Cell Phone Repair Electronics repairs and sales STARTUP COST $55.7K–$170.5K TOTAL UNITS (Franchised / Co.-Owned) 507/4 4 Matco Tools Mechanics’ tools and equipment STARTUP COST $91.8K–$269.7K TOTAL UNITS (Franchised / Co.-Owned) 1,781/2 5 HomeVestors of America Home buying, repair, and selling STARTUP COST $53K–$421.3K TOTAL UNITS (Franchised / Co.-Owned) 980/0 6 Merry Maids Residential cleaning STARTUP COST $86.8K–$123.8K TOTAL UNITS (Franchised / Co.-Owned) 1,667/3 7 Firehouse Subs Subs STARTUP COST $92.3K–$824.8K TOTAL UNITS (Franchised / Co.-Owned) 1,099/37 8 Baskin-Robbins Ice cream, frozen yogurt, frozen beverages STARTUP COST $93.6K–$401.8K TOTAL UNITS (Franchised / Co.-Owned) 7,982/0 9 Mosquito Joe Outdoor…

1 7-Eleven Convenience stores STARTUP COST $47.1K–$1.2M* TOTAL UNITS (Franchised / Co.-Owned) 61,086/1,019 *While 7-Eleven’s initial investment range varies widely based on different circumstances, most first-time franchisees’ startup costs will be $100,000 and up. 2 Dunkin’ Donuts Coffee, doughnuts, baked goods STARTUP COST $228.6K–$1.7M TOTAL UNITS (Franchised / Co.-Owned) 12,538/0 3 The UPS Store Postal, business, printing, and communications services STARTUP COST $168.9K–$398.3K TOTAL UNITS (Franchised / Co.-Owned) 4,979/0 4 RE/MAX Real estate STARTUP COST $40K–$230.5K* TOTAL UNITS (Franchised / Co.-Owned) 7,985/0 *The low end of RE/MAX’s initial investment range applies only to the conversion of an existing business. Franchisees starting a new business will invest more than $100,000. 5 Great Clips Hair salons STARTUP COST $136.9K–$258.3K TOTAL UNITS (Franchised / Co.-Owned) 4,261/0 6 Sport Clips Men’s sports-themed hair salons…

A few years ago, when Matt Bodnar was the CEO of a small technology company, he got lunch with a fellow CEO friend. This friend was frustrated; his company was struggling, and he wanted a change. So the two spent 15 minutes or so talking through solutions, and then, to his own surprise, Bodnar said the words that would change his life: “Well,” Bodnar asked his friend, “what if you just took my job?” “We kind of laughed about it,” Bodnar says. “And then he was like, ‘That’s not a bad idea.’ ” Bodnar had been coming to accept a difficult truth: Although he had aspired to the position of CEO, he wasn’t actually a fit for the job. It was time to admit that. Plenty of notable CEOs, like…

1 GOOSEHEAD INSURANCE Westlake, Tex.; insurance 2 BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY HOME SERVICES AMBASSADOR REAL ESTATE Omaha; real estate 3 HUBSPOT Cambridge, Mass.; software 4 POWER HOME REMODELING GROUP Chester, Pa.; home improvement 5 CURRICULUM ASSOCIATES North Billerica, Mass.; publishing 6 INTEGRATION PARTNERS Lexington, Mass.; IT services 7 WEIFIELD GROUP CONTRACTING Centennial, Colo.; electrical contracting 8 COHESITY San Jose, Calif.; software 9 PLURALSIGHT Farmington, Utah; software 1O CWS APARTMENT HOMES Austin, Tex.; property management 11 KABBAGE Atlanta; data technology 12 PIVOTAL SOFTWARE San Francisco; software 13 INSTRUCTURE Salt Lake City; edtech 14 O.C. TANNER COMPANY Salt Lake City; employee recognition solutions 15 AMERICAN ADVISORS GROUP Orange, Calif.; mortgage lending 16 TOTAL QUALITY LOGISTICS Cincinnati; logistics 17 CLOUDFARE San Francisco; internet infrastructure 18 INPRO Muskego, Wis.; building products 19 RESURGENS ORTHOPAEDICS Atlanta; medical…

Having raked in an estimated $6 billion last year, it’s easy to think of the cannabis industry as a sure bet. Nine states have legalized recreational use, 30 states along with Washington, D.C., have given the legal OK for medical use, and more are sure to follow. Industry experts are forecasting $22 billion by 2022—getting in the cannabis biz seems like a no-brainer, right? Well, it wasn’t always such a seemingly smooth road to success. California was the first state to legalize medical usage back in 1999, and it has been a slow and sometimes volatile journey to where we are now, which is far from steady ground. The sale and use of marijuana is, after all, still prohibited by federal law. It takes a certain combination of passion and…

“People are depending on us to deliver them safe, delicious, and effective cannabis products today and long into the future. There’s no better motivator than knowing people depend on you to deliver products that will make a difference in their lives.”—Kiva Confections founder Scott Palmer COMPANY: Kiva Confections FOUNDER: Scott Palmer LOCATION: Oakland, Calif. HTTP://KIVACONFECTIONS.COM Kiva Confections products are crafted from ingredients that are combined with California cannabis. Since Kiva’s founding in 2010, its goal has been to create an edible that redefines what a cannabis confection ought to be—by applying “art and science” to ensure a deliciously consistent experience. COMPANY: 1906 FOUNDER: Peter Barsoom LOCATION: Henderson, Colo. HTTPS://WWW.19O6NEWHIGHS.COM In addition to great taste, all 1906 products feature rapid-delivery formulations using single-strain organic cannabis to provide a range of experiences,…

Shirin Behzadi knows the importance of being able to take care of yourself. As a teenager, she emigrated to the United States with her parents at the height of the Iranian Revolution and worked as a gas station cashier to help make ends meet. Today, she’s the CEO of Home Franchise Concepts (HFC), a family of direct-to-consumer home improvement brands including Budget Blinds, Tailored Living, and Concrete Craft, with 1,400 worldwide franchises. But her gas station experience still stays with her, driving a core mission at HFC: She wants to turn what she calls “everyday” entrepreneursmillennials, seniors, single parents, veterans, and anyone else who may appear inexperienced on paper—into business owners. To make it happen, her 25-year-old company offers in-classroom training, coaching, webinars, and area meetings to help develop new…

PIRTEK CREDITS ITS RECENT U.S. growth in part to offering a new mobile-only option to its franchisees. This option allows franchisees, who service and replace hydraulic hoses, to start their business with just two mobile service vehicles and keep their inventory in a storage facility—making for a much lower point of entry than if they had to open one of the company’s traditional service and supply centers at the outset. Franchisees who choose this option are expected to grow their operations, though, so they can add a third van after one year, a fourth after two years, and a fully staffed center within three years.…

1 McDonald’s Burgers, chicken, salads, beverages STARTUP COST $1.1M–$2.2M TOTAL UNITS (Franchised / Co.-Owned) 34,521/2,888 2 Sonic Drive-In Burgers, hot dogs, chicken sandwiches, breakfast, ice cream, beverages STARTUP COST $865K–$3.6M TOTAL UNITS (Franchised / Co.-Owned) 3,365/228 3 Taco Bell Mexican food STARTUP COST $525.1K–$2.6M TOTAL UNITS (Franchised / Co.-Owned) 6,299/606 4 Hardee’s Restaurants Burgers, chicken, biscuits STARTUP COST $1.5M–$1.99M TOTAL UNITS (Franchised / Co.-Owned) 2,111/115 5 Culver Franchising System Frozen custard, specialty burgers STARTUP COST $2M–$4.7M TOTAL UNITS (Franchised / Co.-Owned) 657/7 6 Carl’s Jr. Restaurants Burgers STARTUP COST $1.6M–$2.1M TOTAL UNITS (Franchised / Co.-Owned) 1,584/52 7 Planet Fitness Fitness clubs STARTUP COST $857.1K–$4.2M TOTAL UNITS (Franchised / Co.-Owned) 1,353/58 8 Primrose School Franchising Educational childcare STARTUP COST $716.7K–$5.8M TOTAL UNITS (Franchised / Co.-Owned) 353/0 9 Hampton by Hilton Midprice…