Top 100 Franchise Opportunities 2011: Behind The Hype
July 18, 2011
Are these REALLY America’s 100 Best Franchise Opportunities? Hear what their franchise owners have to say…
Franchise marketers and salespeople love to brag about their high franchise rankings and the awards they receive from the publications and groups they pay handsomely to promote their franchise opportunities.
And the King of all franchise rankings is Entrepreneur Magazine’s annual Franchise 500. Even franchise #486 brags about its Entrepreneur ranking on its franchise website.
Which of these franchise opportunities do you think deserve to be listed in the Top 100?
How the Entrepreneur Franchise 500® is Supposedly Determined
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According to Entrepreneur, “All companies, regardless of size, are judged by the same criteria: objective, quantifiable measures of a franchise operation. The most important factors include financial strength and stability, growth rate and size of the system. We also consider the number of years a company has been in business and the length of time it’s been franchising, startup costs, litigation, percentage of terminations and whether the company provides financing.”
“We do not measure subjective elements such as franchisee satisfaction or management style, since these are judgments only you can make based on your own needs and experiences. The objective factors are plugged into our exclusive Franchise 500® formula, with each eligible company receiving a cumulative score. The 500 franchises with the highest cumulative scores become the Franchise 500®.”
“We do not measure subjective elements such as franchisee satisfaction…” Entrepreneur magazine
Entrepreneur magazine doesn’t get involved with subjective issues like franchisee satisfaction, but UnhappyFranchisee.com does. So we invite you to add your opinions (below) of the Top 100 franchises for 2011 as determined by Entrepreneur magazine. We also invite you to click on the links within the listing to see the posts and discussions of some of these concepts without the filter of hype and advertising dollars.
| RANK | FRANCHISE | # UNITS 2007 | # UNITS 2010 | # UNITS +/- | TOP DISCUSSIONS |
| 1. | Hampton Hotels | 1,383 | 1,705 | 322 | HAMPTON HOTELS Franchise Disclosure Document |
| 2. | ampm | 720 | 1,199 | 479 | BP, ARCO, am/pm Franchisees File Class Action Lawsuit |
| 3. | McDonald’s | 11,674 | 12,477 | 803 | |
| 4. | 7-Eleven | 5,580 | 6,515 | 935 | |
| 5. | Supercuts | 972 | 1,025 | 53 | |
| 6. | Days Inn | 1,705 | 1,677 | 28 | |
| 7. | Vanguard Cleaning Systems | 845 | 1,734 | 889 | VANGUARD CLEANING SYSTEMS Franchise Scam Complaints |
| 8. | Servpro | 1,368 | 1,526 | 158 | |
| 9. | Subway | 21,006 | 23,411 | 2405 | Are SUBWAY Franchise Owners Happy? |
| 10. | Denny’s | 975 | 1,296 | 321 | |
| 11. | Jan-Pro | 6,409 | 10,266 | 3857 | JAN-PRO Franchise Complaints |
| 12. | Hardee’s | 1,156 | 1,225 | 69 | |
| 13. | Pizza Hut | 6,079 | 6,917 | 838 | |
| 14. | Kumon | 1,222 | 1,288 | 66 | KUMON Franchise Owner Complains of Overexpansion |
| 15. | Dunkin’ Donuts | 5,451 | 6,566 | 1115 | |
| 16. | KFC | 4,371 | 4,307 | 64 | |
| 17. | Jazzercise | 5,918 | 6,627 | 709 | |
| 18. | Anytime Fitness | 444 | 1,291 | 847 | |
| 19. | Matco Tools | 1,457 | 1,397 | -60 | MATCO TOOLS Franchise Complaints |
| 20. | Stratus Building Solutions | 708 | 3,512 | 2804 | STRATUS BUILDING SOLUTIONS Franchise Complaints |
| 21. | Liberty Tax Service | 2,070 | 3,053 | 983 | LIBERTY TAX SERVICE Franchise Complaints |
| 22. | Circle K | 439 | 487 | 48 | |
| 23. | Papa John’s | 1,683 | 2,229 | 546 | |
| 24. | Snap-on Tools | 3,088 | 3,219 | 131 | |
| 25. | CleanNet USA | 3,861 | 4,745 | 884 | CLEANNET USA Franchise Complaints |
| 26. | Aaron’s | 441 | 579 | 138 | |
| 27. | H & R Block | N.L. | 4,017 | —– | TAX FRANCHISES: Biggest Winners & Losers of 2010 |
| 28. | InterContinental Hotels | 2,541 | 3,175 | 634 | |
| 29. | Great Clips | 2,544 | 2,787 | 243 | Are More Franchisees De-branding, Going Independent? |
| 30. | Jiffy Lube | 1,915 | 1,966 | 51 | |
| 31. | Ace Hardware | 4,229 | 4,128 | -101 | |
| 32. | Papa Murphy’s | 939 | 1,169 | 230 | |
| 33. | Snap Fitness | 490 | 972 | 482 | |
| 34. | Dairy Queen | 4,694 | 4,451 | -243 | DAIRY QUEEN Sues Franchisee for $13M Extortion Scheme |
| 35. | Baskin-Robbins | 2,793 | 2,597 | -196 | |
| 36. | Bonus Building Care | 1,774 | 1,711 | -63 | BONUS BUILDING CARE Franchise Scam Complaints |
| 37. | The Maids | 969 | 1,048 | 79 | |
| 38. | Jimmy John’s | 559 | 1,020 | 461 | |
| 39. | Midas | 1,469 | 1,309 | -160 | |
| 40. | GNC | 1,046 | 892 | -154 | Is the GNC Franchise a Great Opportunity? |
| 41. | System4 | 467 | 1,190 | 723 | SYSTEM4 Commercial Cleaning Franchise Complaints |
| 42. | ServiceMaster Clean | 3,041 | 3,043 | 2 | |
| 43. | Merry Maids | 747 | 714 | -33 | |
| 44. | Miracle-Ear | 1,277 | 1,301 | 24 | |
| 45. | Super 8 | 1,888 | 1,874 | -14 | |
| 46. | The UPS Store/MBE | 4,454 | 4,390 | -64 | THE UPS STORE Franchise Complaints |
| 47. | Carl’s Jr. | 616 | 671 | 55 | |
| 48. | Auntie Anne’s | 723 | 861 | 138 | |
| 49. | Edible Arrangements | 531 | 804 | 273 | EDIBLE ARRANGEMENTS, Tariq Farid Franchise Complaints |
| 50. | Fantastic Sams | 1,371 | 1,262 | -109 | |
| 51. | Cruise Planners/American Express | 730 | 947 | 217 | |
| 52. | Long John Silver’s | 661 | 989 | 328 | |
| 53. | Sylvan Learning | 794 | 784 | -10 | |
| 54. | Cold Stone Creamery | 1,387 | 1,163 | -224 | Cold Stone Creamery Gets Served by Franchisees |
| 55. | Meineke | 845 | 860 | 15 | |
| 56. | Chem-Dry | 2,679 | 2,198 | -481 | |
| 57. | Popeyes | 1,507 | 1,533 | 46 | |
| 58. | CruiseOne | 510 | 685 | 175 | |
| 59. | Home Instead Senior Care | 548 | 597 | 49 | HOME INSTEAD SENIOR CARE Franchise Nightmare: Everybody Loses |
| 60. | AAMCO Transmissions | 814 | 837 | 23 | |
| 61. | Proforma | 561 | 679 | 118 | |
| 62. | Comfort Keepers | 552 | 607 | 55 | COMFORT KEEPERS Caregiver Bilked Elderly Man |
| 63. | Buffalo Wild Wings | 302 | 473 | 171 | |
| 64. | Massage Envy | 334 | 626 | 292 | MASSAGE ENVY: Franchisee Fetish Afoot! |
| 65. | Novus Glass | 259 | 223 | -36 | |
| 66. | Choice Hotels | 4,323 | 4,936 | 613 | CHOICE HOTELS: Franchisees Sue for “Unfair & Deceptive Acts” |
| 67. | CiCi’s Pizza | 597 | 609 | 12 | |
| 68. | Hilton Garden Inn | 300 | 460 | 160 | |
| 69. | Heaven’s Best Carpet | 1,226 | 1,268 | 42 | |
| 70. | Smoothie King | 447 | 549 | 102 | |
| 71. | Wingstop | 299 | 428 | 129 | |
| 72. | Gold’s Gym | 467 | 452 | -15 | |
| 73. | Country Inns & Suites | 385 | 457 | 72 | |
| 74. | Minuteman Press | 769 | 730 | 39 | |
| 75. | MRINetwork | 826 | 706 | -120 | |
| 76. | Rita’s Italian Ice | 461 | 561 | 100 | |
| 77. | Batteries Plus | 283 | 384 | 101 | |
| 78. | Keller Williams Realty | 651 | 672 | 21 | |
| 79. | Wireless Zone | 249 | 399 | 150 | |
| 80. | FastSigns Int’l. | 418 | 449 | 31 | |
| 81. | Planet Fitness | 179 | 336 | 157 | |
| 82. | Coffee News | 696 | 677 | -19 | |
| 83. | Ramada | 584 | 537 | -47 | |
| 84. | Maaco | 425 | 438 | 13 | |
| 85. | Culver’s | 355 | 412 | 57 | |
| 86. | Padgett Business Services | 275 | 302 | 27 | |
| 87. | Goddard Systems | 255 | 371 | 116 | |
| 88. | Visiting Angels | 290 | 390 | 100 | |
| 89. | E.nopi | 103 | 103 | 0 | |
| 90. | Coldwell Banker | 2,531 | 2,091 | -440 | |
| 91. | Moe’s Southwest Grill | 359 | 422 | 63 | |
| 92. | Rooter-Man | 391 | 469 | 78 | |
| 93. | Club Z! In-Home Tutoring | 409 | 420 | 11 | |
| 94. | Hilton Hotels | 175 | 194 | 19 | |
| 95. | Qdoba Mexican Grill | 320 | 331 | 11 | |
| 96. | Home Helpers/Direct Link | 699 | 658 | -41 | HOME HELPERS / DIRECT LINK Franchise Complaints |
| 97. | Senior Helpers | 105 | 283 | 178 | |
| 98. | Expense Reduction Analysts | 165 | 276 | 111 | |
| 99. | PuroClean | 179 | 298 | 119 | |
| 100. | Thrifty Rent-A-Car | 345 | 120 | -225 | |
Stop back often as our comments and links will be continually updated.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? WHICH FRANCHISE OPPORTUNITIES DESERVE TOP FRANCHISE STATUS? WHICH DON’T… AND WHY?
FUCK RITA’S now that place needs to be investigated, total fraud, you’ll lose everything!