NECN:
With the national unemployment rate still well over 9 percent, more and more people struggling to find a job have looked into becoming franchisees — entrepreneurs who work with the support of a national chain and its well-developed systems for marketing and delivering goods and services.
Say “franchise” and many people immediately think of, say, Taco Bell or Motel Six. But there are literally thousands of franchise businesses in delivering all kinds of business, professional, and personal services and products.
Two people who’ve made the leap to franchising are Ollie Parker, 53, who opened a Speedpro printing business in Wakefield in July after deciding to leave the latest of several corporate chief financial officer jobs, and Steve Gesing, 60, CEO of year-old CMIT Solutions of The Merrimack Valley in Andover, which installs and manages information-technology systems for businesses like auditors, medical practices, and others with typically up to 250 employees.
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