Sept/Oct '24

September-October 2024 / Entrepreneur.com

America’s Favorite

MOM &POP SHOPS

™

THE TOP 150 LOCAL BUSINESSES IN THE U.S. TODAY P. 30

Is Your Local Favorite on Our List?

SEE INSIDE

Reviewing the forecasting insights before ordering more inventory.

Realizing he’s afraid of heights.

Booking time with a banker after going over the books.

Tracking same-day payments while stocking the shelves.

Business solutions so powerful, you’ll make every move matter.

What would you like the power to do?® Learn more at bankofamerica.com/bankingforbusiness

You must be enrolled in Business Advantage 360, our small business online banking, or Mobile Banking to use Cash Flow Monitor and Connected Apps, and have an eligible Bank of America® small business deposit account. Mobile Banking requires that you download the Mobile Banking app and is only available for select mobile devices. Message and data rates may apply.

Screen images simulated. Sequences shortened. ©2024 Bank of America Corporation. All rights reserved. | MAP6204811

Sept.-Oct. 2024

FEATURES P.30

The Best of Local Biz It’s America’s 150 Favorite Mom & Pop Shops—is your local gem on the list?

Find out, and learn what makes local shops strong.

HIGHLIGHTS P.46 Ack, It’s a Bad Review!

Advice for overcoming online negativity.

P.48 How to Raise Money

→ THINK IN INK

Graham Beech, owner of All My Heart tattoo shop, built his own business model.

P.38

Keys to a successful friends-and-family round.

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF ALL MY HEART STUDIO

P.50 Big Marketing Wins

Great ideas for your next hyperlocal campaign.

P.54 Is Your Rent Too High?

How to manage one of your greatest expenses.

P.56 Margins of Error Avoid the mistake that will sink your finances.

Cover Illustration / P E T E R YA N

September-October 2024 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / 1

September-October 2024

→ HOPS AND DREAMS

Krisha Arthur, a brewer at Parleaux Beer Lab, holding the Native Land blue corn Mexican lager

EDITOR’S NOTE

BUSINESS UNUSUAL

8 Are You Responsive?

11 What if the Rules of Business Are Wrong?

It’s the simplest, fastest growth tool you’ll ever find.

Here’s how to create customers and fans for life.

by JASON FEIFER

The cofounder of LegalZoom and ShoeDazzle has some unexpected advice.

by JASON FEIFER

16 The Goals That Matter

Not all goals are important. Six entrepreneurs share the ones that made a difference.

2 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

18 Three Pivots to $100M

22 Hire Like Netflix

by LIZ BRODY

by LIZ BRODY

20 Fast Growth Killed My Startup

24 Multitask Your Fall!

Rowan is one of the buzziest piercing brands—but it took a lot of reinvention to get there.

Are you prioritizing growth over your customers? Take it from me—don’t do that.

by RYAN FRANKEL

Here’s how major companies hire the best talent—and how you can do it too, at any scale.

This new tech will help you do more in less time.

by MARIO ARMSTRONG

26 The $414K Side Hustle I built an incredible business outside my full-time job—and here are the steps I took.

by CHISOM OKWULEHIE

PHOTOGR A PH COURT ESY OF PA RL E AUX BEER L A B

P.36

This Industry Leader Saves Time and Thousands of Dollars a Year Thanks to One Simple Solution Keller has a long track record of success in excavation. Now, it’s realizing impactful efficiencies in its offices spanning five continents.

Even a well-established company with a long history of success can benefit from new smart buying business tools and strategies to help become more organized and efficient.

Take Keller for example. Founded by Johann Keller in Germany in 1860, the company is the largest geotechnical specialty contractor in the world. Keller develops innovative, practical, and cost-effective solutions to challenges like building deep foundations, ground improvement, groundwater control, releveling structures, slope stabilization, and more.

While Keller has the work force and expertise to get all types of ground ready to build on across the entire construction sector, the business isn’t only about laying cement and operating heavy machinery. With approximately 9,500 employees and operations across five continents, Keller has a massive workforce that requires office supplies and other supporting materials for these employees to do their best work.

A simple solution that helps keep a large company running right.

At Keller, trying to manage things like tail spend, product availability, and time spent on procurement activities across such a large organization was a challenge. That changed, however, when they established a company-wide Amazon Business Prime plan.

“The primary motivation was to consolidate the plethora of our individual Keller purchasing accounts, decrease our shipping costs, expand access to two-day shipping, and save time and money,” explains Ethan Hoover, a Corporate Buyer for Keller North America, which is based in Hanover, Md. In his role, Hoover’s goal is to help centralize, standardize, and optimize Keller’s corporate procurement.

In addition to discounted pricing, Hoover says Keller is leveraging several Amazon Business account features. One is Single Sign-on, which gives Keller a secure, centralized way to enable and disable buyer access throughout the company. Keller also makes use of Spend Visibility. Rich with data visualizations,

this feature lets you to track your buying patterns to help optimize savings—allowing you to identify purchasing trends made by individuals and groups within your organization.

With this information, you can optimize spend via supplier consolidation, bulk purchasing, and more.

Another significant feature for Keller is FREE Two-Day Shipping.

Business Prime members can choose from more than 100 million items on Amazon that will arrive two business days after they ship. Gone are the days of ordering office supplies, then waiting and wondering when they may turn up.

Seeing results that make a positive difference.

Enacting operational change across a massive company can be complicated. But it doesn’t have to be. Since Keller created their Business Prime account six years ago, the company has seen many positive results.

Hoover says Keller saves approximately $30,000 to $40,000 annually on shipping and discounts, averaging more than 7,500 orders each year. Keller employees save time by about 50% across the end-user ordering process, delivery time, and accounts payable resources. “Our results have been fantastic,” he says.

“Our purpose is to build the foundations for a sustainable future. This is why we’re here,” Hoover says. “With time and money saved, we can focus on winning and executing work and the support of those efforts.”

To find out why you can rely on Amazon Business for smart business buying, visit

business.amazon.com

September-October 2024

FRANCHISE 73 The Top Suppliers in Franchising

Who’s the biggest help of them all? We have the answers.

by TRACY STAPP HEROLD

→ BUSINESS IS MAGIC

Books Are Magic, a bookstore in Brooklyn, New York, is a favorite for local readers.

P.36

112 Trust Equals Sales

How this mother-daughter duo built their customers’ trust in the consignment industry.

by KIM KAVIN

114 The Road Trip That Changed Pita Pit A new CEO hits the road to rebuild relationships.

by KIM KAVIN

116 A $1.4M Turnaround She bought a failing coffee franchise location. Now it’s booming.

by KIM KAVIN

118 What Saved KFC

The brand was struggling.

A new leader arrived—and treated franchisees in a way they didn’t expect.

by DAVID NOVAK

127 The Top Global Brands in Franchising

Want to own an overseas location? Start here.

by TRACY STAPP HEROLD

CLOSER The greatest pain of my life ended at 2:05 p.m. I’ve kept my clock frozen there ever since.

by CHUCK JAMES

4 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF BOOKS ARE MAGIC

144 What Inspires Me

THE

PACK & SHIP STORE FIND YOUR STORE TODAY AT THEUPSSTORE.COM MAILBOXES | SHREDDING | COPYING | RETURNS | SCANNING | FAXING | NOTARY | PRINTING *Visit theupsstore.com/guarantee for full details. Copyright © 1994-2024. The UPS Store, Inc. is a UPS company. All rights reserved. The UPS Store® locations are independently owned and operated by franchisees of The UPS Store, Inc. (although one or more may be company-owned) in the USA and by its master licensee and its franchisees in Canada. All employees working at The UPS Store franchised centers, including the notary, are employees of the franchisee and the franchisee alone and are not The UPS Store, Inc. employees. Products, services, prices, and hours of operation may vary by location.

EDITOR IN CHIEF Jason Feifer CREATIVE DIRECTOR Paul Scirecalabrisotto DEPUTY EDITOR Frances Dodds PHOTO DIRECTOR Judith Puckett-Rinella

EDITORIAL

BUSINESS

MANAGING EDITOR Monica Im SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR Tracy Stapp Herold COPY CHIEF Jessica Levy RESEARCH Andre Carter, Eric White SPECIAL PROJECTS COORDINATOR Jordan Hall

CEO Ryan Shea

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Liz Brody CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Mario Armstrong,

Kristen Bayrakdarian, Rachel Davies, Ryan Frankel, Chuck James, Kim Kavin, David Novak, Sal Vaglica, Rachel Wallace, Sofia Wolfson

INTEGRATED MARKETING ASSOCIATE

NORTHEAST SENIOR ACCOUNT DIRECTOR

Rikki Paribello

ACCOUNT DIRECTOR Krissy Cirello CHICAGO MIDWEST DIRECTOR, STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS

Steven Newman

Ashleigh Dennis

DETROIT MIDWEST DIRECTOR OF SALES Dave Woodruff

MARKETING

ATLANTA SOUTHERN ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Kelly Hediger

SVP, INNOVATION Deepa Shah

DEPUTY DIGITAL EDITOR Melissa Malamut SENIOR DIGITAL CONTENT DIRECTOR Jessica Thomas ENTREPRENEUR STUDIO DIRECTOR Brad Gage SENIOR BUSINESS EDITOR Carl Stoffers

SVP, NATIONAL SALES Brian Speranzini VP, NATIONAL PRINT SALES James Clauss

Wendy Narez

ENTREPRENEUR.COM

DIRECTOR OF EDITORIAL SUBSCRIPTIONS Caroline Olney

PRESIDENT Bill Shaw CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Michael Le Du ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER/MARKETING Lucy Gekchyan VP, SPECIAL PROJECTS Dan Bova PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Mackenzie Truman VP, NATIVE CONTENT Jason Fell SENIOR INTEGRATED MARKETING MANAGER

EXECUTIVE EDITOR Brittany Robins

ENTREPRENEUR MEDIA NATIONAL ADVERTISING SALES OFFICES

PRODUCT MARKETING MANAGER Arnab Mitra MARKETING COORDINATOR Chris Desrosiers SENIOR MARKETING MANAGER Hilary Kelley SENIOR DIGITAL ACCOUNT MANAGER Jillian Swisher

LOS ANGELES WEST COAST ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Mike Lindsay GREEN ENTREPRENEUR & ENTREPRENEUR, NATIONAL ACCOUNT DIRECTOR

DIGITAL ACCOUNT MANAGER Michelle Gaudy

Hilary Kelley

SENIOR FEATURES WRITER Amanda Breen

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

SENIOR NEWS WRITER Emily Rella

VP, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Charles Muselli

FRANCHISE AND BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

EDITOR, CONTRIBUTOR NETWORK Maria Bailey SUBSCRIPTIONS EDITOR Mark Klekas

NEWS REPORTER Sherin Shibu ASSOCIATE EDITORS, CONTRIBUTOR NETWORK

Chelsea Brown, Kara McIntyre, Micah Zimmerman RESEARCH INTERNS Emma Bennett, Elina Natarajan, Karl Wang

GM, CONTENT SYNDICATION Matt Goldstein BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATE Michelle Buzga

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES ADVERTISING

ENTREPRENEUR BOOKS VP, ENTREPRENEUR BOOKS Sean Strain

PRODUCT TEAM VP, DATA & OPERATIONS Michael Frazier AD OPERATIONS COORDINATOR Daniel Belyaks CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER Jake Hudson VP, OPERATIONS Shannon Humphries PROJECT MANAGERS June Munoz, Julianne Page SENIOR ENGINEERS Jace Poirier-Pinto, Geoff Winner ENGINEERS Angel Cool Gongora, Michael Flach, Abel Trotter FRONT-END ENGINEERS Lorena Brito, John Himmelman QUALITY ASSURANCE TECHNICIAN Jesse Lopez ART DIRECTOR Christian Zamorano SENIOR DESIGNER Jayla Buie GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Andrew Chang, Isaac Contreras DIGITAL MEDIA DESIGNER Monica Dipres DIGITAL PHOTO EDITOR Karis Doerner

VP, FRANCHISE SALES Brent Davis DIRECTOR, FRANCHISE SALES Casey Lamm

SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR OF AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT & MONETIZATION

Anthony Del Conte

Direct Action Media, Tom Emerson (800) 938-4660

ADVERTISING PRODUCTION MANAGER

Mona Rifkin

EXECUTIVE STAFF

SOCIAL MEDIA SENIOR MANAGER

CFO Chris Damore

Kennadi McCoy

DIRECTOR OF FINANCE Tim Miller FINANCE SUPPORT Jennifer Herbert CORPORATE COUNSEL Ronald L. Young

CUSTOMER SERVICE

entrepreneur.com/customerservice

ASSOCIATE COUNSEL Brittany Ortiz LEGAL ASSISTANT Cheyenne Young

SUBSCRIPTIONS

subscribe@entrepreneur.com REPRINTS

PARS International Corp.

(212) 221-9595, EntrepreneurReprints.com ADVERTISING AND EDITORIAL

Entrepreneur Media LLC 1651 East Fourth Street, Suite 125, Santa Ana, CA 92701 (949) 261-2325, fax: (949) 752-1180 ENTREPRENEUR.COM Printed in the USA GST File #r129677027

Vol. 52, No. 5. Entrepreneur (ISSN 0163-3341) is published bimonthly by Entrepreneur Media LLC, 1651 East Fourth Street, Suite 125, Santa Ana, CA 92701. Periodical postage paid at Irvine, CA, and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to En tre preneur, P.O. Box 6136, Harlan, IA, 51593-1636. One-year subscription rates in U.S.: $19.97; in Canada: $39.97; all other countries: $49.97; payable in U.S. funds only.

For customer service go to entrepreneur.com/customerservice or mail subscription orders and changes to Entrepreneur, Subscription Department, P.O. Box 6136, Harlan, IA, 51593-1636. For change of address, please give both old and new addresses and include most recent mailing label. Entrepreneur considers its sources reliable and verifies as much data as possible, although reporting inaccuracies can occur; conse quently, readers using this information do so at their own risk. Each business opportunity and/or investment inherently contains certain risks, and it is suggested that the prospective investors consult their attorneys and/or financial professionals.

Entrepreneur is sold with the un der standing that the publisher is not rendering legal services or financial advice. Although persons and companies men tioned herein are believed to be reputable, neither Entrepreneur Media LLC nor any of its employees accept any responsibility whatsoever for their activities. Advertising Sales (949) 261-2325. Entrepreneur is printed in the USA and all rights are reserved. ©2024 by Entrepreneur Media LLC. No part of this magazine may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission of the publisher. Unsolicited manuscripts and photographs will be returned only if accom pa nied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope. All letters sent to Entrepreneur will be treated as uncondi tion al ly assigned for publication, copyright purposes and use in any publication or brochure, and are subject to Entrepreneur’s unrestricted right to edit and comment.

6 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

When You’re the Best People Notice

#1 Education Franchise for

23 Consecutive Years

FRANCHISEES ENJOY • Extremely Affordable Startup Costs • Comprehensive Training & Support Programs • Making a Difference in the Lives of Students ©2024 Kumon North America, Inc. All rights reserved. This information is not intended as an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy a franchise. We offer franchises solely by means of our Franchise Disclosure Document. The United States Federal Trade Commission and certain states have laws governing the offer and sale of franchises. We will not offer you a franchise unless and until we have complied with all applicable legal requirements in your jurisdiction.

LEARN MORE AT

kumonfranchise.com

The Simplest Growth Tool

If you want to create long-term value, start replying to everyone you hear from.

HOW RESPONSIVE HOW RESPONSIVE are you—to

friends, colleagues, and even strangers?

Now, be honest: Have you ever really thought about that?

You should.

“I find responsiveness to be one of the qualities I value most in people, and some of the best leaders and people I know are responsive,” the pop artist Artie Sandstone recently wrote me. “On the flip side, so many people I love and respect seem to place responsiveness on a lower level of importance.

Why? It requires little talent and adds so much value.”

Great question. Responsiveness might be the easiest, simplest, and yet most overlooked thing you can do to make people happy, show them respect, and create new opportunities.

I reply to almost everyone who emails or DMs me, and have benefited enormously.

I get it—responding to people is time-consuming! So let’s make it easier for you. To start, I suspect there are three reasons that people don’t do it.

1/ Organizational 1/ Organizational breakdown. breakdown.

Everyone has their own system for staying on top of things— and as we get busier, those systems become strained. Then we must make a choice: Do we stick with a system that limits us, or do we build a new one?

Mark Cuban is a good example: He famously publicizes

his email address and replies to many people. (I emailed him once. I heard back within an hour!) He says he gets 750 to 1,000 pitches from founders daily. How does he manage it? With a system: He delegates follow-ups (which, OK, not everyone can do) and uses Gmail filters (which anyone can do!).

2/ Prioritizing 2/ Prioritizing big big things. things.

Yes, small tasks can distract from big tasks. But don’t forget: Small tasks (like replying to people) can add up to big value too. People talk! Reputations are built! I’ve been hired for speaking gigs because I replied to inquiries faster.

People tell me they’ve followed my work for years (and bought my stuff!) because I once replied to them. It matters.

3/ It 3/ It takes takes too too much much time. time.

“I just don’t have the bandwidth,” people say. I sympathize. So here’s how I manage it myself. Like I said earlier, I reply to almost everyone who emails or DMs me, but with some caveats: This can stress me out, so I take breaks. I also optimize for long-term value and relationships, which means I delete most promotional messages (like from publicists or salespeople), because they’re purely transactional.

This is not about absolutes.

Instead, it’s about creating a stronger habit and ethos of responsiveness. It’s within

8 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

your reach, because here’s the biggest thing I’ve learned: Responding is much easier than you think.

When I became editor in chief of Entrepreneur magazine, for example, my inbox exploded with requests. I felt a weight of obligation. But over time, I realized something: People don’t expect me—or you, or anyone—to give them everything they want. They just appreciate being heard.

Simply replying “thank you” can make someone’s day. When I say no to someone’s request, they say they’re grateful to hear back. And if you want to wow someone, just set aside a moment for extra thoughtfulness.

This goes beyond email or strangers. It’s about friends. Colleagues. Customers. I once texted a question to a professional acquaintance, who replied with a 15-minute voice memo and

an offer to fly to New York for a meeting. Now we’re building things together. Responsiveness.

When I was dating, I replied quickly to text messages—because why make someone wait? One girlfriend told me she really appreciated that, because it showed I cared and that shortcut her anxiety. Now we’re married. Responsiveness.

I’m not saying you must be perfect. But I am saying: More than anything else, people want to feel heard. When you give them that, you convert strangers into fans, and friends into partners. So just respond.

Jason Feifer jfeifer@entrepreneur.com @heyfeifer s u b s c r i b e : entm.ag/subscribe

Photograph / N I G E L P A R R Y

7 Wealth-Building Tips for a Successful Future Discover tips for generating income now to prepare for comfort in the future—call 877-842-1273 or visit FisherIncomeGuide.com/Access to receive your guides.

Preparing for Future Financial Success Deciding how to generate income as you get older can feel stressful, complicated and confusing. Even if you ou have accumulated a large nest egg, making the wrong income moves could put your entire future at risk. That’s why we urge you to call for your copy of The Definitive Guide to Retirement Income.

With This Guide You’ll Learn Ways to: Estimate your cost of living with the included worksheet, rksheet, factoring in inflation ion and longevity expectations ctations

Set your long-term financial goals—from spending every cent to leaving a legacy Get an estimate for how long you are likely to live and plan your income needs—now and through retirement

Balance Social Security, pensions, ensions, retirement savings, real estate tate and other assets to create a dependable endable incomee stream

Generate “homegrown dividends” to save on taxes

And many more ideas to help you avoid running out of money ey when you need it most!

Our Guide Can Help: Written specifically for those with $500,000 or more in investable assets,, what you learn might surprise you and give you peace of mind.

About Fisher Investments

99 Tips to Make Your Retirement More Comfortable

Since 1979, Fisher Investments has helped thousands of investors like you reach their retirement goals. g As our client, you’ll get a portfolio built to help achieve your long-term goals for one simple, transparent fee. We’re a fiduciary, obligated to put our clients’ interests ahead of our own—which means we do better when our clients do better. better

While it’s easy to imagine the years after working as a time of relaxation, enjoyment and fun, the fact of the matter is that a well heeled financial future well-heeled doesn’t just happen. It takes thought, planning and action. To help you prepare for success, we’ve assembled 99 tips from investors like you who have navigated the transition from their working to golden years.

If your portfolio is $500,000 or more, call now for your FREE* guide and bonus offer!

877-842-1273

or visit FisherIncomeGuide.com/Access *No cost and no obligation beyond completing a short request form and brief survey.

Investing in securities involves the risk of loss. ©2024 Fisher Investments. 6500 International Pkwy., Ste. 2050, Plano, Texas 75093.

Scan now for instant access

A F O H T G STREN

S S A L C D L R WO D N A BR E

GAIN TH

m enefits fro ram b e is h c n a g an Fr istent pro s n o c A PuroCle , s ip artnersh arketing national p award-winning m an gets. work, and your quarterly tar rush team to c need any ʼt n o w u o ll? Y Best of a o start. ce t experien

Scan to Learn More www.PuroCleanFranchise.com

PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF BRIAN LEE

‘Only the Strongest Are Going to Survive’

Brian Lee cofounded companies like LegalZoom and ShoeDazzle—and he believes a lot of conventional business wisdom is backward. Sure, it’s harder to raise capital.

But it’s actually cheaper than ever to start a company. b y J A S O N F E I F E R

September-October 2024 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / 11

Q&A

W

ant 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 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 building what he hopes will become that household name; it’s called Arena Club, which helps people grade, collect, invest in, sell, and trade cards.

Lee now also invests in startups through his early-stage fund, BAM Ventures. Most startups he sees aren’t built for success, he says— but the reasons may surprise you.

He explains in this conversation.

You’re no You’re no stranger stranger to to business business problems. In problems.

In fact, fact, LegalZoom LegalZoom came close close to to insolvency insolvency a few came a few times. What What did did that times. that teach teach you? you?

LegalZoom started as a direct-toconsumer (DTC) legal services company. However, a few years in, we noticed this gentleman in Florida ordering a divorce package probably every week. So after about 12 or 13 divorce orders, we were like, “Wow, this guy’s getting married and divorced a lot!”

So I decided to reach out and just make sure he’s OK. Then I found out that he was a divorce 12 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

→ THE CLUB’S CLUB

Brian Lee (right) with his Arena Club cofounder Jesse Glass (left) and founding partner Derek Jeter (center).

SPOTLIGHT BRANDED CONTENT

BDPST Group

W

GROWING WITH HUNG ARY

ith strong consumption at the forefront, Hungary’s economy is expected to grow by 3.5% in 2025, according to the European Commission, as real wages rise rapidly.

Investment is also set to grow strongly due to “rising capacity utilisation, large FDI-financed projects, and government support schemes”, while inflation is tempering.

Tourism is one of the most dynamic sectors of the Hungarian economy, driving both consumption and investment. In 2023, the country welcomed a record 16m tourists who spent 41m guest nights, according to the Hungarian Tourism Agency.

BDPST Group is at the forefront of the industry, István Tiborcz developing some of the country’s top hotels Founder in partnership with leading international hotel companies, as part of a broader portfolio including financial services and logistics.

“Last year was probably the most difficult of the last decade, but our group managed to realise a good performance thanks to our diversified investment portfolio,” says BDPST Group owner Istvan Tiborcz.

“Something that we focused on in 2023 and is a major focus for 2024 is how we can have various investments and elements of the portfolio operating and using them in the most efficient way, creating synergies.

In these difficult times, efficiency, competitiveness, and quick reaction times have more and more value every passing day.”

BDPST was founded in 2015 when the company’s leadership saw opportunities in the Hungarian property market, where valuations were low compared to other European markets. The company bought up properties that would have been difficult to acquire elsewhere, a smart business move as property prices have soared since. BDPST focused particularly on buying heritage buildings in need of renovation, some of them on the verge of collapse, and fully refurbishing and repurposing them. Whenever it acquires a property, the company has a clear vision for its future, and of the market outlook.

BDPST’s property portfolio includes a range of hotel and leisure developments, capitalising on Hungary’s beauty and the fin-desiecle elegance of its capital, Budapest. The company is renovating the country’s most famous hotel, the Hotel Gellert on the banks of the Danube in the heart of Budapest, which first opened more than 100 years ago. The extensive renovation will re-establish the Gellert as a five-star hotel while preserving its historical value and unique features, bringing back the building’s “golden age” while integrating 21st century innovations. The hotel will be managed by the high-end Mandarin Oriental Group, and is expected to open in 2027, with 143 guest rooms and 38 suites designed by British interior design studio Alexander Waterworth Interiors.

Another project is the high-end Hotel Dorothea, being constructed as part of one of the most complex multifunctional real estate developments in Budapest. The project will see the complete architectural renewable of a complex of three buildings, two of them historical, in the heart of Budapest, with the interior design plans prepared by Milan-based Lissoni & Partners. As at the Gellert, the development pays special attention to preserving and restoring

historical features. The five-star, 216-room, 28-apartment hotel is operated by Marriott International and will have a conference centre ,and a “sky restaurant” with a view over the Danube and the historic Buda district.

Projects like these will help further raise Budapest’s profile as a tourist destination and develop its high-end tourism, leisure, and retail offerings.

“Budapest is truly a popular destination,” says Tiborcz. “However in certain segments there are some elements missing from the overall choice, mainly in the field of luxury, and we are working on filling these gaps, making the city a luxury destination and catering to the needs of this segment.”

Tiborcz cites particular potential in the music tourism segment, given Budapest’s superb music and opera offerings, and potential in the electronic

music area.

As it has grown, BDPST has also diversified, following its long-term vision. In 2021, it invested in Granit Bank, the country’s leading digital bank, in which it has a 43% stake. Granit is Hungary’s fastest-growing bank, accounting for 20% of new account openings in 2024, leveraging its quick, easy-to-use services. BDPST also owns stakes in a fund manager and an insurer under the Granit brand.

In 2022, BDPST acquired a stake in the CEE region’s largest logistics and freight forwarding company, Waberer’s International, which has more than 75 years’ experience on the European market, and is listed in the premium category on the Budapest Stock Exchange. Waberer’s focuses on complex, high value-added services, and leverages Hungary’s strategic position at the heart of Europe.

“As our company grows bigger and widens its portfolio, corporate identity and structured development are very important,” says Tiborcz.

“We always invest in the long term, and only in areas in which we have a long-term vision of where we want to get to.”

The company’s track record shows its ability to deliver on that vision, capitalising on the positive growth path and huge potential of its home market.

“The most important factor is that Hungary is a safe country,” says Tiborcz. “Hungarian people are friendly and respectable. Hungary and Budapest are nice, easy places to live in, and our tax system is probably the best in Europe. But the country is still an unexploited place in terms of market potential, with great opportunities to develop further. Our geographical position also gives us excellent opportunities to gain competitive advantages in various market segments. As more people come to visit Hungary they will see how to do business here, and spread the word about the country as an excellent business destination.”

Q&A

attorney, and he was just using us almost as a back-end paralegal to create his documents.

And of course, the light bulbs went off for us at LegalZoom.

We were like, “My goodness, we’re not just DTC. We could be a B2B business too!”

This happens This happens so so often, often, right? right?

Entrepreneurs see Entrepreneurs see how how cuscustomers use tomers use their their products, products, and and new opportunities emerge. new opportunities emerge.

Yeah. But not always.

After talking to this divorce attorney, we were like, “OK, why don’t we start a B2B platform as well?” So we decided to make a more robust, professional version of LegalZoom and sell it to lawyers. We took all of our best resources, our best designers, our best engineers, and our best marketers, and put them onto an offshoot company we called ProxyLaw. Then we realized that ProxyLaw was a very different business. The sales channel was different. We’d have to knock on doors of small law firms and convince them to switch over to us and so forth.

Meanwhile, LegalZoom had been profitable—but now it was slowly becoming unprofitable.

ProxyLaw never took off, and we were days away from bankruptcy. So we had to shut it down and refocus our energy on LegalZoom.

That story That story didn’t didn’t go go where where II exexpected it pected it to! to! You You discovered discovered a a new opportunity, but it new opportunity, but it harmed harmed the existing opportunity. the existing opportunity.

It became a lesson I’ve always remembered: You have to focus.

Every day, you’ll see new opportunities. But guess what? You can’t do it all. You have to build a very, very strong foundation first, and make sure that you’re as solid as you can be before you start extending. Now, on anything I’m doing, I make sure

to go deep, deep, deep—and start with a position of strength before extending.

You invest You invest in in founders. founders. Is Is this this something you something you look look for for in in them—a deep deep ability ability to to focus? them—a focus?

Yeah, we look for entrepreneurs that have to make it work. They almost have no other choice but to make this work, and they’re all in. By contrast, we don’t think side hustles work. Side hustles are OK if you’re just making a few bucks here and there, but if you’re going to really start a business, you’ve got to be all in.

We also prefer teams to be together, in person. I have yet to see a company that starts with a fully dispersed team, with dispersed founders from all over the place, grow a multibilliondollar business via Slack.

That feels That feels counterintuitive. counterintuitive.

People often People often say say that that remote remote work allows allows companies work companies to to rerecruit better cruit better talent. talent.

that they’re going to go out and raise more capital. And again, those are the entrepreneurs who are just backward when the funding dries up. They should treat their capital as if it’s the last capital they’re ever going to raise.

They have to understand the spigots and the levers that will get them to break even—like, “If I turn this on, it leads to this type of revenue, which will cover those expenses.”

For many For many years, years, startups startups were were celebrated for celebrated for doing doing the the opopposite—raising many posite—raising many rounds rounds and spending and spending huge huge sums sums on on marketing. They marketing.

They weren’t weren’t profprofitable but itable but got got all all the the buzz. buzz. Do Do you think you think that that sent sent the the wrong wrong message to message to founders? founders?

One hundred percent. All these companies were highly unprofitable; they were using so much money on customer acquisitions and everything else, and most of them aren’t around anymore because they never figured out

and not frivolously overspending. And on top of that, everything else has become more efficient too. Advertising, marketing, office space—everything has become more affordable.

That is That is a a funny funny thing thing to to hear, hear, because many because many entrepreneurs entrepreneurs are complaining complaining about skyare about skyrocketing costs. costs. rocketing I mean, in the grand scheme of things, it has become incredibly affordable to start a company. When I started LegalZoom, we had to save up so much money to buy our own web server. Now with AWS and Google Cloud, it’s like you paid almost nothing for serving your site. I used to have to hire seven to eight engineers just to start an e-commerce company; now it’s just a click of a button on Shopify.

You’re really You’re really flipping flipping convenconventional wisdom tional wisdom here! here! Remote Remote work is is bad, shortages work bad, capital capital shortages

EVERY DAY, YOU’LL SEE NEW OPPORTUNITIES. BUT GUESS WHAT? YOU CAN’T DO IT ALL. YOU HAVE TO BUILD A VERY, VERY STRONG FOUNDATION FIRST, AND MAKE SURE THAT YOU’RE AS SOLID AS YOU CAN BE BEFORE YOU START EXTENDING.” I know. But I’m telling you, it works better in person. A lot of that has to do with culturebuilding. I tell entrepreneurs: Offices have existed for centuries for a reason. When people work together, they iterate quicker, run ideas by each other faster, and you don’t have to wait for Zooms or phone calls or text messaging.

What’s another What’s another red red flag flag you you see in see in startup startup founders? founders?

A lot of folks have this misconception that capital is abundant, and

14 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

how to get to great profits and to have a real business.

There’s less There’s less capital capital available available today. Do today.

Do you you think think that’s that’s good good for entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs, because for because it’ll it’ll force them them to to operate force operate leaner leaner and smarter? and smarter?

Yes, I do. Because only the strongest are going to survive.

Only the strongest entrepreneurs are going to get any sort of funding. So now you have fewer entrepreneurs raising capital, and the ones that do are treating that capital like gold

are good, are good, and and costs costs are are down. down.

Maybe I just think differently!

Like, there’s the old saying, “The customer comes first.” I disagree. Trust me, I love the customer. I treat them with the utmost respect. However, team comes first. A strong, happy, fulfilled, motivated team will lead to better customer service and a better customer experience.

To hear more of Brian Lee, listen to Jason Feifer’s podcast, Problem Solvers, wherever you get podcasts.

How Personable Service Helped Streamline This Retail Company’s Procurement in a Big Way This simple change is helping The Paper Store save time, money, and gain valuable insights on ordering supplies.

The team at The Paper Store is well-versed in the power of positive business relationships. By combining one such positive relationship with smart business buying tools and strategies, the company says it is on pace to save thousands of dollars this year.

It all started in 1964 when Bob Anderson opened a small newspaper stand in Maynard, Mass. As the years pressed on and Anderson expanded to selling all sorts of items, The Paper Store was born and grew into one of the largest family-owned and operated specialty gift businesses in the U.S. In 2020, the company was sold to a private group of investors and the Anderson family, whose members are still leading The Paper Store’s day-to-day operations. Selling a mix of fashion apparel, accessories, spa products, home décor, stationery, jewelry, sports, and more, The Paper Store now operates a thriving e-commerce business alongside 100 brick-and-mortar stores throughout the Northeast and Florida.

With such a large footprint, it’s no wonder that Operations Manager Rachel Jacobs was looking for a way to streamline The Paper Store’s procurement of office supplies across the brand’s retail chain, distribution centers, and corporate office.

“We had a main supplier for basic supplies but had to order from several suppliers to be able to source all of the items needed to run and outfit our stores,” she says. “It became a lot to manage.”

A helpful relationship made all the diff erence.

That was 2023. Fast forward to 2024, The Paper Store streamlined that process by choosing Amazon Business as its sole source of office supplies. Jacobs says making that big decision was easy thanks to the personable and helpful relationships with The Paper Store’s Amazon Business account representatives, Tyler Britt and Lillian Korinek.

“Getting to interact with Tyler and Lillian made us realize that Amazon Business is an organization with whom we could build a relationship,” Jacobs says. “We are a smaller, family-run business and our relationships are extremely important to us.”

From Amazon Business, Jacobs was looking for “a simplified ordering experience for its retail stores, cost-effective options, bar-raising customer service,” says Korinek, an Enterprise Account Executive at Amazon Business. “Rachel partnered with us to run cost-analysis against incumbent suppliers, determine the needs of the retail locations, and accounts payable.”

“Tyler and Lillian gave Amazon Business a face and a personal feel,” Jacobs explains. “They were always available to answer questions and hop on a quick call to review the account and tweak settings. The whole transition took only a few weeks.”

Positive results that help save time and thousands of dollars a month.

Among the many tools, Jacobs says she regularly uses Amazon Business Analytics to research, create, save, and download reporting on The Paper Store’s Amazon purchasing. “Amazon Business has the most robust reporting system for analyzing and understanding our spend and business, allowing for much less manual analyzation on our part,” she says.

Making smarter purchasing decision is helping The Paper Store save valuable time and money. “We are saving well over $10,000 a month so far,” Jacobs says. “Time spent by our stores on ordering and by our corporate partners approving orders and managing the account has gone down significantly, too. We are saving hours in payroll each month.”

To learn more about how Amazon Business can help your business save money and operate, visit

business.amazon.com

Six Ways

1/ 1/ Followers Followers ≠ ≠ buyers buyers “I initially thought we should hit a certain number of social media followers. That did bring visibility, but we learned that high follower numbers without corresponding engagement didn’t translate to actual business success. On the other hand, one genuinely helpful benchmark I’ve set was achieving a consistent customer satisfaction rate.

This metric was crucial because it directly reflected the quality of our products and the effectiveness of our customer service.”

—KEREN YOSHUA, founder, Artizan Joyeria

counts ≠ ≠ funding funding 2/ Pitch Pitch counts 2/ “Our platform helps founders connect with advisors and investors.

When we first launched, we focused on the investor views that a founder received for their pitch presentations. The more views, we figured, the more likely the founder would be to get intros, interest, and funding. That turned out to be an unreliable metric, which showed us that fundraising is not a numbers game—it’s a game of strategic fit. Now we focus on benchmarks like founder-investor connection rate, founder funding rate, or investor engagement rate.”

—ANGELINE VUONG, cofounder and chief product officer, Cherub

3/ 3/ Big Big brand brand partnerships partnerships ≠ ≠ impact impact “As a social impact company helping local bookstores, we initially focused on signing major partnerships with big companies—but learned that if partnerships require a lot of resources, it can distract from serving your customers. So we refocused. Now our most important benchmark is that 85% of bookstores in the U.S. are on our platform, and we’ve generated over $32 million in profits for them—in some cases, enough to keep them in business.”

—ANDY HUNTER, founder and CEO, Bookshop.org

4/ 4/ More More employees employees ≠ ≠ profitability profitability “I initially thought an ‘employee headcount’ benchmark would be big, but it hasn’t turned out to be. We love operating with a lean team and getting creative when it comes to resourcing. Funding growth from our own profits means making measured choices and placing fewer, more strategic bets around growth. So profitability and loss benchmarks have been really important to grow our business responsibly.”

—LEE JOSELOWITZ, cofounder, The Quality Edit

What Goals Actually Matter?

Some benchmarks are more important than others—so what should you really care about? We asked six founders for their hardest-won lessons.

“Wanting my company to be recognized by other agencies was a nonhelpful benchmark. As we’ve grown, I’ve realized there are companies, big and small, all doing great work—and we have something unique to offer. Conversely, one helpful benchmark was making sure we had at least one year of payroll for every person we employed. Focusing on the financial health of our employees, rather than generic revenue targets, made me more ambitious.”

—LILLIAN MARSH, cofounder and managing principal, TinyWins

6/ 6/ More More products products ≠ ≠ more more happy happy customers customers “We initially thought a prolific product rollout would secure a competitive edge—so in 2022, we rapidly developed and launched a multitude of new products. The growth was less than expected, a sign that we hadn’t spent enough time considering customer needs. Repeat purchase rates are among our most crucial metrics though. They assure us that our products are resonating with our customers.”

—JEFF CHAN, cofounder, Vivaia

16 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y S T O C K . A D O B E . C O M / M O N S T E R Z T U D I O

5/ Peer Peer recognition recognition ≠ ≠ healthy healthy company company 5/

SPOTLIGHT BRANDED CONTENT

Wegagen Bank

PIONEERING GROW TH IN E THIOPIA’S RAPIDLY E XPANDING ECONOMY

E

stablished in 1997, Wegagen Bank has emerged as a leader in the sector, a pillar of strength, and a cuttingedge innovator. Its deep knowledge of Ethiopia’s banking industry makes it the ideal partner for international businesses in this thriving East African country.

A recent report by Fitch ratings notes that Ethiopia’s banking sector “is in good financial health, underpinned by a strong economic environment, which will support banks in the coming years.” Findings from the latest stress tests show that the sector is generally stable despite international and domestic headwinds. The industry benefits from the robust economic environment and helps catalyze growth by funding business ventures. Recent reforms will further open the market to foreign entrants, strengthening competition.

“Wegagen Bank is one of the few banks to have entered the market after the government change in 1991, which permitted Ethiopian nationals to establish and own private banks,” says Aklilu Wubet (PhD), the bank’s Chief Executive Officer. “We began with ETB 30 million in capital, and today we boast nearly ETB 11 billion total capital. From a single rented branch, we have grown to more than 440 branches.

Initially, we offered conventional banking services, accepting deposits and making loans. It was the pioneer in introducing a core banking solution in Ethiopia, allowing customers to perform transactions at any branch. Although this solution is now standard across all banks, we were the first to implement it. Today, we serve over 3.7 million customers. Our 27-year journey has been marked by continuous success.”

Wegagen Bank capitalizes on several competitive advantages that have propelled its remarkable journey. Among these is its extensive network of strong correspondent banking relationships with world-leading financial institutions. Notable partners include Citibank, Bank of China, Germany’s Commerzbank, Italy’s Unicredit, and France’s Natexis, as well as numerous institutions across Africa. These strategic alliances position Wegagen as the premier partner for export-oriented companies, providing robust support for businesses targeting international markets, including affluent developed countries. The Bank has also embedded robust risk management and compliance as well as internal audit functions in its operations.

Aklilu (PhD) also highlights the bank’s corporate culture and human capital

strengths. Its shareholder structure, corporate governance, management, and 5,500 staff are all highly diverse; the CEO describes the business as “a melting pot” that values skills and knowledge, attracting talent from a wide range of backgrounds. Considerable number of Wegagen’s branch managers are women, reflecting the bank’s strong emphasis on female leadership.

Established by 16 entrepreneurial founders from across Ethiopia, Wegagen has remained true to its heterogeneous roots.

Technology and innovation have long been strong points for Wegagen, as demonstrated by its adoption of a core banking offer that allows customers to use any branch. The bank has consistently stayed ahead of its competitors in the rapidly evolving market, ensuring its offers unparalleled service and

Aklilu Wubet (PhD) Chief Executive Officer support to its clients. Looking to the future, Wegagen aims to engage partners that can further enhance its technological offerings. Recently, a top team from Wegagen visited Dubai and held discussions with several IT companies with the potential to support its ongoing digitalization. These engagements build on existing collaborations with various IT companies upgrading the bank’s systems. These deals are part of Wegagen’s broader approach to welcoming international partners, both for joint ventures and as clients. Attracting foreign investors is one of the bank’s key goals for the coming years.

“This year, we allocated a substantial budget to attract foreign partners,” says Aklilu (PhD). “We are looking at joint ventures to promote Ethiopia as a destination for strategic partnerships and M&A. We have local expertise and understanding, and we seek foreign partners who can bring knowledge and technology transfer. Meanwhile, international businesses in Ethiopia can do business with us easily. We also work with various international NGOs, providing them with diversified products and services.”

Aklilu (PhD) envisions substantial opportunities for foreign investors to propel Ethiopia’s market development and implement impactful initiatives, capitalizing on the country’s rapid growth. These strategic partnerships can drive innovation, digital transformation, knowledge transfer, and technology transfer, thereby fostering sustainable development in Ethiopia’s vibrant economy. Wegagen Bank, with its solid reputation and comprehensive expertise, is ideally positioned to be a pivotal player in this dynamic market.

“Ethiopia, with a population exceeding 120 million, is widely recognized as one of the world’s most promising markets,” states Aklilu (PhD). “It stands at the forefront of East Africa’s economic landscape. Ethiopia’s youthful demographic is a remarkable asset, offering untapped potential for long-term growth. The country’s rich biodiversity supports the production of a diverse array of products, from coffee and sesame to honey. Additionally, sectors such as mining present significant opportunities, and the government’s vigorous efforts to boost tourism further enhance the country’s appeal. We are always eager to highlight and leverage these opportunities for the benefit of our nation.”

In summary, Wegagen Bank embodies Ethiopia’s economic vitality and plays a crucial role in its evolution. With its forward-looking strategies, robust capabilities and engagement with pertinent stakeholders, Wegagen Bank is set to lead Ethiopia’s ascent towards sustained growth and international acclaim.

My First Moves

Three Pivots to $100 Million

How do you find a working business model? Do it like Rowan Rowan—a brand that reinvented itself many times before finally piercing the ear-piercing market. b y L I Z B R O D Y

IF YOU HAVE a tween girl, you’ve probably heard of Rowan. It’s the cool brand for piercings, where licensed nurses insert hypoallergenic studs into thousands of ears every day. With more than 500 employees, it’s on track to have 65 stores and an annual run rate of $100 million in revenue this year.

But in 2017, Rowan was just a fledgling startup with a great idea and a bad business model. It survived because founder Louisa Schneider was willing to pivot, and pivot, and pivot again, until its mission, profit, and market all clicked into place.

Here, she explains how she threaded that tricky needle—and kept her eye on the hole.

Step 2/ Test what people want.

After a couple of years, customers started to ask if she had a store. Schneider was intrigued.

Her subscription offering had

proven challenging, because with trends changing so rapidly, it was difficult to forecast how much inventory to stock. Would a retail model be better? “I was always looking at what could go wrong and how can I actually make money here,” she says.

“The numbers pointed to the piercing piece of the business.”

So a store it was. She raised money, got a good pandemic-era deal on a lease in Manhattan’s Upper East Side (where her best customers lived), and opened up. The place took off.

Schneider started to think about expansion, and then got a dream opportunity...

Step 3/ Follow the opportunity.

Target reached out, she says, to discuss Rowan operating kiosks inside its stores. Schneider was thrilled, won the RFP, and set up in 300 of the retail giant’s locations in 2021 and

18 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

2022. The deal attracted a lot of customers and attention, but it had an unexpected downside: Operations and logistics were very complicated, and Schneider’s brand struggled to grow. As it turns out, all those customers left thinking they’d gotten their ears pierced at Target, not Rowan.

By the end of 2022, Schneider faced a second hard decision: Stay with Target, or pivot again?

“They were a great partner,” she says. “But I learned it’s very hard to build a brand in someone else’s four walls. And I saw I wasn’t going to be profitable doing that. So we exited.”

Importantly, she says, she did it with no regrets. Instead, she focused on the bright side—crucial, she says, when you’re making big changes. The deal was a huge

validator for her brand, and it attracted a nationwide network of nurses willing to work with her.

“So guess what? It was worth it.”

Step 4/ Refocus on what works.

Schneider doubled down on building out her own stores and brand. To drive e-commerce, she spent a lot of money on influencers—but it didn’t pay off. Then she discovered the value of networking with very different kinds of influencers: pediatricians and dermatologists, who would refer patients, as well as mom groups, who would write good reviews and spread the word.

Now Rowan is expanding its own jewelry line—and, ironically, it might even consider a subscription model again. “We get asked for it,” Schneider says.

“Earrings are so easy to lose.”

PHOTOGR A PHS BY S A NDR A W ONG GEROUX ; RO WA N ( LOUIS A SCHNEIDER)

Step 1/ Enter the market.

Back in 2017, Schneider was a new mom working at a hedge fund, and found herself reminiscing about her own childhood. She remembered getting her ears pierced at a mall, and was struck by how that experience had never been updated.

Why aren’t piercings done by medical professionals now? she wondered.

That’s why she launched Rowan. It began as a concierge service in New York City, where nurses would go to the customer’s home to do the piercing, and was packaged with an online monthly subscription to earrings. People quickly started booking appointments.

SPOTLIGHT BRANDED CONTENT

Omantel

LEADING OMAN’S DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION INTO A NEW ERA OF

O

INNOVATION AND GROW TH

man is steering its progress towards Vision 2040 with goals of evolving into an economy rooted in Knowledge and Technological innovation. This vision has led to resilient economic growth and increased interest from foreign investors.

In the first quarter of this year, despite a decline in oil and gas revenues, the Sultanate’s GDP rose by 0.8% to OMR 10.45 billion, driven by nearly 4% year-on-year growth in non-oil sectors, as reported by the National Centre for Statistics and Information.

A key pillar of Oman’s diversified economy is its telecommunications sector, which achieved record revenues of OMR 851 million last year, reflecting a 12% year-on-year increase, according to the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Oman. This growth is fueled by rising demand Talal Said Marhoon Al Mamari for digital services such as cloud computing, Big Data, and CEO AI. Leading regional providers have evolved into what KPMG Cities, Digital Transformation, FinTech, and AdTech are also key focuses for describes as ‘techcos’—technology-focused, innovative businesses us.’ Mr. Al Mamari concludes, ‘Our focus is on win-win partnerships where that embrace the digital landscape, emphasizing client experience, there are clear synergies.’ automation, and efficient data use.

These partnerships are enhancing Oman’s digital ecosystem by As a pioneer in this transformation, Omantel stands out as Oman’s providing enterprises and government entities with essential cloud and primary provider of integrated telecommunications services. By ICT solutions for a thriving digital society. collaborating closely with the public sector, multinational corporations Omantel is also dedicated to fostering a vibrant ecosystem of SMEs (MNCs), and small to medium enterprises (SMEs), Omantel drives and tech startups within Oman. Through its Innovation Labs, the company significant innovation to support Oman’s digital evolution. Founded aims to promote a nationwide culture of entrepreneurship and support in 1970, Omantel is a joint-stock company listed on the Muscat Stock promising local startups. These labs leverage Omantel’s expertise, Exchange and is 51% owned by the Oman Investment Authority (OIA), a partnerships, reach, and technological resources to drive innovation in wholly owned investment arm of the Omani government. key technology areas. ‘We run a successful accelerator program through Over the past decade, Omantel has transitioned from a traditional our Innovation Labs, which has been instrumental in driving innovation in telco to a ‘techco,’ leading the charge in digital services, AI, IoT, Big Oman. We take pride in our support and contributions,’ says Mr. Al Mamari.

Data, cybersecurity, and FinTech. According to Omantel’s CEO, Talal On the global stage, Omantel has created an international name by Said Marhoon Al Mamari ‘Technological advancements have played capitalizing on Oman’s strategic geographical location and making a pivotal role in reshaping the global economic landscape, presenting significant investments in over 20 subsea cable systems worldwide, significant opportunities for business growth and expansion. Through our which connect to more than 120 cities across 50 countries. Over the collaborations with partners and clients, we are committed to enhancing past decade, Omantel has invested over USD 1 billion in international their experiences and positioning ourselves as a trusted ally in navigating networks and data centers, successfully attracting the world’s leading the path to a digital future.’

Hyperscalers to establish their regional hubs in Oman. To take its global Omantel has achieved a major strategic milestone by partnering with role to the next level, Omantel has partnered with Zain to establish a joint Google to launch the Google Cloud Distributed Edge (GDCE) platform in venture named Zain Omantel International (ZOI). This new entity offers Oman—the first of its kind in the META region. This initiative strengthens international wholesale services across eight countries in the region and Omantel’s role as a leading partner for enterprises requiring advanced AI aims to become the leading wholesale powerhouse in the Middle East, and ML technology solutions and showcases its technological capabilities catering to Hyperscalers, content providers, and global telecom operators. tailored to the needs of large businesses, SMEs, and individual consumers.

ZOI capitalizes on Zain’s wide regional presence, and Omantel’s extensive Additionally, Omantel has collaborated with AWS (Amazon Web wholesale experience.

Services) to establish its Cloud Centre of Excellence (CCoE) and Sovereign Moving forward, Omantel is committed to continuing its pivotal role Cloud capabilities in Oman. This strategic move will enable Omantel to in shaping Oman’s digital future by leveraging its expertise, strategic bring AWS’s global best practices in data security, service delivery, and partnerships, and global reach. This effort will help the nation establish customer experience to Oman, positioning AWS as Omantel’s preferred itself as a premier gateway for global investment in a digitally-driven age. global cloud services partner and a key driver of digital transformation across the Sultanate.

Looking ahead, Mr. Al Mamari emphasizes Omantel’s readiness for future collaborations, highlighting its capacity to provide customized B2B enterprise solutions and its established market trust, positioning it as a strong regional ally. ‘We are particularly interested in partnerships related to cloud-based services, including IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, DRaaS, and BaaS, among others,’ he notes. ‘Cyber Security, Emerging Technologies, Smart

Personal

Speedy Speedy Growth Killed Growth Killed My Startup My Startup

We seemed to be rocking it—lots of press, major partnerships. Then we learned the harsh consequences of overlooking our customers.

T

hree months after I launched my company, we were featured in The New York Times. Other national outlets followed. The attention led to partnerships with Shake Shack, Bombas, Urban Outfitters, and hundreds of other major brands.

You might think this sounds good. I sure did when it happened. Hockey stick growth is a sign of success, right?

But it wasn’t. My company, This App Saves Lives, had fallen into one of the most surprising and ultimately fatal traps for entrepreneurs: We grew before truly understanding our product-market fit. That mistake would ultimately result in the demise of our business.

Here’s why this problem is so deadly—and how, with my new company, I’m plotting a slowgrowth strategy to avoid it.

For the uninitiated, productmarket fit (PMF) means building the right product to satisfy a specific type of customer’s needs. It’s a simple concept, but executing it is complex. To achieve PMF, you must deeply understand the wants and desires of your target customers.

I thought I had the answers.

Our mobile app rewarded

drivers for abstaining from phone-based distracted driving, a theme that resonated with me personally after having been injured and nearly killed while cycling by a distracted motorist. That got us a lot of media attention and brand partnerships—but in truth, we didn’t fully understand our users. What kind of people used our app? What rewards and incentives encouraged them to drive more safely? Were they motivated by a desire to do good and save lives, or did they just want free products and services from our brand partners?

Because we didn’t know these answers, we didn’t know which customers to target—or how to serve them when they arrived. Press attention drove tens of thousands of users, but they didn’t stay for long. To improve customer retention, we scrambled, launching new products and adding new brand partners to serve their many needs.

It felt like we’d thrown a party and invited everyone: teenagers and adults, musicians, athletes, West Coasters, East Coasters, and everyone in between. You can’t please all these people at one party, or

20 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

with one offering. And when you try to, you just upset them while spreading yourself too thin. This is what it means to grow without knowing your product-market fit. Sadly, we had to sunset our company in January 2024.

Looking back, I wish we’d grown differently. We should have started with a small base of users, conducted more detailed customer interviews to determine what they liked, what they disliked, and how we could improve our product so that it would become something that they couldn’t live without. Then we should have targeted those people, assembling our early adopters, and only then pushed for media attention and invested in growth marketing.

Ask yourself: Do you really know what products and services your customers are looking for? Or are you spending your time, capital, and other precious resources inviting everyone to the party, only to

lose them down the line?

The lessons learned have left an indelible imprint on my mind.

I’m now building a new company called Workup; it’s a marketplace for consumer health and wellness solutions, almost like an Expedia for healthcare.

This time, my team is starting with audience research. We’re learning what drives people to make healthcare decisions, when and how they focus on prevention instead of treatment, and how to earn their trust in a marketplace full of misinformation. We need to know what their problems are, how they articulate those problems, what would drive them to us, and what would make them stay.

It is slow, steady work. It’s a lot less glamorous than early coverage in the Times. But it’s more sustainable. I now believe that the best way to grow big is to grow slowly. Become the foremost expert on what your customers want, and then throw a party for them. Scale will follow.

P H O T O G R A P H C O U R T E S Y O F R YA N F R A N K E L

b y R YA N F R A N K E L

SPOTLIGHT BRANDED CONTENT

thegroup

ROMANIA’S LEADING MARKE TING AND ADVERTISING AGENC Y

A

ccording to the World B ank , R o mania ’s economic grow th is set to accelerate this year, with a signif ic ant boos t from EU-financed investment and strong private consumption from rising disposable incomes. Indeed, Romania experienced the EU’s highest annual increase in hourly wages in Q1 2024, according to Eurostat. The country’s economic growth is currently on track to exceed the European average by more than Zoltan Szigeti triple, with the European Commission President projecting real GDP will rise 3.3% this year as lower inflation stimulates further private consumption.

One of the biggest beneficiaries of the upswing in private consumption is Romania’s marketing and advertising industry. The country’s consumer market has witnessed substantial growth in recent years, and, encouragingly, consumers have displayed a growing willingness to pay a premium price for branded and higher-quality products, according to Lloyds Bank. The most prominent trend today in marketing and advertising is digitalisation, particularly the shift towards personalised and immersive campaigns designed to engage tech-savvy consumers. According to Statista, of the USD 1.14 billion expected to be spent on advertising in Romania this year, a significant 60% is projected to be digital expenditure, with many agencies taking advantage of the country’s emergence as a leading offshore digital hub within Europe.

Established in 2005, thegroup has emerged as one of Romania’s most successful marketing and communication agencies, maintaining its position at the top of the industry for over a decade. Offering a comprehensive range of services in advertising, media, public relations, and strategic marketing, thegroup is dedicated to building strong and lasting brand reputations for its clients and partners.

According to thegroup’s president, Zoltan Szigeti, the company’s core strength derives from its entrepreneurial spirit. In a country that has not traditionally been associated with a strong entrepreneurial culture, thegroup’s success is helping to bring recognition to a new generation of market leaders now coming of age across Romania.

“We’re entrepreneurs at heart. This means our corporate mindset is all about evolution and staying ahead of new trends, such as digitalisation, for our clients. We act quickly to seize new opportunities,” explains Szigeti.

Having achieved an enviable leadership position within the industry, thegroup’s enthusiastic embrace of new trends and strategies has allowed it to benefit from the positive macroeconomic trends in Romania. “2023 was an excellent year for advertising in Romania, with high economic growth and strong private consumption resulting in excellent outcomes for both the market and the company. Our growth figures speak for themselves,” says Szigeti. Indeed, over the past five years, thegroup has registered consistent growth between 10-15% each year and is now on track for yet another strong performance this year. thegroup’s success is also a reflection of its commitment to

being more than just a marketing and communications agency. Szigeti prefers instead to see it as a business partner for its clients, providing support throughout their journey to success. Lately, this support has prioritised aiding clients in their digital transformation. “Digital transformation is something that our clients have been undergoing for at least a decade. We now have plenty of services and solutions to facilitate their digital transformation and increase their sales,” explains Szigeti.

Szigeti emphasises that when dealing with B2B clients, thegroup places a high priority on building longterm, close relationships where it can customise its support to align with their unique goals and brand identities. Additionally, he highlights the important role that thegroup’s international and domestic partners play in bolstering the effectiveness of its services. These include Porter Novelli Romania, a subsidiary of US-based global marketing giant Omnicom, and DBB, one of the world’s most creative and dynamic advertising agencies, also owned

by Omnicom, known for their work with global brands like Volkswagen and eBay. Another associate of thegroup is OMD, the largest agency brand of Omnicom Media Group.

Meanwhile, thegroup’s new digital marketing and data science agency, Digital Data Capital, is a testament to its commitment to customer-centric innovation. Launched in April this year, Digital Data Capital delivers cost-effective, personalised communication solutions that ensure brands’ messages are relevant and authentic across an extensive array of consumer profiles. In line with thegroup’s track record of successful collaborations with industry leaders, Szigeti now expresses thegroup’s intent to continue this legacy through further corporate partnerships. He highlights thegroup’s particular eagerness to forge partnerships that enhance its digital capabilities and align with its core values of transparency, professionalism, and reliability.

Given that marketing is a sector deeply influenced by private consumption levels, the surge in disposable incomes throughout Romania presents a golden opportunity to partner with a leading agency like thegroup. Partnering with thegroup not only secures a position in one of Europe’s top 10 purchasing power parity (PPP) countries but also opens doors through thegroup’s vast network of business partners and clients.

Szigeti also urges prospective partners to consider the benefits of operating in Romania. “Investors in Romania enjoy a competitive and stable tax regime, access to affordable, highly skilled labour, and the strategic advantage of Romania’s location in Europe. If you’re seeking a robust partner to communicate, improve sales, or expand your business in Romania, thegroup is the perfect fit,” Szigeti concludes.

Strategies

You Can Hire Like Netflix

The streaming platform built an incredible team with a strategy called “talent density.”

But you don’t need to be a tech giant to do it. b y L I Z B R O D Y

L

ooking for a job? ClassDojo has 15 positions open, but heads up: The bar is deathzone high, and they’re in no rush to hire. The children’s education company has a team of 220 and a hiring rate of 0.09% of those who apply.

How can a company grow while hiring that slowly? The answer is “talent density,” a concept that’s gaining steam lately.

Netflix coined the term years ago, and it was popularized in cofounder Reed Hastings’ 2020 book, No Rules Rules. He defined it as “a smaller amount of talent overall, but the amount of talent per employee is greater”—which is to say, you hire a smaller team, and you only take superstars who can do multiple people’s jobs.

Netflix adopted this strategy after laying off a third of its workforce in 2001, and Hastings credits it for the streaming giant’s success. “This is a completely different way of thinking about human capital,” says Josh Bersin, a global industry analyst in HR with his own advisory firm—and it’s ever more relevant today with AI replacing jobs. “It’s also a really important strategy for a small company that wants to outperform big ones.”

But how does a startup do this, when they can’t pay Netflix-like salaries or attract the best talent in Silicon Valley?

ClassDojo cofounder Sam Chaudhary has the answer— because he’s been doing it for years. “Just by writing the right piece of code, one great

software engineer can literally create billions of dollars of company value—while enormous teams of less-talented people will never get there,” he says.

Here are his three rules of hiring that have helped ClassDojo reach 45 million kids: RULE 1/

Evaluate by effectiveness.

Talent density is not just about recruiting a brilliant candidate. Each hire must be a force multiplier who unblocks and lifts others so they can perform better. “It’s a very rare kind of person,” says Chaudhary, and sometimes they take years to court. “But it’s what we require.

We can’t compromise on that.”

To test an applicant out, he might ask about a deep belief they have. Then he’ll follow up with: OK, tell me why that might be really damaging for the world.

“If you can’t see the downside of your own opinions, then you’re likely to be pretty dogmatic and hard to work with.”

RULE 2/

Hire only for ‘hell yes.’

Chaudhary selects a handful of employees to become hiring managers on top of their jobs.

They go through an intense training process and are 100% accountable for filling a position.

After reviewing candidates and getting feedback from colleagues, they ask themselves questions like: If this person went to a competitor, would it be devastating? If I was interviewing at a company and met this person,

22 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

would I join just to work with them?

Then they make a simple evaluation: Is this person a “hell yes”—which is to say, an incredible can’t-miss opportunity? If so, hire them. “If everyone’s just okay with this person being here, to me that’s a no,” says Chaudhary.

RULE 3/

Talent attracts talent.

Awesome performers attract— and create!—other awesome performers. “We tend to imitate the most impressive among us,” says Will Felps, associate

professor at UNSW Sydney. (His research also finds the opposite: Jerks and slackers can worsen a team’s performance by 30% to 40%.) That’s another big reason to pursue talent density: It means everyone improves everyone else.

“Look,” says Chaudhary, “we have the usual pressures, and there’s a temptation every day to just drop the bar. But if we stay laser-focused and just keep increasing the average level of effectiveness with every hire, there isn’t a problem we won’t figure out.”

Illustration / F E D E R I C O G A S TA L D I

SPOTLIGHT BRANDED CONTENT

Alsulaiman Group

CELEBRATING OVER 40 YEARS OF BUSINESS E XCELLENCE

E

is at the forefront of the Kingdom’s digital ight years on from the launch transformation. “In today’s business landscape, of Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia every sector needs a technological edge, has made significant strides in and we’re fully embracing that,” states Dr. growing the non-oil economy Alsulaiman. The group’s portfolio includes and boosting diverse business three technological companies, which are oppor tunities across the integral to introducing advanced technologies Kingdom. According to Goldman across all sectors. These investments are Sachs, Vision 2030 commits Saudi Arabia to USD transforming how businesses operate, offering 1 trillion in investments across six core sectors, innovative solutions and enhancing overall including, but not limited to, transportation and efficiency. logistics, digital transformation, and clean energy.

Furthermore, the group is investing One of the key pillars of Vision 2030 is the in cutting-edge technology companies ambition to transform Saudi Arabia into a global like Livspace, which specializes in home logistics and transportation hub, leveraging its renovation, and the AI-backed Silicon Valley unique geographic advantage as the largest and company Inhabitr, enhancing the commercial most centralized country in the Middle East. In real estate furnishing experience with a collaborative effort with the private sector, the innovative solutions. “Our technological Kingdom is set to construct over 200 logistics and investments are crucial for staying ahead in a transportation projects by the end of this decade, rapidly evolving market,” Dr. Alsulaiman adds. tapping into the high demand from the ongoing Ghassan Alsulaiman Sustainability is a core pillar of Saudi Vision e-commerce revolution.

Chairman 2030 – which aims for net zero by 2060 – and Established in 1983, Alsulaiman Group has Alsulaiman Group is proud to be one of the 19 pioneers in the Ministry of grown from humble beginnings to become a cornerstone of the Saudi Economy and Planning’s Sustainability Champions Initiative. The group’s business landscape, best known as IKEA’s first-ever franchisee. “I saw the investment in Cartlow, a leading company focused on the circular economy, group’s beginnings in 1979 when I was still a student studying in the States, underscores its commitment to sustainability. As the largest company of managing it remotely. Our first investment was in telecommunications, but its kind in the Middle East, Cartlow is setting new standards for reducing we sold that business when it was later acquired by IBM. We then acquired waste and promoting sustainable practices. “Our sustainability efforts are exclusive franchise rights for IKEA, which laid the foundations for where the not just about compliance but about leading by example in the region,” Dr. group is today,” recalls the group’s chairman, Dr. Ghassan Alsulaiman.

Alsulaiman remarks.

Today, Alsulaiman Group is set to expand its brand IKEA from nine stores The group’s real estate ventures are reshaping urban landscapes across to 30 over the next five years, bringing the iconic brand closer to major cities Saudi Arabia through Sarh Real Estate Holding—an independent fund of and new regions such as Madinah, Makkah, Al-Qassim, Jazan, and Tabuk.

Alsulaiman Group. Sarh is overseeing the construction of five major mixedAs Saudi Arabia strides towards achieving 70% homeownership and plans use destinations in Riyadh, Madinah, Qassim, Khamis Mushait, and Makkah. to build at least 230,000 new hotel rooms, Alsulaiman Group is playing a These projects include a modern lifestyle hub set over 170,000 square metres pivotal role in helping it achieve this milestone. The expansion of IKEA is in Riyadh, a testament to the group’s commitment to developing modern a key element in this transformation, providing accessible home-furnishing mixed-use lifestyle hubs that cater to diverse community needs. “We are solutions across the Kingdom. dedicated to creating vibrant communities that meet the needs of a growing Alsulaiman Group is also diversifying into the retail sector, transforming population,” says Dr. Alsulaiman. the grocery market in line with Vision 2030’s goals. In June 2023, the group Dr. Ghassan Alsulaiman’s role extends beyond leading Alsulaiman Group; secured exclusive franchise rights for Circle K, a renowned Canadian he is also a prominent figure in the family business industry. As the head convenience store chain. Circle K operates 40 stores in key locations across of the Family Business Center, Dr. Alsulaiman is dedicated to fostering a the Kingdom, and the group plans to expand its footprint significantly to 300 thriving environment for family-owned enterprises in Saudi Arabia, ensuring stores by 2028. “These expansions are critical for our future growth and align their growth and sustainability for generations to come. Alsulaiman Group with our commitment to enhancing retail experiences across Saudi Arabia,” began its governance journey 20 years ago, laying a strong foundation to states Dr. Ghassan Alsulaiman. make the group sustainable for future generations. “We are committed to Alsulaiman Group has been a key player in the logistics sector since building a legacy of innovation, sustainability, and excellence that will endure founding Flow Progressive Logistics a decade ago. Flow provides endfor generations to come,” Dr. Alsulaiman states. to-end logistics solutions and has grown to be one of the top 10 logistics For companies eyeing the Saudi market, Alsulaiman Group is not just an companies in the region. The group now plans to triple Flow’s size over the ideal partner but a shining example of the calibre of businesses thriving at next five years, extending its footprint into other GCC countries and beyond. every level of the Kingdom’s economy. “Saudi Arabia is a treasure trove of This strategic move supports Vision 2030’s goal of transforming Saudi Arabia untapped potential, from traditional sectors like petrochemicals to flourishing into a global logistics hub. “Our logistics innovations are paving the way for industries like tourism, logistics, and technology. Additionally, the Kingdom’s more efficient and scalable solutions in the region,” says Dr. Alsulaiman. leadership is setting an excellent example—government entities are often Supporting SMEs is another key focus for Alsulaiman Group, first moving faster than the private sector now,” concludes Dr. Alsulaiman. accomplished by investing in Salasa, which offers fulfilment solutions that help SMEs establish e-commerce operations efficiently. Alongside this, Alsulaiman Group continuously invests in startups, fostering innovation and growth in various sectors. “We’re committed to being the partner of choice in logistics and e-commerce for companies entering the region,” Dr. Alsulaiman emphasizes.

Aligned with Saudi Vision 2030’s digital ambitions, Alsulaiman Group

Mario’s Picks

5 Ways to Multitask Your Fall

From a corporate office to working from the living room, Emmy Award winner Mario Armstrong has five new products designed to make putting in the hours more enjoyable.

1

4

2

5

1/ A door lock that reads palms.

2/ An on-call cold brew barista.

3/ A phone case for doodlers.

4/ A desktop setup for road warriors.

5/ A light that helps you shine bright.

The Philips 5000 Series Smart Deadbolt [$360; usa. philips.com] unlocks a door with a scanner that reads your palm, meaning your keys and phone can remain in a pocket or bag. The deadboltintegrated doorbell alerts you to visitors through the Philips app, and rings the included wireless chime. When you head out, the sensors detect your hand reaching for the interior knob and automatically unlock the door. Powered by batteries, the smart lock also works with a key, an access code, or through Alexa and Google Assistant.

Cold brew coffee drinks are more than a summer fling; they’re a lifestyle. Crafting them at home is time-consuming, but The Cumulus Machine [$695, plus $25 for 10 coffee capsules; cumuluscoffee .com] makes crafting single-serve cold brew or espresso, along with nitro coffee, effortless. Load an aluminum capsule filled with coffee concentrate into the machine, select either a 10-ounce cold brew or foamy nitro, or a 2-ounce shot of chilled espresso, and press the button. A compressor inside chills the drink and an air pump system and valve mechanism injects nitrogren bubbles from the ambient air.

Entrepreneurs love writing in journals and sketching out ideas, but it’s not always easy to travel with a big notebook. The Moft Snap Flow [$49; moft.us] makes that easy. Its magnetic, vegan leather case snaps onto iPhones 12 through 15, where it conceals a roughly 2-by-3-inch notepad and a pen. Unfurl Moft’s origami architecture to jot down ideas or explain sketches, then fold it up to a barely noticeable thickness in your pocket. You can refill the pads once you’ve used them all to practice that signature.

No more balancing your laptop on a stack of books!

The Logitech Casa Pop-Up Desk [$180; logitech.com] hides a wireless keyboard and touchpad inside a roughly 9-by-11.5-by-1.25inch hard-shell, fabriccovered case that doubles as a portable laptop stand.

It adds just over 2.5 pounds to your carry-on bag, but it can lift a range of laptops (up to 17 inches) to a more comfortable working height—creating better video call presentations in your hotel room, at trade shows, or in airport lounges.

The Steelcase Eclipse Light [$279; store.steelcase.com] is a 3-in-1 multitool that you’ll use daily. As a task light, it floods your desk (or the wall) with a bright or soft glow, which you adjust with the sliding dimmer tab on the side. The base is a wireless charger with an arm that acts as a kickstand to keep your smartphone’s screen angled for calls or quick facial unlocking. During a video call, you can rotate the light ring toward yourself to cast a flattering effect on your face. Do a quick check of the coppertinted mirror core to ensure your smile is spinach-free.

24 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

P H O T O G R A P H S C O U R T E S Y O F P H I L I P S ; C U M U L U S ; M O F T; L O G I T E C H ; S T E E L C A S E

3

SPOTLIGHT BRANDED CONTENT

Adriatic Bank

SUPPORTING INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT IN MONTENEGRO

S

ince gaining independence Expobank, a subsidiary of Czech lender in 2006, Montenegro has Expobank CZ. This acquisition marked a key been focused on creating milestone in the bank’s regional expansion a welcoming business strategy and remains a unique achievement environment and growing in Montenegro’s financial sector. Adriatic the economy through foreign Bank now operates in all strategic locations direct investment. This has across Serbia and Montenegro, but plans resulted in low corporate tax rates between further expansion to solidify its position as 9-15% and a swift rebound from the COVIDa leading regional player.

19 pandemic. Between 2021-22, Montenegro Adriatic Bank is also recognized as achieved average economic growth of 9.7% per the preferred choice for foreign investors annum, followed by 6.0% last year, according interested in doing business in Montenegro. to the World Bank. Moreover, with Montenegro The bank maintains a diverse base of most likely the next country to be granted EU foreign and domestic clients, and Lukić membership, investors who act now will benefit underscores its commitment to catering the most from its transformation. to its increasing diversity, stating: “Our Montenegro is home to a robust financial tailor-made solutions allow us to provide sector, with banks the most stable segment a reliable, superior service for our clients. of the country’s economic system, according We’re adept at rethinking, modifying, and to the European Banking Federation (EBF). adapting our services to ensure our clients’ Mr. Djordje Lukić Montenegro’s banking sector is fully privatized, banking experience meets their personal Chairman of the Supervisory Board comprising 11 privately owned banks, and is needs.” easily accessible by foreign and retail investors. What sets the country’s Lukić reveals that the bank has seen a significant uptick in the banks apart is their strong capitalization and high liquidity, which not number of foreign clients opening accounts with it, specifically those only cement their position as the backbone of financial intermediation looking to purchase real estate in Montenegro. Adriatic Bank has also in Montenegro but also provide a sense of security and confidence to received plenty of interest from foreign companies looking to start investors. developing their own projects in the country. By facilitating these Established just four years ago, Adriatic Bank has rapidly emerged investments, Adriatic Bank is playing a pivotal role in Montenegro’s as one of Montenegro’s most successful banks. It is currently the EU-bound economic growth journey. “Montenegro is an attractive fifth-largest bank in the country in terms of assets, a remarkable feat location for these investors, and we’re proud to support their ambitions considering it is also the youngest in the sector. here,” says Lukić.

Adriatic Bank offers a comprehensive range of financial services, Looking ahead, Lukić offered insight into where he sees the bank from retail and corporate banking to online and investment banking, in five years’ time. “Ideally, we want to be one of the key players in the loans, and international payments. The bank also provides innovative market. To accomplish this, we’re strengthening our commitment to services such as ‘Save the tip,’ which is designed to help Visa customers providing a secure and trusted banking experience for our clients.” He save money in everyday transactions, alongside premium products like added that Adriatic Bank’s overarching goal is to ensure its services and the World Elite Mastercard credit card, offering unique travel benefits product suite can cover all its clients’ domestic and international needs. and lifestyle perks to customers. These complement the bank’s As Montenegro progresses towards EU membership – expected traditional products, such as housing and mortgage loans. by 2030 at the latest – Adriatic Bank’s contributions to the stability of According to Adriatic Bank’s Chairman of the Supervisory Board, its financial system and its openness to foreign investment cannot Djordje Lukić, the key to the bank’s rapid early growth lay in seizing be overlooked. And for Lukić, now is the perfect time to invest in the new opportunities. One of them, which Lukić considers critical for country: “We’ve been growing the economy for many years now, and that phase of the bank’s operation, arose from the EU’s approval for the public and private sectors are ready to welcome new investors.

Montenegro to offer economic citizenship. Lukić says the bank’s fast Adriatic Bank was supporting our industries which have been steadily decision-making during its first few years was crucial: “We were able to growing over the years and which presents plenty of opportunities in attract lots of deposits through the scheme and introduce new clients Montenegro. For the coming period big brands have announced their to Montenegro. This helped us boost our liquidity and improved the intention to establish a presence here and Adriatic Bank will continue overall market landscape. For example, we saw more positive effects, to play important role in supporting the future growth of the country.” encouraging people to deposit and save. At the same time, we began lending on a large scale to local corporates and citizens.”

Fuelled by these early successes, Adriatic Bank has experienced significant expansion in its portfolio over the past two years. Most notably, in April 2023, the bank became a new regional player in the financial sector after its owner acquired the total capital of Serbia’s

Side Hustles

The $414,000 Side Hustle

ADVICE FROM SIDE HUSTLERS/

I have a day job—and a highly profitable interior design company on the side. Here’s how I did it. b y C H I S O M O K W U L E H I E

JUSTIN CAMBRA

GROWTH IN THOUSANDS

$350 $3OO $250 $200

$205,750

$150 $100 $50 $0

$55,396 2021

I

2022

2023

design and manage infrastructure projects for a public agency.

I like the work and make nearly $130,000 annually. But in 2020, I felt crunched: I’d just had my first child, and I learned I wouldn’t receive a merit-based pay increase due to the pandemic lockdown. So I started a side hustle called Juntero Design.

At first, it was just taking on small projects on different platforms, charging as little as $20. I tested the market and found the most demand for architecture and interior design CHISOM OKWULEHIE services, so I leaned into that. I have a master’s degree in architecture, and watched YouTube to develop operational, financial management, and marketing skills.

I kept my prices low to build a portfolio and accumulate testimonials—and for every 10 pieces of positive feedback I got, I’d raise my hourly rate by $20. Then I switched to fixed rates. By the end of 2021, my time was maxed out and I couldn’t take on more clients, so I enlisted other freelance designers to handle the projects I couldn’t take on. Now that’s how we do more than 90% of the work. I spend most of my time on marketing and client management; to streamline accountability, all client contact goes through me. When one major client had a lot of projects, I proposed a subscription model—and when they said yes, I realized how powerful it was: Now companies can access my creative team consistently, and I have more consistent revenue.

In this economy, I think everyone should diversify their income. You must plan for your future and retirement—and you can’t only rely on your 9-to-5. —AS TOLD TO AMANDA BREEN 26 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

What Do I Charge for My Service?

M

any people say to start cheap and then raise your rates. But you can do that in reverse—testing to see what the market will tolerate without undercutting yourself.

“If you raise the price on an Airbnb, you’ll get a higher rental rate, but then you have a higher vacancy rate too. I’m doing that in the inverse,” says Seattle resident Justin Cambra Cambra, who rents out some of his land on the platform Neighbor for people to use as parking spaces. “I went from $200 to $175 to $150, and now I’m at $125, and I’m getting more traction.

So I may even drop it to $100, and as the lot fills, I’ll start raising it back up.”

P H O T O G R A P H B Y S T O C K . A D O B E . C O M /A O P S A N ( R E D F A B R I C ) ; C H I S O M O K W U L E H I E ; J U S T I N C A M B R A

$414,000

$400

SPOTLIGHT BRANDED CONTENT

Optimedia

O

A LEADER IN EUROPEAN P VC AND ALUMINIUM JOINERY

ffering a strategic location, a well-educated workforce, and abundant natural resources, Romania has emerged as a prime destination for investors and firms seeking exposure to Europe, Central Asia, and the Near East. Crucially, the country’s EU membership has made it eligible for USD 81 billion in EU funding by 2030, including USD 31 billion in grants and loans from the ‘Next Generation EU’ scheme. Anticipating a rise in investment interest as a result, Romania’s government has established a new investment agency – the Romanian Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade – which offers increased legislative access for investors to government officials compared to its predecessor, InvestRomania.

Romania’s closely linked manufacturing and construction industries have long been investors’ favourites. The country’s manufacturing firms Pantis family enjoy a strong European reputation and employ around two-thirds of its overall workforce. Since the pandemic, the number of active manufacturing enterprises in Romania has surged by around 20,000 to over 77,000. At the same time, demand within Romania’s construction industry has risen significantly, with construction activity up 46% over the four years ended August 2023, according to Romania’s National Institute of Statistics. Key factors behind the rise include a significant upswing in government initiatives and increased urbanisation.

Founded in 1994, Optimedia stands as one of Europe’s leading B2B manufacturers of PVC and aluminium joinery, with core expertise in high-quality windows and doors. Optimedia’s products are renowned for their durability, energy efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and innovative design, setting them apart from competitors. The company currently has 60 showrooms and dealers in Romania and its products are sold across six continents.

From humble beginnings as a local family business to becoming a major player in the global supply chain, Optimedia’s journey has been marked by bold expansion and strategic investments. The company’s CEO, Mr. Marius Pantis, recalls the pivotal moment in 2006 when they started exporting their products overseas, highlighting it as a “turning point” that brought an already successful venture to the next level. “At the time, we were doubling our turnover every two years and opening branches across Romania.”

Today, Optimedia boasts over 2,500 international partners, and its comprehensive range of products ensures that it can satisfy the technical needs of even the most demanding projects. From world-leading PVC and aluminium joineries to a superior catalogue of blinds, shutters, and insect screens, Optimedia acts as a one-stop shop for firms across Europe.

According to Mr. Pantis, Optimedia’s success reflects a forwardthinking and customer-centric approach aided by a talented team of technicians and staff. For example, Optimedia offers its partners short lead times for highly tailored products, with constant investment in cutting-edge technologies and manufacturing processes enabling it to produce over 1,200 custom windows a day. As many firms seek stability and consistency in their supply, Optimedia is now a highly sought-after partner in the market.

Indeed, Optimedia has garnered several long-term supply collaborations with Europe’s industry leaders, including top PVC producer

VEKA and aluminium specialist REYNAERS and CORTIZO. This not only ensures its customers’ preferential access to the best-performing product lines but showcases its transformative role in shaping the market landscape. Optimedia has also expanded further afield into the USA – a key part of its plan to ensure future growth by developing multiple markets – alongside bolstering sales from Italy, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Given its current trajectory, Mr. Pantis envisions Optimedia as one of Europe’s leading joinery manufacturers in the world.

However, he emphasises that growth is not Optimedia’s primary motivation. “Our main focus is our partners; as we expand our client base, naturally, we’ll see strong growth. Ensuring we stick to our foundational principles of quality, exceptional logistics, aftersales and maintenance, cost-effectiveness, and, of course, compassion – is essential.”

Looking ahead, Mr. Pantis discloses that Optimedia is seeking more B2B partners, specifically within the construction community. “Ideally, we’re looking to partner with construction companies and dealers,” he says, adding that Optimedia’s adaptability and welcoming family values make it the perfect partner. “We understand the importance of re-invention in our industry, and we’re able to respond to any changes in the industry.” Partners will also benefit from access to Optimedia’s extensive network of contacts in Europe and North America.

Above all, Optimedia’s embrace of new trends and international business is a testament to the dynamism and collaborative spirit that characterise Romania’s business community today. Mr. Pantis also hopes successful companies like his will continue inspiring the younger generation to build their future in Romania. “Romania is changing a lot, and the momentum is incredibly positive. Younger people are studying abroad and then bringing back their expertise to work and start businesses here. They’re taking advantage of the potential offered by low land costs to build factories and start producing. As a country, we’re united for a better future.”

SPOTLIGHT BRANDED CONTENT

Qatar

LEADERSHIP AND VISION

P

raising the country’s “state-of-the-art infrastructure”, the World Bank forecasts a “major boost” to Qatar’s economy in the coming years. This period should see the North Field expansion project come onstream, boosting the crucial gas field’s output by 85% to 142m tonnes a year. Meanwhile, economic diversification continues apace, with tourism in particular a key contributor; Qatar is playing host to a range of major events in 2024, following its successful hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. These developments will help cement Qatar’s position as one of the world’s most affluent and successful societies, following decades of growth, investment, and assiduous focus on improving infrastructure and services. The leadership and vision of His Highness Amir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani have been essential in setting the country’s successful strategy and ensuring Qatar’s place on the world stage.

“In Qatar, we have had a dream that our country would be one of the prosperous nations whose people would enjoy well-being and prosperity, and we invested decades of planning and comprehensive development work to make this dream come true,” His Highness the Amir said. “We have achieved a lot, thanks to God, and the solidarity of everyone in Qatar.”

The State is not resting on its laurels, and the next years will see further development under the Qatar National Vision 2030. Investors are buoyant about the outlook: PWC’s 2024 Annual CEO Survey found that 84% of the surveyed corporate leaders are optimistic about the country’s economic growth over the next 12 months, almost twice the global average of 44%. As the professional services company noted, Qatar actively welcomes international investments to grow its private sector.

“During the coming period, the State will pay great attention to developing the business environment, attracting investment, and benefiting from the available infrastructure,” said His Highness the Amir at the recent inauguration of the Shura Council ordinary session. “During recent years the State has succeeded in evolving an integrated infrastructure that promotes its competitiveness in attracting investments. The competent authorities continue to invoke the provisions of the law regulating partnerships between the public and private sectors in all relevant projects, including health, educational and tourist facilities. There is also an ongoing mechanism in the State that develops the legislations regulating foreign investment to remove the obstacles facing such investment, and to highlight Qatar as an incubator for direct international investment on the international level.”

As well as welcoming investors from around the world, Qatar has a flourishing domestic private sector, of ten wo r k i n g i n c l o s e partnership with foreign businesses operating in the region. A prime example of this success is Darwish Holding, with Bader Al-Darwish a legacy dating back to the early 1900s when Chairman, Darwish Holding the visionary Al-Darwish Fakhroo brothers started a family business involved in contracting, stock market, real estate, airlines, automotive and more, both within and outside of Qatar. As Qatar’s landscape began to swiftly change, the group played a significant role in the country’s transformation and proudly helped foment progress by harnessing opportunities and innovations. Stemming from the mother company and continuing the legacy and ethos instilled by its founders, Darwish Holding today boasts diversified business interests across sectors including consumer distribution, investment, real estate, retail, business services, and technology,

with a strong, diversified team from 60 countries.

I t s b u s in e s s e s include Fifty One East, Qatar’s oldest department store, which is seeing 20% revenue grow th from tourism, and significant stock market and real estate ventures.

Darwish Holding will continue to grow hand-in-hand with the nation.

“The sky’s the limit here,” says Bader Abdullah Al-Darwish, Darwish Holding’s chairman and His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani managing director.

Amir of Qatar “We are witnessing a period of remarkable development driven by His Highness the Amir’s vision and that of the Father Amir. Reflecting on the past two to three decades, the advancements in education, healthcare, and infrastructure are astounding. Our commitment to Qatar’s growth has been unwavering, and our goal remains today and tomorrow to support His Highness’s vision. Our leaders’ dedication and strategic foresight have been the cornerstone of Qatar’s success, and we are honored to contribute to this journey.”

With its extensive experience in the local market, Darwish Holding is a longstanding partner to foreign brands looking to expand in Qatar and across the Middle East. The business’s distribution network, databases, and after-sales service are second to none. Al-Darwish evaluates each potential deal carefully to be sure of the strategic fit – and then executes with speed and determination. “The long-standing partnerships we have, such as those with Rolex since 1951, CHANEL since 1954, and Sony in the 1960s, demonstrate our ability to deliver exceptional results and foster enduring relationships,” he added.

“Our family has been in the business for more than 100 years, and we have had exclusive international partnerships for more than 70 years, so we know the market like the back of our hand,” says Al-Darwish. “We also have a professional team, with some members who have been with us for over 30 years. Together, we’ve achieved numerous success stories, including double-digit growth and the biggest market share and growth in the majority of the brands we represent. We are also heavily sponsoring, together with the brands we carry, some of the most prestigious international sports tournaments and cultural events in Qatar, something that we are immensely proud of. I believe in fostering long-term relationships based on mutual respect, which our partners deeply appreciate, and this philosophy consistently translates into exceptional results. For example, our FNAC franchise is the fastest-growing in the world. We are delivering outstanding results.”

Darwish Holding will continue to be a standard bearer for its country, its private sector dynamism reflecting the country’s own growth path and its growing stature globally.

“You have all noticed the level of progress we could achieve when our view of ourselves integrates with our image abroad, as was the case during the World Cup matches in Qatar,” His Highness the Amir said. “You have seen that the positive interaction with the outside has reflected in progress at home, and vice versa. This is the logic behind the energy industry, the sovereign fund, and international mediations, and this is also the logic behind the civilized interaction which also embraces tolerance and acceptance of diversity. Cultural interaction and acceptance of diversity are not contradictory to the collective Qatari Arab Muslim identity, but rather a contribution to its evolvement and development in consistence with the challenges of the times at every historical stage.”

SPOTLIGHT BRANDED CONTENT

QNB Group

A PILL AR OF FINANCIAL E XCELLENCE

S

upported by one of the Fitch as the highest-rated bank in largest gas reserves Qatar and one of highest in the MENA in the world, Qatar is region, with ratings of A+, Aa3, and A+, the largest exporter respectively. of LNG globally and Mr. Al-Khalifa attributes the bank’s a dynamic leader in strengths to its team efforts. Its the Gulf. The country employees in Qatar are 60% Qataris, has been one of the fastest-growing underscoring both the talent that the economies in the world over the past country is nurturing, and the bank’s decade. The latest announcement of engagement in the country’s economic the expansion of the North Field, which transformation. Another of the bank’s aims to increase LNG production by strength is its brand, which has been 85% by 2030, will be a tailwind for the the region’s most valuable brand for economy in the medium to long term. more than ten years, worth $8.4bn.

Standing at the heart of the Qatari “QNB’s long-term aspiration is to banking industry is QNB Group, the be one of the leading Middle East, first fully Qatari-owned bank. The bank Africa and Southeast Asia banks while was established in 1964 and started its maintaining our number one position in international journey in 1976 with the the Middle East and Africa,” explains Mr. opening of a branch in London. Today, Al-Khalifa. “Our strategy is comprised Abdulla Mubarak Al-Khalifa it is the largest bank of the Middle East of three elements: focus on our core Group CEO and Africa. of being an international wholesale At the helm of QNB Group stands its Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. bank, while leveraging innovation as a strategic enabler and embedding Abdulla Mubarak Al-Khalifa, stating that “I am proud of the bank’s Qatari sustainability into our business and operating model.” heritage. We are characterised by a unique leadership and vision.” Mr. An innovative, tech-savvy bank, QNB leverages its innovation to Al-Khalifa joined QNB in 1996, when the bank already had a very strong deliver cutting-edge products and services to its customers. It has a position in the domestic market. He assumed his current role as Group fully-digital banking offering, that started in Türkiye and was extended Chief Executive Officer in 2018. In 2005, while Mr. Al-Khalifa was head of to Egypt, making waves in a market dominated by traditional banking domestic corporate banking, QNB started internal strategic discussions models. In 2022, QNB announced a joint venture with Ajlan & Bros about its future – where it would position itself, and how it could achieve Holding to collaborate and expand its digital banking offering to Saudi its goals. Then, in 2007, the bank drew up a five-year strategy to become Arabia. It is typical of the forward-looking, close-knit partnerships that the one of the top three banks in the GCC from a position of 16th at the time. bank looks to form, as well as indicative of its ambitions – it has the goal of Over the next ten years, QNB underwent an internal expansion that saw being the biggest foreign bank in the Kingdom by 2030. the establishment of operations in 15 countries through organic and As well as being a partner for businesses, Qatar-listed QNB also inorganic growth. By the end of 2012, it had already become the biggest offers an enticing opportunity for investors, given its long-term growth in the region, thanks to Qatar’s resilience during the global financial crisis path, building on its consistent growth record. Going forward, QNB and the bank’s expansion strategy. is considering further expansion to Southeast Asia when the time is “When the financial crisis hit, we were sitting on $10bn in cash. We right. “Now is a good time for Qatar,” says Mr. Al-Khalifa. “It is a centre deployed that money like never before, while everyone else was fixing for reaching markets including India and the rest of Asia, Europe and their own problems”, says Mr. Al-Khalifa. “We visited out top 20 customers Africa. Our airline and airport were ranked as the best in the world this and said ‘if you need anything, write the cheque, and we will take care year. The government’s leadership is superb, and it is giving the private of it’ – only two did this, and we supported them. Today, we are one of sector an ever-bigger role in the economy in line with Qatar’s National the largest banks in the region for 12 years. We have a strong record Vision 2030. We are fortunate to be in growing market with significant of partnerships and international relationships. We are present in 28 tailwinds from high hydrocarbon export revenues to support our growth countries, serving 30 million customers. We understand the Gulf, we have and performance over the medium term. There’s huge growth potential in strong relationships, and we consider ourselves as a partner for anyone the region – it has strong economic foundations, infrastructure, financial doing business here.” stability, an excellent lifestyle, and quality tourism offerings.”

QNB is a relationship bank, seeing its partnerships with customers as “We look for relevance and value in our partnerships,” says Mr. a two-way street, a mutually beneficial and supportive arrangement. QNB Al-Khalifa. “We are happy to support financially anybody coming to Qatar is dedicated to excellent customer service, guaranteeing trust and loyalty, to invest, and any Qatari investment abroad. We know every single client and supporting its clients whenever needed. in Qatar, we know the people of the Gulf – we’re the bank of choice for “We don’t compromise on quality,” says Mr. Al-Khalifa. “We could grow those coming here. We allow foreign investors to have more flexibility, and by 10% a year if we didn’t pay so much attention on quality. We want to a clear pathway to success.” maintain steady and sustainable revenues and growth. However, we do not compromise on our strong fundamentals on credit and balance sheet management.”

QNB is 50% owned by the country’s sovereign wealth fund, but does not operate as a government bank. Yet it does have a strong commitment to national development, and shares a vision with the government, including bringing in more foreign investment and strengthening the private sector’s role. This allows it to be recognised by leading international rating agencies, such as Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and

America’s Favorite

MOM POP SHOPS ™

2024

HOW WE PICKED 150 BUSINESSES ACROSS THE COUNTRY. 30 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

Illustration / P E T E R YA N

L

ocal businesses are beloved, but rarely get the full recognition they deserve. We want to fix that.

That’s why Entrepreneur partnered with Foursquare to build this, our second annual America’s Favorite Mom & Pop Shops™ list— featuring 150 of the most beloved small businesses across the U.S. To create this list, we leveraged places data from Foursquare—a geospatial technology company that captures more than 100 attributes about local businesses, including foot traffic, ratings, photos taken by customers, and even how many people leave tips. We limited our search to independently owned and operated businesses in the U.S. with a maximum of four locations, and which were marked open as of May 15, 2024. We then divided the top results into 10 categories (retail, nightlife, dining, and so on), and ranked the businesses based on a variety of factors that reflect their popularity.

Mom-and-pop shops can only appear on our list once, so we removed any businesses that appeared on 2023’s list.

We hope you’ll use this list for at least two purposes: You can have a great time visiting wonderful local businesses, and you can learn from the many things their entrepreneurial owners do right. Of course, we know these aren’t the only beloved mom-and-pop shops in America—which is why, next → Scan for an interactive map year, we’re excited to anoint another 150. of the list

ART 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

In The Light Performing Arts Center Mid-America Windmill Museum Hotel de Paris Museum Old Salem Museums & Gardens Pinckney Clay *Corinto Gallery Black Lab Gallery Dottie’s Art Studio Mark Arts Alix Baptiste Art Gallery The Gallery At Flat Rock Terrance Osborne Gallery Paoli Art Shop Nina Johnson Rokoko Art

Peculiar, MO Kendallville, IN Georgetown, CO Winston-Salem, NC San Francisco, CA Oxon Hill, MD Everett, WA Plainfield, IL Wichita, KS Savannah, GA Flat Rock, NC New Orleans, LA Belleville, WI Miami, FL Las Cruces, NM

32 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

itlarts.com midamericawindmillmuseum.org hoteldeparismuseum.org oldsalem.org pinckneyclay.com corintogallery.com blacklabgalleryeverett.com dottiesartstudio.com markartsks.com alixbaptiste.com galleryflatrock.com terranceosborne.com paoliartshop.com ninajohnson.com rokokoart.com

Performing Arts Center Museum Museum Museum Art Studio Art Gallery Art Gallery Art Studio Art Center Art Gallery Art Gallery Art Gallery Art Shop Art Gallery Art Gallery

BEAUTY & SPAS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Four Elements Salon and Spa *Gents Barber Club Blush Beauty Bar *Anabell’s Skin, Laser & Wax Center Mildred New York Taglio Salon & Barbershop by Donnarose Fate Beauty Society *Mustard Seed Massage *The Parker Barber Heal Thyself Atlanta Dear You Tattoo *Wheelhouse Salon Rebel & Rose The Common Man Inn & Spa All My Heart

Westport, MA San Francisco, CA Miami Beach, FL Frisco, TX New York, NY Marlton, NJ Portland, OR Washington, DC New Orleans, LA Atlanta, GA Kansas City, KS Birmingham, AL Boulder, CO Plymouth, NH Charlotte, NC

fourelementssalonandspa.com gentsbarberclub.com blushnailsalon.com anabellslaserwaxcenter.com mildrednewyork.com tagliosalonbydonnarose.com fatebeautysociety.com mustardseedspa.com parkerbarber.com healthyselfatl.com dearyoutattoo.com wheelhousesalon.com rebelandrosesalon.com thecmaninnplymouth.com allmyheartstudio.com

Spa Barbershop Spa Health and Beauty Service Barbershop Beauty Service Hair Salon Spa Barbershop Spa Tattoo Studio Hair Salon Hair Salon Spa Tattoo Studio

Kennebunk, ME San Francisco, CA Brooklyn, NY Dennis Port, MA Billings, MT Frisco, TX Nutley, NJ Takoma Park, MD Alpharetta, GA Raleigh, NC Chicago, IL Pittsburgh, PA Nashville, TN Miami, FL Seattle, WA

federaljacks.com andytownsf.com missadanyc.com swanriverseafoods.com thehighhorsesaloonandeatery.com hutchinsbbq.com ralphspizzeria.com takomabevco.com rumiskitchen.com strochraleigh.com cupitol.com square-cafe.com grekostreetfood.com gheemiami.com moonshotcoffee.com

Restaurant Coffee Shop Israeli Restaurant Seafood Restaurant Restaurant BBQ Joint Pizzeria and Restaurant Café Middle Eastern Restaurant Seafood Restaurant Café Café Greek Restaurant Indian Restaurant Coffee Shop

Springdale, AR Birmingham, AL Washington, DC Huntington, WV Westford, MA Los Angeles, CA Amherst, NY Asheville, NC Austin, TX Saint Charles, MO Brunswick, OH Tualatin, OR Minneapolis, MN Sioux Falls, SD Gig Harbor, WA

wildworldpb.com no website experiencekraken.com roll-a-rama.com butterflyplace-ma.com zebulon.la cherrylaurellanes.com ashevilleretrocade.com sunsetroomaustin.com twoplumbers.com scene75.com/cleveland saintirenes.com littpinballbar.com golfaddiction.biz javaclaycafe.com

Arts and Entertainment Comic Book Shop Arts and Entertainment Skating Rink Arts and Entertainment Music Venue Bowling Alley Arcade Event Venue Arcade Arcade Event Venue Arcade Arts and Entertainment Arts and Entertainment

DINING 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Federal Jack’s *Andytown Coffee Roasters Miss Ada Swan River Restaurant & Fish Market The High Horse Saloon & Eatery *Hutchins BBQ Ralph’s Pizzeria and Italian Restaurant Takoma Bev Co *Rumi’s Kitchen St. Roch Fine Oysters + Bar *Cupitol Square Cafe GReKo Greek Street Food Ghee Indian Kitchen Moonshot Coffee

ENTERTAINMENT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Wild World Paintball Bob’s Comics *Kraken Rolla-A-Rama The Butterfly Place Zebulon Cherry Laurel Lanes Asheville Retrocade The Sunset Room Two Plumbers Brewery + Arcade *Scene75 Entertainment Center Saint Irene’s LITT Pinball Bar Golf Addiction Java & Clay Cafe

* D E N O T E S A B U S I N E S S T H AT H A S M U LT I P L E L O C AT I O N S

September-October 2024 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / 33

fitness & Sports 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

*American Barbell Club *Fitness Nation *Hylo Fitness Mysore Yoga Atlanta Arbor CrossFit *Tumble Tech *Tuck Barre & Yoga *radi8 HOT YOGA Rebel Strength & Rowing Mesh Fitness Just Move Fitness Sound Body & Mind D & I Fitness CrossFit Music City Back Cove Personal Fitness

Campbell, CA Bedford, TX Mount Pleasant, SC Sandy Springs, GA Boise, ID Cedar Park, TX Philadelphia, PA Phoenix, AZ Asheville, NC Dublin, OH Winter Haven, FL Huntington, NY South Orange, NJ Nashville, TN Portland, ME

americanbarbellclubs.com fitness-nation.net hylofitness.com mysoreyogaatlanta.com crossfitarbor.com tumble-tech.com tuckbarreyoga.com radi8love.com rebelavl.com meshfitclub.com justmovewinterhaven.com soundbm.com dandifitness.com cfmusiccity.com backcovepersonalfitness.com

Gym Gym Gym Yoga Studio Gym Gym Barre and Yoga Studio Yoga Studio Gym Gym Gym Yoga Studio Gym Gym Gym

McAllen, TX Stevens Point, WI Atlanta, GA Manchester, VT San Francisco, CA Washington, DC North Oaks, MN Portland, OR Detroit, MI Canonsburg, PA Tucson, AZ Aurora, CO Waynesboro, VA Las Vegas, NV Brooklyn, NY

rubensgrocery.com feltzsdairystore.com starprovisions.com thecrookedramvt.com corbeauxws.com milliesdc.com bigdippercreamery.com portlandfoodhall.org saadmeats.com sarriscandies.com papamikeshomemadejerky.com mrbswineandspirits.com fishinpig.com curedandwhey.com store.moorebrothers.com

Grocery Store Farmstead Cheese & Plant Store Gourmet Store Restaurant Liquor Store Restaurant Food Service Food Court Butcher Shop Chocolate Store Food Retail Wine and Liquor Store BBQ and Seafood Restaurant Meat and Cheese Store Wine Store

millerfarmsnursery.com thegrowshopllc.com bednersgreenhouse.com ecrrecycling.com reliablepools.com tarzianhardware.com smartcabinetry.com bakernursery.com eddhelms.com bergmanbuilders.com southernsidingcolumbia.com alphastone.us kirbypaint.com echters.com diamondoutdoorproduct.com

Flower Nursery Garden Center Garden Center Recycling Center Home Service Hardware Store Wood Work Landscaper and Gardener Electrician Home Builder Service Home Imrovement Contractor Countertop Contractor Paint Supplier Gardening Store Power Equipment

Food & Drink Shops 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Ruben’s Grocery Feltz’s Dairy Store Star Provisions Market & Cafe The Crooked Ram Maison Corbeaux Millie’s *Big Dipper Creamery The Portland Food Hall Saad Wholesale Meats Sarris Candies Papa Mikes Homemade Jerky *Mr. B’s Wine & Spirits *The Fishin’ Pig Cured & Whey *Moore Brothers Wine Company

HOME & LOCAL SERVICES 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Miller Farms Nursery *The Grow Shop Bedner’s Farm & Greenhouse Environmentally Conscious Recycling Reliable Pools & Spas Tarzian Hardware Smart Cabinetry Baker Garden & Gift Edd Helms Electric & Air Conditioning Bergman Builders Inc. Southern Siding & Window Company AlphaStone Solutions George Kirby Jr. Paint Co. Echter’s Nursery & Garden Center Diamond Outdoor Products

McKinleyville, CA Reno, NV McDonald, PA Portland, OR Naugatuck, CT Brooklyn, NY New Paris, IN Fargo, ND Sunrise, FL Plover, WI Columbia, SC Richmond, VA New Bedford, MA Arvada, CO Fayetteville, NC

34 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

* D E N O T E S A B U S I N E S S T H AT H A S M U LT I P L E L O C AT I O N S

Where is your there?

To get your business where you want it to

depends on it, solving for today’s challenges

go, you ride the line between numbers and

and creating future opportunities. Wherever

people. You balance what’s right for the

your there is, CLA brings balance to get you

business and what’s best for everyone who

there. Start at CLAconnect.com/balance.

CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen LLP) is an independent network member of CLA Global. See CLAglobal.com/disclaimer. Investing involves risk, including risk of loss.

Investment advisory services are offered through CliftonLarsonAllen Wealth Advisors, LLC, an SEC-registered investment advisor. © CliftonLarsonAllen LLP

Lodging 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Abakee Cottages Perry’s Ocean Edge Resort Blue Mountain Bed & Breakfast Paniolo Ranch Bed & Breakfast Spa GreenTree Inn Mathis House The Pierpont Inn Eagle Crest Resort Capitol Reef Resort Mother Earth Motor Lodge Gazebo Inn The Equus Kenoza Lake View Manor Menemsha Inn & Cottages Hotel Blue

Laconia, NH Daytona Beach, FL Missoula, MT Boerne, TX Sedona, AZ Toms River, NJ Ventura, CA Redmond, OR Torrey, UT Kinston, NC Myrtle Beach, SC Honolulu, HI Kenoza Lake, NY Chilmark, MA Lewes, DE

abakeecottages.com perrysoceanedge.com bluemountainbb.com panioloranch.com greentreesedona.com mathishouse600main.com pierpontinn.com eagle-crest.com capitolreefresort.com motherearthmotorlodge.com gazeboinnoceanfront.com equushotel.com kenozalakeviewmanor.com menemshainn.com hotelblue.info

Hotel Resort Bed and Breakfast Bed and Breakfast Hotel Bed and Breakfast Hotel Hotel and Resort Hotel Motel Inn Hotel Inn Hotel Hotel

North Myrtle Beach, SC Plymouth, MA St. Petersburg, FL Palm Springs, CA Atlanta, GA Dallas, TX Cleveland, OH Charlotte, NC Washington, DC New Orleans, LA Salt Lake City, UT Eagan, MN Shillington, PA Spokane, WA Metuchen, NJ

no website cabbyshack.com theestatestpete.com blackbookbar.com famfam.family manhattanproject.beer noblebeastbeer.com tequilahousenightclub.com franklinhalldc.com parleauxbeerlab.com lakeeffectslc.com union32crafthouse.com schaylorbrewingcompany.com whistlepunkbrewing.com brownstonemetuchen.com

Bar Pub Night Club Bar Entertainment Taproom Brewery Night Club Bar Brewery and Taproom Bar Brew Pub Brewery Brewery Bar

Fountain, NC Newport, RI Columbus, OH South Gate, CA Buffalo, WY Pottstown, PA Shawnee, OK Minneapolis, MN Brooklyn, NY Wilmette, IL New Orleans, LA Atlanta, GA Bloomington, IN Bandon, OR Palm Beach Gardens, FL

rafountain.com thamesglass.com thisiswoodworking.com yurisrecords.com sportslure.com magicsleepermattress.com bbcbooksandcomics.com audioperfection.com booksaremagic.net chaletnursery.com crescentcitybooks.com thevillageretail.com facebook.com/ustabnew vinesartglass.com palmbeachdoggiebags.com

Retail Retail Retail Record and Skate Store Sporting Goods Store Furniture Store Books & Comics Store Retail Bookstore Plants, Landscaping, Home Decor Bookstore Clothing Boutique Clothing, Decor, Jewelry Art Glass Pet Food

nightlife 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Flynn’s Irish Tavern CabbyShack Restaurant & Pub The Estate Blackbook FamFam Private Room Karaoke Manhattan Project Beer Company Noble Beast Brewing Co. Tequila House Franklin Hall Parleaux Beer Lab Lake Effect Cocktail Bar Union 32 Craft House *Schaylor Brewing Company *Whistle Punk Brewing Company The Brown Stone Bar & Grill

RETAIL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

R.A. Fountain General Store Thames Glass Wood Werks Supply Yuri’s Records The Sports Lure Magic Sleeper Bibliotech Books & Comics Audio Perfection Books Are Magic *Chalet Crescent City Books The Village Retail U’sta-B-New Vines Art Glass Palm Beach Doggie Bags

36 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

* D E N O T E S A B U S I N E S S T H AT H A S M U LT I P L E L O C AT I O N S

SPOTLIGHT BRANDED CONTENT

Insa Oil

B

AN E XCEP TIONAL PARTNER

ulgaria’s GDP growth is set to pick up to 3% in 2025, according to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, with robus t consumption , recovering foreign demand, and moderating inflation all contributing to an increasingly rosy economic outlook.

Private consumption (running at 5.4% annual growth) and rising investment helped buoy activity in 2023, against global headwinds.

Bulgaria’s energy sector has long been a magnet for international investment, with a diverse mix of nuclear, coal, and renewables at play. Investors from as far afield as the US, Germany, China, and India are showing interest in the market, according to Eurolex Bulgaria, which forecasts that Bulgaria will Georgi Samuilov see record investment in energy in 2024-25, Owner and double its renewable energy capacity by 2030. Domestic demand has also buoyed local consumption of refined products, including biofuels.

A success story in this hugely important sector for Bulgaria, Insa Oil is one of the leading producers of petroleum products in the country, with a track record and reputation that attracts both clients and major international partners.

“Our company has been developing since the 1990s, when I also founded the company,” says Insa Oil’s owner Georgi Samuilov. “Over the last 30 years through our overall strategy we have managed to become a leader in the sector and have currently a market share of around 25-30% in Bulgaria. We have around 700 clients.

I have set up a few other companies that are entirely in the energy and biofuels sector, and in the past 20 years I have been mainly focusing on the production side of the business. We started with small production capacity but over the years we have managed to scale them, up and we have managed to come up with several great products which are now well established on the market. Our market share is indicative of that.”

Insa Oil’s current “exceptional” major project is a new refinery expected to start construction by 2025, deploying a revolutionary method for producing hydrocracked diesel (HVO), and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) a new generation biofuels. The large-scale project, one of the first of its kind in the Balkans, will broaden opportunities to offer the regional market SAF, a new generation of fuels that will be used for decades to come. Insa Oil has top experts working on the project to guarantee its success, and is setting out infrastructure for its finalisation.

The chosen technology from Insa Oil will enable them to produce high-quality fuels of a new generation that guarantee environmental protection and enable consumers to continue using their diesel cars.

The new refinery builds on Insa Oil’s history of strong development and diversification. Mother company Insa Group was founded in 1996, and Insa Oil itself in 2001, starting as a petroleum

product trader. The following year, it started production of fuels and fractions from its atmospheric vacuum distillation facility.

In 2010, it added a desulphurisation line to its plant at Belozem, which in 2018 saw its storage capacity increased to 100,000m tonnes. Since 2019, Insa Oil has been rolling out modern petrol stations across Bulgaria.

Samuilov emphasises the values of loyalty, which underpins Insa Oil’s relationships with clients and corporate partners alike. Both can also rely on the high quality of the company’s products, supported by its advanced complex testing laboratory and high-skilled team.

“A company cannot be successful without navigating turbulent times,” says Samuilov. “Success is due to hard work and perseverance. If one does not devote a lot of time to his company and people, he won’t be successful. We are also open to the world.”

This approach will ensure the possibility of attracting foreign partners and investors to help develop Insa Oil in the Balkans as a producer of the ecological fuels of the future.

This is also the sure way for a real diversification of sources for the supply of fuels in Bulgaria. And this is of key importance for achieving energy independence of the country and in Europe.

“We’re a very strong regional strategic player,” says Samuilov.

“We’re a European company and Bulgaria is on a very important crossroads that will be playing a big role in the energy sector in the near future. We’re the ideal small partner for big companies, and a big partner for smaller ones. People interested in partnerships must of course be knowledgeable about the oil sector and the specifics of our business, and in general we are open to any sort of collaboration from suitable partners.”

International companies working with Insa Oil also enjoy the benefits of the growing, business-friendly Bulgarian market, with its hugely strategic location between Europe and Asia.

“Bulgaria is a relatively new democracy, and the changes after 1990s put the country on a new trajectory,” says Samuilov.

“Entrepreneurship blossomed, though it has not always been easy. Now Bulgaria is a very attractive investment destination.

The country has a good tax system with very low taxes, of 10% on personal and corporate income. We have very well-trained manpower and a good education system. A lot of investments have already been made in the country. Politically, everything is peaceful, and people are kind-hearted. Strategically, we are very well positioned. It is an attractive place for business. I think we should always believe that better times are coming.”

HOW SMALL SHOPS TAKE BIG RISKS It’s not easy for mom-and-pops to try something new, because they rarely have a safety net to fail.

But there are ways to innovate cautiously—as one small business on our list, All My Heart tattoo studio, has found.

by FRANCES DODDS

38 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

→ INK OUTSIDE THE BOX

Graham Beech at work on one of his signature large-scale tattoos.

E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / 39

B

eech didn’t start out wanting to be an entrepreneur, much less an innovator. He just wanted to make a living doing what he loves. And he really loves it. “Tattooing is a unique medium,” he says, “because I need another consenting adult to practice my art form. If I were a musician or a painter, I could just buy the equipment. The fact that people seek me out and allow me to tattoo their body, then carry my work throughout the world—I think that’s a really special thing.”

But in 2021, a long-simmering frustration reached a boiling point.

Beech had worked really, really hard for a decade. He had nearly 40,000 followers on Instagram, a two-year waitlist, and a $250 hourly rate. But as he looked into the future at his career prospects, he says, “there was no light at the end of the tunnel.” Based on the traditional tattoo shop business model, his income had hit a ceiling. He could set his hourly rate, but the shop got a 40% to 50% cut. This might have made more sense when shops were the primary way that clients were connected with artists. “But most clients are finding their artists now by doing research online,” Beech says. “Social media gives individual artists a lot more power. Artists aren’t completely dependent on somebody looking up a brick-and-mortar business or happening to walk by.”

Clients were often finding Beech’s work on Instagram, calling the shop to book him, and being told he had a yearslong waitlist. Then they were offered another artist at the shop, and told that artist could work in Beech’s style—“a contemporary take on traditional Japanese and Americana”—under his guidance. Beech loved mentoring artists, 40 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

→ A FRESH TAKE

(Below) All My

Heart’s eclectic reception area.

(Right) The Beeches at their studio’s opening party.

but wasn’t getting anything extra from his employer, who always told him: Just raise your rate. This would, conveniently, make more money for the shop as well. But the returns were diminishing for Beech: There were only so many hours in the day. “I don’t like using buzzwords, but I feel like artists are gaslighted by shop owners,” he says.

“It’s like, No, I know that I’m part of this brand.”

The decisive moment came when Graham’s wife, Sarah Beech, was pregnant with their second child, and Sarah’s mother—the anchor of their family—received a terminal cancer diagnosis. For Graham, the tragedy was existential. “I think he was just like, Life’s short and we should take the risk,” Sarah says. “It all happened at once. We signed the lease, and I went into labor the next day. My mom saw the studio at the opening party, and then she passed away a few days later. I’m so grateful she was able to celebrate it.”

When Graham decided to leave his job, opening his own studio wasn’t the only option. It would have been easier to rent one of the many “salon suites” that have been disrupting the beauty industry— essentially office buildings with hallways of tiny rooms that are rented out to individual stylists, who operate their own small businesses from those spaces. But this means you’re working alone. Graham loved the community of a studio, and learning new things from other artists.

So he decided to start a business that offered the best of both worlds.

His studio allows artists to choose their pay structure: They can either do a traditional percentage split with the studio, or pay a “booth rent,” where they make set monthly payments to the studio and keep all the proceeds from their hourly rate—similar to a salon suite. Up-andcoming artists might prefer the traditional percentage split, since they don’t have an established roster of clients and rely on more walk-ins.

PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF ALL MY HEART STUDIO

I

magine what a tattoo shop looks like. All My Heart does not look like that.

The Charlotte, North Carolina, studio is airy and suffused with natural light. In the reception area, there are modular chairs, midcentury couches, and a vase of fresh flowers on a Japanese-influenced cabinet. But the real surprise goes beyond aesthetics. All My Heart’s owner, Graham Beech, isn’t just playing with a new look; he’s trying out a whole new business model.

“Historically, tattoo shops have wanted to control the clientele, and use the tattoo artist as kind of a cog in the wheel,” Beech says.

“What’s different about our business is that the client is the artist, and they have their own individual clients.”

Like many entrepreneurs, Beech was his own ideal customer: He was a tattoo artist working for a shop, wishing for a way to grow his earnings. But when he struck out on his own, he didn’t just copypaste the same old system; he wanted to create something more equitable for artists that provided more room for growth. And within two years of All My Heart opening, readers of The Charlotte Observer had voted it the best tattoo studio in the city.

But as Beech will tell you, thinking differently comes at a cost.

Innovation requires risk, and risk requires resources to try and fail.

For most mom-and-pops, resources are finite. If people have been doing something the same way for a long time—whether that’s running a restaurant, opening a gym, or setting up a tattoo shop—there’s often a reason for that, and few incentives to push boundaries.

And yet, every now and then, the factors influencing an industry change, and someone sees a new path forward. It’s thrilling, but also scary when the stakes are so personal. As Beech’s story shows, innovating as a small business can be like feeling your way forward in the dark: You have to move slowly, know when to stop and get your bearings, and know when it’s safe to take another step.

But more established artists can control how much they’re making and charging, while the studio handles their tasks like scheduling, along with supplies and assistants who flip their stations.

“Is this business model innovative? Yes,” says Caroline Daniels, a professor of entrepreneurship at Babson College, when she hears about Beech’s strategy. “It is innovative. But the challenge in any new venture is: What do we actually do? What’s the other person’s responsibility? How do we grow? And also: How much do we really want to grow?”

These are questions that Graham and Sarah—who does much of the administrative work, on top of her full-time job as executive director at a consumer insights company—have been grappling with in their first few years in business. “At first, it was just Graham and one other artist,” Sarah says. “We knew we could keep the lights on as long as Graham worked around the clock, basically. But we needed to iron out the front-of-house before we started adding people.”

As exhausting as it is, Daniels says this phase of starting a business cannot be skipped. “When you make the transition from stylist to entrepreneur, one of the essential things you need to do is understand the scope of your managerial capabilities,” she says. “You can’t hire somebody and hand it off in the beginning. You have to know those processes in and out before you teach someone else to do it.”

As Sarah and Graham wrapped their heads around operations, they gradually started bringing on booth rent artists. Graham was picky, having worked in enough tattoo shops to know that the mix of personalities can make or break the vibe. “I wanted a bright, positive, harmonious feel in the space,” he says. “Not only does the artist need to be incredibly talented, but they also need to have a wonderful bedside manner and get along well with the other artists.” He adds, “It can be a bit much for people who are historically kind of nonconformist.”

Building the right team has outsize importance when you’re breaking norms in an industry. You can change the business model, but if the people you hire aren’t interested in evolving, that’s an issue. One way Graham has dealt with this is by hiring artists who might not fit in at other tattoo shops. “You would think that an industry made up of misfits would be a little more inclusive, but historically, that hasn’t been the case,” he says. “I’ve worked in tattoo shops where the owners have strong feelings about the age and gender and cultural background of the people working there. So we’re eager to have a diverse group of people—and I’m proud to say we really do.”

Daniels says that for new small businesses, having a vision for the culture you want—and building slowly enough that you can maintain it—is crucial. “Culture is invisible, but it’s the single most important thing in innovation.” Daniels recalls how, when a business school

professor told her this years ago, she’d been dubious. “I thought, Oh, that’s just HR. But he was right. The way you innovate with your culture, given resource dynamics and all that other stuff, is the real innovation. But that also means knowing all of your constraints.”

For All My Heart, the single biggest constraint has been finding a capable, long-term front-of-house manager. “Our artists are wonderful, we don’t have turnover there,” Sarah says. “But when it comes to front of house, we have really struggled. We are looking for this unicorn who can take some of the workload off Graham and I.” They’ve had turnover in this role every eight months, so the cost and time of training someone new is significant. They’ve also realized they need more of a professional manager than a traditional receptionist. In addition to scheduling, they want someone who can tackle administrative tasks like taxes and QuickBooks—and, ideally, managing new revenue streams. “To entice qualified candidates,” Graham says, “we want to offer benefits like health insurance and 401(k) options, which is very atypical for the tattoo industry.”

Of course, benefits are expensive, and the studio needs to grow in order to afford it—but they also need help in order to grow. They now have six full-time artists and two part-time artists, and want to bring on more, but don’t have the bandwidth on their own. There are other revenue opportunities, too—if only they had somone to manage them. Piercing, for example, would be a great add-on to the studio’s offerings. They were offering monthly drawing sessions with live models for a while, but paused those because organizing was too much. They’ve also been approached by local breweries looking to collaborate, and reality shows wanting to film in their space. Plus, there are plenty of partnerships to be had with national brands like Harley-Davidson, Red Bull, and Mountain Dew. “It’s a bit of a conundrum,” Graham says. “We want to bring in additional revenue, but we need somebody to alleviate some of the current pressures so we can get there.”

So for now, they’re standing still.

But according to Daniels, this is exactly what they should be doing right now. “You have to master one idea before going on to the next,” she says. “The time to grow is when you’ve done one thing well, and you’ve got everything under control. Then you take another step.”

And anyway, what’s the point of building something if you never take time to admire your handiwork? In the midst of raising two small children and grieving Sarah’s mother, the Beeches built a business with a 4.9-star rating on Google and over 100 glowing reviews. Most importantly, they built the place where Graham wants to work.

“That internal drive of never being satisfied is a double-edged sword,” Graham says. “It’s an incredible tool for an entrepreneur because you’ll continue to grow. But if you can’t notice the achievements and celebrate the little things, it sucks the fun out of it.”

Even so, Graham keeps a toe in the water. He’s been feeling around for their next step—pondering pay structures that might incentivize a manager to take initiative and seek out opportunities for the studio.

Ultimately, his recruiting and business strategies are one and the same: create a place where people feel welcome. “I want this to be a space where people don’t get treated poorly for not being the right type of misfit,” he says. “We’re trying to be the change we want to see in the industry. And we don’t want to completely divorce ourselves from traditional tattoo culture—we love that culture. But we’re trying to look forward.”

Frances Dodds is Entrepreneur’s deputy editor.

September-October 2024 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / 41

S

HOW TO HIRE FOR THE FUTURE Small businesses are struggling to find quality labor.

So flip the conversation: Show workers how your business will set them up for opportunity.

by KRISTEN BAYRAKDARIAN

42 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

mall businesses have a hiring problem.

According to the July monthly jobs report from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), 19% of small businesses rank the inability to find quality labor as the single most important issue facing their company, while 38% reported job openings they could not fill. Overall, 49% reported few or no qualified applicants for the positions they were trying to fill.

“Most people who want a job have a job, so there are very few out there actively looking,” says Holly Wade, NFIB’s executive director of research. The U.S. unemployment rate has hovered around 4% in 2024—and although it’s been slowly ticking upwards, the talent pool for small businesses remains tight. Moreover, worker demographics evolved during the pandemic years.

“There were so many baby boomers who retired, and we had a huge shift of early retirees. All of that takes time to normalize, so we have this massive shift in the composition of the labor market.”

So how’s that playing out for small businesses? Richard Grove is a good case study, because he’s the founder of The Small Business Consultant, which advises manufacturing and industry companies—and he’s also COO of a small business called Wall Control, which makes pegboard storage systems and organizers.

He sees the problem firsthand, from multiple angles. Younger workers have been conditioned to think of college—and jobs that require a lot of education—as the best path to success. That means tradesman jobs are “not glamorized,” Grove says. “[Younger workers] don’t see their heroes doing that sort of thing,” nor have they been encouraged to explore an array of different professions.

That’s why, when his clients ask him for help with hiring, he

recommends they introduce themselves to future employees where they are now—whether that’s school clubs or special interest groups online.

Wade says that hiring eager, enthusiastic candidates and then training them for the job is a smart strategy. A strong company culture can also attract workers, so it’s worth leaning into what makes small businesses great to work for—like the ability to learn in a place that cares about you more than a conglomerate.

That’s been a winning formula for Leah Jensen, cofounder of Parleaux Beer Lab. A brewery may seem “cooler” than manufacturing pegboards, but the hospitality industry is notorious for high turnover. “We have been very fortunate that many of our team members have stayed with us for lengthy periods—an average of over three years,” she says. “Part of this success comes from prioritizing ‘fit’ over traditional skill sets. If we see someone that jives with us, our team, and our customers, we will put the time in to train them.”

To keep employees happy, Jensen also commits resources to professional development.

“Anytime the business is successful,” Jensen says, “we reinvest that back into the business and back into them.” This ranges from sending team members to festivals and retreats for learning and networking purposes, to investing in new equipment or upgrades to make workers’ jobs easier.

Ultimately, to recruit quality talent, a small business needs to present itself as a doorway to stability and opportunity. “If you can show [job candidates] what a future looks like in the field, that’s the best bet,” says Grove. “All these folks are walking around with phones in their hands. So start a social media account, partner with an influencer in a similar space, and get your story out there. Let them see firsthand what opportunity looks like.”

Illustration / Z O H A R L A Z A R

SPOTLIGHT BRANDED CONTENT

Export Development Bank of Egypt

E

STRATEGY FOR SUCCESS

gypt boasts a dynamic and resilient economic landscape, ever-adaptable to growth and development. This is evidenced by the recent performance of the country’s non-oil exports and banking sector. Non-oil exports from Egypt experienced a 7% growth during the first five months of 2024, reaching a total of $16.5 billion, showcasing the economy’s ability to evolve and prosper. This represents an increase from the $15.4 billion recorded in the same period of 2023, according to official figures. Also, this follows on a strong full year in 2023, in which merchandise exports topped $35bn, with Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE being the leading export markets.

As a recent Euromoney report noted, Egypt’s Dr. Ahmed Galal banking sector is poised for rising growth. New Chairman deals with the UAE and IMF are buoying confidence in the market, while foreign currency earnings from with the launch of a retail business in 2019 now accounting for 15% exporters, the Suez Canal, and the tourism industry are flowing into of the portfolio. Total customer accounts have grown from 29,000 in Egyptian banks.

2017 to 135,000 today.

Occupying a unique and pivotal role in Egypt’s vibrant economic “As a commercial Bank, finding the right mix of corporate and ecosystem, the Export Development Bank of Egypt (EBank) was retail business is crucial,” explains Galal. “Our strategic focus is to be established in 1983 and commenced commercial operations the market leader in exports, the second-largest player in corporate the following year. Originally, its primary purpose was to support banking, while also growing our retail business.” exporters, playing a vital part in cultivating Egypt’s thriving exportBeing a publicly-listed Bank on the Egyptian Exchange, EBank oriented economy, which continues to be a core focus of the Bank’s offers international investors a compelling opportunity to capitalize on portfolio. the country’s high-growth, export-driven economy. “We’re committed However, in recent years, EBank has undergone a remarkable to quality and setting high benchmarks for the services we provide to transformation, evolving into a fully-fledged commercial bank. our customers.”

Through a strategic rebranding and comprehensive overhaul, the EBank’s customer-centric approach extends beyond traditional Bank has experienced stellar growth, cementing its position as a key banking, with the Bank offering a range of value-added services, driver of Egypt’s economic resurgence. including an “exporters club” that provides a network of consultants “When I joined as Deputy Chairman in 2017, we immediately set and brokers to support its clients. “We are always thinking of new out to draft a strategic plan to transform the Bank,” explains Ahmed services and products we can deliver to clients,” as claimed by Galal.

Mohamed Galal, Chairman of EBank. “At the time, the Bank was a The multifaceted approach has enabled the Bank to more than single-purpose institution serving a limited number of corporate double its workforce, from 760 employees in 2016 to 1,800 today. The clients. Our main objective was to turn EBank into a medium-sized, emphasis now is on increasing revenues rather than solely costdiversified financial institution poised for growth.” cutting.

“We outlined a comprehensive five-year strategic plan for 2022“We understood that transforming the Bank had to start with 2027 encompassing six key pillars: investing in export development, changing the mindset of our people. We’ve worked hard to foster high business expansion, human capital, digital transformation and employee loyalty and excellent teamwork across the organization. modern technology, governance, compliance and risk management, Our people are our most powerful asset – even as we embrace digital corporate social responsibility, and sustainability. While our core focus solutions, the human touch remains indispensable.” remains the exporting sector, with 80% of our clients being exporters, “In conclusion, EBank’s new strategic direction has already yielded we have also extended our services to become a comprehensive significant rewards, and its future prospects remain bright. Egypt is a Bank meeting the diverse needs of our customers,” Galal added. country of opportunity across all sectors,” Galal notes. “The private Under the strategic plan, EBank has achieved remarkable success. sector is leading growth, the skilled labor force is here, and the In just five years, the Bank’s portfolio has surged from EGP10.6 billion location is ideal – Egypt is ready for success.” to nearly EGP65 billion ($1.34 billion). Its return on investment reached nearly 38% and profits have soared from EGP240 million to EGP3 billion last year, with an expected increase to EGP5 billion this year.

This performance is attributed to EBank’s solid focus on cost optimization and robust risk management. The Bank’s coverage ratio now exceeds 160%, and non-performing assets have reduced from 6.8% in 2016 to just 2.5%. Diversification has also been a key driver,

MY MVP EMPLOYEE

2

One amazing team member can make an outsize impact on your business. We asked some of the shops on our list to share their No. 1 team member—and what makes them so special.

by FRANCES DODDS

1

1/ The joyful handyman…

At Pinckney Clay studio in San Francisco “Paul Fresia is a diamond. He was one of our first members when we opened in 2016. He now teaches the hand-building class and brings extra joy to anyone in the studio. Paul helped to found an artist-in-residence program that gives artists a stipend and space to create works from discarded materials. He is also a handyman and woodworker, and he built our store display.”

–Holly Coley, –Holly Coley, owner owner

2/ The dream brewer-bartender duo…

3/ The problem-solver countertop installer…

At Parleaux Beer Lab in New Orleans

At AlphaStone Solutions in Richmond, Virginia

“We have two all-stars: Jon Butts behind the bar and Brad Holderness on the brew deck.

Brad’s relentless focus on disciplined and well-researched ‘processes and procedures’ is crucial for executing great beer, and his constant drive to learn about science and best practices is inspiring. And as a seven-year Parleaux veteran, Jon carries an irreplaceable institutional knowledge of our standards. He treats everyone on both sides of the bar with respect, professionalism, and hilarity (he is also a talented professional comedian). We know the brewery is in good hands with them.”

“Our countertop installer, Helder Antonio de Souza Filho, solves problems with a cheerful disposition, and does impeccable work.

Sometimes you have to adapt quickly to the installation environment. Once, Helder was on a project far away from our shop,. When he arrived, he realized a kitchen cabinet had to be moved, so the weight of the countertop would be supported and there wouldn’t be any gaps.

Helder jumped into action, moved the cabinet, made sure it was level, and was able to complete the countertop install. The customer was so grateful to have her kitchen back together.”

–Leah and –Leah and Eric Eric Jensen, Jensen, owners owners

–Mehmet Karakas, –Mehmet Karakas, owner owner

4 4 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

P HOTO GR A P HS C OUR T ES Y OF P INCK NE Y CL AY; PA RL E A U X B E E R L A B ; A L P H A S TONE S OLU T IONS

3

4/ The welcoming gallery director…

6

At Nina Johnson in Miami

“Karina Ors, our gallery director, has been with us for nearly a decade. She has a generous spirit, a brilliant eye, and a delicate and open manner when working with clients and artists. I would trust her with my life, and I do!

With my gallery, she has one of my most precious achievements in her hands every day.”

–Nina Johnson, owner

5

P HOTO GR A P HS C OUR T ES Y OF CURE D & W HE Y; T E RR A NCE O SB ORNE G A L L E R Y; S OUND B ODY & MIND ; NIN A JOHNS ON

7

5/ The approachable cheesemonger…

6/ The ultra-responsive yoga teacher…

7/ The business-savvy partner…

At Cured & Whey in Las Vegas

At Sound Body & Mind in Huntington, New York

At Terrance Osborne Gallery in New Orleans

“Our teacher Janice stands out for her unwavering dedication. On many occasions, she’s stepped in at the last minute to cover classes—including when we realized we needed a substitute teacher just 15 minutes before a class with over 40 students! Without hesitation, Janice said, ‘I’ll brush my teeth and be right over.’ In addition, she actively participates in classes daily, connects with members, and enhances our community spirit. Her infectious positivity and warmth have earned her the nickname ‘mayor of Sound.’”

–Adam and Jill Levy, owners

“Stephanie, my wife, is my MVP. She has been my business manager from Day 1. When I was an art teacher in the public school system, making less than $35,000 a year, she sent in a proposal for me to do a mural at the Hilton— and when the Hilton called, she encouraged me to ask for double what I would have!

That was the first year I made more with my artwork than I did at my teaching job. Today, my partnerships with companies like Nike, Coca-Cola, Heineken, Raising Cane’s, Hancock Whitney, Caesars Entertainment, The Blood Center, and others are a result of this formula.”

“Janell Fama is our store manager, and she goes above and beyond for every customer—especially for those who are scared and intimidated by cheese. Having a professionally trained cheese staff who can walk you through each cheese and its nuance, versus just saying, ‘Yeah, that’s the cheese section there,’ is where we excel, and often at lower price points than the mass-market retailers.”

–Michael Stamm, owner

–Terrance Osborne, owner

September-October 2024 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / 45

O

HOW TO BOUNCE BACK FROM A BAD REVIEW

A one-star review can hurt your ego— and your business. But it’s possible to prevent (and remedy!) this scary scenario.

by RACHEL DAVIES

46 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

nline reviews matter, especially for small businesses.

They’re a chance to get unbiased feedback on how your business can improve.

But low ratings can also skew your average and threaten your ability to attract new customers. According to Kelly Kurlychek of BetterReputation, a company that helps businesses and individuals maintain their online reputations, upwards of 90% of prospective customers are searching for reviews before making a purchase. “Your prospects are Googling you. If you aren’t showing up at all, or in any kind of negative or even mediocre light, you are losing business,” says Kurlychek.

So how do you avoid bad reviews? And what do you do if they come your way?

Adam Levy is co-owner of the Huntington, New York, yoga studio Sound Body & Mind, and he deals with the prospect of bad reviews head-on. His business has a five-star rating on Google, but maintaining that rating wasn’t as simple as giving good service and waiting for positive reviews to flow in. For the past five years, Levy has taken a proactive approach, which hinges on automated emails that customers receive after each class.

These emails encourage users to leave positive reviews, yes, but also suggest that customers get in touch directly with any critical feedback. “I think playing defense against a poor review before it can happen is equally as valuable as receiving a five-star review itself,” Levy says. This strategy has opened a line of communication with customers who might otherwise take their complaints directly to Google reviews or Yelp.

Even so, Levy has had to handle the worst of the worst: a one-star review. “It instanta-

neously ruined my day,” Levy says about the dispute, which centered on a customer trying to use a class package that had been expired for years. In moments like this, your gut reaction might be to respond immediately, but Kurlychek says it’s better to take a beat and compose yourself, so your emotions don’t impact your response. “Never get defensive,” Kurlychek says. “Responding with facts is okay, but remain polite, and remember the customer is always right.” That’s exactly what Levy did. He connected with the customer over the phone to make sure no one’s tone was being misread. He didn’t directly ask the customer to remove their review—but because he displayed such genuine interest in resolving the issue, they removed it on their own after the call.

Similarly, Brian Mosko of Cured & Whey, a specialty food shop in Las Vegas with a 4.9-star average rating, finds that leaning into bad reviews is the best way to minimize the damage.

“Everybody takes five stars with a dose of skepticism, but [prospective customers] go look at your one-, two-, and three-star reviews, and see how the business handles it,” Mosko says. “[Does the business owner] attack the person and blame them? Or is there a well-thoughtout response that kind of explains the situation?”

Even if you don’t receive the ideal outcome that Levy did, with the voluntary removal of a bad review, responding to critical reviews with a compassionate comment is a good habit to develop. “Keep in mind that anyone reading these reviews are likely to be potential customers,” Kurlychek advises. “They will find it much easier to put themselves in the shoes of that unhappy customer than in the shoes of the business owner. Offer a resolution publicly. And put real effort into every response.”

Illustration / Z O H A R L A Z A R

SPOTLIGHT BRANDED CONTENT

Orascom Development

PIONEERING SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES AND PREMIER DESTINATIONS

W

sea or ocean, including its flagship destination El ith the backing of Gouna, a captivating Egyptian coastal town that significant investment spans 10 kilometers of pristine shoreline along the commitments f rom Red Sea. El Gouna is renowned for its multicultural the UAE and a recently community and seamless integration of luxurious upgraded USD 8 billion residences, hotels, and diverse commercial and loan from the IMF, leisure amenities, all set amidst a tranquil natural Egypt’s macroeconomic environment. It also serves as a beacon of the outlook is set to improve. The country is group’s steadfast commitment to sustainability, undertaking major structural reforms, including being the first of its kind in Africa to receive the a new exchange rate regime, investments UN-sponsored Global Green Town award. in infrastructure, and fiscal policy restraint.

Orascom Development is also renowned for According to the IMF, these reforms will help its exquisite Andermatt Swiss Alps resort, where preserve macroeconomic stability, enhance the group has transformed a traditional Alpine Egypt’s resilience, and create an economic village into one of Switzerland’s premier ski environment that fosters private sector growth. resorts and year-round residential communities.

Egypt’s real estate sector is a vital pillar of Alongside penthouses and chalet-style villas, the country’s economy and a long-standing guests can enjoy luxurious accommodations safe haven for domestic and foreign investment. at the group’s managed hotels, such as The According to Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), the sector Chedi—a prestigious, five-star establishment— is currently experiencing a significant resurgence, Omar El Hamamsy or the Radisson Blu Hotel Reussen, offering a driven by rising property values, favorable modern Alpine-chic experience. The destination Group CEO government policies, a stabilized currency, and also boasts Michelin-starred dining, an 18-hole strong capital inflows. In its Q1 2024 report, JLL golf course, and a luxurious spa retreat, ensuring an extensive array of noted that most of the 7,000 newly completed units were within largeluxury and leisure activities. scale master-planned developments.

Mr. El Hamamsy reveals that many of Orascom Development’s Founded in 1989, Orascom Development Holding is a leading real estate customers first encountered the group’s destinations as international developer renowned for its diverse portfolio of 10 worldholidaymakers and were captivated by the area while staying at one class destinations spanning five countries and three continents. of its hotels. The group is indeed one of the largest hotel owners in Orascom Development’s pioneering business model of transforming the MENA region, boasting 33 hotels and over 7,000 keys. Along the empty spaces into vibrant, self-sufficient communities, towns, and journey, their extensive portfolio and proven track record have attracted resorts has set the standard for master-planned developments successful franchise partnerships with some of the world’s leading hotel worldwide. The group is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange, and its management companies, including GMH Hotels, Marriott International, subsidiary, Orascom Development Egypt, is listed on the Egyptian Mövenpick, Rotana, and Steigenberger.

Exchange.

Moving forward, with 60% of the group’s land bank still available, there Orascom Development’s impressive portfolio encompasses over 100 are a plethora of greenfield opportunities. Core to achieving Orascom million square meters of prime land across multiple countries, including Development’s vision for world-leading destination development is Egypt, Oman, Montenegro, Switzerland, and the UK. From luxurious collaborating with businesses of all sizes, from startups to established villas in scenic Red Sea locales to upscale apartments in the Swiss Alps, enterprises. Mr. El Hamamsy affirms, “A testament to our long-standing the group’s properties epitomize luxury and exclusivity, inviting residents commitment to delivering ‘life as it should be,’ we launched Orascom and visitors alike to embrace ‘life as it should be.’

Development Keys of Life. This new initiative engages with key industry Since taking the helm four years ago, Group CEO Omar El Hamamsy experts and stakeholders to foster understanding and dialogue on has spearheaded a strategic transformation of Orascom Development. developing thriving communities that are globally relevant to people’s His leadership has been instrumental in positioning the group for longevolving needs and aspirations.” term, sustainable growth, and Q1 results of this year indicate continued Although headquartered in Switzerland, the group’s significant momentum, with double-digit growth in both revenue and adjusted presence in Egypt serves as a testament to the nation’s growing EBITDA. Real estate net sales surged 143.1% to CHF 256.7 million. “We economic potential and favorable business environment. Mr. El Hamamsy aim to continue growing the success of our destinations while attracting emphasizes, “Egypt is now much more stable at a macroeconomic level. and investing in high-caliber talent, prioritizing profitable growth, and Our tourism sector is thriving, supported by robust infrastructure. We see institutionalizing operations,” emphasizes Mr. El Hamamsy. ourselves as a prime platform for investors looking to enter our country.”

Orascom Development has made a significant impact through its With a commitment to sustainable development and a track record of ‘destination’ developments, according to Mr. El Hamamsy. He highlights, excellence, Orascom Development continues to lead the way in creating “Our destinations are fully integrated, sustainable towns and yearunparalleled lifestyle destinations that redefine luxury living worldwide. round communities set amidst breathtaking natural beauty. We offer an unparalleled lifestyle featuring over one thousand retail locations and restaurants, complemented by education, healthcare facilities, and exceptional infrastructure.” This underscores the group’s commitment to creating cohesive, sustainable communities that harmonize luxury living with essential amenities and services.

Many of Orascom Development’s destinations are located by the

I

f you want to raise money from friends and family, then know this: Your job isn’t just to pitch them a great business. It’s to lower their risk.

That’s advice from Mike Maples Jr., one of the most celebrated investors in Silicon Valley and coauthor of a book about why startups succeed called Pattern Breakers. He’s a cofounder of Floodgate, a leading pre-seed and seed-stage fund whose investments included Twitter (long before it was known as X), Twitch, and Lyft. And although he’s not investing in mom-and-pop shops, he says that the fundamentals of fundraising remain the same.

Here, Maples takes you into the mind of any investor—even if it’s your dad or sister—and how to make them comfortable.

ILLO TK

HOW TO ASK FAMILY FOR MONEY Your friends-and-family fundraising round doesn’t have to be scary and awkward. Here’s advice from one of the world’s leading investors.

by JASON FEIFER

48 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

Let’s imagine Let’s imagine someone someone can’t can’t afford to afford to open open a a bakery bakery on on their their own, but own, but they they don’t don’t know know how how to ask to ask loved loved ones ones for for money. money.

What’s their What’s their first first step? step?

Put yourself in your investor’s world for a second.

All investing must answer a specific question: How do I get paid for the risk I take?

Whenever I take more risk, I have to get paid more for that risk. Because why would I take more risk to get paid the same amount of money?

The startups that I invest in need a lot more money up front. Their chances to become the next Twitter are small, but we made 600 times our money on Twitter. I can justify taking that high risk by potentially getting a high asymmetric return on the back end.

Now let’s take a bakery.

Is there a world where I can make 600 times my money?

Probably not. Therefore, I can’t afford a high chance of you going out of business, because I’m not getting paid enough for the risk I’m taking.

So if I can’t justify taking a lot of risk, how do we reduce risk? One way is to be profitable sooner. Another is to have the investment be a combination of equity and a loan. As an investor, that means I get paid two ways: as a shareholder if you become the next big bakery franchise, and with the interest on the loan.

So this So this isn’t isn’t about about pitching pitching your business, your business, per per se. se. It’s It’s about about understanding your understanding your investors’ investors’ risk calculation. risk calculation.

Right. And you have to respect that. A lot of people think they need to raise money because they want money. But the investor doesn’t care about your desire for money. The investor cares about getting paid for the risk they take with their money.

When you’re trying to get a return, your business can fundamentally be one of two things. It can be growth-first, which is what I invest in. Or it can be profit-first. It can’t be somewhere in between. Too many people conflate the two.

So a So a growth-first growth-first bakery bakery might might pour all pour all of of its its money money into into marmarketing and keting and selling selling cupcakes cupcakes at at a loss, a loss, because because they they value value user user growth over over profits. What What would would a profit-first a profit-first model model look look like? like?

Profit-first means my first customer should be profitable. And what do I really need to get one customer? Do I need a bakery, or can I bake this stuff in my home kitchen, or can I rent a school cafeteria in the off-hours? Once I have one profitable customer, how do I get 10? Then how do I get 100? Then I layer on business structure to enable that. A good business is the accumulation of profitable customers over time.

And if that takes a long time, or is really risky, then it’s not a good investment for your family or acquaintances.

Illustration / Z O H A R L A Z A R

SPOTLIGHT BRANDED CONTENT

OQ Technology

SPEARHEADING THE GLOBAL 5G WIRELESS RE VOLUTION

L

ocated between Belgium, France, and Germany, Luxembourg’s expertise in cross-border transactions and world-class financial sector has made it a global investment hub. With over EUR 4.3 trillion in assets under management, Luxembourg is Europe’s largest investment fund centre and the second-largest in the world, according to the country’s Financial Centre Development Agency. Because of the strength of its financial sector, the government is actively promoting the growth of new industries and markets by providing tax incentives and support for research and development to diversify the economy.

One of Luxembourg’s most promising non-finance sectors is its space and satellite industry. There are currently around 70 companies and research labs in Luxembourg that are active internationally in this sector. Over the past three decades, the country has positioned itself at the forefront of commercial and cooperative space initiatives. Since 2017, Luxembourg has signed several space-related joint declarations and MoUs Omar Qaise with the likes of the UAE, Japan, China, Poland, and the USA, and Belgium.

CEO & Founder As part of the government’s current five-year plan (2020-2025) for space science and technology, the country is making specific investments in new and keep track of inventory and worker well-being. Additionally, for banking space ventures to enhance telecommunications services. systems like ATMs that require two-way communication, OQ’s LEO nanosatellites Founded in 2016, OQ Technology is a pioneering satellite telecommunications provide essential coverage in areas with poor connectivity. company. Leveraging a constellation of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites to deploy Without OQ’s technology, it can cost up to 2,000 times more to send one Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) connectivity, OQ is the world’s first and fastest-growing megabyte of data from remote and rural areas compared to urban areas or cities.

5G non-terrestrial network (NTN) IoT satellite operator in LEO. OQ’s patented Additionally, by using only one wireless solution instead of deploying two types of technology is connecting billions worldwide and supports mobile operators and networks – terrestrial and satellite, OQ significantly reduces the cost of ownership businesses in sectors ranging from oil & gas to farming, the maritime industry, and operations for its clients. Scalability is another core advantage of OQ, as logistics, mining, and security. The startup grew massively since its inception and the company’s highly synchronous cellular technology system allows millions is currently at is Series-B stage. of devices to connect securely without collision issues using existing standard According to the company’s CEO and founder, Omar Qaise, the idea for chips, a benefit of the global 3GPP ecosytem.

OQ came about when he noticed a significant discrepancy between the Although the company only started offering its services this year, OQ has scalability of satellite communications and the cellular world. Identifying 3GPP ambitious plans to expand its satellite network from ten to 72. Qaise believes the – a global partnership project that unites and standardises telecommunications company is now at a turning point. “We’re already working with major clients such organisations – as the key to cellular’s success, he set out to bridge the gap. “I came as Aramco, Deutsche Telekom, Telefonica, and others. They wouldn’t work with up with the idea of connecting cellular directly to satellites. We were lucky to have us unless they saw significant value in our offering. We have 9 granted patents in chosen the correct the US and Europe, more than 20 contributions to 3GPP, spectrum licensing and technology, as 5G notified ITU filings, and of course the first-mover advantage; we’re leading the was standardised for way in Europe,” he says. satellites in 2022.”

Qaise is now confident OQ can lead the international rollout of 5G - by Working closely eliminating two of the biggest obstacles to achieving the holy grail of 5G with Luxembourg and Massive Machine-type Communications - cost and speed. Currently, only the European Space 25% of the Earth’s landmass is covered by cell towers, but OQ aims to use its Agencies, to build constellation of LEO nanosatellites to provide complete 5G Massive Machineits LEO nanosatellite type Communications coverage. This approach not only reduces latency to fiberconstellation, OQ aims like speeds but also costs one hundred times less than conventional satellite to provide connectivity communication. to anywhere on Earth.

“The next step is to demonstrate we can connect to unmodified smartphones The network acts as a – then we’ll be in the lead of the direct-to-smart phone market,” says Qaise, “this “cell tower“ in the sky: could be the next biggest success story in satellite communications, and we’re Data is collected from only one step away.” ground terminals and As OQ pilots its course to new horizons, Qaise hopes more companies unmodified cellular will consider Luxembourg for their business goals. “Being in Luxembourg has modules installed helped us tremendously. From the outset, the government has supported us in on-site, where it is sent to OQ’s ground stations and then made available for accessing R&D programmes and key decision-makers. As a European country clients to access securely from the cloud or their private network. As part of its and renowned financial centre, Luxembourg offers businesses confidence, roadmap, OQ is also looking to connect smart phones directly to its satellites. transparency, and integrity,” concludes Qaise.

Today, using OQ’s dual-mode satellite-cellular IoT modem and tracker, businesses can use the network to monitor and track millions of assets and devices in even the most remote areas.

Since the technology is compatible with terrestrial cellular 5G, OQ can enable mobile operators to extend their coverage beyond the cell tower coverage by roaming over the OQ satellites, offering unprecedent global coverage to mobile users when they go out of terrestrial mobile networks. OQ already signed roaming agreements with many mobile operators. This solution is perfectly suited for industries such as energy, allowing companies like Aramco to monitor pipelines located in remote areas, predict maintenance needs, improve SCADA systems,

MY BIGGEST MARKETING WIN What’s the most impactful marketing you’ve ever done? We asked some of America’s Favorite Mom & Pop Shops.™

2

by FRANCES DODDS

3

1/ Find unexpected (non-internet!) places to reach customers.

“We partnered with a neighborhood filmmaker to make an advertisement to play at our local independent movie theaters. He shot it on 35-millimeter film and it looks so cool. While we do a fair amount of digital and social media marketing, it’s nice to reach customers outside of their phones or computers.”

—MICHAEL MCCRORY and LAUREN CRABBE, owners of Andytown Coffee Roasters in San Francisco

2/ Hand out free swag.

It’s great advertising.

3/ Increase your visibility with giveaways.

“We’ve always offered our clients a free, high-quality T-shirt. I see most businesses charge for that, but I’ve never understood why. Getting our clients to share their fitness successes with friends, family, business clients, and patients is our No. 1 way to promote our business. I often see clients and friends wearing our swag around town, and I see it as free advertising. When a conversation about our studio is initiated, our clients offer the best advertising available.”

“I make art, and in the late ’90s, I sold a piece for $5,000. Before that, I hadn’t sold any originals for over $2,000. I used this money to make prints of five of my best works. I brought them to all the local frame shops in the French Quarter, and gave them two each for free. I left my card saying, ‘My work sells well. So when these sell, call me so you can order more.’ About 25 frame shops ultimately carried my prints. My work was in every corner of the most touristy areas. I didn’t realize what I had done at the time, because I was just trying to bring in some extra income, but flooding the market tripled my household income.”

—JEFF ECKHOUSE, owner of Back Cove Personal Fitness in Portland, Maine

50 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

—Terrance Osborne, owner of Terrance Osborne Gallery in New Orleans

P HOTO GR A P HS C OUR T ES Y OF A NDY TO W N C OF F E E R O A S T E R S; B A CK C O V E P E R S ON A L F I T NES S; T E RR A NCE O SB ORNE G A L L E R Y

1

4/ Share milestones from your personal life with customers.

6

“I don’t do much advertising, because we have a merchants association that does good advertising for the whole town. But my most engaged-with post on social media was a personal one about the shop being closed while my wife and I celebrated our anniversary. Part of the appeal of a small business is knowing the people involved.”

—JOHN CIOCI, owner of Paoli Art Shop in Belleville, Wisconsin

5

P H O T O G R A P H S C O U R T E S Y O F M O O N S H O T C O F F E E ; F E LT Z ’ S D A I R Y S T O R E ; S O U N D B O D Y & M I N D ; P A O L I A R T S H O P

7

5/ Make your customers feel seen, even when it costs you.

“At the start of our second year, January hit and sales dropped off. It was our first postholiday slump. We talked about sales and campaigns, but none of it sat right. Instead, we decided to host a ‘Guest Appreciation Day.’ When each guest got to the register, we told them, ‘Everything’s on us today. Thank you for making what we do possible.’ People were everything from shocked and happy to embarrassed and giddy. The next day, our sales went back up and didn’t slump again.

From that day on, we had a completely different relationship with our regulars.”

—MATTHEW WENDLAND, owner of Moonshot Coffee in Seattle

6/ Give people something to photograph (and share).

“Our best marketing spend has been on a giant fiberglass cow that sits in front of our store. We are always looking to add something exciting for visitors and thought a 10-foot cow would fit in perfectly on our farm.

We hoped it would work as a good advertising and photo opportunity, but it turned out better than we expected. It gets shared on social media often, and when we first got the cow, we did a naming contest that received thousands of submissions—which ended up turning into a story on a local news channel.”

—KEN and JACKIE FELTZ, owners of Feltz’s Dairy Store in Stevens Point, Wisconsin

7/ Volunteer your space or services for buzzy opportunities.

“Our most impactful marketing boost came at zero cost to us—in fact, we were paid! Our studio has attracted several photo shoots and TV filming opportunities, including season 12 of American Horror Story. The production team compensated us generously for a fourday studio shutdown, and our space was prominently featured in an episode, garnering local buzz and social media exposure. This exposure not only elevated our studio’s profile on a national platform, but also generated interest in the local community. Our members talked about it for months!”

—JILL and ADAM LEVY, owners of Sound Body & Mind yoga studio in Huntington, New York

September-October 2024 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / 51

After Nearly 25 Years in Business, This Company Keeps Innovating Founder Michael Nardy has spent the last quarter decade growing Electronic Payments into an industry powerhouse.

Coming from a family of entrepreneurs, it’s no surprise that Michael Nardy caught the entrepreneurial bug early on.

Back in 2000, while still a college student in Boston, he founded Electronic Payments. His mission was to help smalland mid-size businesses succeed and grow through new payment technologies.

Today, as Electronic Payments approaches its 25th anniversary, the company has grown to a team of more than 200 and become a leader in payment technologies spanning mobile payments, online billing solutions, tokenization, e-commerce and traditional point of sale (POS) solutions.

and the burgeoning internet in the late 1990s led him down a different path. “When I was a freshman in college, PayPal and eBay had started up and were becoming big names. And this got me thinking: I wasn’t a computer science major, but I could read books, so I could teach myself a thing or two,” Nardy recalls. “It was a very wild, wild west type of environment, even though the big money was starting to get into the internet.”

He began building websites and eventually ventured into creating an auction software similar to eBay. This foray into e-commerce introduced him to the world of online payment processing—a complex but fascinating aspect of the digital marketplace.

Finding inspiration in unexpected places.

Nardy wasn’t always set on a career in tech. As an English and history major, his academic interests naturally leaned toward the humanities. However, his curiosity about computers

As Nardy worked on what he then assumed was a side job, he was preparing to take over the family pest control business.

“Our family started this business in the 1950s, and as I was

Electronic Payments by the Numbers

$22+ billion

1,500+

200+

50,000+

Transaction volume in 2023

National sales partners

Employees

Merchant partnerships

To learn more about Electronic Payments and the innovative solutions it offers, visit electronicpayments.com

finishing college, I was preparing to bring my entrepreneurial skills to the family company,” he says. His father had other plans.

“I was working for the family business and running this payments gig at the same time, so I was serving two masters,” Nardy says. But his father encouraged him to find something he was more passionate about than pest control. When looking back, his father jokingly reminds Nardy that he was the one who “told him to go national with the company.” So, Nardy continued to work on his startup and began to scale operations from a one-man team to something much larger and now boasts an international presence as the 97th largest transaction processor in the world.

Starting small and building a better model.

Nardy’s initial experience with payment processing involved reselling services from established banks. He recognized the limitations of this model, particularly the burden placed on small businesses that were applying for accounts. This experience fuelled his desire to create a more accessible and supportive platform in Electronic Payments.

While working as a reseller, Nardy also observed a concerning trend—companies prioritizing themselves over their sales agents. He envisioned a different approach, one that empowered and supported the salespeople. He eliminated minimums, quotas, and anxieties around income stability.

Nardy’s sales program offered agents:

this amazing fl ywheel effect where our re-investments into the company led to more products, more people, and more merchants, and the cycle would continue,” he says.

Promising startup to industry leader.

From its humble beginnings in Nardy’s dorm room, Electronic Payments has grown into a leader in its industry. The company is the 25th largest U.S. acquirer and processes tens of billions of dollars annually.

They also recently launched Cygma®, a next-generation payment platform that’s designed to streamline operations for small- and mid-size businesses. Built internally, Cygma integrates payment processing, same-day funds availability, POS systems, and various business tools such as Interchange optimization, into a single, cohesive system to help businesses enhance efficiency and profitability. The payments landscape is constantly evolving and Nardy sees a bright future for his company. With Cygma as the foundation, he says they are wellpositioned to develop cutting-edge solutions that meet the ever-changing needs of businesses and consumers.

Michael Nardy’s 3 Tips for Entrepreneurial Success

1. Cash is king.

• • • •

Ownership and control. They weren’t beholden to quotas or the fear of losing income.

Financial stability. They were paid reliably on the 15th of every month.

A strong support system. Nardy built a dedicated team to assist the sales agents.

Free tools. They received business cards, websites, and email access to streamline their work totally free of charge.

This unique model, centered on sales agent empowerment, proved successful. Ultimately, he was building a business on strong relationships, not bureaucracy. And this empowerment became a core differentiator for the company. Electronic Payments eventually attracted a growing network of salespeople, leading to a significant increase in revenue year after year.

Nardy’s company also grew steadily without relying on outside investors. He calls it a “prudent use of capital,” reinvesting profits into developing new products and services. This self-funded approach allowed Nardy to maintain control and build a company fully based on his vision and values. “We had

“It’s of course fun to spend your money once you start making money, but you need to have an understanding of how you’re spending that money and what that means for your business in both the short-term and the long-term, like three to five years down the line.”

2. Be prepared for failure.

“The hardest thing for entrepreneurs is getting emotionally attached to something, so it’s best to be prepared. We did this with ATMs. We tried it out, and it wasn’t a good financial move for us. While that was a failure, we learned from it.”

3. Success is not always linear.

“Entrepreneurship is not a straight line, it often meanders … Trust people with their skill sets and navigate them into the roles that will not only be strongest for the company but strongest for them, too.

Look for people that understand your vision and will be along for the ride.”

A

IS YOUR RENT TOO DAMN HIGH? Many small business owners struggle with their rents.

Here’s what to do.

by RACHEL WALLACE

54 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

R Workshop is a DIY studio franchise, and Patrice Chatman was once just a happy customer. Then she became a part-time teacher. And in 2023, she bought the Westfield, New Jersey, location— inheriting a studio she loves, and a lease agreement with a steep learning curve.

“Before I officially took ownership, I think we were forecasting that somewhere between 27% and 30% of our gross revenue would go toward rent and utilities,” she says. About a year in, that number is 43%. “Rent is definitely a struggle.”

Chatman is not alone. In April, the business networking platform Alignable reported an uptick in small businesses that were unable to pay rent in full. A poll of 4,171 small business owners showed that 43% were delinquent on rent that month, a high not seen in similar surveys by the platform since March 2021.

As inflation has increased the cost of everything in recent years, even small business owners locked into decade-long leases are finding their rent less affordable. And those seeking new rental spaces are facing high prices, since high interest rates pressure landlords to raise rent as their commercial real estate loans—with average terms that are much shorter than 30-year home mortgages—come due.

“For a commercial property, your loan may be only five years, and then your rate is going to reset. So if you bought it and your margin on it was 4% or 5%, but now you have to refinance it and rates are 8%, you lose your whole margin,” explains Arthur Greenstein, a commercial real estate broker with Douglas Elliman in Dallas.

For Chatman, purchasing an AR Workshop meant taking over the remainder of the previous business owner’s lease, while embarking on a crash

course in the different types of commercial real estate leases in the process. She learned that a gross lease—where the tenant is responsible for an agreed-upon monthly rent price and the landlord pays for all other building expenses, like in a residential apartment building—is just one of multiple options. Tenants who enter into a net lease (there are three types: triple, double, or single, which you may see written as NNN, NN, and N) will typically pay a lower rent price, but are responsible for some or all of expenses like maintenance costs, insurance, and property taxes. These leases often allow businesses more control over their space. Another option is a percentage lease—where the tenant pays a lower base price, and the remainder is calculated based on their gross income.

Regardless of the lease you choose, negotiating protective stipulations is one of the best ways for small business owners to shield themselves from rising costs. When Rob McMillen co-opened Mildred New York, a barbershop on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, in 2017, he signed a 10-year lease with a rent increase below 5% built in. Although he’s responsible for a portion of property tax increases, there’s a cap on how much. “There was a big tax assessment that happened a year into our business that really could have crumbled us if we did not negotiate a cap on that property tax responsibility,” he says. “If you’re dealing with a commercial or retail lease and there’s a potentially fluctuating number, try to get as much fixed or capped as you can.”

Above all, AR Workshop franchisee Chatman recommends enlisting someone to help you translate the real estate jargon. “You should shop for an attorney the same way you shop for a partner in life,” she says.

“There’s no shame in asking a gazillion questions.”

Illustration / Z O H A R L A Z A R

SPOTLIGHT BRANDED CONTENT

PM-International

A CHAMPION OF THE GLOBAL NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENTS INDUSTRY

P

ositioning itself as the ‘Gateway to Europe,’ Luxembourg is one of the world’s leading destinations for companies to establish headquarters. Alongside a prime tax location and government incentives, Luxembourg offers businesses a central European location connected by road, railway, and air to major markets.

Luxembourg also carries a triple AAA rating from Fitch Ratings and has long been recognised as a leading global financial centre.

Under the New National Health Plan, Luxembourg has placed individual well-being at the centre of its health policy and is leveraging state-of-the-art scientific research to holistically enhance people’s lives. In addition to domestic support, companies within the health & wellness sector benefit from Luxembourg’s strategic location Rolf Sorg in the heart of Europe and its range of global export CEO opportunities. According to government figures, Luxembourg exports at least 65% of its goods and services. Whilst Belgium, Germany, and France are its main trade partners, Luxembourg has also expanded its relations outside the EU, especially with the USA, Asia, and the Middle East.

Headquartered in Luxembourg since 2015, PM-International is the sixthlargest direct sales distribution company in the world, according to Direct Selling News, and specialises in health, fitness, and beauty. PM-International offers a premium range of scientifically formulated nutritional supplements and high-grade cosmetics with the goal of helping people around the world to improve their quality of life and wellbeing.

With 30 years of scientific expertise in product development, PM-International has consistently pushed the boundaries of performance and innovation. Each product within PM-International’s current product line, at the core of which are the FitLine PowerCocktail, FitLine Activize, and FitLine Restorate, is packed with vitamins and minerals to ensure consumers experience the best results.

All FitLine products are formulated with the company’s exclusive Nutrient Transport Concept (NTC ®), a unique method of delivering the right nutrients to the right places at the optimal time. “We have over 70 patents based on this core competence,” explains PM-International’s CEO, Rolf Sorg, “our NTC ® delivers nutrients when they are needed, where they are needed, to the cellular level from inside and outside.”

Sorg explains that he founded PM-International after spotting a gap in the market for scientifically backed, premium health and fitness products. Driven by a desire to “prove that a direct sales company can be built on ethics, values, and principles,” he has transformed PM-International into a beacon for transparent and socially conscious business practices. His guiding belief that consumers deserve to “see and feel the results” has not just elevated the company’s growth but altered the market landscape for the better.

Today, PM-International is renowned for its investments in the maximum safety of its products, and Sorg takes pride in ensuring that it is transparent with consumers. The company enforces the highest standard of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) across its entire product range and regularly volunteers its products for independent testing by German-based ELAB Analytik. PM-International also places QR codes on all distributed products that link consumers to more information about the laboratory results.

“We believe we are the only company in the world doing this; nobody has followed this standard,” says Sorg.

As the official corporate partner for over 20 sports associations and national leagues, including the German Ice Hockey Federation,

PM-International shares a rich legacy of trust and investment in the world of elite sport and amongst athletes. “We have over 1,000 pro athletes that trust in our products right now. I can also proudly say that we’ve signed a contract with ATP – the Association of Tennis Professionals – to be their official sports nutrition partner,” reveals Sorg. All FitLine nutritional supplement products have been on the Cologne list® for almost 20 years. The Cologne List® is an initiative from the sport and publishes products that have been tested for doping substances by a world-leading laboratory in NEM analysis (dietary supplements).

Despite the challenges brought about during the COVID-19 pandemic, Sorg confirms that PM-International’s growth strategy – which prioritises global expansion – remains as ambitious as ever before. This year, Direct Selling News recognised PM-International for achieving the strongest international growth in its sector for the fourth time in a row. Now, as massive markets like China increase in openness towards Europe, Sorg is confident the company can reap the rewards. “We’re processing the final steps, officially entering the Chinese market. It’s a huge opportunity.”

PM-International is also poised for success in European markets like France and England. However, it is North America where the company is seeing the most promising gains. The company established a head office in the USA just before the pandemic started, and Sorg reveals that sales are now gaining momentum rapidly. “In our industry, the USA is the biggest and most competitive market in the world. We’re confident that our premium, ‘Made in Germany’ products will resonate with American consumers,” he says. Additionally, PM-International has used its US platform to venture into the Canadian market and explore opportunities in South America.

A truly global company, PM-International’s achievements testify to the strategic platform Luxembourg offers businesses and entrepreneurs.

Despite its relatively small size, Luxembourg’s international reach surpasses many others in Europe, and its diverse mix of nationalities and cultures has enabled PM-International to build an expert in-house team representing 35 nations and 40 languages. “The quality of life, education system, and financial power of Luxembourg attract the top talent from around the world.

By establishing our headquarters here, we’ve been able to steer the group towards greater globalisation, with strong support from the government for businesses and the expat community,” concludes Sorg.

C

ILLO TK to believe what we can’t see. I show them what certain product lines may be doing to their bottom line and then I assure them this doesn’t mean we have to eliminate everything they love. Often it is just about finding the right mix of what is high margin and what they love! The right mix can create a much better end margin.

YOUR MARGINS CAN’T HAVE FEELINGS Why do small businesses go under? Sometimes it’s because founders mix cold, hard numbers with big, messy feelings.

by RACHEL DAVIES

56 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

iara Stockeland teaches small business owners how to pay off their debts. It’s a personal mission for her, because she was once in debt too.

Stockeland once owned a designer outlet boutique in North Dakota and grew it to 13 locations—despite not being able to pay herself regularly. It all fell apart after 11 years.

Then she started a subscription box business, zeroed in on her data, and was profitable immediately. It sold within 18 months.

Those two experiences crystallized something for Stockeland: Business owners often “manage margins with emotion,” she says. Now she’s a consultant and fractional CFO for inventorybased businesses, and teaches people how to keep feelings like guilt and fear out of profit decisions. Here, she explains.

What’s the most common problem you see among clients?

They don’t understand that margin is what profit is created from. When I get on a call with someone, I’ll ask, “What is your margin right now?” They’ll say, “Oh, I mark up my product three times, two times, four times.” If you buy something for $5 and you mark it up to $20, but you have seven and you only sell one for $20, and then you sell three for $15, your overall margin is not your markup.

In those cases, many entrepreneurs might just be counting their overall revenue.

Top-line revenue is a vanity metric. Top-line revenue is an easy way for us to compare our perceived success, so that’s how we usually set up and grow our business. That’s what I did, which was part of my issue. I didn’t understand that I couldn’t afford to make the million dollars that was coming in every year. My product cost me too much, I had too many people on my team, and it left me with nothing.

How do you take emotions out of inventory planning?

Slow down your decisionmaking. You’re super excited about bringing in this new line— but slow down. Take a look at the data, check if it makes sense, and then make a decision. Entrepreneurs can make decisions

very quickly, which is what makes them successful, but it can be their Achilles’ heel.

Many entrepreneurs struggle with pricing their products. How do you help with that?

First, with our profit-plan template, I show them why we need to work on pricing. Once they see how the pricing directly affects their take-home pay and/ or savings and/or debt payoff, we decide what to change. We rarely change the pricing of everything, but I’ll let them decide on the lowest-hanging fruit and start with that. Then we decide how much to increase, and we usually see resistance—out of fear. I’ll have them start small, as low as marking up everything by $1. If we have a lot of price-markup resistance, I’ll also help them find other ways to increase margin, through off-price buying, bulk buying, etc.

Are business owners holding on to products that aren’t profitable because they represent their “vision” for the business?

Yes, they totally do! So I always show them the data—what certain product lines are doing to their bottom line. Then I assure them this doesn’t mean we will eliminate everything they love.

Often it’s just about finding the right mix of what’s high-margin and what they love! The right mix can create a much better end margin.

Illustration / Z O H A R L A Z A R

SPOTLIGHT BRANDED CONTENT

Manaseer Group

PL ANTING THE SEEDS FOR A GREENER FUTURE

W

ith one of MENA’s highest Ease of Doing Business scores, Jordan of fers investors an attractive environment in which to pursue their business goals and incubate growth. Under its modernisation vision, core sectors such as mining, renewable energy, agriculture, manufacturing, and chemical products are of key focus. One company well-positioned to capitalize on this vision is Manaseer Group, Jordan’s largest business conglomerate.

Founded in 1999, Manaseer Group is one of Jordan’s most prominent corporate groups and an industry leader in several strategic sectors, such as food security, energy and mobility, industrial minerals, building materials and food security. With a capital investment of USD 3 billion and over 20 companies under its umbrella, Manaseer Group is playing a pivotal role in Jordan’s economic and social development.

Manaseer Group started in the mining industry and currently owns 26 mining rights in Jordan for limestone, copper, phosphate, and calcium carbonate magnesia & lithium. In the early days, as the group’s mining enterprise became more successful, the fuel demand for its trucks, catalysed the creation of its gas station business, Manaseer Oil & Gas, in 2002.

Established as Jordan’s first chain of modern fuel stations, the company now operates around 167 gas stations across 12 cities. These stations are currently being reinvented as ‘social hubs,’ driving sustainable growth, by equipping

each station with EV charging infrastructure and serving the community with F&B, banking, and auto service amenities. Manaseer Group’s sustainability focus, also extends to supporting the launch of major EV brands such as Genesis.

After founding Manaseer Oil & Gas, Manaseer Group again leveraged its mining enterprise, this time to diversify into building materials. Since then, its subsidiary, Shield Construction Chemicals, has emerged as a top Manufacturer of high-quality building materials in the region. Its state-ofthe-art research facility, amongst the most developed in MENA, ensures its products/solutions meet the highest specifications. From ready-mix concrete products and marble & granite to calcium carbonate and modern mining materials, Manaseer Group is dedicated to meeting the diverse needs of the construction, concrete, and cement industries with a comprehensive range

of specialised solutions. The group’s activities are supported by Manaseer Transport, which owns a fleet of over 300 medium and heavy-duty vehicles.

“Our competitors have always tried to follow our dedication to quality and customer care,” says the group’s chairman, Ziad Manaseer, “as a consequence, the overall service in Jordan has improved significantly.” Manaseer Group is also invested in innovations involving industrial minerals, such as copper and magnesia, to deliver high-quality, low-carbon products that fulfil local and global construction, agriculture, and manufacturing needs.

However, Manaseer Group’s biggest asset is its agriculture business, which is paving the way for a greener future across the Kingdom and beyond.

Starting with fertiliser, Manaseer Group’s subsidiary, ULTRA, has emerged as a pioneer of next-gen, chemical-free fertilisers with a revolutionary product Ziad Manaseer line-up that utilises essential minerals like silicon, Chairman calcium, magnesium, and iron to promote long-term soil health. Ultra’s unique formula has been proven in early trials in Levant, Egypt Europe and South East Asia, to result in significant improvements to crop yields, and the company is currently working in partnership with German and French laboratories to increase its effectiveness.

The constant drive for innovation has paved the way for advanced R&D across the sectors in which Manaseer Group operates.

“Our experience and know-how within this market enable us to provide customers with a compelling alternative to chemical fertilisers. We offer more than 70 natural fertiliser products,” says Mr. Manaseer. He adds, “our investments are contributing to the rejuvenation and enhancement of the land for years to come.” Mr. Manaseer also highlights ANIMAX, the group’s animal feedstock subsidiary, as a leader in sustainable animals nature practices.

ANIMAX’s natural animal feedstock products, utilise naturally occurring minerals and rare earth elements, such as calcium aluminosilicate, which boost animal welfare and meat quality.

By focusing on elevating the broader landscape of each sector it operates in, whether via exemplary ESG or by adhering to global quality standards, Manaseer Group has positioned itself as the partner of choice for domestic and regional leaders. As the group continues to pave the way for innovative projects across its target sectors, Mr. Manaseer is keen for more partnerships in Jordan and internationally.

“We are looking for strategic partners who can promote our products/ solution for food security, construction, and particularly in agriculture. By utilising our fertilisers, minerals are being returned to the soil, creating a prosperous yield, which I believe many agricultural farmers will benefit from.

Food security and sustainability are a central focus of ours going forward,” says Mr. Manaseer.

Ultimately, Mr. Manaseer plans to leverage these partnerships not only for the group’s benefit but also to pave the way for easier international access to Jordan’s abundant investment opportunities. The group also aims to create more graduate opportunities for the Jordanian youth through its activities, including its equity stake in Luminus Technical University College (LTUC), based in Amman, and major manufacturing firm and employer, Manaseer Industrial Complex (MIC).

“Jordan has something to offer everyone, whether through its mineral richness or highly skilled workforce. The Kingdom’s private sector is on the frontline of innovation, and companies like us are committed to creating a better country for everyone,” concludes Mr. Manaseer.

“MICHIGAN IS THE ORIGINAL SILICON VA L L E Y.” J O N R I M A N E L L I - Co-Founder & CEO As the global leader in mobility and a top 10 state for R&D, Michigan provides the ideal environment for Airspace Experience Technologies to develop, test and certify the next generation of transportation. From electric vehicles to aerial mobility, anything is possible in the state that drives the world forward. Seize your opportunity at MICHIGANBUSINESS.ORG

MICHIGAN PURE OPPORTUNITY ®

THE CURSE OF GROWING TOO FAST is a a platform platform for for small small businesses, businesses, but but it it FAIRE is grew big way—almost becoming becoming grew big the the wrong wrong way—almost a $12 $12 billion Here’s how how it it fixed fixed the the problem, problem, a billion wreck. wreck. Here’s and you should and why why you should think think twice twice before before skyrocketing. skyrocketing.

by LIZ BRODY 60 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

Illustration / ZOHAR L A Z AR

September-October 2024 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / 61

F

62 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

PHOTOGR APH COURT ESY OF FAIRE

I

t’s weird that there aren’t more hundred-billion→ EASY SCALING! dollar companies, The founders of Faire because it doesn’t seem at their offices last year after rocketship growth. that hard to do, Max ( Left to Right) Marcelo Rhodes caught himself Cortes, Jeff Kolovson, thinking one day in 2021.

Daniele Perito, He was sure making it and Max Rhodes. look easy. The company he’d cofounded, called Faire, had gone from stumbling startup to galloping unicorn. Fueled by a steady diet of VC money, its valuation kept climbing: $1 billion, then $2.5 billion, up to $12.4 billion, and even $12.59 billion, the numbers rising like bubbles in champagne, jubilant and intoxicating.

As with so many tech startups then, Faire was fully embracing the unofficial motto of Silicon Valley: “Growth, growth, growth at all costs.” And why not? After four years of building and iterating, investors were finally behind them. The company had over a billion dollars of their capital to spend. Faire’s leaders doubled their team. Then they doubled it again.

They’d be the next DoorDash or Airbnb at this rate, they figured.

Then the trouble began. growth. “In the long term, you’re much better off growing 12% a At Faire—an online wholesale marketplace that connects indie year, every year, instead of 25% one year and then 2% the next. At a 12% growth rate, you double every six years in size.” brands (that want to be sold in local stores and shops) with small When companies skyrocket without proper planning, Pisano retailers (looking to find the best products to stock)—suddenly, wrote recently in the Harvard Business Review, they risk destroying many of these business owners were getting upset. And loud. “The the very things that made them successful in the first place—typically customer service is quite slow,” said Sarah Kim, founder of a statiotheir agility, awesome customer service, or signature culture. Many nery business called Selah Paper, on her YouTube channel at the a startup has gone for speed, then been dashed on the rocks for not time. Another YouTube reviewer, business coach Dallas Gordon, being able to deliver on their promises—like Brex, a corporate card griped, “They used to be proactive, but now it takes days and days for startups valued at $12.3 billion that lost its identity after expandto get an answer. If you get an answer at all.” ing in too many directions, and Peloton, which grew furiously during As Faire burned through $30 million a month, by the second the pandemic and, according to Pisano, outpaced its supply chain, quarter of 2022, its breathtaking gallop went slo-mo. Decisions leading to poor quality and customer service. Both struggled aftertook forever, and its explosive growth was petering, leaving its ward. And Faire, it seemed, was headed for the same fate. leadership in a fog.

At the beginning, it was hardly a billion-dollar moonshot. Faire In the difficult months that followed, they’d have to question just started because of an annoying problem. About a decade ago, and probe, face hard truths, and take even tougher steps to turn Rhodes was working as a product manager at Square, and had a the business around. Survival, they realized, meant doing someside hustle getting a high-end umbrella brand into stores. As he thing more meaningful than just watching their customer counts schlepped to trade shows all over the country, he realized it was an and valuations rise. They’d need to reach sustainable growth. inefficient way for local retailers and brands to discover each other.

“The lesson for me here,” says Rhodes, “was that if it feels Soon, he joined forces with three Square colleagues—Jeff Kolovson, easy, it probably means you’re doing it wrong.”

Marcelo Cortes, and Daniele Perito—to create a better way to make or years, the startup world had one rousing anthem: Scale! that connection. They launched in 2017, just as stores were closing The idea was to move fast, spend heavily, capture as many and the media was declaring a “retail apocalypse,” but the Faire customers as possible, and then monetize later (if at all). founders believed that small businesses would always be resilient But that model meant toast for a lot of founders and investors, and in and cherished by their communities. And they were right. many ways seems incompatible with our current economy. So VCs With Rhodes as CEO and Kolovson as COO, the founders set up and advisors began urging a different objective: sustainable growth. an office at 2 Mint Plaza in San Francisco. Their wholesale platform “The goal is to create a business that is profitable, enduring, and had two major benefits. The first was personalization; retailers generates a lot of economic value for its stakeholders,” says Gary could sign up, share details about themselves, and get algorithmic Pisano, a Harvard Business School professor who studies company recommendations for which brands were a good fit and most likely

to sell. The second big offering came in deal terms: Retailers got 60 days before they had to pay for an order, along with free returns.

That meant they could physically examine products, offer them to customers, and if those items didn’t sell in two months, they could send them back at no cost. Because most small brands couldn’t wait 60 days for payment, Faire would pay them immediately and assume the risk of the retailer defaulting. The company would only make money when a sale went through, collecting commission from the seller brands and (later) payment fees.

Although this seemed like a great deal, there were few takers at first. Brands wouldn’t sell on Faire because there weren’t many retailers there, and retailers weren’t interested because there weren’t enough brands to choose from. Rhodes and his team were flummoxed. Then he picked up a copy of a new book called Hacking Growth by Sean Ellis and Morgan Brown. It stresses the importance of describing your value proposition in a catchy way that answers customers’ main question: “How is this thing going to improve my life?” Rhodes was at a trade show trying to rustle up interest when the answer came to him: “Try before you buy.”

That framing was lighter fluid. By joining Faire, retailers could try out inventory for free! Almost instantly, the marketplace ignited as users flocked to it. But the honeymoon was short. One day, FedEx showed up at 2 Mint Plaza with boxes. And the boxes kept coming. These were all the free returns that Faire had offered, now being sent by retailers who didn’t like or couldn’t sell the products they’d found there.

“We had this beautiful, very well-lit office,” recalls Rhodes, “and all of a sudden it was dark, because all those boxes were piling up and blocking the windows.” The return rate hit 30%. Even worse, defaults climbed to 15% as retailers who kept the merchandise never paid.

Faire started losing 50 cents on every dollar.

The founders spent the next six months solving those problems. They programmed their algorithm to flag products with high return rates, implemented credit limits, and made other adjustments. By mid-2018, the situation stabilized, and it was time for the business to grow.

At first, the founders approached that growth sustainably. Up until then, they’d been using a sales team and paid marketing to find new customers. But they spotted a cheaper and much more effective strategy—by turning its brand partners into sales partners.

It worked like this: Imagine a candlemaker sells its product on the platform. This brand also has relationships with non-Faire retailers— businesses that Faire would really like as customers too. To make that happen, the company created a program called Faire Direct.

Now any time the candlemaker referred a retailer who signed up on Faire, there would be no commission on future business between the two. Plus, the retailer got $100 off its first order. It was a heck of an incentive, and brands jumped on it. Soon the new retailers, eager to enjoy Faire’s benefits, began referring their outside brands to join—creating a viral loop that quickly spun 50% to 60% of the company’s growth, and ushered in unicorn status in October 2019.

Just months later, however, the pandemic would lead to Faire’s undoing—and not the way anyone expected.

Those first weeks were utter chaos, as stores everywhere closed.

Then retailers moved online, and Faire helped drive their digital transformation—setting up websites, adopting e-commerce tools, figuring out live selling and local delivery. As demand exploded, Faire’s founders quickly built out its infrastructure. Investors poured more than $1 billion into the company over the course of a year.

Everyone’s focus became growth.

Throughout 2021, Faire spent lavishly on marketing campaigns and incentives that brought in new retailers. They branched out into adjacent markets: larger retailers, higher-end apparel, Europe. They hired rapidly. “We were trying to grow super fast in order to stay ahead of potential competitors, because we felt like we’d found this golden goose and we needed to do everything possible to make sure we held on to it,” says Rhodes. “That’s what Uber had done. That’s what DoorDash had done. Like, that was the playbook. And it felt really good at first. But it also kind of felt icky; it seemed so easy.”

In the second quarter of 2022, just as Faire reached its highest valuation of $12.59B with a team of over 1,200, the founders knew something was off. Like a strange hum when you drive the car too fast, it was tough to say exactly what the problem was. But the signs were hard to ignore. Competitors started popping up. Customers complained that the platform was slow, the service bad, the brands not as high-quality as they’d once been. And internally, it took forever to make decisions.

Then Faire started missing its numbers. “We’d come up with an explanation—and then we’d still be missing even once we adjusted for it,” says the company’s president Lauren Cooks Levitan, who’d joined as CFO six months before the pandemic.

Now, she had to steer the company out of its treacherous haze.

“Well, it wasn’t fun. I’ll start with that,” she says.

F

aire’s leadership went into SWAT-team mode. Cooks Levitan, who has more than 30 years of retail experience, resorted to the way she’s always tackled a problem: “Let’s start by figuring out how much of this is due to what’s happening to us, and how much is due to things we’re doing. It’s the difference between what we can control and what we can’t.”

Rhodes talked to customers. Kolovson looked at how they’d deployed their capital. What they all came back with was simple: Faire’s fast growth had created a slower, less efficient operation, and attracted transactional customers with low lifetime value.

How they got themselves into this mess was more complicated, and took some time to unravel. First, the pandemic drove interest rates down, VCs were heavily investing, and Faire assumed the surge in business among its brands and retailers would just keep on going forever. Because of that, it rushed into new markets, which drew resources away from its core customers. The expansion also created a lot of noise. Retailers told Rhodes that the platform was overwhelming; they couldn’t find what they were looking for the way they had before. Plus, they had to sift through a lot of junk—because Faire’s carefully curated marketplace was now awash with low-quality brands.

More bad news followed. As the company’s leaders looked at their user behavior, they discovered that the soaring customer growth was followed by rapid churn. The newest retailers had been lured in by pandemic-era incentives and promotions—but these people just scooped up the deals and then left. “We were overly aggressive in thinking, All we need to do is to get you to try our great solution and you will stay,” says Cooks Levitan. “Anyone will take $100 to join up, but they haven’t made an emotional attachment. They don’t have skin in the game, and might not be a good fit. They could be too small, didn’t buy regularly, weren’t interested in changing their behavior. That’s very different from determining an incentive that’s appropriate for someone who’d likely be a good fit.” ▶ September-October 2024 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / 63

On top of all that, Faire had a ballooning headcount. It wasn’t so much that the company hired the wrong people—but to scale, it inserted two layers of management, which was now crippling its former agility. “We had just added way too much bureaucracy,” says Rhodes.

All this needed to be fixed. Fast.

T

he reckoning lifted the fog, to everyone’s relief. Once Faire’s leaders got a clear line of sight on how to rescue their startup, they snapped into course correction.

The founders threw out their roadmap and started fresh.

Instead of chasing new markets, they pulled back and worked on website speed, improved their algorithm’s abilities to search and personalize, increased quality control, and deactivated thousands of low-quality suppliers. “We emailed our retailers,” says Rhodes, “and told them we screwed up—we shouldn’t have let these brands on the platform, as they weren’t a fit.”

Faire also took a new approach to customer acquisition, targeting appropriate retailers and building lasting relationships.

This included a major partnership in which Shopify made Faire its recommended wholesale marketplace and took a stake in the company; in turn, Shopify’s point-of-sale system became Faire’s preferred provider. The new arrangement started driving healthy business to the platform, says Rhodes. In a separate effort launched in 2021, Faire leaned into helping early-stage shop owners open their first store—aiming to develop lifetime customers.

As all this happened, Faire laid off 7% of its workforce in October 2022—and then around 20% more in November 2023. “I was terrified of what the folks who were staying would think of me as a leader, and about how well the business was doing,” says Rhodes. The company still had plenty of cash, but he and the other founders decided they needed fewer layers, checkpoints, and meetings, and their large organization would probably run fine—maybe even better—with a smaller team.

In a second bold move, Faire lowered its nearly $13B valuation down to $5B, something the founders haven’t talked about publicly until now. “It was another decision that we really agonized over,” says Kolovson. “But we felt like we were going to be faced with reality at some point—when we potentially go public or if we raise more capital—and the sooner that we can embrace that, the better.”

Jarring as these changes were, they didn’t feel out of line with the tech industry at large. Between July 2022 and last year, giants like Google, Meta, and Amazon pink-slipped tens of thousands of employees, and fintech darlings Stripe, Ramp, and Klarna also lowered their valuations. “Still, it was a really hard moment in the company,” says Kolovson.

Since then, Faire has refocused on relationships that matter— giving more equity to their remaining employees, and having candid conversations with investors. Ravi Gupta, a partner at Sequoia—which has backed Faire since its seed round—applauded the team’s courage. “It was pretty amazing to watch,” he says. “I don’t think they’re the only company in the world that has faced this challenge. I do think they’re one of the few that has faced it the way they have.”

Faire declined to disclose its current revenue or estimated time to profitability, so it’s hard to know exactly how well these changes worked. But the founders believe they’ve shifted the company’s trajectory in the right direction. The platform is gen64 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

erating billions of dollars in volume, which they say has about doubled in the last year. And they’re hiring again—this time building out their team of more than 920 at a careful and steady pace. “We feel like we’ve righted this,” says Cooks Levitan, “and we’re still in the earlier stage of our growth. We should be growing fast, and we have a giant opportunity in front of us. But it took some cleanup to get to the place where we were able to do that again.”

I

f Faire’s team had a chance to do it all over again, what would they change? Should they not have taken VC money? Tried to grow slowly but surely? Or, to play devil’s advocate, what if Faire did need to gun it in those years to box out its competitors and hold onto its long-term position, even at the cost of growing pains?

What if that explosive growth is the only reason it survived?

It’s a curious question for Pisano. “There are certainly times where you gotta make the sprint and mop up later,” he says. “But you need to assess: Can it be mopped up? Or will you create a permanent vicious circle you can’t get out of?” For any startup faced with that kind of situation, he advises founders to stop and understand the risks; think through every choice ahead and how it could impact everything that makes you successful, like serving your clients and preserving what you’re known for. “Then you can hit the gas and you’ve got a robust enterprise. It still may shake a bit, but at least the wheels won’t come off.”

Setting guardrails can be helpful, adds Zeynep Ton, a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management and author of The Case for Good Jobs, who has studied the success of companies like Costco and Trader Joe’s. That could be a rule you commit to, like “14% markup limit” or “promotion from within”—or even keeping the valuation low—that guides decisions. Or it could be a set of questions you ask when considering any new product or service.

Costco’s are: Can we do it well? Can we save our customers money?

Can we make a profit on it? “Every company should have their own questions that enable them to see the impact of their decisions on their employees and on the customers,” Ton says. “And that can, at least, create boundaries where you can experiment.”

Faire’s founders interrupted what could have been a fatal downslide by being quick studies who took a hard look at their mistakes and acted decisively. Whether they should or shouldn’t have taken the investments, they came away with a new playbook for growing fast while following a path to sustainable profitability.

Rhodes says their questions going forward are: Will it make life better for our customers? And will it do that better than the alternatives?

“When the money is free, you can talk yourself into doing things that just don’t make sense,” he says. “If you’re trying to build a $100 billion company and have a massive impact on the world, it’s really hard work.”

Back in early 2019, before Faire was a unicorn, Rhodes told a podcaster, “When I think about the mistakes I made, they really came down to being overeager, thinking I knew more than I did, and trying to jump forward in my career and getting ahead of my skis.”

Reminded of the comment in light of the roller coaster he’s just been on, he can only laugh at himself. “There’s a little pattern there,” he acknowledges. “I’m worried it might be a lesson that I just am going to keep learning over and over again.”

Liz Brody is Entrepreneur’s contributing editor.

SPOTLIGHT BRANDED CONTENT

Ooredoo Oman

S

EMPOWERING OMAN’S DIGITAL ECONOMY

triving to achieve robust, fundamental part of our strategy, and we job-rich and sustainable strive to incorporate customer feedback to private sector-led growth, enhance our services. This, along with our Oman is generating a focus on innovation, is what sets us apart in wealth of opportunities for the market.” Whilst Ooredoo Oman is part global businesses under of an international entity, Bassam stresses its flagship economic that the services it offers are tailored to diversification initiative, ‘Oman Vision 2040,’ local needs, whether that is upscaling which guides Oman’s long-term sociocommunities and ensuring equal access to economic development. Encouragingly, the connectivity or assisting SMEs and small IMF has projected real GDP growth at 1.2% and home offices (SoHos) take advantage this year, followed by an anticipated 4.1% in through Oman’s first ‘build your own’ plans 2025 as growth is expected to be accelerated and ‘office in a box’ product.

Bassam Yousef Al Ibrahim by a rebound in hydrocarbon activity and By consistently investing in its CEO the expected relaxation of OPEC+ quotas, technologies, customer support, and while the government makes significant investments in hydrogen, workforce, Ooredoo Oman has opened up multiple revenue renewables, and diversification. streams. “We’re investing lots into our network, in 5G and stateOman’s telecommunications sector is playing a vital role in of-the-art data centres for B2B purposes. It’s a win-win situation,” the nation’s broad digital transformation into a knowledge-based says Bassam. Over 50% of Ooredoo Oman’s B2B customer base economy under Vision 2040. As businesses within Oman embrace is now digital, whilst 49% of its customers’ transactions are new trends and innovations, demand for high-speed, high-capacity digital payments. In recognition of its contributions to Oman’s communication technologies is set to rise exponentially. Together transformation, Ooredoo Oman was named the winner in the with the increased use of smartphones and the government’s Telecom category at the COMEX Excellence in Technology Awards ambitious 5G strategy, these factors have resulted in lucrative 2024. Previously, the company was awarded the ‘Most Innovative returns for telecom firms that have aligned their investments. At Digitally Transformed Telecom Company – Oman 2023’ by Global the top end, some telecom firms are supporting Oman’s transition Business Outlook. into a regional data centre hub, attracting hyperscalers like AWS, Ooredoo Oman’s rising prominence in the market has attracted Microsoft, and Google. the attention of hyperscalers and helped it strike strategic Since launching services in 2005, Ooredoo Oman has been partnerships with AWS and Google. With these partnerships in a driving force in the nation’s digital evolution and serves place, Bassam is optimistic that Ooredoo Oman’s pioneering work approximately 3 million customers. With the backing of Ooredoo in the data centre space will inspire more international firms to join Group, a global telecom giant with a customer base of around 159 its mission to transform Oman. “In the 5-6 months since I’ve been million, Ooredoo Oman is connecting people, businesses, and the here, we’ve signed multiple deals with organisations worldwide government with the digital tools they need to succeed. for many of our services. Our most significant partnerships involve Ooredoo Oman’s commitment to delivering an innovative, digitalworking with hyperscalers and tech giants,” says Bassam, whose first customer experience has propelled it to the forefront of the aim is for these companies to establish a presence in Oman and mobile business market. “When we launched, we revolutionised the transform it into a hub. With a robust pipeline of partnerships and market by slashing mobile service prices,” says the company’s CEO, a soaring demand for Omani data centres, now is also the perfect Bassam Yousef Al Ibrahim, who has over 20 years of experience time to consider investing in the company’s stock. in the sector. By offering Omanis the flexibility to enjoy network On a broader scale, Bassam envisions Ooredoo Oman as a services their own way, Ooredoo Oman has established itself as gateway to the limitless investment opportunities Oman has to offer.

Oman’s second-largest telecom operator.

“In addition to the business-friendly environment, the government Today, Ooredoo Oman describes its mission as the promise offers concessions and attractive incentives like tax breaks for to ‘Upgrade Your World.’ “We ensure our customers have access strategic industries. Oman also offers companies the freedom to to state-of-the-art mobile and fixed services, and from a B2B innovate and test new technologies. The local and international perspective, we’re positioned as a landing station for international business community are working in tandem with the government firms coming to Oman. We offer services before and during their to create the nation’s own version of a Silicon Valley here. Plus, the investments here,” explains Bassam. By creating a seamless location is fantastic,” he concludes.

B2B customer experience that caters to each customer’s unique needs, Ooredoo Oman hopes to unlock the Sultanate’s digital transformation and build a robust digital framework for doing business.

“We’re extremely customer-focused,” says Bassam, “it’s a

SPOTLIGHT BRANDED CONTENT

Taiwan

A THRIVING GLOBAL ECONOMIC POWERHOUSE

W

ith a GDP comparable in size to that of Switzerland or Poland, Taiwan is one of Asia’s largest economies, according to the IMF. Its strong purchasing power, openness to international business, and sophistication in high-tech industries have made it an attractive partner for companies looking to diversify into Asia.

Taiwan’s market landscape is dominated by SMEs, but the island is also home to world-leading manufacturing conglomerates like semiconductor giant TSMC. With Taiwan’s key role in the global supply chain, these businesses provide a constant stream of opportunities for investors to capitalise on.

Given its strengths in advanced technology, manufacturing, and elite research and development, Taiwan also functions as a launchpad for inventors seeking to establish a wider regional presence. This is particularly advantageous for companies pursuing a ‘China-plus-one’ strategy, as Taiwan boasts the world’s highest density of precision manufacturing hubs that constitute complete industrial supply chains, according to official sources.

Currently, finance, electronics, wholesale, and retail are the biggest recipients of inward FDI, according to the International Trade Administration (ITA).

However, the government is working extensively to promote FDI in renewable energy and high-tech industries, especially semiconductors, AI, biomedicine and biotechnology, advanced manufacturing, and digital transformation.

Speaking at his inauguration in May this year, President Lai Ching Te expressed that his government is committed to further developing Taiwan’s thriving business environment: “Taiwan has already mastered advanced semiconductor manufacturing, and we stand at the centre of the AI revolution…

While we invest in innovation and nurture the next hidden champions, we must also make bold investments in quantum computing, robotics, the metaverse,

Litemax Electronics AT THE GLOBAL FOREFRONT OF LCD DESIGN

T

he world leader in semiconductor production and a bridge between East and West, Taiwan offers investors an attractive, secure, and wellconnected business environment. Taiwan ranked 6th in the latest IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook and 4th on The Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom.

A dominant player in high-tech markets, Taiwan has built a strong reputation in critical segments like liquid crystal displays (LCDs). These flat-panel displays are used extensively in consumer electronics like smartphones and PCs but have wider applications in entertainment, advertising, transportation, hospitality, healthcare, and heavy-duty industries. According to Statista, sales of Taiwanese LCD devices generated TWD 242.1 billion in 2023.

Founded in 2002, Litemax Electronics is a leading Taiwanese developer of advanced LCDs and computing solutions. Litemax’s high-performance, ultra-efficient solutions serve a wide range of markets, from transportation, healthcare, and gaming to digital signage, POS/KIOSKs, and heavy-duty industries. The company is listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (4995.TWO) and achieved a notable 55% increase in its share price over the first seven months of this year.

From a pioneering developer of sunlight-readable, high-brightness displays to a global leader in intelligent LCDs and smart platforms, Litemax’s journey has been marked by both innovation and engineering excellence. Today, Litemax works with companies of all sizes and industries to support their unique display requirements, offering cutting-edge expertise in custom solutions such as LCD resizing and state-of-the-art 4K displays.

Speaking on Litemax’s success, its president, David King, attributes the company’s leading edge to a combination of uncompromising quality and

precision medicine, and other advanced technologies… solidifying Taiwan’s leading position in the future global landscape.”

In his speech, Mr. Lai pledged to transform Taiwan into a “ thriving global economic powerhouse.”

He emphasised three core areas of investment and government focus: smart transformation and the netzero transition, industrial opportunities in space and the ocean, and the opening up of Taiwan’s business community.

Dr. Lai Ching-te Additionally, he laid out plans to turn Taiwan into an President of Taiwan ‘AI Island’ through strategic investments in areas like next-gen mobility and 5G private networks.

Because Taiwan imposes a low public debt ceiling, inward FDI will be crucial for the government to meet its goals. To achieve this, Taiwan has implemented various incentives to appeal to investors. These include tax exemptions, lowinterest loans, and research and development subsidies for projects involving partnerships between Taiwan and foreign entities.

To give investors access to a live test market, the government has set up a network of science and industrial parks, technology industrial zones, and free trade zones. These, like the Asia Bay Innovation Park and 5G AIoT Innovative Park Project in Southern Taiwan, are designed to connect global talent and seamlessly integrate foreign and domestic businesses into world-class industry clusters.

Praising the numerous initiatives and government investment programs that Taiwan has launched, Mr. Lai concluded during his inauguration speech that “altogether, this will make Taiwan a much stronger nation, and it will open up new horizons for the development of Taiwan’s economy and industry. The possibilities are truly limitless.” uniqueness: “We only focus on niche and special products. By custom-making our products, we can help startups and investors who cannot find their specific size or spec from major manufacturers. The tailored service we offer is unparalleled.”

With its proprietary 1,000-nit backlight technology enabling triple the brightness of average indoor LCDs and know-how in rugged design, Litemax has become a preferred supplier to heavy-duty industries like oil and gas, the military, and agriculture. Its medical-grade displays, meanwhile, support an integrated approach to patient care and boost clinical performance in hospital departments.

Looking ahead, King envisions a future where Litemax continues to push the boundaries of LCDs and become a leading provider of AIoT (Artificial Intelligence of Things) solutions. Alongside opportunities for outdoor advertising and transportation – from in-car displays on high-speed rail networks to EV charging displays – which have expanded due to digitalisation and rapid urbanisation, King is focused on bolstering Litemax’s European presence. “We want to continue creating new ‘firsts’ in the market,” he says.

Litemax’s mission will gain a considerable boost from Taiwan’s competitive edge as a global business and high-tech hub. “Taiwan is an exceptional place to do business in, particularly for Western investors. Companies here are committed to quality,” concludes King.

SPOTLIGHT BRANDED CONTENT

New Deantronics “CARING ” IS OUR CORE VALUE

“ TEAMWORK ” IS THE FOUNDATION OF OUR CULTURE

A

“APPLYING SCIENCE TO HEALTH” IS OUR MISSION.

ccording to the Economist Intelligence Unit , as recovering global demand and the stabilising of economic activit y in leading Asian markets bolster activity, Taiwan’s GDP growth will accelerate to 3.3% in 2024, well above the global average of 2.2%. The organisation expects private consumption to expand by 3.5%, while trade is set to burgeon, with exports of goods and services growing by 6.9% and imports by 7%.

Capitalising on Taiwan’s high-skill workforce and research and development strengths, the country’s medical devices industry is a rapidly growing, export-oriented sector. According to official figures, it contributed $6.4bn to the economy in 2021. Up 22% from 2020 thanks largely to government support of innovation, as well as demand caused by the covid-19 pandemic. An aging local population and a sophisticated domestic healthcare system provide demand at home. According to the US International Trade Administration the market is expected to grow 7% annually over the next five years.

New Deantronics New Deantronics is a leading medical device manufacturer, offering comprehensive solutions for the development and manufacturing of world-class medical devices. It prides itself on an unwavering focus on outstanding quality, service, and delivery to a demanding global market.

“We’re the go-to medical device manufacturer for the health industry,” says new Deantronics President Jane Liu. “For us, rule number one is culture – honesty, integrity, reliability, caring for the planet. Number two is teamwork – and I’m an example of that. I work with different engineers – R&D, operations, quality control – and other specialists to make the whole company tick. We are integrated, harness one another’s expertise, and contribute to developing one another’s skills. Our watchwords are professionalism and independence – we create our own products for the industry.”

Liu established New Deantronics in San Francisco in 1985. The company’s name sums up Liu’s vision – “New” providing what she calls “a grand opening”, expressing her business’s fresh approach and hunger for adapting to change. “Dean” refers to the academic title, conveying the company’s position as a respected, professional authority in the sector. Liu chose the medical sector because of her understanding of the competitive landscape in Taiwan, and the industry’s high barriers to entry. Liu knew that to succeed she would have to be bold and very wellprepared. She carried out painstaking research and identified more than 25 companies in the US undertaking electro-surgery, choosing the top-ranking ones to contact. She approached decision-makers in the field to learn more about the industry, drawing up benchmarks for her business. One of the companies she met was industry leader Valley Lab, where the CEO had a people-oriented management style and opened the door to Liu, providing opportunities that were all she asked for to start in business. Valley Lab was expanding its overseas purchasing and already had four Taiwanese suppliers. Liu impressed him with her drive,

enthusiasm and direct approach. Nearly 40 years later Valley Lab remains a key client of New Deantronics. “I didn’t want to follow the herd” she says. “I learned the skills and polished them to be able to survive. You must create opportunities for yourself, work hard, learn honestly, and have integrity. Always admit your mistakes, be brave enough to face it, solve the problem right away, and always ask for opportunities.”

The result is what Liu calls an “applied science” company, which always looks to understand the future needs of the market, while remaining cost-effective through leveraging Taiwan’s competitive advantages.

Jane Liu New Deantronics always seeks to go to President the root cause of a problem and find a solution that can prevent future illness. The company has developed broad technical expertise in areas including therapeutic ultrasound, electrosurgical radiofrequency, and electrooptical technologies. Its mechanical and electrical R&D labs allow it to transform design concepts into functional prototypes and production equivalent samples; it can design a wide range of medical devices from disposable hand-held therapeutic and diagnostic equipment through implants to portable and large medical equipment. In product development, the company has a quality system that ensures strict adherence to international standards including FDA, CE, and ISO, meeting the needs of clients around the globe. New Deantronics’ manufacturing capacity ranges from high-precision manual assembly to full automation lines, allowing it to produce simple to complex devices in small to high volumes. Its flagship products include tiny nano cameras used in surgery.

The company’s customers and collaborators include several of the top ten world-leading companies, as well as other strategic global medical device partners, surgeons, and startups.

“We are open to partnerships in all formats,” says Liu. “We provide a lot of design for manufacturing and design for automation. Our vision is to make excellent quality medical devices here in Taiwan, and that’s our USP for partners. We are in the health industry, so caring is our mission – we care for the patient, our customers, our suppliers, our partners – and of course or own people. With our products, we can help people fight their pain.”

This approach has underpinned the company’s four decades of success. While New Deantronics is a global company with its roots in Liu’s time in the US, this is a business with a Taiwanese identity, proudly embracing the culture and values of her home country.

“The Taiwanese are very friendly, trustworthy, honest, and hardworking people,” says Liu. “Taiwan is a small island; people know and trust each other. We help each other grow and succeed. That’s how we make miracles happen.”

WHAT SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS THINK

We surveyed 1,200 of them. Here’s what they said.

What concerns you the most right now?

Which sales channel is driving the most of your sales?

Online store Pop-up events Social selling Brick-and-mortar Other

Rising costs Finding and retaining good talent Attracting new customers Covering major expenses like rent, inventory, etc.

Needing to update technology

7% 9% 5% 77% 2%

Access to capital

8% 34%

5%

30%

2%

21% 68 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

77% *Remember, these answers are are coming coming primarily primarily from from local local retailers—so retailers—so while while *Remember, these answers brick-and-mortar is it’s notably notably not not the the only only avenue avenue for for sales. sales. brick-and-mortar is obviously obviously strong, strong, it’s

P H O T O G R A P H B Y S T O C K . A D O B E . C O M / K R Z Y S Z T O F B U B E L ( Q U A R T E R ) ; I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y S T O C K . A D O B E . C O M / M U N J A 0 2 (A W N I N G )

H

ey, local retailers, what’s on your mind?

Entrepreneur wanted to know, so we partnered with Faire, an online wholesale marketplace where gift shops, pet stores, clothing boutiques, and other mom-andpop shops source their products. Faire put five questions out to its retailers, and more than 1,200 responded—revealing their biggest concerns, wins, and what it really takes to keep a small business alive. “These owners are out there fighting every day, making things work, and having an incredible impact on their communities,” says Faire cofounder and CEO Max Rhodes. “They’re super resilient.” SEE THE RESULTS.

Which marketing channel is most effective for you?

In the next three to six months, what’s your top business priority?

Attracting new customers

Expanding locations

Prepping for holiday shopping season

Access to new forms of technology to help your business grow

Discovering new trending products

Other

Social media

54%

Newsletter

4%

Buying online ads

3%

Local community engagement

21%

41% 37

%

13%

2%

4%

3%

In-store events

12% Other

6%

P H O T O G R A P H S B Y S T O C K . A D O B E . C O M / K I T E _ R I N ( P H O N E ) ; D J I - B I ( W E L C O M E M AT )

What Is The Single Most Important Factor in Running a Local Business?

“Getting people to buy into ‘shopping local’ over Amazon or Temu” ■ “Cash flow. Too much money tied up in inventory makes most similar businesses fail.” ■ “Getting out into the community you live and work in!” ■ “Having the coolest products and making sure no other shops in our town copy us. LOL” ■ “Friendly, knowledgeable and reliable staff” ■ “Making customers know how special they are!” ■ “Not needing rest. Ever.” ■ “Analyze the competition.” ■ “A successful local business is like babysitting an octopus—every tentacle needs attention simultaneously.” ■ “Uphold a good reputation, and answer the phone.” ■ Having events and services that people cannot get with online shopping” ■ “Capital” ■ “Having the community fall in love with what we do” ■ “Being a pillar in the neighborhood. It is very important to be involved in your community.” ■ “Investing (time, opportunity, money, etc.) in the community, hiring from within the community, carrying goods made by the community” ■ “Unique product offerings that have sizable margins for profitability” ■ “Amazing inventory that is affordable” ■ “A detailed business plan—copycatting and reacting won’t cut it past two years” ■ “High-level curation” ■ “Finding team members with an ownership mentality” ■ “Good customer service!” ■ “Loyal customers” ■ “Parking” ■ “Be connected to a forum; whether it’s social media or industry-specific groups, that is the same type of business that you are. Learn from them or bounce ideas around with them.” ■ “Loving what you do!” ■ “Staying relevant” ■ “Staying flexible!” ■ “Unique products not made in China” ■ “Having a variety of different price points to meet all ranges of budget” ■ “Creating a customer experience that is fun and memorable” ■ “Cash flow management” ■ “Communication and being on time with orders” ■ “Integrity” ■ “Setting yourself apart from other local shops” ■ “Networking” ■ “A core group of loyal customers” ■ “Foot traffic” ■ “Great staff” ■ “Making sure the local people know and understand the business operating in their town” ■ “Being hands-on and getting to know my customers” ■ “Being present” ■ “Maintaining reputation while staying relevant” ■ “Location, location, location” ■ “Having the willingness to work long hours” ■ “I’ll let you know when we consider ourselves a success.”

September-October 2024 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / 69

Free to safely use any technology.

It’s possible.

It’s Okta.

From the beginning, Okta has focused on securing Identity so your company, employees, partners, and customers can access their digital world.

Today, it’s more than just secure access.

With our comprehensive Identity solutions for enterprises and developers, we free you to build your stack your way. So you can grow revenue, increase efficiencies, control IT costs, and strengthen security.

From emerging startups to the largest global enterprises, we’ve got you covered. With Okta: Developers effortlessly scale SaaS apps.

Financial services fend off global cyberattacks.

Local governments build accessible services for all.

And retailers delight millions of customers with seamless experiences.

That’s why nearly 19,000 of the world’s most trusted brands trust Okta.

PREPARE, LAUNCH & GROW OUR ALL STAR LINEUP!

855.SMB.2009

SMBFRANCHISING.COM

Top Suppliers

THE FRANCHISE INDUSTRY’S TOP SUPPLIERS Looking for Looking for the the right right supplier supplier to to help help your your franchise? franchise?

These are These are the the industry’s industry’s favorite favorite banks, banks, accountants, accountants, PR PR agencies, agencies, and more—picked and more—picked by by the the 1,100 1,100 franchises franchises that that love love them! them!

by T R A C Y S TA P P H E R O L D

Accounting P.74 Banking/ Financing P.78

W

Franchise Broker/Referral Networks P.80

Franchise Consulting/ Development P.82

Franchise Events P.84

Marketing P.92 Legal Services P.88

hen you think of the franchise industry, you probably think of two groups: franchisors and franchisees.

But there’s a third group that’s just as important—the franchise suppliers. These are the service providers that help make it possible for franchisors and franchisees to succeed and thrive, by offering funding solutions, consulting, education, marketing, technology, and more.

There are a lot of them! So how do franchisors and franchisees decide which suppliers to work with? To help with that, we present our seventh annual ranking of the top franchise suppliers. This year’s list honors 162 top service providers across 11 categories.

To create this list, we conducted our annual survey of franchisors. We received responses from more than 1,100 brands

Merchant Services P.96

Other Technology Services P.100

Real Estate P.108 Public Relations P.104

this year, from newly emerging franchisors to those that have been at it for decades. These brands told us which suppliers they and their franchisees work with, and rated their satisfaction with those suppliers in the areas of quality, cost, and value. Each supplier was scored based on the survey results, and the top-scoring suppliers are ranked within their respective categories.

For franchisors and franchisees wondering which suppliers to work with, this list can be a helpful jumping-off point, but it is not intended as a recommendation of any particular company. To find the suppliers that will best serve the needs of your unique business, it’s always important to do your own research. To learn more about these and other suppliers, check out our online directory at entrepreneur.com/franchises/ directory/suppliers-directory.

September-October 2024 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / 73

Top Suppliers

Service descriptions come from respective suppliers.

ACCOUNTING

A GOOD ACCOUNTING FIRM is essential for franchisors, which are required to include audited financial statements in their Franchise Disclosure Documents annually. On our list, you’ll find firms of all sizes, from the “Big Four” to smaller ones focused on the franchise industry.

1

BDO USA

Professional services corporation serving franchises worldwide

2

Citrin Cooperman Accounting, tax, and advisory services

3

Kezos & Dunlavy

Full-service CPA firm specializing in real estate tax and accounting, franchise audits, and related issues

4

PwC

Audit, assurance, consulting, and tax services

5

A&G

Full-service accounting

6

Reese CPA

Audit services for the franchise industry

7

BDO USA “BDO’s proactive approach and personalized service have significantly streamlined our financial processes, ensuring accuracy and compliance. Their ability to provide insightful, strategic advice has not only helped us optimize our financial performance, but also supported our growth and expansion efforts.”

Audit and assurance, tax, legal, risk and financial advisory, and consulting services

8

PKF

Accounting and advisory services

—JACQUELINE BOERS, VP controller, Sculpture Hospitality 74 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

Continued on next page

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF BDO USA

Deloitte

Proud to be a category Top Supplier Creating a smoother financing journey for both Franchisors and Franchisees Vet

Qualify

Fund

We review and qualify candidates through our efficient, secure process.

We ensure all financial requirements are met for their desired franchise brand.

We help them find the best financing option for their new business.

5

CONSECUTIVE YEARS

“ BoeFly is our trusted partner for both diligence and financing support.”

Brian Farris Chief Development Officer | WOWorks, LLC

Visit BoeFly.com to learn more. ©2024 BoeFly Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Top Suppliers

Service descriptions come from respective suppliers.

ACCOUNTING Continued from previous page

9

Metwally CPA PLLC

Audit, review, and compilation services for small businesses

10

KPMG LLP

Professional services firm

11

13

Audit, tax, and business consulting

Advisory, assurance, tax, and transaction services

RSM US LLP

EY

12

14

Audit, tax, accounting, and business and advisory transaction services

Professional services firm offering audit, tax, and advisory services

Baker Tilly

Grant Thornton

76 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

15

17

19

CPAs, consultants, and wealth advisors

Financial statement audits, royalty audits, and part-time CFO services

Accounting solutions and consulting

16

18

Audit, tax, wealth management, and business consulting services

Assurance, tax, advisory, and wealth management services

CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen LLP)

The Franchise CPA

Plante Moran

FORVIS LLP

DA Advisory Group

20

Cherry Bekaert Tax, audit, and advisory solutions

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF KPMG LLP

→ KPMG LLP

Top Suppliers

Service descriptions come from respective suppliers.

BANKING/FINANCING

MOST FRANCHISEES will need financing in order to successfully launch and grow their businesses, so franchisors are

wise to form relationships with trusted banks and other funding providers to which they can recommend their owners for assistance.

1

FranFund

Funding solutions including 401(k) business financing, SBA loans, unsecured business loans, and equipment leasing

2

Benetrends Financial

401(k) rollover funding, SBA loans, and equipment leasing

3

Guidant Financial

401(k) business financing, SBA loans, unsecured business loans, business valuations and appraisals, payroll, bookkeeping, and taxes

4

BoeFly

Franchise financing

7

ApplePie Capital

Franchise financing

5

Chase for Business

Deposit accounts, loans, credit cards, cash management, and payment processing

8

First Financial

SBA financing for franchise startups, working capital, construction, and acquisitions; equipment leasing

6

Tenet Financial Group

Small business and franchise funding via 401(k) ROBS, SBA loans, and unsecured loans

9

Bank of America

Small-business banking, credit, and digital investing tools

10

Huntington National Bank

Online banking solutions, mortgage, investing, loans, credit cards, and financial services

12

Live Oak Bank Small-business banking

13

RBC

Banking

14

Truist Financial Corporation Financial services

15

Wells Fargo

Banking, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance

11

TD Bank

Loans, mortgages, merchant services, checking, credit cards, money market accounts

“FranFund is our go-to resource for franchisee financing. They are professional, prompt, diligent, and creative. FranFund has a tremendous track record of securing financing for our franchisees, and I highly recommend them to any franchisor.” —JORDAN MEINSTER,

CEO, Pickup USA

78 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF FRANFUND

FranFund

#1

FRANCHISE FUNDING COMPANY

Setting the standard in franchise funding − BACK TO BACK! www.FranFund.com

817.730.4500

Top Suppliers

Service descriptions come from respective suppliers.

FRANCHISE BROKER/ REFERRAL NETWORKS

FRANCHISE BROKERS (sometimes called franchise consultants or franchise coaches) are like industry matchmakers: They help franchisors find new prospects, and help prospective franchisees find the opportunity that best matches their needs and skills.

1

IFPG

Membership-based franchise consulting network

2

Franchise Brokers Association

Franchise broker training and membership organization

3

BAI Business Alliance Inc.

Brokerage services for franchise companies and prospective franchise buyers

4

FranServe

Consulting service to prospective franchise buyers

5

FranNet

Franchise consultants that match clients to business opportunities

6

Franchise Sidekick

Advisory services for prospective franchisees

7

FranChoice

Free consulting service to individuals considering franchise ownership

8

9

The You Network

Franchise consulting and education for senior-level executives seeking franchise opportunities

10

The Perfect Franchise

Consulting firm helping clients find the right franchise opportunity

FCC, The Franchise Consulting Company

Free consulting service to prospective franchise buyers

“Our experience working with IFPG has been nothing short of exceptional. Their network is unparalleled, providing us with qualified, well-prepared candidates who align perfectly with our vision and values. Their ability to foster meaningful relationships and deliver outstanding results truly sets them apart.”

—KELLI KLINE, senior franchise development director, Bishops Cuts/ Color

80 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF IFPG

IFPG

not

IT’S LONELY AT THE TOP

^

Come Join the #1 Franchise Broker Organization!

BE PART OF IFPG RETREAT! LEARN MORE!

THANK YOU FOR VOTING FOR US! # 1 FRANCHISE BROKER ORGANIZATION

SIX YEARS IN A ROW!

TOP FRANCHISE EVENT

FRANCHISORS, FRANCHISE VENDORS AND FRANCHISE CONSULTANTS: Don’t miss out! Come to IFPG Retreat 2025! Learn more about IFPG membership and Franchise Consultant training at 888-977-IFPG (4374) or www.ifpg.org.

Top Suppliers

Service descriptions come from respective suppliers.

FRANCHISE CONSULTING/DEVELOPMENT

HUNDREDS OF NEW BRANDS begin franchising every year, but without help, these fledgling franchises are unlikely to

succeed. Consulting and development companies can help them navigate the challenges of getting started, growth, sales, recruiting, and more.

1

iFranchise Group

Franchise consulting and development services for emerging and established franchisors

2

SMB Franchise Advisors Franchise consulting services for emerging brands

9

FranWise

Operations and compliance consulting

10

Franchise Performance Group

11

Franchise Business Review

Market research firm specializing in measuring franchisee satisfaction and employee engagement

Franchise consulting firm specializing in franchise development

12

Franchise Creator

Franchise consulting, development, sales, and marketing for startup and existing franchisors

13

MSA Worldwide Domestic and international design, development, and expansion for emerging franchisors

14

Gerson Advisory Services Franchise sales, marketing, operations, and franchisee engagement and relations consulting

15

Franchise FastLane

Franchise sales organization

3

Big Sky Franchise Team Franchise consulting, development, and marketing

4

Global Talent Solutions Franchise executive search, recruiting, and talent acquisition

5

Franchise sales outsourcing

6

AC Inc.

Field coaching education and training

7

FranDevCo Franchise sales organization

8

BrandONE

Franchise development services

iFranchise Group “iFranchise Group took the time to listen to my vision, and then took that vision and prepared financial, legal, and marketing materials, as well as an operations manual that would have taken me years to write on my own. The road to franchising is daunting, but their guidance made that road easier and eliminated countless potholes that I could have fallen into.” —SANDRA CAGAN, CEO, Orlando Cat Café

82 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

P H O T O G R A P H C O U R T E S Y O F I F R A N C H I S E G R O U P, I N C .

FranLift

RANKED #1 FRANCHISE CONSULTING FIRM FOR SIX YEARS RUNNING IN A SURVEY OF 1,100+ FRANCHISORS

Accelerate your business growth with expert guidance from top-ranked franchise consultants: Highly Customized Consulting & Development Services for Emerging & Established Franchisors

The best way to FRANCHISE YOUR BUSINESS is with a proven leader.

Contact us to see why franchisors continue to vote us THE BEST IN THE BUSINESS.

708.957.2300

info@iFranchiseGroup.com

www.iFranchiseGroup.com

REQUEST A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK www.ifranchisegroup.com/franchise-your-business-book/

Franchise Your Business

The Guide to Employing the Greatest Growth Strategy Ever by iFranchise Group CEO, Mark Siebert

Top Suppliers

Service descriptions come from respective suppliers.

FRANCHISE EVENTS

A VARIETY OF FRANCHISE industry events are available throughout the year, offering opportunities for franchisors

looking to learn, network, and grow, and for prospective and current franchisees to learn about the opportunities and tools available to them.

1

IFA Convention

by International Franchise Association Annual franchise event with networking, learning, and keynote addresses

2

Springboard Event for Emerging and [Re]Emerging Franchisors

by FisherZucker & Fishman PR Event for emerging and reemerging franchisors

3

Franchise Leadership & Development Conference

4

Multi-Unit Franchising Conference

by Franchise Update Media Event for multi-unit franchisees

5

IFA Convention

Franchise Expos

by MFV Expositions Networking and education events for prospective business owners

“Within franchising, no event shines brighter than the IFA Convention. It’s an annual celebration gathering the industry leaders together to help foster community and camaraderie. This allows for conference-goers to tap into the collective wisdom of the franchise ecosystem assembled each year.”

—Kristopher Stuart, cofounder and COO, Bloomin’ Blinds 84 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

Continued on next page

P H O T O G R A P H B Y J O E L S O R R E L L / I N T E R N AT I O N A L F R A N C H I S E A S S O C I AT I O N

by Franchise Update Media and International Franchise Association (IFA) Event for franchise sales and development and C-suite executives

Join us!

2024 Events

FRANCHISE LEADERSHIP AND DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE October 16-18 | Atlanta, GA

EMERGING FRANCHISOR CONFERENCE

November 18-20 | Austin, TX

Partnership event with Franchise Update Media

2025 Events IFA Annual Convention

February 10-13 | Las Vegas, NV

International Franchise Show London

April 11-12 | London, England Partnership event with MFV NSE

Legal Symposium

May 4-6 | Washington, DC

Franchise Customer Experience Conference June 24-26 | Atlanta, GA

Partnership event with Franchise Update Media

IFA ADVOCACY SUMMIT

September 15-17 | Washington, DC

FRANCHISE LEADERSHIP AND DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE October 7-9 | Atlanta, GA

IBA/IFA Joint Conference May 6-7 | Washington, DC

THE IFA WORLD FRANCHISE SHOW May 9-10 | Miami, FL

Partnership event with Fortem International

franchise.org/events

Partnership event with Franchise Update Media

EMERGING FRANCHISOR CONFERENCE

November 10-12 | Nashville, TN

Top Suppliers

Service descriptions come from respective suppliers.

FRANCHISE EVENTS Continued from previous page

11

IFPG Retreat

→ THE NATIONAL FRANCHISE SHOW

by IFPG Franchise consultant networking event

12

Franchise Customer Experience Conference (FCXC)

by Franchise Update Media and International Franchise Association (IFA) Event for franchise executives responsible for customer experience management

13

CFA National Convention

by Canadian Franchise Association Educational and networking event for the Canadian franchise community

14

by Restaurant Finance Monitor Financial event for restaurant owners, operators, and financial executives

15 6

The National Franchise Show

by National Event Management 26-city North American franchise tradeshow circuit

7

8

by Franchise Assembly Franchise sales and franchise development continuing education event

by Franchise Business Review Event for franchise operations leaders and teams that directly support franchisees

Let’s Grow!

FBR Summit

86 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

9

Emerging Franchisor Conference

by International Franchise Association (IFA) Event for emerging and reemerging brands, with training across franchising disciplines

10

Franchise UnConference

by FisherZucker, Fishman PR, and Hot Dish Advertising Franchise networking retreat

Franchise Brokers Conference & Expo

by Franchise Brokers Association Networking and educational events for brokers and franchisors

P H O T O G R A P H C O U R T E S Y O F N AT I O N A L E V E N T M A N A G E M E N T

Restaurant Finance & Development Conference

This badge just confirms what our attendees have been telling us for years.

Franchisors.com is proud to have their events, Springboard and Franchise UnConference, recognized as 2024 Top Franchise Suppliers by Entrepreneur. Whether you’re new to the franchise industry or an established brand, our multi-day destination events are where the franchise community comes together to learn from the best, connect with peers, and get inspired to create successful franchise systems.

Learn more at

Top Suppliers

Service descriptions come from respective suppliers.

LEGAL SERVICES

FRANCHISING IS a complicated industry with its own set of rules and regulations, so having an attorney who understands the ins and outs of it is essential for both franchisors and franchisees. Our list offers a variety of law firms with expertise in this area to choose from.

1

FisherZucker LLC

Full-service law firm focusing on franchising and licensing matters

2

Spadea Lignana Franchise Attorneys

Full-service franchise law firm

3

Internicola Law Firm

Legal services for emerging franchise brands

4

Drumm Law LLC Full-service franchise law firm

5

Lathrop GPM

Full-service law firm with franchise and distribution practice team

6

Franchise.Law

7

FisherZucker LLC “With FisherZucker, I don’t just get legal advice, but also business and life advice from people who really care about my success long term. I get more out of them in five minutes than I do with other firms in five hours. They are truly passionate about their clients and franchising.”

Manning, Fulton, and Skinner, P.A.

Franchise transactional and litigation representation

—SLADE STRICKLIN, CEO, Duct Doctor USA 88 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

Continued on next page

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF FISHERZUCKER LLC

Legal services for franchisors

In Philly, ranking #1 is just what we do.

Fisher Zucker is proud to be recognized as a 2024 Top Franchise Supplier by Entrepreneur.

Serving the franchise industry since 1996, our team has extensive experience in regulatory compliance, drafting FPRs, trademark matters, negotiating and documenting transactions, litigation and pre-litigation counseling.

fisherzucker.com | 215.825.3100

Top Suppliers

Service descriptions come from respective suppliers.

LEGAL SERVICES Continued from previous page

13

Faegre Drinker

→ AKERMAN LLP

International law firm with a full-service franchise practice

14

Cassels

Business law firm

15

Akerman LLP

Full-service law firm with experience in franchising

16

Cheng Cohen LLC

Full-service law firm exclusively representing franchisors

17

Quarles & Brady

Full-service law firm offering transactional, regulatory, and dispute resolution services

18

Fahey Schultz Burzych Rhodes Full-service law firm specializing in the representation of franchisors

19

Franchise and commercial trial attorneys

20 8

9

10

Franchise compliance, IP protection, general business, and dispute resolution services

Legal services

Legal services including franchise law compliance, mergers and acquisitions, and dispute resolution

Mullin P.C.

Greenberg Traurig, LLP

DLA Piper

90 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

11

FranchiseSmith LLC Nationwide and international practice specializing in franchise law

12

Plave Koch PLC Franchise legal services, including dispute resolution, transactions, and trademarks

Saxton & Stump

Full-service law firm with franchising, licensing, and distribution group

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF AKERMANN LLP

Zarco Einhorn, Salkowski, P.A.

DON’T BE A

BASIC BURGE R

At Elysium Marketing Group, we craft marketing strategies that are stacked with flavor. We’re here to build something deliciously unique for YOUR BRAND.

WE SPECIALIZE IN MARKET ING THAT HAS SPECIAL SAUCE Our data-driven insights are the MEAT of every successful campaign

We add layers of design and content that CONVERT

We grill everything to perfection, delivering results that SATISFY

NATIONAL MARKETING ∙ FRANCHISE DEVELOPMENT ∙ LOCAL STORE MARKETING

CRAVING MORE FOR YOUR BRAND? TAKE A BITE AT ELYSIUMMG.COM

Top Suppliers

Service descriptions come from respective suppliers.

MARKETING

FRANCHISES MUST market to both prospective customers and prospective franchisees, and balance the consistency of national campaigns with personalization at the local level. A wide variety of marketing agencies, platforms, and solutions are available to help.

Reshift Media Inc. Social media, search, software, and website development for franchises

2

Fish 919

Full-service digital marketing and PR agency serving franchisors, franchisees, and multi-location businesses

3

SOCi

Centralized digital marketing platform for multi-location brands

4

TopFire Media

Full-service digital media national marketing agency specializing in franchise development lead generation and public relations

5

FranchiseFilming

Promotional video production services, training videos, marketing

6

Consumer Fusion Inc.

Reputation management solution specializing in removing fake reviews

7

Eulerity

SaaS local marketing platform

8

Hot Dish Advertising

Full-service strategic marketing agency specializing in franchising

9

Scorpion

Digital marketing and technology solutions

10

Netsertive

Digital marketing technology for multi-location businesses

11

PromoRepublic

Social media marketing suite for franchise and multi-location brands

12

Rallio

SaaS platform combining social media technology, artificial intelligence, and employee advocacy

13

Curious Jane

Full-service advertising agency offering franchise-development and consumer marketing

Reshift Media Inc. “Reshift Media stands out because they understand the unique needs of the franchise industry. They don’t just offer cookiecutter solutions; they take the time to understand our specific goals and develop a customized strategy that empowers both franchisors and franchisees.”

—MARIA PIA BRITO, marketing manager, PropertyGuys.com

92 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

Continued on next page

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF RESHIF T MEDIA

1

Top Suppliers

Service descriptions come from respective suppliers.

MARKETING Continued from previous page

14

16

Franchise marketing agency

Full-service marketing agency

Location3

15

WebPunch

Customer and employee experience platform

Oneupweb

17

Lead Navigators

Full-service franchise development digital marketing agency

18

Elysium Marketing Group

Full-service marketing agency specializing in franchise development and local store marketing

20

Ignite Franchise (formerly IDS)

Digital marketing company specializing in franchise development and franchisee marketing

19

21

Franchise development and lead generation marketing

Full-service digital marketing agency

Brand J

94 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

C Squared Social

22

24

Video marketing, branding, and digital marketing solutions for franchise brands

Full-service marketing and public relations agency serving franchisors

Trifactor

23

ChoiceLocal Digital marketing for franchise systems

See.Spark.Go

25

215 Marketing Performance marketing agency

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF HOT DISH ADVERTISING

→ HOT DISH ADVERTISING

WE’RE UP IN ALL OF YOUR BUSINESS FranFocused™

BrandFocused

And we want to help you with every part of it. B2B, B2C and B2E — we do it all, and we do it well. The expertise behind our award-winning FranFocused™+ BrandFocused 360° approach makes what we do unlike any other advertising agency in franchising.

It’s time to talk.

612.341.3100

dkane@hotdishad.com HotDishAd.com

©

Top Suppliers

Service descriptions come from respective suppliers.

MERCHANT SERVICES

RELIABLE MERCHANT SERVICES SERVICES, or payment processing services, are vital for franchises and businesses in every

Swipesum “Swipesum has played a very important role in our brand, from our corporate location to our franchisees. The process of making payments is very simple, and the feedback from franchisees and their client satisfaction is top-notch.” —CHARLES THURSTON, COO, Wisdom Senior Care 96 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

Continued on next page

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF SWIPESUM

industry. Franchisors often recommend, or even require, specific merchant service providers for their franchisees’ businesses to use.

Top Suppliers

Service descriptions come from respective suppliers.

MERCHANT SERVICES Continued from previous page

1

Swipesum

Payment processing and merchant services consulting

→ TOAST

2

Stripe

Payments infrastructure and business applications

3

Toast

Cloud-based restaurant point-of-sale and management system

4

Square

Payment processing, reporting and analytics, POS software, and business services

5

Intuit Quickbooks

Cloud-based software for accounting, payments, and payroll

6

Global Payments Inc.

Payment technology and software solutions

7

Fiserv

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF TOAST

Omnichannel commerce solutions, merchant services, and financial services technology solutions

98 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

Top Suppliers

Service descriptions come from respective suppliers.

OTHER TECHNOLOGY SERVICES

ClientTether “In the crowded field of automated marketing and CRMs, ClientTether’s platform stands out with its architecture specifically designed for franchising. Collaborating with them to build our integration has felt like a boutique experience, marked by personalized attention, detailed implementation, and rich conversations to ensure our success.”—TODD LAMSON, director of franchise operations, The Junkluggers 100 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

Continued on next page

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF CLIENT TETHER

TECHNOLOGY HAS BECOM BECOME an indispensable tool, both at the corporate level and in individual franchise locations.

The companies on our list this year help franchises automate and streamline everything from customer service and sales to hiring and location management.

Top Suppliers

Service descriptions come from respective suppliers.

OTHER TECHNOLOGY SERVICES Continued from previous page

1

ClientTether

Lead response, sales, online review, client engagement automation, and CRM platform

2

HubSpot

CRM, marketing, sales, and customer-service platform

3

ServiceMinder

Platform for managing and operating home services brands

4

Zoho

Cloud software suite and SaaS applications for business

5

FranConnect

Franchise management software

102 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

6

Leasecake

Real estate and location management platform for franchisors and franchisees

7

Lumin.ai

AI-powered text scheduling

8

10

Hiring software for franchises

Cloud-based work management platform

CareerPlug

9

FranchiseSoft

SaaS-based franchise management software

monday.com

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF SERVICEMINDER

→ SERVICEMINDER

Top Suppliers

Service descriptions come from respective suppliers.

PUBLIC RELATIONS

TO SUCCESSFULLY TO SUCCESSFULLY SERVE SERVE the franchise industry, public relations agencies need a keen understanding of the franchise

Fishman PR “Fishman PR not only does a great job at securing coverage for the Dogtopia brand, but they also work hard to secure opportunities for our franchisees in their local markets. It’s great to work alongside a partner who really knows our business and takes the time to get to know our network so they can —TONI TEPLITSKY, TEPLITSKY, senior senior director director of of marketing, marketing, Dogtopia Dogtopia secure beneficial coverage on a regular basis.””—TONI 104 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

Continued on next page

P H O T O G R A P H B Y B U Z Z O R R M U LT I M E D I A

model and must know how to increase awareness—not only of the brand’s product or service offerings, but of their franchise opportunities as well.

Top Suppliers

Service descriptions come from respective suppliers.

PUBLIC RELATIONS Continued from previous page

8

→ ALL POINTS PUBLIC RELATIONS

Powerhouse+Co. National PR, social media, and influencer firm specializing in franchise brands

9

Powers, a 360PR+ Agency

PR and integrated marketing for franchise brands

10

Konnect Agency Full-service PR, marketing, and digital agency

11

Sanderson & Associates

Media placement, media coaching, social media, communications, crisis management, and consulting for franchisors and franchisees

12

Tilson PR

PR, marketing, and social media services

13

Full-service marketing and public relations agency

14 1

Fishman PR

PR and content marketing for franchise lead generation and brand awareness

2

3

PR, social media, content marketing, digital, lead generation strategy, and franchise sales

Publicity, social media, thought leadership packages, marketing materials, and crisis counsel

All Points Public Relations

BizCom Associates

4

Franchise Elevator PR

PR services for emerging franchise brands

5

Ripley PR

Strategic communication services, including media relations, digital content, social media, and crisis management

106 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

6

Champion

Full-service PR, franchise development, digital media, local store marketing, and crisis management agency

7

Mainland

Full-service communications firm specializing in franchise brands

G&S Business Communications PR and communications agency

15

PR Works

Full-service national communications firm specializing in franchise PR and marketing

P H O T O G R A P H C O U R T E S Y O F A L L P O I N T S P U B L I C R E L AT I O N S

Ink Link Marketing

Top Suppliers

Service descriptions come from respective suppliers.

REAL ESTATE

LocateAI “I like that LocateAI is committed to franchising and focused on supporting our franchisees through the entire process of a commercial real estate search and lease negotiation. I love their software and how they can help find the best locations based on many factors.”

—DAN COLLINS, senior vice president of franchise development, Stretch Zone 108 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

Continued on next page

P H O T O G R A P H C O U R T E S Y O F L O C AT E A I

GETTING THE RIGHT LOCATION at the right price can be a critical step in the startup process for franchise businesses that require retail, office, or warehouse space. These are the companies that franchisors trust most to get their franchisees off on the right foot.

Maximize Your Brand’s Revenue with the #1 AI Enabled Real Estate Brokerage BENCHMARK & ANALYZE:

AVOID CANNIBALIZATION:

Identify your brand’s top customer profiles.

Ensure your new locations don’t compete with your existing ones.

MAXIMIZE REVENUE:

Visualize markets that are best suited to your brand based on revenue potential.

NEGOTIATE THE BEST LEASE:

Negotiate favorable terms on your top sites.

MARKET OPTIMIZATION:

Identify where you should open new locations using your AI model.

Busy daytime High weekday foot traffic 9am - 11am Affluent shoppers 4pm - 7pm

GET IN TOUCH | hello@locate.ai

Top Suppliers

Service descriptions come from respective suppliers.

REAL ESTATE Continued from previous page

→ RE/MAX

2

Artificial intelligence and advisory services for retail site selection

Real estate advisory firm focused on franchise retail nationwide

LocateAI

Reimagine CRE

3

Morrow Hill

Real estate technology and services for corporate and franchise organizations

4

Colliers International

Global real estate services and investment management company

6

redC Business Advocacy Franchise real estate, design, and construction management services

5

7

Global real estate company

Analytics and brokerage services for tenants

RE/MAX LLC

110 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

RESOLUT RE

8

CBRE

Commercial real estate services

9

JLL

Commercial real estate and property investment services

10

ForeFront Commercial

Full-service commercial real estate firm

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF REMAX LLC

1

Franchisee

Trust Equals Sales

For their business to work, Dianne and Gabrielle Melillo need more than customers.

They need a community that has total confidence in them. b y K I M K AV I N

I

Dianne, why Dianne, why did did you you decide decide to to open a a Season Season 2 2 Consign Consign open franchise? franchise?

I spent many years working as the national sales director of North America for high-end European fashion designer Giambattista Valli. I’m 58, and my husband owns auto body shops. He made me think that I wanted to own my own business.

I was selling and buying my own luxury items on the secondary market. When Season 2 Consign announced on Instagram that they were going to start franchising, I jumped on it.

Gabrielle, why Gabrielle, why did did you you decide decide to to become a a 50-50 50-50 partner partner with with become your mom? mom? your I worked for a few different companies, varying from fashion to

lip balms. I knew about e-commerce because I ran the companies’ websites. I’m 31, and I quit my job to do this. I wanted to start my own business as well.

What were What were your your biggest biggest challenges? challenges?

DIANNE: The technical part was a big learning curve. We use software for everything: loading things onto the website, how we do things with our consigners. Gabrielle really knew that aspect of it, but I knew where we could make a profit, how items needed to be priced, what the great luxury items would be if we could get them.

GABRIELLE: I had to learn all of the names of the leathers, the types of handbags, more about the luxury aspect of it, and all

112 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

→ LABOR OF LOVE

The Melillos are a mother-daughter duo.

of the history behind the luxury items and luxury brands. We have a very savvy customer base.

How do How do you you gain gain those those savvy savvy customers’ trust trust with with customers’ pre-owned items? items? pre-owned DIANNE: People will reach out to us via DMs. They’ll contact us through Instagram. One customer bought a $2,000 bag from us and asked us for a video on how to change the strap. Another one asked us to take a photo of something in a bag. We’re very personal with our customers and our consigners on so many levels.

We will take that video for them.

Is that Is that type type of of customer customer service service different from from what what your your different competitors offer? offer? competitors GABRIELLE: Very different.

Our customers aren’t just our followers. We constantly get comments thanking us for helping them. I feel like the only way we get to that level of comments is when you are so close

to your customers.

DIANNE: And because Gabrielle is my daughter, we have insane trust between us. We have the same goals for this business, and we work so hard. It’s such an incredible labor of love.

Do you Do you ever ever meet meet your your customers in in person? person? customers DIANNE: Yes, when we do pop-up shops. We did events at a country club, a boutique, and some spas. Most of the women who get Botox and spa treatments are ready and willing to buy luxury items.

That sounds That sounds like like a a target-rich target-rich environment for environment for refilling refilling your your stock too. stock too.

DIANNE: Some of these women have such big collections, they’re giving up their bags that they don’t use anymore. That’s basically where we get our inventory. Those events—some of them have been really amazing for us.

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF SEASON 2 CONSIGN

f 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 on these items.”

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 this year, after being named one of the International Franchise Association’s Franchisees of the Year, they opened a second territory in northern New Jersey—making them Season 2 Consign’s first multi-unit owners. Here, they share what they’ve learned building a trust-based business.

DEVELOP DE ELLOP Y YOUR MARKET

*As outlined in Item 7 of our 2024 Franchise Disclosure Document. **As outlined in Item 19 of our 2024 Franchise Disclosure Document. Net Sales represents the combined average restaurants net sales for the combined 2,863 traditional corporate and franchise restaurants in fiscal year 2023. Results may differ. There is no assurance that you will do as well.

This brochure and the information contained herein does not constitute an offer to sell a franchise. An offer to sell a franchise can only be made through delivery of a Franchise Disclosure Document. Certain states require that we register the franchise disclosure document in those states. We will not offer or sell franchises in those states until we have registered the Franchise Disclosure Document (or obtained an applicable exemption from registration) and delivered the Franchise Disclosure Document to the prospective franchisee in compliance with applicable law.

Franchisor

Saving a Saving a Brand, Brand, Two Two Ears Ears at at a a Time Time

Pita Pit was struggling. So when CEO Peter Riggs took over, he drove around and let franchisees vent. Here’s what he learned.

P P

eter Riggs saved Pita Pit once. But can he do it twice?

Two decades ago, Riggs was a student at the University of Idaho and loved his local Pita Pit. After graduating, he and some friends bought a few franchises in California, and then asked for a development agreement for the whole state. Instead, the Canada-based company asked them to take over all U.S. operations. “They were ready to move on,” Riggs says. So he and some partners bought the business, grew it to 250 locations, and sold off their stake in 2018. But during the pandemic, the U.S. brand shrunk to 65 locations. So this last March, Riggs (who’d become an Idaho state senator) returned as U.S. CEO. To save Pita Pit again, he knew he’d have to work with his remaining franchisees—but they were distrustful.

“There hadn’t been a lot of support from corporate in the years we were gone,” he says. “The only way I could convince these franchisees that everything was going to be OK is if I said it to their faces.” So he bought a camper van and hit the road. Fifty thousand miles later, he has some lessons to share.

Were those Were those hard hard conversations conversations with Pita with Pita Pit’s Pit’s remaining remaining franchisees? franchisees?

It was me just listening for the most part. Some of them wanted to vent, even though I wasn’t there when this stuff happened and I wasn’t responsible for the global pandemic.

They needed a release valve, so I could be that. So I sat there

and let them take it out on me.

What did What did you you learn learn from from them? them?

We’re on a lot of college campuses. One big problem was that Pita Pit started out 25 years ago selling a $5 or $6 sandwich. Now it needs to be a $10 sandwich, but that’s pricey for college kids. They wanted something smaller, and we had

114 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

nothing. So we had to introduce more sides and hearty snacks, like our Greek Grilled Cheese, to get those customers back. It’s half a pita grilled with limited ingredients for $6, depending on location.

and ask for their feedback.

They’re dealing with problems too, including labor shortages.

It made them feel valued. It’s important because if something goes wrong, there’s somebody at the local level I can call.

Did the Did the franchisees franchisees accept accept your your ideas for ideas for the the future? future?

We have a design we’re prototyping for a drive-thru-only unit, and we want to make our stores look better. Some franchisees disagreed—they wanted things to go back to the late ’90s and 2000s. I said I couldn’t do that, and we were helpful with people who wanted to get out, finding new owners for their locations.

How long How long did did those those warehouse warehouse visits take? visits take?

An hour, max. If you think about how rarely somebody is acknowledged for doing their job—we’re all people. Treat people with respect, and it makes everything easier.

You also You also visited visited distributors. distributors.

Why? Why? You have to be very careful with pita bread or it breaks and becomes unusable. Sometimes what we tell our fooddistribution network doesn’t get through at the warehouse level.

So I went to the warehouses and talked to the guys.

That sounds That sounds unusual. unusual.

They said no CEOs ever go there

These sound These sound like like conversations conversations full of full of life life lessons. lessons.

Well, my marketing team asked me to document this trip, so I turned the inside of my van into a podcast studio. We launched the podcast Vantastic Voyage. I interviewed restaurant executives, marketing executives—I wanted to get a feel for broader topics of discussion across the industry. Just see where the conversations went. We think there’s a really cool opportunity to redefine the way we’ve been doing the fast-food business.

P H O T O G R A P H S C O U R T E S Y O F P I TA P I T

b y K I M K AV I N

Top Performers

From $430K to $1.8 Million in Revenue This franchisee bought a struggling location of Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii Hawaii, and then slammed the gas on growth. Here’s how. b y K I M K AV I N

1/ Promote from within.

Haseotes hired some new staffers, but also got to know the existing team members, and looked for outsize potential. One barista in particular, Daniel Guimond, seemed ready for a major promotion—so she made him a manager. “It made all the difference. My advice is to look around and see who does the work and exceeds expectations. That’s who deserves a shot.”

→ AWARD WINNER

Kristen Haseotes (second from right) receives an IFA Franchisee of the Year Award in 2023.

2/ See the bigger opportunity.

3/ Always foster connections.

Haseotes had a chance to expand into the space next door. This made little financial sense—twice as much rent, but no ability to expand the menu (due to a parking and zoning issue). But to Haseotes, her shop wasn’t really about coffee. It was about community—and the new space could host music, lectures, and more.

Haseotes had to close for the shop’s renovation, but during that time she offered free coffee to customers outside. And after a hurricane, she took free coffee to first responders. “We didn’t want people to go elsewhere.

It’s about routine,” she says. “I paid the staff. But with the tip cup, we donated that money to charity. When people gave, they gave generously.”

ADVICE FROM THE FRANCHISOR Don’t let big changes distract you from business fundamentals, says Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii CEO Scott Snyder. For example, the franchise was acquired the same year that Haseotes bought the Naples location—and the new owner launched a total brand redesign soon after. But Haseotes knew she had to iron out the basics before aesthetics.

She was laser-focused on “inventory, having equipment that works, and following the guidelines we were setting,” Snyder says. And it worked. “She nearly doubled the store in the first year without making any fundamental changes to the design.”

116 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

PHOTOGR A PHS COUR T ESY OF B A D A S S COF F EE OF H AWA II

K

risten Williams-Haseotes bought a struggling Bad Ass Coffee and made it the brand’s top-performing location. Now it’s on track to drive at least $1.8 million in revenue in 2024. How? She knew nothing about the coffee business, but she understood the importance of community, and how it gives places meaning.

Haseotes once ran a home for ex-offenders reentering the community, and then worked in community development at a bank.

In 2019, while living in Naples, Florida, she was a regular at the local Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii, because she loved the sense of community there: “It’s where everybody came and sat together and had a cup of coffee,” she says—from local electricians and landscapers to millionaires and billionaires. But the location was struggling, with revenue of only $430,000 a year. So she bought it. Here’s what she did next.

Feature

HOW TRUST SAVED KFC The former The former CEO of Yum! Brands explains explains how how he he turned turned around a around a struggling struggling KFC—and the the important important lesson lesson it it offers offers for for anyone anyone in in franchising. franchising. by D AV I D N O VA K 118 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

Illustration / P E T E R E Y N O L D S

E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / 119

I

n 1994, I became the president of Kentucky Fried Chicken. It was a big job, and I was excited. But when the news got out, I got more calls offering condolences than congratulations.

I understood why. KFC had been struggling. It hadn’t achieved its business plan and had no same-store sales growth for seven straight years. The company was owned

by PepsiCo at the time, and it had become a graveyard for PepsiCo executives. I could have easily been the next one in the grave: I was the COO of PepsiCola, the company’s beverage division, and PepsiCo chairman Wayne Calloway had asked me to take this job because of my reputation for turning around struggling businesses.

Now I had my work cut out for me.

To start, I was walking into a deeply distrustful environment. Franchisees owned 70% of KFC restaurants, and they saw Corporate as a bunch of outsiders who didn’t enjoy fried chicken and didn’t believe KFC could beat its competitors.

Franchisees also held a majority of the marketing votes, which meant they controlled everything from advertising to new products, and they often voted as a bloc—against the corporate executives. Trust was so frayed at the time that the franchisees were suing us over territorial rights.

In other words, I had inherited a business in decline and a broken franchise system waging open warfare.

But I had a secret weapon.

It’s called Theory Y. The term comes from Douglas McGregor, a management professor at MIT. Back in 1960, in a book called The

Feature

Human Side of Enterprise, he described two leadership outlooks on human behavior: Theory X and Theory Y. Theory X leaders believe that employees must be coerced, controlled, and threatened to do good work or take responsibility. Theory Y leaders believe that people are generally creative, ingenious, and ready to take on responsibility—if they are treated accordingly.

I was always a Theory Y guy.

And now was my chance to prove it.

I started at KFC on a Monday.

We had a conference with the best franchisees in the system scheduled for that Wednesday.

The department heads were urging me to cancel it. “Oh, no,” I said. “I can’t wait to meet these people.” Even if all I accomplished was telling them I was looking forward to working with them, I was going to have that meeting.

I believe in running an organization based on the assumption that 99.9% of people want to do good work. I trust in their positive intentions.

My experience at KFC proves that it works. Here’s what happened.

A

ctive learners understand the power of trust, and they leverage it to learn more, faster. Trusting in positive intentions helps us overcome our natural defensiveness and listen with an open mind. It helps us overcome our bias against ideas from people we may not see as “on our side”— which is often just a story we’ve made up about them. When we move beyond that kind of thinking, we’re more collaborative and we get to better action more quickly.

But that kind of trust doesn’t always come naturally. We’re

120 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

overly vigilant for threats in our environment. We’re too ready to interpret people’s actions through a negative lens, especially when there’s a longstanding issue or conflict. I don’t want you to think I’m naive, and I don’t mean to sound like a Pollyanna. My biggest disappointments in life haven’t been in business results or ideas that flopped; instead, they’ve been in people who have betrayed my trust. But I know that it’s still worth starting from a position of optimism.

This is what I was thinking back in 1994, when I became the new president at KFC. My corporate-level KFC colleagues were mired in battles.

They knew the franchisees hated them, which put them in a defensive crouch. That’s why they suggested that I cancel my first meeting with the system’s best

franchisees. They thought nothing good could come from it.

But I wanted to believe otherwise.

We had the call. “I want you to know one thing: I love Kentucky Fried Chicken,” I told the franchisees. That was true! Then I said, “Look, I don’t know this business, but I’m going to go through the process of learning it. I’m going to find out what the front lines are thinking, and I’m going to listen to our customers. Then I’m going to go out to share what I’ve learned with you. And then I’m going to ask you how to fix what’s not working. Together, we’re going to develop a plan to turn this business around.”

This was a tough bunch, and I knew that no matter what I said, they were focused on the territory rights issue. This was a battle over the franchise Illustration / P E T E R E Y N O L D S

Feature

contract that they’d signed. So I added, “I know there’s a contract issue, but we can’t fix this business by fighting each other.

If we can’t work together, there isn’t going to be any business left to fight over anyway. I’m not going to even talk about the contract until we fix this business, so don’t even bring it up.”

We started turning the business around in less than a year, in large part because we extended our trust first. We rounded up rather than down, assuming franchisees were more than their most biting remarks or their most aggressive actions.

And that helped them return the trust. In any relationship, business or personal, somebody must trust more or trust first to break inertia and build up positive momentum.

The strategy I used—and that you can use whenever you’re finding it hard to overcome your cynicism or shift your attitude—is to focus on shared goals. When you spend more time thinking about how you and another person or group are alike, rather than how you’re different, you can work around the natural tendency to consider other groups a threat.

I began shifting the attitudes of everybody who worked in corporate by “shocking the system,” which means taking whatever the conventional wisdom or prevailing attitudes are and turning them on their ear.

I announced to everyone in the building: “We’ve hated franchisees for so long it’s killing us.

From now on, we love franchisees. We absolutely adore them.

We want to work with them, we want to learn from them, and we want them to feel the love. Why? Because we don’t have a choice.” I saw us as one big in-group, with a long list of shared goals, all of us depend-

ing on each other to succeed.

Besides, the franchisees are entrepreneurs. A lot of them started with nothing and worked to become multimillionaires owning well-run organizations that manage more than 100 restaurants. We would have been crazy not to listen to them, learn from them, and rely on them. But first, we had to stop seeing them as the enemy. Despite the voting bloc and the lawsuit, we had to trust them and their intentions.

I had enough leadership experience by that point to understand the power of trust.

Stephen M. R. Covey calls it “the speed of trust”—which is also the title of his bestselling book—because when trust in an environment is high, everything moves faster.

I spoke to Covey about this.

He told me that he had this revelation early on as CEO of

ny’s trust-building programs.

KFC’s situation with franchisees was perfect anecdotal proof. Progress on important initiatives had been molasses-slow, and that had to change.

A

fter two years at KFC, I saw real progress. The brand had added $100,000 of incremental sales to their annual unit volumes. I moved up to become CEO and president of KFC and Pizza Hut, and eventually became CEO of the newly formed Yum! Brands, which housed those brands and others.

I was at Yum! Brands for 18 years.

Looking back, if you ask people what turned KFC around, they’re likely to say it was the new products. That’s true—we launched many new products, and they attracted great energy and attention. But those products were really a triumph of the human spirit. We only

Restaurant chains rely on familiarity and consistency. For a franchisee to develop their own product line is typically a huge negative. In the old days, before we were focused on developing trust and collaboration, I guarantee the franchisee wouldn’t have even told us what he was doing—and if we had found out on our own, we would have gone there and squashed him like a bug for changing products without permission.

Instead, I sent our marketing and R&D teams to see how he was doing it. He took them to his supplier, who showed them how we could deliver the same product nationally. That insight evolved into the most successful new product KFC had introduced since the Colonel’s original recipe. And when it worked, it sent a message to franchisees that we trusted their intentions, and they could

WHEN SOMEBODY MAKES A MISTAKE OR FAILS TO FOLLOW THROUGH, OUR TRUST IS TESTED. BUT WE HAVE THE PHRASE “HONEST MISTAKE” FOR A REASON. ASSUMING NEGATIVE INTENT CUTS US OFF FROM POSSIBILITY AND POSITIVE EXPERIENCES.

the Covey Leadership Center, the company founded by his father Stephen R. Covey that evolved into FranklinCovey.

The company was working with two suppliers to produce a product. One was a high-trust partner, and all the work with them happened smoothly and quickly. The other was a lowtrust relationship that required extra meetings, processes, and inspections. It was slow and costly. Stephen began to see the world through this lens of trust-as-speed. Eventually, he validated it with research, and it became the core of his compa-

122 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

began generating or discovering the ideas for them once we started trusting each other enough to work together.

Take chicken tenders, which we originally called Crispy Strips. Research and Development couldn’t figure out how to distribute them nationally, at a time when it seemed that every competitor had some kind of chicken tenders product. I’d been at KFC for about seven months when I learned that there was a franchisee in Arkansas selling Crispy Strips, and sales at his stores were up 9%.

trust ours—that we just wanted to champion good, successful ideas. It was a brand-new day.

Shortly after that, we solved the contract issue. We gave franchisees the one-and-a-half-mile exclusivity they wanted around each of their restaurants. In turn, we got the right to hire and fire our advertising agency, which gave us more marketing control.

A dispute that had lasted nearly a decade was solved fairly and quickly—because we had learned to trust each other.

Trust-building pays off bigtime, especially within teams or organizations. It creates

Scan Here to Learn More!

BE YOUR OWN

BOSS

OPEN A SPA FRANCHISE

Join a $1.8 Trillion Wellness Industry Membership-Based Recurring Revenue Model

Top Franchises for Franchisee Satisfaction

Award-Winning Technology & Innovation

Feature

environments of psychological safety, which, according to Amy Edmondson, a professor at Harvard Business School and author of The Fearless Organization, blend trust and respect. Her research has proven that in companies that work to eliminate fear, people are far more likely to speak up, share ideas, tell the truth, innovate, and learn from each other. They give their best individual effort for the benefit of the whole.

T

he triumph of Theory Y—and the power of trusting people—can transform franchising.

It can help franchisees drive better results from their teams, and can help franchisors build stronger and more productive relationships with their franchisees.

But it can go much further than that. This lesson applies everywhere, both inside and outside of business.

For example, look at sports: Brad Richards was an accomplished NHL player who won the Stanley Cup with both the Tampa Bay Lightning and Chicago Blackhawks, and he talked about how crucial trust was to his teams’ ability to succeed in the high-pressure, bright-lights playoff games.

Sometimes the first-tier hockey line, which contains the team’s top players, isn’t clicking on the ice. In those moments, a coach will substitute in players from the second line or even the third. For those players, this can be a big deal. They don’t always get playing time in big games. On less safe teams, those moments can lead to resentment or jealousy. The first-line players don’t want to share the spotlight or be outdone by others on their team.

Meanwhile, the second-line players could let their desire to shine drive them on the ice, which doesn’t lead to good team play.

But on successful teams, everybody trusts that every player is there to do what’s best for the team. They all believe in putting together the best line in the moment to win. They trust in each other’s positive intentions, so they can offer authentic support and encouragement. And together, they win.

I’ve even used this theory to build my podcast. Most of my guests are CEOs of large public companies, and some almost never agree to interviews. I hosted the first-ever podcast interview with Dave Calhoun, the president and CEO of Boeing at the time. He had been hired as CEO to lead the company through the crisis it faced after two of its 737 Maxes crashed, killing 346 people. The company was under investigation, its culture was in trouble, and he had a lot of work to do to turn the com-

in ours, we need to behave accordingly. We need to build a well of trust to draw on—and as Stephen Covey explains, an important factor in that is our integrity. For example, many years ago, my family had a vision for creating a new institution called the Novak Leadership Institute at the University of Missouri. We committed to funding it with a massive donation, and the school committed to housing it in a permanent, dedicated building. We felt this new building would give the institute even more legitimacy, showcase the university’s dedication to leadership education, and attract students by leveraging it as a competitive advantage.

Years after this commitment, that building still doesn’t exist.

COVID, rising construction costs, and supply chain issues have conspired to halt progress.

W

hen somebody makes a mistake or fails to follow through on a commitment, our trust is tested. But we have the phrase “honest mistake” for a reason.

Assuming negative intent cuts us off from possibility and positive experiences.

We’re all human. We’re all going to lose our tempers, or handle a delicate situation poorly, or not show as much compassion as we should, or make a poor judgment call.

When we’re on the receiving end, if we can take a breath, find a little empathy, and trust that the other person had good intentions that didn’t pan out, then we can avoid a total breakdown in the flow of ideas and learning and collaboration.

I read a striking definition of trust recently: “Trust is a relationship of reliance.” Aren’t

I HAD ENOUGH LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE BY THAT POINT TO UNDERSTAND THE POWER OF TRUST. STEPHEN M. R. COVEY CALLS IT “THE SPEED OF TRUST”—BECAUSE WHEN TRUST IN AN ENVIRONMENT IS HIGH, EVERYTHING MOVES FASTER.

pany around. But he came on the show because he trusts me. Guests know I’m not going to trick them into saying the wrong thing or use some kind of bait-and-switch interview tactic. That said, I’ll be fair and ask them about tough situations, because those are some of the most important learning moments they can share with listeners. But trust and safety allow people to be vulnerable, and that’s what makes our conversations so powerful.

As important as it is for us to trust in positive intentions, if we want people to trust

124 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

I could get angry about the lack of follow-through on a commitment. I could stamp my feet and make threats. Or I could be guided by the work that is happening, the incredible leadership of the institute’s executive director Margaret Duffy, the other forms of support from the university, and my trust that, eventually, it will happen.

The university’s leaders have built a well of trust to draw on, so I feel confident that as we work toward that goal, we’ll keep collaborating and learning new ways to make the institute everything we want it to be.

we all reliant on each other if we want to learn, grow, and expand our possibilities? We can choose to support that relationship or tear it down. If we choose the second option, we’re only limiting ourselves.

If we choose the first, the possibilities are infinite.

Reprinted by permission of Harvard Business Review Press.

Adapted from How Leaders Learn: Master the Habits of the World’s Most Successful People by David Novak with Lari Bishop. Copyright 2024 David C. Novak. All rights reserved.

OWN A KUMON The #1 Education Franchise in the World

JOIN THE WORLD’S LARGEST EDUCATION FRANCHISE More Than 4 Million Students and Over 26,000 Centers Globally BENEFITS OF FRANCHISING WITH KUMON • Industry-Low Franchise Fee • Ongoing Support and Training • Up to $38,700 to Help Open a New Center • Making a Difference in the Lives of Students LEARN MORE AT kumonfranchise.com ©2024 Kumon North America, Inc. All rights reserved. This information is not intended as an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy a franchise. We offer franchises solely by means of our Franchise Disclosure Document. The United States Federal Trade Commission and certain states have laws governing the offer and sale of franchises. We will not offer you a franchise unless and until we have complied with all applicable legal requirements in your jurisdiction.

Listings

PHOTOGRAPH BY STOCK.ADOBE.COM/YUT THANA

Top 200 Global Franchises

F

Want to open a franchise outside the U.S., or just buy into a brand known around the world? This list is for you.

by T R A C Y S TA P P H E R O L D

ranchising can be one of the most effective ways to grow a brand—not just nationally, but globally. But growing outside the U.S. won’t be easy. Expanding into other countries and cultures creates unique challenges, including finding local partners and adapting to local tastes. The challenge is often worth it, though: Success strengthens a brand as a whole and makes its systems even better here at home. That’s why we celebrate the companies with the most successful international franchising programs in this annual ranking.

To determine this ranking, we start with our proprietary Franchise 500 ranking formula—which evaluates franchise companies on more than 150 data points, in the areas of costs and fees, size and growth,

franchisee support, brand strength, and financial strength—and adjust it to give more weight to system size and growth outside the U.S. Each company receives a score after being run through this formula, and the top-scoring companies become our 200 top global franchises.

Whether you’re interested in opening a franchise outside the U.S. or just want to buy into a brand that’s known around the world, this list can serve as a great starting point. But it is not intended as an endorsement of any particular company. Before investing in any franchise opportunity, always do your own careful research. Read the company’s legal documents, consult with an attorney and an accountant, and talk to current and former franchisees to find out if it’s right for you.

September-October 2024 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / 127

The Top 200 Global Franchises

15

Papa Johns Pizza

STARTUP COST

$188.6K-$975.4K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

5,356/612

16 Dairy Queen

Soft-serve ice cream, burgers, chicken

Upscale hotels and resorts

STARTUP COST

18 Baskin-Robbins

TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

28,257/218

2 Taco Bell

Mexican-inspired food STARTUP COST

$610.8K-$3.98M TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

7,847/473

3 Pizza Hut

Pizza, pasta, wings

STARTUP COST

$412K-$2.1M TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

17,975/21

4 Dunkin’

Coffee, doughnuts, baked goods STARTUP COST

$437.5K-$1.8M TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

13,372/0

Fried chicken, seafood, biscuits

Upper upscale hotels and resorts

$1.5M-$2.6M TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

40,238/2,168

6 7-Eleven

Convenience stores STARTUP COST

$139.2K-$1.4M TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

77,886/5,893

7 Hampton by Hilton Upper midscale hotels STARTUP COST

$12.8M-$24.1M TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

2,919/0

STARTUP COST

$383.5K-$3.7M TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

4,050/41

10 Kumon

Supplemental education STARTUP COST

$73.8K-$165.9K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

25,390/28

11 IHOP

Family restaurants STARTUP COST

$1.2M-$6.6M TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

1,832/0

8 Ace Hardware

Hardware and home improvement stores STARTUP COST

$579.4K-$1.9M TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

5,582/231

128 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

Resorts

STARTUP COST

$38.9M-$162.5M

7,682/0

19 Snap-on Tools

Professional tools and equipment STARTUP COST

495/47

STARTUP COST

$86.9K-$495.9K TOTAL UNITS

TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

9,111/0

25

Anytime Fitness Fitness centers

$388.97K-$970.1K (Franchised / Co.-Owned)

5,184/12

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

TOTAL UNITS

Shipping, packing, mailboxes, printing, faxing, shredding, notary services

$43K-$289.5K

TOTAL UNITS

$217.5K-$481.6K

13 The UPS Store

Real estate

STARTUP COST

TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

STARTUP COST

TOTAL UNITS

Kitchen

$652.6K-$1.8M

Ice cream, frozen yogurt, frozen beverages $293.8K-$642.4K

STARTUP COST

Bakery cafes

24 RE/MAX

511/0

$1.9M-$3.8M

23 Paris Baguette

17 DoubleTree by (Franchised / Co.-Owned)

STARTUP COST

1,882/0

3,807/19

TOTAL UNITS

Burgers, chicken, salads, beverages

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

TOTAL UNITS

$28M-$97.6M

Chicken

TOTAL UNITS

7,395/2

STARTUP COST

12 Hilton Hotels and

$60.3K-$621.4K

TOTAL UNITS

Hilton

9 Popeyes Louisiana

STARTUP COST

STARTUP COST

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

5 McDonald’s

Cinnamon rolls, baked goods, coffee

STARTUP COST

$1.5M-$2.5M

1 KFC

22 Cinnabon

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

4,461/213

20 Hilton Garden Inn

26 Budget Blinds

Window coverings, window film, rugs, accessories STARTUP COST

$140.5K-$211.8K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

1,472/0

27 PIRTEK

Upscale hotels

Hydraulic and industrial hose maintenance, repair, and replacement

STARTUP COST

STARTUP COST

$21.4M-$32.8M

$211.4K-$610.3K

TOTAL UNITS

TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

5,656/2

985/0

647/0

14 Arby’s

21 Holiday Inn and

28 Burger King

Hotels

STARTUP COST

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

Sandwiches, fries, shakes STARTUP COST

$644.95K-$2.5M TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

2,492/1,110

Holiday Inn Express STARTUP COST

Burgers, fries, breakfast $1.8M-$4.5M

$10.98M-$23.3M

TOTAL UNITS

TOTAL UNITS

19,689/50

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

4,306/2

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF KFC

→ KFC

NO NEED TO WAIT FOR PIGS TO FLY PuroClean is your dream franchise with a low-cost entry into a high margin, recession-resistant industry.

WANT TO KNOW MORE? Scan to read about your investment opportunity.

www.PuroCleanFranchise.com

Franchise expansion has become increasingly international in the last few years. Here are the 25 brands with the greatest franchise growth outside of the U.S. and Canada from July 2021 to JulyFranchises 2022.

The Top 200 Global

Medical and nonmedical home care, medical staffing STARTUP COST

$125.5K-$199.5K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

651/4

30 Crunch

Fitness centers STARTUP COST

$668K-$6.7M TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

401/41

31 Servpro

Fire, water, and other damage cleanup, restoration, and reconstruction

36 Randy’s Donuts STARTUP COST

$297K-$1.2M TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

31/9

37 Pearle Vision

Eye care and eyewear STARTUP COST

$70.2K-$990.7K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

461/109

38 Petland

Pets, pet supplies, boarding, daycare, grooming

STARTUP COST

STARTUP COST

TOTAL UNITS

TOTAL UNITS

2,199/0

280/27

$241.3K-$301.8K (Franchised / Co.-Owned)

32 Wendy’s

Burgers, chicken sandwiches, breakfast sandwiches, sides STARTUP COST

$313K-$1.1M

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

39 Auntie Anne’s Soft pretzels

STARTUP COST

$104.6K-$572.1K

$320.5K-$4.6M

TOTAL UNITS

TOTAL UNITS

1,974/11

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

6,870/412

33 Century 21 Real

Estate

Real estate STARTUP COST

$24.7K-$459.3K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

40 H&R Block

Tax preparation, electronic filing STARTUP COST

34 Ziebart

Auto detailing, films, appearance and protection services STARTUP COST

$416K-$566K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

398/11

35 Homewood Suites

by Hilton

Upscale extended-stay hotels

42

Express Employment Professionals

Staffing, HR solutions STARTUP COST

$140K-$400K

45

48

51

Chicken wings, tenders, and sandwiches, fries, sides

Upper upscale hotels

Upscale hotels

Wingstop

STARTUP COST

$325.6K-$974.7K TOTAL UNITS

$31.7K-$158.3K

TOTAL UNITS

TOTAL UNITS

863/2

2,001/45

43 Planet Fitness

46 Paul Davis

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

3,055/6,582

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

12,911/0

→ CRUNCH

Doughnuts, breakfast sandwiches, croissants, coffee, tea, lemonades, milkshakes, boba drinks

41 Leadership

Management International

Leadership and organizational training and development STARTUP COST

$20K-$27.5K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

495/0

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

Fitness clubs

STARTUP COST

$1.5M-$5.1M TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

2,319/256

44 Denny’s

Full-service restaurants STARTUP COST

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

538/0

130 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

TOTAL UNITS

TOTAL UNITS

144/0

113/0

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

$3.3M-$118.2M (Franchised / Co.-Owned)

Upper midscale extendedstay hotels

$238.1K-$617.1K

TOTAL UNITS

STARTUP COST

TOTAL UNITS

1,454/152

TOTAL UNITS

Insurance restoration STARTUP COST

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

297/0

47 Embassy Suites by Hilton

STARTUP COST

$21.4M-$31.9M

STARTUP COST

$3.98M-$140.5M

STARTUP COST

Restoration

TOTAL UNITS

STARTUP COST

STARTUP COST

52 Home2 Suites by

Upper upscale extendedstay hotels

1,522/66

Tapestry Collection

by Hilton

49 The Maids

$1M-$2.3M

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

Curio Collection by Hilton

$47.9M-$75.6M TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

245/0

Residential cleaning $77.6K-$155.9K (Franchised / Co.-Owned)

Hilton

$14.5M-$21.6M (Franchised / Co.-Owned)

50 Great Clips

614/0

STARTUP COST

53 Circle K

TOTAL UNITS

STARTUP COST

4,427/0

TOTAL UNITS

Hair salons

$182.95K-$414.4K (Franchised / Co.-Owned)

Convenience stores $935.5K-$6.95M (Franchised / Co.-Owned)

2,562/9,637

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF CRUNCH FITNESS

29 Interim HealthCare

54

61

Auto repair and tires

Nonmedical senior care

Midas

Home Instead

STARTUP COST

STARTUP COST

TOTAL UNITS

TOTAL UNITS

1,938/0

1,213/4

$103.7K-$885.6K (Franchised / Co.-Owned)

55 Dogtopia

Dog daycare, boarding, and spa services STARTUP COST

$607.8K-$1.3M TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

269/6

56 A&W Restaurants Root beer, burgers, hot dogs, chicken, sides, ice cream STARTUP COST

$98K-$125K

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

62 Aqua-Tots Swim Schools

Swimming lessons STARTUP COST

$984.1K-$2M TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

152/1

63 Wyndham Hotels

STARTUP COST

$1.3M-$86.1M

$278.3K-$1.6M

TOTAL UNITS

TOTAL UNITS

168/0

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

882/2

57 Regus

Flexible/virtual offices, coworking spaces, meeting and training facilities STARTUP COST

$939.5K-$1.9M TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

64 Sport Clips Haircuts

Haircuts for men and boys STARTUP COST

$276.8K-$463K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

1,820/82

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

326/2,933

58 Slim Chickens

Chicken tenders, chicken wings, salads, sandwiches, wraps STARTUP COST

$1.6M-$4.4M TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

P H O T O G R A P H C O U R T E S Y J I F F Y L U B E I N T E R N AT I O N A L , I N C .

203/11

59 Kitchen Tune-Up Residential kitchen remodeling STARTUP COST

$129.9K-$188.9K

65 FastSigns

290/0

60 Jan-Pro Cleaning and Disinfecting Commercial cleaning STARTUP COST

$4.8K-$58.1K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

68

Marco’s Pizza

Signs, graphics

Pizza, pizza bowls, subs, wings, salads, cheese bread

STARTUP COST

STARTUP COST

71 Motel 6

STARTUP COST

$236.5K-$7.9M TOTAL UNITS

TOTAL UNITS

TOTAL UNITS

1,235/2

768/0

1,124/42

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

66 The Habit Burger

69 Stratus Building

Burgers, sandwiches, salads, sides

Environmentally friendly commercial cleaning and disinfecting

Grill

STARTUP COST

$1.5M-$1.8M TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

71/307

67 CertaPro Painters Painting and decorating services STARTUP COST

$171K-$320.5K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

359/1

Solutions

STARTUP COST

$4.5K-$79.8K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

3,641/0

70 Ben & Jerry’s

Ice cream, frozen yogurt, nondairy frozen desserts, sorbet STARTUP COST

$155.9K-$549.3K

74

Economy lodging

$285.6K-$804.9K

$248.1K-$344.6K

TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

→ JIFFY LUBE

$137.8K-$170.8K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

508/7

72 Buffalo Wild Wings Wings, bar food, alcohol STARTUP COST

$2.5M-$4.8M TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

593/659

73 Anago Cleaning Systems

Commercial cleaning STARTUP COST

75 Color Glo

Leather, vinyl, fabric, carpet, and surface repair and restoration STARTUP COST

Upper upscale hotels STARTUP COST

$57.3M-$141.9M TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

39/0

78 Jiffy Lube

Oil changes and preventive auto maintenance STARTUP COST

$232K-$442.7K TOTAL UNITS

TOTAL UNITS

1,859/373

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

139/0

76 Gold’s Gym STARTUP COST

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

77

Canopy by Hilton

$63.3K-$68.4K

Health and fitness centers

$11.3K-$68.3K 1,835/0

Mobile locksmith and security services STARTUP COST

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

TOTAL UNITS

Pop-A-Lock

$1.5M-$3.7M TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

539/60

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

79 La Quinta by Wyndham

Hotels

STARTUP COST

$4.3M-$15.2M TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

918/0

TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

550/8

10,654/0

September-October 2024 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / 131

The Top 200 Global Franchises

87 Minuteman Press

Sign and lighting service and maintenance

STARTUP COST

Lighting Service STARTUP COST

$65K-$389.2K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

58/42

81 The Vitamin Shoppe

Vitamins, minerals, supplements, sport nutrition products

Printing, graphics, and marketing services $80.99K-$221.1K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

1,015/0

88 Carl’s Jr. Burgers

$1.3M-$3.4M TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

1,644/51

TOTAL UNITS

89 Two Men and a

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

31/673

82 Keller Williams Real estate

STARTUP COST

$182.4K-$335.7K TOTAL UNITS

Truck

Moving, storage, and junk removal services STARTUP COST

$107.1K-$538.7K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

361/1

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

1,151/0

83 Kinderdance

Children’s dance, gymnastics, movement, fitness, and yoga programs STARTUP COST

$18.3K-$47.8K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

230/4

84 Glass Doctor

Auto/residential/ commercial glass installation, repair, and replacement STARTUP COST

$161.9K-$317.1K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

189/0

85 California Pizza Kitchen

Pizza, pasta, salads, desserts, beverages STARTUP COST

$3.5M-$6.7M TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

41/140

86 Sylvan Learning

Supplemental education, STEM camps, college prep STARTUP COST

$100.8K-$226.8K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

547/5

What’s New for Your Brand Internationally?

STARTUP COST

STARTUP COST

$528.9K-$976.9K

WE ASKED/

90 Freedom Boat Club Membership boat clubs STARTUP COST

$222.5K-$500.5K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

280/126

91 AAMCO

THREE ANSWERS/ “After our successful expansion into Australia and New Zealand, we are excited to introduce a new program that enables candidates with recruiting experience to join as employees, with a clear path and plan for franchise ownership. Additionally, we have just launched Express Health Staffing as an international franchise opportunity for those with a healthcare background.”

—Vinny Provenzano, senior vice president of global franchising, Express Employment Professionals (No. 42)

92 Merry Maids

“Expanding into Romania is an exciting opportunity for us. The country’s cultural emphasis on education, with over 50% of primary and secondary students using tutoring services, shows their commitment to academic excellence that aligns perfectly with our mission. Additionally, Romania’s growing middle class and franchise-friendly environment make it an ideal market for rapid expansion.”

STARTUP COST

—Benjamin Simon, regional vice president of international, Mathnasium (No. 118)

Transmissions and Total Car Care Transmission and general auto repairs, diagnostic services STARTUP COST

$234.8K-$353.2K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

543/13

Residential cleaning $94.5K-$144.4K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

1,640/0

93 Once Upon A Child New and used children’s clothing, equipment, furniture, toys STARTUP COST

$287.8K-$420.8K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

425/0

“We have seen a significant increase in franchise inquiries from Central and South America. We recently opened in Puerto Rico and added two more locations in Mexico, and we’re excited and ready to expand into Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, and Costa Rica.

Our training, marketing, and support systems are now all available in Spanish, and the proper team is in place.” —Jesse Johnstone, president, Fibrenew (No. 182)

132 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

P H O T O G R A P H S C O U R T E S Y O F F I B R E N E W (J E S S E J O H N S T O N E ) ; M AT H N A S I U M L E A R N I N G C E N T E R ( B E N J A M I N S I M O N ) ; E X P R E S S E M P L O Y M E N T I N T E R N AT I O N A L ( V I N N Y P R O V E N Z A N O )

80 YESCO Sign &

The Top 200 Global Franchises

94

The Good Feet Store

Arch supports, related products STARTUP COST

$248.8K-$587.8K TOTAL UNITS

101

Firehouse Subs

→ KONA ICE

Subs

STARTUP COST

$200.1K-$1M TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

1,241/39

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

95 PostNet

Packing, shipping, printing, signs, marketing solutions STARTUP COST

102 Baymont by Wyndham Hotels

STARTUP COST

$184.5K-$9.7M

$209.3K-$261.3K

TOTAL UNITS

TOTAL UNITS

528/0

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

730/0

96 Kona Ice

Shaved-ice trucks STARTUP COST

$173.3K-$222.1K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

1,810/4

97 Marble Slab

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

103 The Little Gym

Child-development/fitness programs STARTUP COST

$465.3K-$637K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

370/1

104 Image360

Creamery Ice cream

Signs, graphics, displays, digital imaging, visual communications

STARTUP COST

STARTUP COST

$277.5K-$402.2K

$132.1K-$522.1K

TOTAL UNITS

TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

375/0

281/2

98 ServiceMaster

105 Allegra Marketing

Commercial/residential disaster restoration

Printing, marketing, direct mail, signs, promotional products

Restore

STARTUP COST

$252.7K-$358.8K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

2,334/0

99 Right at Home

Home care, medical staffing STARTUP COST

$88.7K-$157.7K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

690/26

100 Wild Birds Unlimited

Bird-feeding supplies and nature gift items STARTUP COST

$224.4K-$379.96K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

360/0

Print Mail

STARTUP COST

108 Mac Tools

Automotive tools and equipment STARTUP COST

$119.9K-$343.4K

$129.5K-$456.8K

TOTAL UNITS

TOTAL UNITS

1,159/0

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

237/2

106 KidStrong

Physical fitness, leadership, and confidence-building training for children STARTUP COST

$313.2K-$664.2K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

109 Jamba

Smoothies, juices, and bowls STARTUP COST

$129.8K-$1M TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

794/2

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

93/9

107 Subway

Subs, salads STARTUP COST

$229.1K-$522.3K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

36,514/0

134 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

110 Jazzercise

113 Metal

STARTUP COST

Metal stores

Dance fitness classes $2.1K-$40.7K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

7,346/2

111 Signal

Private security guard and patrol services STARTUP COST

$57.5K-$273.2K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

1,084/0

Supermarkets

116

Nurse Next Door Home Care Services

STARTUP COST

Medical/nonmedical home care

TOTAL UNITS

STARTUP COST

118/10

TOTAL UNITS

$310.5K-$562.5K (Franchised / Co.-Owned)

$115.1K-$211.6K (Franchised / Co.-Owned)

114 Realty One Group

182/1

STARTUP COST

117 Gong cha

TOTAL UNITS

STARTUP COST

435/12

TOTAL UNITS

Real estate

$48.3K-$227.5K (Franchised / Co.-Owned)

Bubble tea

$174.5K-$619.5K (Franchised / Co.-Owned)

112 Granite and Trend Transformations Home remodeling STARTUP COST

$196.4K-$325.8K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

58/3

115 School of Rock Music education STARTUP COST

$387.3K-$663.7K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

292/46

1,505/497

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF KONA ICE

213/26

OW N A F RAN CH ISE

FREE OF *ALL THAT B. S. *BAD SE RVICE

The auto industry has a bad rap for bad service, but not at Midas. We’re all about transparency, giving our customers confidence in our service and a reason to return. And with our investment in evolving technology, we’re ready to help them today and down the road. At Midas, we’re leading the way in how business should be done.

Join us at midasfranchise.com

The Top 200 Global Franchises

118 Mathnasium

121 Trademark

Math tutoring STARTUP COST

Collection by Wyndham

$112.9K-$149.6K

Hotels

TOTAL UNITS

STARTUP COST

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

$239.7K-$15.99M

1,164/4

→ PUROCLEAN

TOTAL UNITS (Franchised / Co.-Owned)

119 PuroClean Property damage restoration and remediation STARTUP COST

185/0

122 Precision Tune Auto Care

$95.5K-$245.9K

Auto repair and maintenance

TOTAL UNITS

STARTUP COST

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

466/0

$134K-$310.3K TOTAL UNITS

281/21

STARTUP COST

123 PJ’s Coffee of New

$125.5K-$171.2K

Orleans

TOTAL UNITS

Coffee, tea, pastries, sandwiches

Nonmedical home care

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

692/0

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF PUROCLEAN

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

120 Visiting Angels

STARTUP COST

$459K-$1.2M TOTAL UNITS (Franchised / Co.-Owned)

181/0

L ght Bu ld

S

k,

OW Sc

v

b

t

t

Ou

ov

syst

ow

k g

l d ff

xb L O

Vst to u lock th fo

xp

ss o

wh l

y

c M d Fu , th u s to jo

, ss

ou f

ch s f

s you to b y c

ch ld

k g ly.

w ’s l v s.

B

v Opp

y

pp

ul fo succ ss w th

.

Sc

o c ll 800.444.4968 c M d Fu f ch s !

124 ShelfGenie

127 Candlewood Suites

130 Senior Helpers

133 MaidPro

136 Tous les Jours

139 Drama Kids

Custom pull-out shelving for cabinets and pantries

Hotels

Bakery cafes

STARTUP COST

STARTUP COST

$12.2M-$18.3M

Personal, companion, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s home care

Residential cleaning

STARTUP COST

After-school drama classes and summer camps

$38.7K-$133.6K TOTAL UNITS (Franchised / Co.-Owned)

STARTUP COST

$105.6K-$130.8K

$718.2K-$983.9K

$127.8K-$171.8K

TOTAL UNITS

TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

$43.5K-$64.5K

371/0

TOTAL UNITS

267/0

1,540/154

TOTAL UNITS

TOTAL UNITS

260/17

125 The Exercise Coach Personal training STARTUP COST

$136K-$348.7K TOTAL UNITS (Franchised / Co.-Owned)

233/0

126 Great American

STARTUP COST

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

128 Closets By Design

356/5

131 Carvel

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

134 Bin There Dump

137 Sola Salons

That

Salon studios

Ice cream, ice cream cakes

Residential-friendly dumpster rentals

STARTUP COST

STARTUP COST

STARTUP COST

$152K-$507K

$67.9K-$536.4K

STARTUP COST

TOTAL UNITS

TOTAL UNITS

TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

77/6

352/0

Custom closet and home/ office organization systems

$116.2K-$235.4K TOTAL UNITS

259/0

132 ComForCare

135

Cookies, cookie cakes, brownies

Midscale hotels

Nonmedical home care

STARTUP COST

STARTUP COST

Mechanics’ tools and equipment

STARTUP COST

$12.2M-$19.2M

$72.98K-$163.9K

STARTUP COST

$195.8K-$412.2K

TOTAL UNITS

TOTAL UNITS

$77.2K-$313.6K

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

246/0

250/0

TOTAL UNITS (Franchised / Co.-Owned)

410/0

$1M-$2.1M

Matco Tools

TOTAL UNITS (Franchised / Co.-Owned)

214/0

140 Church’s Texas Chicken Chicken

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

STARTUP COST

638/67

$648.9K-$1.9M

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

129 Tru by Hilton

Cookies

STARTUP COST

TOTAL UNITS

138 EverLine Coatings and Services Parking lot striping and pavement maintenance STARTUP COST

$161.3K-$317.9K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

1,374/157

141

Rainbow Restoration Restoration and remediation

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

STARTUP COST

71/1

$169.3K-$325.9K

1,942/8

TOTAL UNITS (Franchised / Co.-Owned)

369/0

JJoin One of the World’s Fastest Growing Franchises.

• Over 1,100 learning centers. Our global footprint continues to expand

• Low cost of entry. Initial investment is under $150K

• Excellent territories still available

• Soaring demand for after-school math. The global market for tutoring is over $170 billion*

• #1 in math education. We’ve become a trusted resource for families

Visit MathnasiumFranchise.com or call 888 763 2604 This information is not intended as an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, a franchise. It is for information purposes only. In the USA and some countries, the offer of a franchise can only be made through the delivery of a franchise disclosure document and these states regulate the offer and sale of franchises: CA, HI, IL, IN, MD, MI, MN, NY, ND, OR, RI, SD, VA, WA, and WI. We will not offer you a franchise unless and until we have complied with applicable pre-sale registration and disclosure requirements in your state or country. *GlobeNewswire, July 2020

The Top 200 Global Franchises

142 British Swim

148

Swimming lessons for ages 3 months and older

Business coaching and consulting

School

Expense Reduction Analysts (ERA)

STARTUP COST

STARTUP COST

TOTAL UNITS

TOTAL UNITS

181/0

687/0

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

143 Tint World

Auto, home, and business window tinting; vehicle wraps, mobile electronics, auto accessories, detailing services STARTUP COST

$279.95K-$439.95K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

160/1

144 InterContinental

Hotels & Resorts

$71K-$95.9K

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

149 Plato’s Closet

514/0

150 Chester’s Fried chicken

STARTUP COST

$27.5K-$296.5K (Franchised / Co.-Owned)

151 The Ten Spot

145 Wingate by

Nail care, waxing, facials, laser hair removal

Hotels

TOTAL UNITS

STARTUP COST

43/1

Wyndham

$358.1K-$13.8M TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

196/0

146 The Alternative Board (TAB)

Business owner advisory boards, coaching, strategic planning STARTUP COST

$55.9K-$96.7K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

331/11

147 Crowne Plaza

Hotels & Resorts Hotels

STARTUP COST

$42.6M-$74.2M TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

400/0

246/0

156 Hotel Indigo Hotels

$16.4M-$64.3M (Franchised / Co.-Owned)

145/0

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

1,092/0

211/4

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

TOTAL UNITS

TOTAL UNITS

STARTUP COST

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

TOTAL UNITS

STARTUP COST

TOTAL UNITS

TOTAL UNITS

$77.8K-$184.8K

STARTUP COST

Hotels

$96.9M-$139.3M

STARTUP COST

Teen- and young-adultclothing resale stores $287.3K-$417.3K

→ BRITISH SWIM SCHOOL

Residential and commercial painting

STARTUP COST

$334K-$523K

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

152 Mr. Rooter Plumbing

Plumbing, drain, and sewer cleaning STARTUP COST

$83.1K-$225.4K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

244/3

153 Real Property Management

157 Boston’s Pizza

Restaurant & Sports Bar

Restaurants and sports bars STARTUP COST

$1M-$2.8M

TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

421/4

158 Homewatch CareGivers

Home care services STARTUP COST

$92.3K-$154K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

248/0

159 Perkins Restaurant & Bakery

Family-style restaurants STARTUP COST

$1.5M-$3.3M TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

191/81

160 Men In Kilts

Property management

Window and exterior cleaning

STARTUP COST

STARTUP COST

$91.7K-$266.2K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

438/0

$127.5K-$222.95K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

42/0

154 Hardee’s

161 Orangetheory

STARTUP COST

$1.3M-$3.4M

Heart-rate-based group interval workout classes

TOTAL UNITS

STARTUP COST

Burgers

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

1,904/194

Fitness

$613.1K-$1.6M TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

1,505/22

162 Bath Tune-Up

Snap Fitness

172 Signarama

STARTUP COST

STARTUP COST

STARTUP COST

TOTAL UNITS

TOTAL UNITS

TOTAL UNITS

52/0

1,001/24

669/0

Bathroom remodeling $104.9K-$158.9K (Franchised / Co.-Owned)

$528.8K-$1M

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

163 Heaven’s Best

168 Techy

Carpet, upholstery, tile, and wood floor cleaning

STARTUP COST

STARTUP COST

TOTAL UNITS

Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning

$55.96K-$110.1K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

451/0

164 Floor Coverings International Flooring

STARTUP COST

$180.4K-$243.5K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

Electronics repairs and sales, accessories, home installation $112.5K-$399.5K (Franchised / Co.-Owned)

102/7

169 American

Poolplayers Association

Recreational billiard leagues STARTUP COST

$21.9K-$30.5K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

260/0

334/6

165 Temporary Wall

170 Coverall

Systems

Commercial cleaning

Rental, installation, and service of modular containment systems

STARTUP COST

STARTUP COST

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

$153.4K-$365.94K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

142/0

166 Transworld

Business Advisors Business brokerages; franchise consulting STARTUP COST

$94.1K-$119.6K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

450/1

138 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

167

24-hour fitness centers

$17.9K-$62.9K TOTAL UNITS

7,521/0

171 Dale Carnegie

Workplace training and development STARTUP COST

$92K-$252K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

207/1

Sign products and services $120.2K-$318.2K (Franchised / Co.-Owned)

173 HouseMaster

Home Inspections Home inspections and related services STARTUP COST

$58.3K-$92.2K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

194/0

174 Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ Restaurant Japanese barbecue restaurants STARTUP COST

$1.2M-$2.6M TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

750/33

175 Maid Brigade

Residential cleaning STARTUP COST

$119.2K-$147.9K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

381/24

176 Play It Again Sports New and used sporting goods/equipment STARTUP COST

$314.3K-$420.8K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

298/0

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF BRITISH SWIM SCHOOL

$108.9K-$145.2K

155

Five Star Painting

The Top 200 Global Franchises

189 Venture X

195

STARTUP COST

STARTUP COST

TOTAL UNITS

TOTAL UNITS

52/0

319/0

Coworking spaces $431.1K-$3.3M (Franchised / Co.-Owned)

Korean fried chicken

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

84/4

191 Carstar

Auto collision repair STARTUP COST

$298.2K-$804.3K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

768/4

192 Challenge Island

Educational enrichment programs STARTUP COST

$58.5K-$74.1K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

232/7

Interior design and decorating services and products

STARTUP COST

Interiors

STARTUP COST

$43.8K-$70.4K TOTAL UNITS

$82.2K-$2M TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

232/4

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

241/0

178 Augusta Lawn Care Services

Lawn care and landscaping STARTUP COST

$12.99K-$82.5K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

151/2

179 Send Me a Pro

181 Cold Stone Creamery

Ice cream, sorbet, ice cream cakes, shakes STARTUP COST

$322.7K-$627.8K TOTAL UNITS

Burgers

STARTUP COST

$1.3M-$2.4M TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

108/135

184 Sign Gypsies

Special-occasion yard sign rentals STARTUP COST

$4.2K-$9.9K

TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

715/1

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

1,373/1

182 Fibrenew

In-home services

Leather, plastic, and vinyl restoration and repair

STARTUP COST

STARTUP COST

$49.1K-$84.8K

$100.6K-$120.6K

TOTAL UNITS

TOTAL UNITS

84/0

307/1

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

183 Smashburger

185 Wyndham Grand Hotels

186 The Grounds Guys

193 Enviro-Master

STARTUP COST

Commercial cleaning and disinfecting

Lawn and landscape design and maintenance $79.3K-$192.5K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

266/0

187 Eye Level Learning Centers

Supplemental education STARTUP COST

$52.3K-$121.7K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

514/752

188 Ramada by

STARTUP COST

Wyndham

TOTAL UNITS

STARTUP COST

$1.1M-$85.3M

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

70/0

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

140 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

Hotels

$209.4K-$18.3M TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

851/0

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

STARTUP COST TOTAL UNITS

Hot dogs, burgers, seafood, chicken, cheesesteaks

$17.7M-$26.6M

196 Bonchon Korean

$271.2K-$517.8K

180 Nathan’s Famous

Hotels

190 Studio Pilates

Reformer Pilates studios

177 Decorating Den

Staybridge Suites

Fried Chicken STARTUP COST

$202.6K-$1.2M TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

410/5

197 ERA Real Estate Real estate

STARTUP COST

$27.4K-$435.1K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

2,386/0

198 InXpress

Shipping and logistics services STARTUP COST

$86.9K-$168.3K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

434/1

Services

199 Snapology

STARTUP COST

STARTUP COST

TOTAL UNITS

TOTAL UNITS

100/2

156/3

$96.3K-$220.3K (Franchised / Co.-Owned)

194 Intelligent Office Physical and virtual office space for mobile executives and small businesses STARTUP COST

$850.8K-$1.8M TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

55/0

STEAM education programs $73.7K-$611.8K (Franchised / Co.-Owned)

200 Club Pilates

Reformer Pilates classes STARTUP COST

$196.5K-$458.6K TOTAL UNITS

(Franchised / Co.-Owned)

891/8

PHOTOGR A PH COURT ESY OF COL D STONE COMPA NY

→ COLD STONE CREAMERY

A DV E R T IS E M E N T

OPPORTUNITY One of these opportunities could mark the turning point to owning a business of your own, realizing your personal dreams and securing true financial independence. So go ahead, make your first move by considerw ing all that they have to offer in this Opportunity Spotlight.

Then make your first call.

READY TO FIND YOUR FRANCHISE? WE’LL MATCH YOU BASED ON YOUR SPECIFIC NEEDS!

ENT_0924_0529 Franchise Quiz SCAN TO GET

ENT_0124_0250 Get Started for as low as $2,450 Lil Orbits

STARTED!

Get essential tips and inspiration for starting and growing your business sent straight to you ENT_0924_0511

Entrepreneur Daily

S OP LOSING IME S AR MAKING MONEY Disc ver 1

SILE CE R

ENT_0924_0510 A ISH f House EP/NOBS A ORE 2

3

f

D ’ B c

LESS

TIME

d

SANITY.

GRAB YOUR COPY TODAY!

Grab Y ur C py

entm.ag/time

To advertise in this section, please call 800-864-6864.

day!

BUY NOW

This Clock This Clock Stopped, Stopped, So II Could So Could Keep Keep Going Going

by Chuck James, founder and COO, SpareBox Storage

→ TIME STANDS STILL →

The author’s clock, frozen at 2:05. It’s the moment he lives for.

WHAT INSPIRES YOU? Tell us about a story, person, object, or something else that pushes you forward, and we may include it in a future issue. And we may make you photograph it, too. Email INSPIRE@ENTREPRENEUR.COM with the subject line “WHAT INSPIRES ME.”

14 4 / E N T R E P R E N E U R . C O M / September-October 2024

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF CHUCK JAMES

I

t’s 2:04 p.m. on a summer day in August 2010. I’m at the Mayo Clinic. I have a tracheal tube down my throat, so I can’t talk. There are wires all over me, and I’m in immense pain. It is incredibly uncomfortable. The day before, I had open heart surgery.

At 2:05 p.m., a doctor walks into the room. “I know you’re feeling like death right now,” he says. Since I can’t talk, it’s not much of a conversation, but I nod in agreement. “I promise you in 15 minutes,” he continues, “you’re going to feel like a new person. We’re taking all the tubes out.”

To be honest, I didn’t believe him—but he was right.

When the chest and tracheal tubes came out of me, life flowed back in. I was a new person. I went from death’s door to reborn in 15 minutes.

Since that day in 2010, I stopped winding the clock in my office. I leave it at 2:05 p.m. That moment—and the entire experience—changed everything for me, and informs my approach not only to my personal life, but to my professional career as founder and chief operating officer at SpareBox Storage.

This surgery was the culmination of 30 years of unexplained health issues—the root of which doctors couldn’t identify. After decades of symptoms, I was resigned to living my life without a diagnosis or a cure. Then, miraculously, they figured it out!

Though the clock on my desk doesn’t tell time, it tells me something far more important: Even in the worst situations, relief is just around the corner; we just can’t see it. It’s often in our moments of deepest uncertainty that resolution comes to us.

The clock’s message is as true in business as it is in life.

Starting a business is full of uncertainty. Successful entrepreneurs face challenges with the optimism and knowledge that everything can change for the better, even when it looks grim. Believe that progress is possible and work for it, always believing the best is yet to come.

In 15 minutes, everything changed for me. The clock—forever set to 2:05—is my daily reminder, an inspiration to keep going. When everything is going wrong, just remember: It’s 2:05 somewhere.

Progressive Casualty Ins. Co. Coverage provided and serviced by affiliated and third-party insurers.

As a small business owner, you can’t escape your to-do list.

That’s why Progressive makes it easy to save with a commercial auto quote, so you can take on all your other to-dos. Get a quote in as little as 7 minutes at ProgressiveCommercial.com