Innholdsfortegnelse for January/February 2022 i Entrepreneur Magazine

WHEN YOU narrow your path, you limit your chances of finding what will make you happiest. That’s something I’ve learned personally—and witnessed happening to others—throughout my career. As we begin a new year and set new goals, it’s a lesson worth reflecting on. We must make room for the unexpected. We must set goals but be completely comfortable abandoning them. We must accept that the greatest opportunities may be the ones we weren’t looking for, and maybe didn’t even know existed. I’ll give you an example: This is the story of “Tom,” a real friend whose name I’m changing. Tom always wanted to work at one specific company. He set this goal at the beginning of his career because that company was full of widely recognized talented people, and it…

FOR MORE HOW-TO STORIES OF WOMEN IN BUSINESS, VISIT ENTREPRENEUR.COM/WOMEN Cardi B fans everywhere know these lyrics: Got a bag and fixed my teeth, hope you hoes know it ain’t cheap. They’re from “Bodak Yellow,” the rapper’s breakout song. But they’re also validation for Cardi’s dentist, Catrise Austin, whose entrepreneurial ingenuity led her to fix those teeth. Years ago, as a way to differentiate herself, Austin had the potentially absurd idea of becoming a “dentist to the stars.” Then she actually did it, with a client list that also includes DJ Khaled, Busta Rhymes, Common, Toni Braxton, and A$AP Rocky. But. . . how? Not every entrepreneur wants to (or should) chase celebrities. But every entrepreneur does need to land desirable customers. That’s why Austin’s story is instructive—because, at the…

I bought a competitor. That isn’t unique, of course, but here’s what is: At the time, my company was 6 months old and had failed to manufacture anything. The acquisition would cost us almost every dollar we had. You don’t see this move in the traditional startup playbook. It sounded insane; I was at risk of losing both businesses. But it became exactly the jump-start my company needed. That taught me something: Throw away the playbook! Sometimes a small company needs to act like a big one. To be clear, I did not come from a fancy M&A or finance background. I previously worked in marketing. So how did all of this happen? For years I’ve researched period products from all over the world looking for something that wouldn’t cause…

Jimmy Fallon became a talk show host in 2009, when he replaced Conan O’Brien as the face of Late Night. Fallon had never done anything like it before. So as he prepared to take over, he turned to the man who knew the job better than anyone. “I can’t give you any advice,” O’Brien replied. “You just have to do it.” “I didn’t love that—I mean, that’s not great advice,” Fallon says now. “But I was talking about it with someone and they said, well, he’s right—because he found who his character is and who he is. Who are you? Who is Jimmy Fallon as a show?” In that moment, Fallon realized he did not have a good answer. Sure, he had ideas for what would be in his show—the…

At age 52, I felt like a complete failure. My marriage was dissolving, I sucked at my sales job, and every financial opportunity seemed to slip away. Then I spoke at a fundraiser for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, because I lost two brothers to suicide 11 years apart. It hurts to type that sentence. It was even more painful to speak about it. But people responded well to my talk, and invitations started arriving for me to do it again. Delivering this talk seemed to be the only thing I was good at. So despite my discomfort, I became a keynote speaker on a really tough topic. I started a foundation dedicated to suicide prevention, called the Half a Sorrow Foundation, which I now run. The name comes…

Entrepreneur’s 43rd annual Franchise 500® shines a light on the unique challenges and changes that have shaped the franchise industry over the last year. The effects of the pandemic are evident. But so is the overall resilience of the industry, as many franchisors adapted and evolved to hold steady—or even grow. And the attraction of franchising as a method of expansion clearly hasn’t faded, as hundreds of newer companies have submitted for our list, resulting in a record-breaking number of applicants. So just how do we go about evaluating all of those applicants, from categories as varied as salads and estate sales, ghost kitchens and gyms, to bring you the world’s first, best and most comprehensive franchise ranking? Here’s an overview: THE FIRST STEP in our ranking process is gathering…

1/The aware eyewear. From bustling city streets to airport terminals, there are plenty of instances where you shouldn’t drown out your surroundings, even as you listen to music or take a call. Unlike earbuds that can muffle environmental noise, the Bluetooth Frames by Soundcore ($200; amazon.com) tuck four speakers and two microphones into sunglass temples. The batteries in the temples run about five hours per charge and, because they’re removable, you can swap scratch-and shatter-resistant frames for a new look ($50 each). 2/Big screen, tiny package. Slightly larger than an iPad mini, the Solar Portable by Nebula ($600; amazon.com beams three hours of content—from Paramount to presentations—in 1080p using a built-in battery and speakers. Sync it to a network, then binge-watch Netflix, play saved movies off its 8GB storage, or…

Jocelyn Lincoln was not prepared for the weeping. Lincoln is the chief talent officer for Kelly Services, a global staffing firm, and she’s been in the recruitment business for 22 years. Over that time, she’s witnessed an evolution in attitudes—with candidates talking less about money, and more about things like mission, purpose, and bringing their whole self to work. But then came 2020, an exceptional year on an exceptional number of levels, and Lincoln was granted a front-row seat to a seismic shift that may have forever altered the relationship between Americans and work. “I remember I told my manager, ‘I have been on more calls with people crying than ever before in my entire career,’ ” Lincoln says. People were fed up, overwhelmed, different. “They became very introspective around…

Is franchising entrepreneurship? That may sound like a dumb question, particularly inside a magazine called Entrepreneur that is publishing the 43rd edition of the world’s biggest and most authoritative franchising ranking. And yet, as many people in this industry will attest, the question persists. Sure, critics say, franchising is business ownership—but entrepreneurship requires grit and innovation. To which we say: You want to see grit and innovation? Look at what franchising did in 2020 and 2021. It’s been a time of economic uncertainty, false starts, abrupt change, and waves of fear. Some segments, like tutoring centers and gyms, were unable to follow their most basic business models. Others, like restaurants, had to adapt to constantly changing environments and consumer needs. But despite this, the industry grew. The 1,177 companies on…

Can you start a food delivery business without opening your own restaurant space? Can you give tours of senior care centers when no one is allowed in nursing homes? Can you train someone to repair a transmission over Zoom? Can you start an education business while helping your kids with remote learning? These are the sorts of questions that franchises started asking during the pandemic, and when they discovered the answer was “yes, you can,” it didn’t just save them in a pinch—it changed the industry for good. While millions were stuck at home, or working increasingly undesirable jobs outside the home, franchises were working hard to show they could offer people more freedom and autonomy over their lives. Here, we look at 10 ways the pandemic affected the world…

Year began/franchising since This shows how long a company has been in business and how long it has been franchising. Both are good to know when you’re trying to decide whether you should go with an established system or a newer concept. Available U.S. regions and Seeking international? Check out these columns if you want to know whether a franchise system is expanding in your area and whether a company requires franchisees to buy master licenses or multiple units. Number of franchises/Company-owned See a franchise company’s size and how quickly it’s growing. Here we list the numbers of franchises and company-owned units open and operating worldwide as of July 31, 2019, 2020, and 2021.  Startup costs/Franchise fee Look here for the total initial investment to open a franchise (without financing).…

1/When ‘no’ is the status quo. “In sex and relationships, no means no—always. But in business, when faced with a ‘no,’ we apply our company value to the problem: ‘Challenge the status quo with love.’ There is likely a logical reason for the rejection or refusal, so I open a dialogue. It’s important to understand the barriers. With each situation, I gather as much information as I can, weigh the pros and cons, and decide whether to persist. Progress is about compassion and balance.”  —SOUMYADIP RAKSHIT, cofounder and CEO, MysteryVibe 2/When ‘no’ is a gift. “The first ‘no’ is good enough for me! Persistence is a ridiculously overrated attribute in American culture—probably more harmful than virtuous overall. It’s much more rewarding to spend my time getting someone from slightly excited…

HAVE A PROBLEM WE CAN SOLVE FOR YOU? TELL US AT HELPME@ENTREPRENEUR.COM I’m worried about my employees burning out. What can I do to help? —MILLER, COLUMBUS, OHIO INSTEAD OF thinking about ways to prevent burnout, invert the question. Ask how you can fill your employees with energy, creativity, excitement, and fulfillment. Why? Because burnout is rarely about hours alone. You need to explore how much you’re draining your employees and how much you’re filling them up. We must cultivate endurance. As a recovering adherent to the work-all-day-and-never-sleep lifestyle, it took me time to realize this. But now I realize that relentless work does not result in maximum output. I want my employees to work hard, care deeply, and push the limits of what they think they can achieve, and that…