Innholdsfortegnelse for Spring 2025 i Entrepreneur's Startups

Have you ever thought about business ownership? Worried that it might be too expensive? After reading the next few pages, you might change your mind. On page 58, you’ll find our list of the top franchises that can be started for less than $50,000, less than $100,000, and less than $150,000. They include brands that can be started for less than $3,000 (like Dream Vacations) or $13,000 (like Estrella Insurance), and nearly 300 more than can fit any budget. Between this page and that list, we’ll share stories of how to succeed in franchising—and make that investment worthwhile! You’ll meet a franchise school owner who drove $7.5 million in revenue last year, a restaurant franchisee who’s become a master of evaluating average unit volume (AUV), and even a franchisee who…

When I first met the founders of Buffalo Wild Wings, it was 1991 and they had about six locations. They wanted me to try everything on the menu, so we went to the biggest table in the house and began ordering. The wings were hot. But the business potential was hotter. I’m a franchise consultant. My job is to help turn brands into franchises, and turn franchises into giant franchises. So when I meet with a potential client, I want to know: Are they ready? Jim Disbrow and Scott Lowery, the founders of Buffalo Wild Wings, were clearly ready. Their unit-level financials were great. They were eager learners. We had a good growth strategy. But here’s what really sold me: They understood what they were building. It wasn’t just a…

If you’re considering franchise ownership, one of the questions at the top of your mind is probably: How much will it cost? The good news is, there’s a franchise for just about every budget. Even if you don’t have millions to invest, there are hundreds of great opportunities for you to consider. And to get you started, we’ve put together our annual lists of the top franchises that can be started for less than $50,000, less than $100,000, and less than $150,000. The companies on these lists are ranked based on how they scored in Entrepreneur’s 2025 Franchise 500 ranking. The Franchise 500 analyzes franchise brands based on over 150 data points in the areas of costs and fees, size and growth, franchisee support, brand strength, and financial strength and…

If someone found a $7,000 Dior handbag being sold for $1,700, they might be suspicious. That’s why, for motherdaughter duo Dianne and Gabrielle Melillo, the consignment business isn’t just about good merchandise. It’s about trust. “We work in a field where our items are pre-owned,” Gabrielle says. “Our customers must trust us and our level of transparency. We treat them like we would treat our friends. We would never steer them in the wrong direction.” The Melillos are franchisees with Season 2 Consign, a brand that sells secondhand goods in person and online. They opened their first territory in 2023 in central New Jersey (a territory is their assigned region for sourcing goods), and last year, after being named one of the International Franchise Association’s Franchisees of the Year, they…

In 2020, Just Between Friends was facing a crisis. It’s an events-based business, which means it was hit especially hard by COVID. Meanwhile, the husband of one of its founders became seriously ill, so she needed to step back from day-today operations. The company began looking for a president to take over—and Tracy Panase was sure she’d be considered. She was the brand’s top franchisee, after all. Three of her four locations were among the company’s top 10 earners nationwide. She’d be a perfect president, she thought. But they never called her. Panase stewed over this. Then she talked it over with her husband. “Did you raise your hand?” he asked her. “No, I didn’t,” she realized. She assumed that her hard work and success would speak for itself, but…

When Celebree School CEO Richard Huffman talks to prospective franchisees, he often hears the same misconception: People think they need a degree in education to run a school. But it’s not true. Huffman himself doesn’t have an education degree! Instead, he believes that franchisees just need to be great operators—so they can hire great educators. Jason Skidmore is a perfect example. Skidmore’s background is in healthcare; he grew an ambulance service from a single ambulance into a multimillion-dollar operation with more than 130 vehicles and 350 employees. Then in 2019, he became a franchisee for Celebree, an early-education franchise with more than 50 units open. Now Skidmore owns four units, with five more in development, and brought in $7.5 million in revenue in 2024—making him the brand’s top performer. SO,…

If you want to work in restaurants, look at the business through Sonu Chandi’s eyes. His life has been shaped by this business, but he also knows it’s a game of numbers. In 2000, at the age of 16, he moved to America from his small Indian village—then learned English while working at a restaurant his dad managed. In 2003, his dad and two partners opened a restaurant, and Chandi got involved with the front-ofhouse. “That’s how I learned how the restaurant world works,” he says. Then he got into the business himself. He bought an existing Mountain Mike’s Pizza franchise in 2007. And now Chandi Hospitality Group, a company he founded with his brothers, runs 17 Mountain Mike’s, is opening 10 units of Guy Fieri’s Chicken Guy! and owns…

Want to think big? Think like Brian Lee. He’s the cofounder of LegalZoom, ShoeDazzle, and The Honest Company—each of which were transformative inside of crowded spaces. And here’s how he spotted his most recent opportunity. He looked at the primary trading-card industry, which he says is “relatively small” at just a couple billion dollars. The secondary market for trading and selling those cards is more interesting to him, at maybe $25 billion. There are a lot of players in this space—manufacturers, auction houses, grading companies, and so on. So where would he fit in? “The reason I’m so excited,” he says, “is because that secondary market doesn’t really have a brand name. So there’s some very large players in the industry, but none of them are household names.” Now he’s…