Franchising is huge – $2.1 trillion in economic output, 825,000 establishments and 18 million jobs – in the United States but its not necessarily the cheapest way to go into business for yourself.
Still, many franchises are available that won’t cost a fortune. Both Franchise Business Review and Entrepreneur.com list franchises that you can buy for less than $50,000. Sometimes a lot less. And that’s a good thing because the industry has struggled since business loans have dried up and home equity has declined. (A home equity loan used to be one of the most common financing sources for a franchise.) Read full post here.