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Entrepreneur Magazine|May/June 2024The One Change Auto Services Giant Monro Made to Save Time and Gain Insight into ProcurementIn today’s fast-paced retail landscape, having a great product is essential, of course. But smart business owners know at least two other things are crucial for success as well: efficient inventory management and streamlined distribution processes. With smart business buying plans in place, these processes can enable companies of all sizes to minimize costs, improve cash flow, enhance customer satisfaction, make better decisions, and even gain a competitive edge.That’s why when Monro, Inc. — an automotive service and tire dealer with more than 1,250 locations nationwide — needed to reconfigure their distribution services model, Luis Pereira, Senior Manager of Indirect Procurement, began to research options.As Pereira puts it, “indirect items are anything that the business needs that doesn’t show up on a customer’s invoice that are important for operations.” For…3 min
Entrepreneur Magazine|May/June 20243 WAYS STARTUPS FIND UNEXPECTED OPPORTUNITIES IN WISCONSINWhen starting a business, having a great idea is just the beginning of the process. To bring that idea to life, you need to find market fit, consider funding or financing, and perhaps most importantly, to decide where you’ll set up operations to ensure that your business can thrive.Take it from Alex Tyink, who moved back home to Wisconsin to start Fork Farms, a Green Bay-based business that reated indoor, hydroponic technology allowing people and communities to participate in the fresh, local food movement.The idea for Fork Farms was hatched in New York City, where Tyink started volunteering at a rooftop farm and learning how to grow vegetables. Then he began experimenting. He eventually found that using the right combination of grow lights and reflective surfaces, he was able to…3 min
Entrepreneur Magazine|May/June 2024Small Packaging Changes Can Have a Big Impact on Consumer Perception and Help You Meet Your Sustainability GoalsSometimes even the smallest change can go a long way in improving consumer perception and brand loyalty. Right now, one of the most immediately impactful things a brand can do is to switch plastic packaging materials for paper. And for good reason.A recent study indicated that more than 80% of shoppers are concerned about plastic and packaging waste1, preferring options that are easily recyclable and produce less waste. In another recent survey, 78% of respondents said they think more highly of companies that package their products in paper-based packaging2.Unlike plastic, paper and paper-based packaging are some of the most recycled materials in the U.S. Paper has a recycling rate of 68%3, compared to just 5% for plastics4. More paper by weight is recovered for recycling from municipal solid waste streams…3 min
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During What Activity Do We Directly Analyze The Language Of The Problem To Identify Objects, Their Attributes,COMMONLITDescribe The Structure Of The Poem, And Explain How This Structure Supports Thedevelopment OfWhich Dictionary Entry Supports The Meaning Of The Word Sweep As Used In The Excerpt?? A- A Search OverDriftwood Makes An Appearance At Multiple Points During The Course Of The Story, Particularly With RegardEntrepreneur Magazine|May/June 2024Pack These for Your Next Trip1/The 2-in-1 thermos.Here’s how to travel lightly, stay hydrated, and cut down on single-use plastic: Just pack the CamelBak MultiBev [$52; camelbak.com]. The full thermos can keep 22 ounces of water chilled for hours—but the real genius is the lower portion, which screws off as a separate 16-ounce cup. Use it to carry coffee without a paper cup, to brew in your hotel room, or help keep a regular-size can cold. The MultiBev’s two-part lid holds a reusable silicone sipping lid to prevent spills. Unlike those massive, insulated thermoses, this one fits into your car’s cupholder.2/Slick surround sound.Want surround sound to fill a room with music, or to make your presentation audible from anywhere? Pack the svelte Sony HT-AX7 Portable Theater System [$500; electronics.sony.com], which creates an envelope of sound…3 min
Entrepreneur Magazine|May/June 2024THE PATH TO MILLIONS STARTS HEREA million dollars sounds sexy. But what is it, really? For some, a dream. For others, a goal. A million in profit is a form of financial security—or at least the freedom to take some risks. A million in revenue is a marker point where business models are proven and investors start calling. For experienced entrepreneurs, a million dollars might be a unit they now measure in the tens or hundreds. But however many millions you have, it’s always a metric of note.On the following pages, we’ll chart many paths to getting there—from founders, investors, fundraisers, and other experts. You’ll learn how to build a $1 million business in a weekend, how to earn your first million tax-free, how to ask for a million dollars, and how a number of…1 min
Entrepreneur Magazine|May/June 2024Avanti FeedsAccording to the latest OECD growth forecast, India’s economy is projected to grow by 6.2% in 2024, followed by a further 6.5% in 2025. With its robust demographic profile as the world’s most populous country, combined with modest inflation rates and substantial government support, India emerges as an enticing investment destination for those seeking alternatives to China.To keep pace with India’s rapid population growth, the government is investing heavily in healthy food initiatives such as the National Nutrition Mission and FIT India. This has caused demand for affordable protein sources to surge. Although poultry currently dominates the scene, the remarkable growth of India’s seafood industry has sparked interest worldwide. Since India’s aquaculture industry kicked off in the 1990s, the country has surged to become the world’s third-largest fish producer, according…5 min
Entrepreneur Magazine|May/June 2024MAKE YOUR FIRST TAX-FREE MILLIONYes, you can make a million—and more—without paying taxes on it. The wealthy do it every day, and the formula is simple: Take a business or investment idea that’s separate from your “day job,” combine it with a Roth IRA structure, give it a little time and sunshine, and voilà!PayPal cofounder Peter Thiel famously did this, according to ProPublica. He turned a $2,000 Roth into $5 billion, by using his Roth to fund his investment in PayPal, which grew astronomically. He never had to pay taxes on the $5 billion because it was generated from that one little $2,000 Roth (that he’d already paid taxes on when he was contributing to it). Thiel used his Roth profits to buy more shares of other startups at low prices with huge growth…3 min
Entrepreneur Magazine|May/June 2024‘We Built Success on Top of Success’When Cuban immigrant Nicolas Estrella Sr. started selling auto insurance in Miami in the 1970s, he had an opening line: His last name meant “star” in Spanish, so he and other Latino immigrants could bet on the same shooting star—the American dream. “He realized he could fill a void in the marketplace for the greater Hispanic community,” says his son, Nicolas Estrella Jr.Estrella Jr. took over as president of Estrella Insurance in 2006. At the time, the business had 40 corporate stores and three franchises, left over from a previous attempt at franchising in the ’90s. But when Estrella Jr. took a closer look at the franchises’ finances, he was surprised by what he found. “They weren’t doing well,” he says, “but they were doing very decently without any type…3 min
Entrepreneur Magazine|May/June 2024Every Action Has 2 RisksENTREPRENEURSHIP is an endless series of hard decisions. I’m sure you’re facing one right now. Sadly, I can’t give you the right answer—but I can offer you something new to consider.To really appreciate this, I first want to tell you about someone who faced a gut-wrenching choice of his own.I’ll call him Steve. He’d stolen things, served time in prison, and wanted to turn his life around. Finding a job was hard, but he eventually landed some freelance work for a big company. He threw himself into it, outworking everyone and getting noticed.After a few months, a senior leader called Steve into his office. They talked for 20 minutes. Then the leader offered Steve a fulltime job. “So just fill these forms out,” the senior leader told him. “We’ll do…3 min
Entrepreneur Magazine|May/June 2024The Skills You Never Knew You Needed1/Spotting the red flags in dream clients“I underestimated the importance of discernment. Early on, we had what seemed like a dream client—but red flags started to emerge. They were going through some internal strife, and their executives were contradicting each other, which bled onto our team. Winning the business took precedence over my intuition, and ultimately, the politics of our client pushed our work to the side. It taught me that winning can feel like losing if you aren’t careful who you help.”—LILLIAN MARSH, cofounder and managing principal, TinyWins2/Actively listening to customers“I never imagined how important active listening would be. It means being attuned to additional context, what’s not being said, and refraining from attachments to what you want to be true. For example, I shared my cell phone number…2 min
Entrepreneur Magazine|May/June 2024Finding Your Dimension XYou may have heard this question before: “What advice would you give your 16-year-old self?”I know this is a popular way to package the “wisdom” of someone with experience or success, and as Google’s first chief innovation evangelist, people asked me this sometimes. But I never got it. Why would I ask my older self what my younger self should have known or done? The missteps I made or the odd turns I took back then are part of who I am now. Offering someone else a road map of my own pitfalls and speed bumps would give them a defensive strategy, at best. No one’s gaining any yards by looking in my rearview mirror.But I do think it’s useful for people to do a retrospective on their own lives,…6 min
Entrepreneur Magazine|May/June 2024What SEO Insiders KnowBy now, everyone knows search engine optimization (SEO) is important. If your content isn’t optimized, then your website isn’t being found—which can make or break your business.But many of us are also keenly aware of what we don’t know. SEO is a complicated industry full of ever-shifting tactics, and even the experts sometimes disagree on what’s best. So we wanted to ask: What do SEO insiders know that we don’t? We gathered their tips, then bounced them off New York Times bestselling author and SEO expert Neil Patel. Here’s what we learned.1/Results will vary.Companies often buy yearlong SEO consulting services and expect a return on investment that’s similar to an advertising campaign, says Pavel Buev, an SEO specialist at SoftSwiss. “But I can say with confidence that no one can…3 min
Entrepreneur Magazine|May/June 2024IFONE MILLION DOLLARS IS YOUR GOAL…Sam Parr and Shaan Puri think in millions. They’ve both had notable exits for many millions (Parr sold his newsletter company The Hustle to HubSpot, and Puri sold his video streaming company Bebo to Twitch). Together, they cohost the chart-topping podcast My First Million, where they kick around business ideas with successful entrepreneurs.Both agree: A million dollars sounds sexy, but it’s not an end goal. “When you have a million bucks, you’re not making tons of investments,” Puri says. “You can’t just live off it forever, unless you’re living a really minimalist life. So you should ask the question, ‘At what thresholds do things actually change, versus what are the arbitrary numbers that just sound good?’”Here, they discuss the true value of a million dollars, and the strategic path to…6 min
Entrepreneur Magazine|May/June 2024THE MILLION-DOLLAR MEETINGWant to meet the people who can accelerate your growth? You might need to make $1 million in revenue first.“I think there’s something magical about a million dollars in terms of just showing progress and scalability of the business,” says Laura Held, a partner at the investment firm Shamrock Capital. She says $1 million in revenue before EBITDA—interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization—is a noteworthy metric that puts you on the map for everyone from angel investors to debt financiers.Case in point: Marilyn Adler, a founder and managing partner at Mizzen Capital—a group that invests debt into lower middle market companies, which usually generate from $1 million to $10 million of EBITDA—says $1 million in EBITDA is the minimum a company must hit for her to even consider funding them in…3 min
Entrepreneur Magazine|May/June 2024HOW TO ASK SOMEONE FOR A MILLION DOLLARSShort of running an online scam, how do you get someone to willingly fork over $1 million? The magic happens somewhere between dumb luck and intelligent strategy, says Wanda Urbanska, who does it regularly. She’s the director of philanthropy for North Carolina State University’s College of Engineering, and brings in large gifts for the school—but she’s also done it for other causes, including her PBS series, Simple Living with Wanda Urbanska.No matter what you’re raising money for, she says, the same basic rules apply:RULE 1/Don’t let the zeroes faze you.“One of the biggest mistakes,” Urbanska says, “is to be intimidated by wealthy donors. Walk into the room as an equal, with the attitude that you’re here to explore an opportunity of philanthropic engagement. Of course you want it to work,…2 min
Entrepreneur Magazine|May/June 2024The Top 150 New and Emerging FranchisesFranchising is full of decades-old brands that have proven themselves—so why would someone consider buying a franchise from a brand-new franchisor instead? There are many reasons: Although newer franchise concepts may come with higher risk, you can usually have more influence over how the brand develops, you may get in at a lower price than future franchisees will, and you have more available territories to choose from. If that sounds appealing, there are plenty of new franchise brands to consider: An estimated 300 companies begin franchising every year, and of the 1,389 franchisors that applied for our 2024 Franchise 500 ranking, nearly 17% had started franchising in the past five years.So which are the strongest new and emerging franchise concepts? That’s what we assessed in this ranking, which is based…20 min
Entrepreneur Magazine|May/June 2024THERE’S A BETTER WAY TO SELL AND GROW FRANCHISESI love franchising. This industry helps people achieve their dreams of business ownership. It helps founders scale their brands into national or international successes. It can be a pathway to personal satisfaction and financial freedom. To achieve all that, franchises must act responsibly—and the vast majority of them do. There are hundreds (or even thousands!) of brilliant, energetic, innovative, responsible brands.But at the beginning of my career, I worked for a brand that was none of those things. It tortured me.This was 2017, and I had taken a job in franchise sales, scaling a decades-old service business by signing up new franchisees. I was taught: If a prospective franchisee has $30,000 in the bank, try to sell them five units. Some of these people were in their 60s or 70s,…16 min
Entrepreneur Magazine|May/June 2024What Resiliency Really IsWhen I began my career in marketing, a mentor told me this: Resilience is key. I nodded at the time, thinking I understood what he meant—that nothing is easy, that the strongwilled survive, and so on. I struggled with confidence during my early career, but over time I grew bolder, well-respected, and accomplished. Wasn’t this resiliency? dI thought I’d learned my mentor’s lesson.But I did not understand resilience at all. That became clear in 2017, when my father unexpectedly died. He was a stable, inspiring force in my life—and with him gone, I felt in free fall. I started isolating myself. I lost focus at work. My decades of experience and confidence slipped away.Months after his death, I discovered one of his handkerchiefs in his study. For as long as…2 min
Entrepreneur Magazine|May/June 2024‘You Don’t Have to Shut Your Heart Down’John Mackey is cofounder and the longtime CEO of Whole Foods. But in the early days of his business, he was called something else. And it wasn’t meant as a compliment: Wacky Mackey.One of his cofounders came up with the name, as a way of mocking Mackey’s lifestyle. To his doubters, Mackey seemed like an unserious leader for an increasingly serious business. He started the company when he was 24, having never attended a business class. He meditated, took psychedelics, and had many spiritual pursuits. He looked like a long-haired hippie. And while Mackey liked who he was, the skeptics ate at him. He wondered if he could grow into a fully respected leader, while still being himself.Ultimately, of course, he prevailed—building and running Whole Foods for 44 years, until…7 min
Entrepreneur Magazine|May/June 2024Which Fridge Would You Eat From?Will people buy cheap food to help save the planet? The answer is yes—and no.This was the idea behind Flashfood, an app-based marketplace that aims to divert food away from landfills, and to families in need. It collects food nearing its best-by date, places it in refrigerators at more than 2,000 grocery stores, then sells the food to users at a discount. Since launching in 2016, it’s diverted more than 90 million pounds of fresh food and saved shoppers more than $200 million.But when chief customer officer Jordan Schenck began listening closely to customers a while back, she heard a disconnect. Flashfood’s marketing and branding were all mission-oriented—with a leaf logo to signal sustainability, and phrases like “Help us reduce food waste” splashed across their fridges. “But when we got…2 min
Entrepreneur Magazine|May/June 2024When You’re Ready to Go, Here’s the Best Way to Hit the RoadBusiness has never been confined to the four walls of an office. Owners and employees are often on the go, traveling the country to meet with investors, clients, partners … you name it. Even small businesses that employ 50 people or fewer average 14 business trips a year 1. That can add up to a lot of time on the road.Whether you have a long drive and don’t want to put the miles on a personal or company car, or you’ve just landed somewhere new and need a set of wheels to get around, there’s one option that rewards you the more you use it. Say hello to Hertz Business businesses.Hertz Business Rewards allows companies to earn credits redeemable toward free rental days on eligible car rentals. It also provides…4 min
Entrepreneur Magazine|May/June 2024SPOTLIGHT BRANDED CONTENTJapanASIA’S LEADING POST-PANDEMIC ECONOMYIf 2023 marked Japan’s breakout, 2024 could herald the beginning of a decadelong ascent as Asia’s premier investment destination. Clear indicators abound, notably the Nikkei index’s historic surge beyond its late 1980s peak, surpassing 40,000 for the first time in history, alongside a significant rise in wages at major firms—the highest percentage increase seen in 33 years. Equally significant, albeit less apparent, is the 23% discount Japanese stocks offer compared to their US counterparts as the Nikkei index reached 40,000. Additionally, the minimum investment required to trade Japanese blue chips is now approximately oneseventh of what was needed during the Nikkei index’s previous peak. These indicators collectively affirm Japan’s ongoing economic resurgence with promising prospects ahead.Speaking at the Goldman Sachs Global Macro Conference in January, Prime Minister…53 min
Entrepreneur Magazine|May/June 2024MILLION-DOLLAR UNLOCKSUNLOCK/When you hit a wall, revisit your bigger idea.When Ben Witte launched his brand Recess in 2018, his mission was simple: He wanted to make nonalcoholic relaxation beverages. CBD was hot at the time, thanks to the recent passage of the Hemp Farming Act, so he launched a line of CBD-infused sparkling waters—and then hit a problem. Consumers liked the drinks, but many retailers wouldn’t stock CBD, because the FDA hadn’t offered guidance on it. Witte faced a choice: Double down on CBD, or expand elsewhere?To make that decision, he reflected on his mission. His goal was to make nonalcoholic relaxation beverages—and CBD wasn’t the only way to do that! He looked for other ingredients and discovered magnesium L-threonate. “In 2020, no one was talking about magnesium, so it kind…10 min
Entrepreneur Magazine|May/June 2024MAKE A MILLION DOLLARS IN A WEEKEND?Noah Kagan was the 30th employee at Facebook, the fourth employee at mint.com, and has started many successful businesses of his own. Now, his company AppSumo does nearly $100 million in annual revenue. Along the journey, he says he’s discovered something: Success isn’t about long-term dreams; it’s about immediate action. His new book Million Dollar Weekend lays out a plan for just that. He explains.People often say they want to start a business, but they don’t have an idea.I think ideas are bullsh*t.That’s a hot take.Ideas are bullsh*t! There’s so many articles out there with business ideas, so how come more people haven’t become millionaires? The reality is, the idea isn’t the problem. The person is afraid—that’s the problem. They’re not prepared to ask people to be their customer, or…3 min
Entrepreneur Magazine|May/June 2024Charities Are Getting Down to BusinessSix years ago, Michelle Brown (pictured above) met with a major funder of her literacy nonprofit. She’d been counting on them to renew their grant, and there was no reason they shouldn’t. But as the meeting began, she had that sickening, slow-motion realization that everything was about to change. In her mind’s eye, she saw millions of dollars fluttering away like a flock of geese, on to warmer waters.She thought of William, a seventh-grader in a small, struggling Mississippi town, who was so behind in reading—the one who inspired Brown to start her nonprofit, called CommonLit. Her memories flashed through the years of winning grants and charming donors. The tens of thousands of teachers using the program for free. The measurable improvements in children. But now, her major funder was…15 min
Entrepreneur Magazine|May/June 2024Engineering a Better LifeKayla Opperman made good money at her engineering job. But when her daughter was a baby, she got tired of long hours in the office. She also recognized there was a limit to how much she could make working for someone else. “I’d worked hard to get an engineering degree,” she says, “so I didn’t want to let that go completely. But I started researching if there were any franchises that involved engineering. And that’s when I came across Snapology.”Snapology is a kids’ STEM and robotics brand founded in 2010, and now has 130 locations around the country. But in 2018, there were no locations in Colorado, where Opperman lived, and she viewed that as a big opportunity. When she visited headquarters, she loved how happy everyone seemed, so she…3 min
Entrepreneur Magazine|May/June 2024Top Franchises for Diversity, Equity & InclusionA franchise is most successful when it reaches a wide variety of communities—and to do that best, it needs to bring a diversity of voices and experiences into its franchisee and corporate-level ranks. That’s why, for the third year, we’ve chosen the 100 franchises that we think are doing the most to expand opportunities for all.Typically, our franchise lists are created by gathering and crunching a lot of data, and then ranking brands based on the results. Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts can be difficult to quantify, so we’ve chosen the companies on this list editorially, and they’re listed alphabetically instead of ranked. To determine which brands to include, we considered a number of factors, including: any incentives offered to franchisees from underrepresented groups; diversity among franchisees; diversity within…16 min
