By Holly Reisem Hanna

Are you looking to work at home or be your own boss, but you don’t want the risk that is associated with starting your own business? A home-based franchise might be the perfect self-employment opportunity for you.

A home-based franchise is a proven successful business model that is easily replicated. The nice thing about a franchise is that all the hard work has been done for you; you basically pay for the franchise and you’re given a detailed manual and tools on how to replicate the business exactly.

Besides being a low-risk investment, another great perk of owning a franchise, is that many franchises already have well known established brands, so you spend less money on marketing and advertising.

To assist you with your search, I’ve compiled a list of the top 10 home-based franchises for women. (more…)

By Diana Stirling

Ever had an “I don’t feel like it” day? I know I have them more than I’d care to admit and they can strike at any time, anywhere and without warning.

The two businesses Shannon and I run are centered around Pretirement, which means we can work from anywhere for a part of the year. Surprisingly, I can be in my home office in Canada or in the most beautiful part of Australia and either have unbelievable momentum or absolutely NOTHING.

When I lose motivation I need to bring myself out of it as fast as I possibly can. My businesses, my employees, my clients, my sanity – all depend on it.   (more…)

By Michelle Rodriguez

You would think that finding a Small Business Attorney would be as easy as putting out an email to your business referral groups and have 3-4 emails back with a:

“…call so and so, she helped me out tremendously, and wouldn’t go to anyone else!”

Nope, not the case at all. In fact, I had to send out the email request twice before I received a response. And by “a” response I’m being quite literal, I received ONE email reply to my request. Which made me feel 1) concerned that no one can refer me to a Small Business Attorney, and 2) intimidated that this was my first road block toward expansion of Well Styled. The experience didn’t get any better from there, because from that one email with three Small Business Attorney recommendations, my experience went as follows: (more…)

By Michelle Rodriguez

As I prepared for my meeting with Mike Pagani of Franchise Resources,  I didn’t know what to expect of my interaction with him. After all, my online research on franchising had shown me several companies with a “get rich quick” appeal to them, and I secretly feared that I was going to meet the LIVE version of those sites.

Boy was I wrong!

Mike provided me a brief overview of what his company provided, which is basically a franchising matchmaking service for large corporations such as McDonald’s. He also described his relationship with BigAustin as a resource to business owners, like me, who need advice on growing their business to the next level. Finally, he mentioned that he was a member of SCORE , with those three credentials, I felt comfortable in discussing Well Styled with Mike and that’s exactly what happened, a jammed-packed hour of information toward “evolving” Well Styled to the next level.

Below are the four key general points discussed during our meeting which I feel are good to share with others wanting to learn more on the process of expansion: (more…)

By Michelle Rodriguez

In my last post I talked about coming to grips with the idea of offering Well Styled as a franchise. Looking back, I’ve realized one key thing: If it feels right, then hang on and enjoy the ride!

Along the ride to franchising, research is fundamental step! Although I love internet research, to me, there is nothing like being advised by an actual live person. My first resource to contact was BigAustin, which is a one-stop educational resource for local entrepreneurs. I called BigAustin and explained to them my scenario, and in their kind, BigAustin way they said, “I don’t know off the top-of-my-head, but I’ll get you in touch with someone who can help.” Within the next hour I had a call from Mike Pagani of Franchise Resources and we set up a meeting for that same week. (more…)