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The $20 Bill That Became Priceless

As I built my snack-food brand, Sun & Swell Foods, I kept hearing the same advice: Hustle for your customers. Never turn down business. Obsessively focus on ROI. So that's what I did-and although my company grew, it wasn't profitable. This began affecting me emotionally. I love my brand and care deeply about its success. Its challenges started to feel like my own.

THE BEST MARKETING DOLLARS I'VE EVER SPENT

Great marketing doesn't require huge budgets. We asked franchisees and franchisors to share their best marketing ROI-and their stories (on the following pages) will inspire you.

READ THIS BEFORE MEETING A FRANCHISOR

Thinking about buying a franchise? You should meet the franchisor-and you should know exactly how to approach that meeting-to ensure you're making the right decision.

THE BOLDEST NEW IDEAS IN FRANCHISING

These eight innovative businesses are now franchising-and maybe in a few years, they'll be climbing the Franchise 500 list too.

5 BRANDS GROWING IN LEAPS AND BOUNDS

Want to know how to rocket up in the Franchise 500 rankings? These brands all jumped over 150 spots since last year-and they're sharing the strategies behind their growth.

FRANCHISE 500 TOP 10

Meet the Leaders of the Franchise 500

TAX STRATEGIES TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN 2025

Your taxes won't go up this year. But you can still find new ways to decrease your burden.

HOW TO CLOSE THE SALE (EVEN WHEN THEY SAY NO)

I'm the world's leading door-to-door sales expert. I've heard “no” endlessly. Here's how I close sales anyway-and how you can too.

'The Sword We Refuse to Die On'

Some people tell Chip and Joanna Gaines to play it safe, and to keep doing what made them famous in the first place. But they're ready to take more risks-because that's the entrepreneurial way.

Are You Feeling the Squeeze?

Many companies are struggling with rising costs and tighter margins. We asked six business leaders to share their solutions.

Why Customers Come Back

What makes an in-person experience worth putting on autopay? This fitness studio founder has it dialed in.

This Place Makes Money!

A restaurant chain was struggling. My agency gave it a redesign, and sales more than doubled at the stores we worked on. The secret? Rethinking the experience that people have inside retail.

You Can't Be One Thing Anymore

What's the most important skill in today's digital world? Tech super-connector Chris Lyons has an answer: It's the ability to collaborate.

THE BIGGEST MISTAKES THAT STARTUPS MAKE

The path forward is hard, so learn from where others have fallen. This is a list of very hard-won lessons.

How to Succeed With Gen Z Workers

People often say that younger employees are different. But are they? We asked six business leaders what they've learned, and how their teams thrive.

There's No Perfect Answer

I worked the same job for 19 years. I hated it, but it paid the bills. Then, in 2017, I entertained an exciting but terrifying question: Could I be an entrepreneur? I wasn't sure, so I needed something that felt like a guarantee. I searched for signs that would feel like a big, clear \"yes!\" Instead, what I found was a tarot card deck.

10 HOTTEST TRENDS for 2025

Want to buy a brand that buzzes? Here's what to know.

BUILD YOUR MONEY MACHINE

A franchise isn't just a franchise. It should be a Money Machine, creating profit even while you're out of the office. Here's how.

The Top Franchises for Veterans

Are you a military vet looking to become a franchisee, or just want to support a brand that supports the troops? Check out these 150 brands.

20 LEADERS WHO ARE DEFINING ENTREPRENEURSHIP TODAY

In a year of disruption, we wanted to know: Whose work will define the years to come? We reviewed hundreds of names and picked 20 leaders across a range of industries and sizes. Meet them on the following pages, and see what it takes to thrive in 2025 and beyond.

How to Become a Main Street Millionaire

It started when I bought one little laundromat. Now I have a whole portfolio of small local businesses that bring in tens of millions in revenue a year. Here's why following my playbook could be your ticket to financial freedom-and saving America's local small businesses.

Want to Better Serve Your Clients? Become Them.

As a designer for brands, starting my own product company gave me a dose of humilityand it changed the way I relate to clients.

I've Been a Publicist for 17 Years.Don't Hire Me.

Entrepreneurs often think they need PR. Most don't. Here's why you're probably better off not hiring someone like me.

The CEO's Advice to the MVP

Kickstarter CEO Everette Taylor knows the formula for a successful launch. NBA champ Jaylen Brown recently launched a shoe and athleisure brand. They have a lot to teach each other.

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.

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.

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.

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.

You Can Hire Like Netflix - The streaming platform built an incredible team with a strategy called

Looking for a job? ClassDojo has 15 positions open, but heads up: The bar is death zone 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.

Speedy Growth Killed My Startup - We seemed to be rocking it-lots of press, major partnerships. Then we learned the harsh consequences of overlooking our customers.

Three 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.

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.

Small 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.

Three Pivots to $100 Million - How do you find a working business model? Do it like Rowan-a brand that reinvented itself many times before finally piercing the ear-piercing market

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.