A Long Way Reflections on 25 years of franchising from <i>Entrepreneur's</i> Editorial Director Rieva Lesonsky

Do you remember what you were doing in 1980? Likely not, sincebased on the average age of Entrepreneur readers, most ofyou were teenagers. I, on the other hand, was a research assistantat Entrepreneur magazine. Most of what I remember from thosedays is fragmentary, but I do recall sitting on the floorsurrounded by hundreds of forms, helping compileEntrepreneur's very first Franchise 500®, publishedin the 1980 March issue.

In those days, Entrepreneur was a little-known magazinehelping people start businesses. Back in 1979 to '80, fewAmericans had entrepreneurial aspirations; most didn't evenknow what the word entrepreneur meant. The few advertisers we hadat the time were pitching franchise and business opportunities (notnearly as popular then as they are today). Someone (I don'tremember who) had the idea of ranking the franchises. And so,pre-PCs, we sat on the floor and compared the data.

Flash forward a few years to the mid-1980s. I had leftEntrepreneur (been fired, actually) but was now back. Theneditorial assistant, now executive editor Maria Anton and I wereresponsible for compiling the annual Franchise 500®, which hadbrought the magazine some positive attention. Over the years, we(yes, we're both still here) have fine-tuned the 500, updatingthe formula (which, like McDonald's sauce, remains a secret tomost), adding new questions, requiring franchisor documentation andhaving a CPA review each franchise's financials.

Entrepreneurship has changed significantly since that firstFranchise 500® was published. (For an insider's view, readDavid J. Kaufmann's "The Big Bang".)Everyone knows what an entrepreneur is, millions have becomeentrepreneurs and millions more aspire to that goal. Over theyears, some have questioned whether a franchisee is really anentrepreneur. Well, here at Entrepreneur, we knowfranchisees are entrepreneurs. We know, despite what manymistakenly believe about franchising, that while someone else comesup with the concept, it is up to you to build on and add to thatconcept every day. We know you've worked hard, saving money toinvest in a business you can call your own. And while there's arisk to any investment (that's why you're an entrepreneur),we've worked hard to mitigate the risk by giving you theinformation you need to make better decisions.

Franchising, too, has come a long way in 25 years. It's morethan flipping burgers and cleaning houses. It accounts for 40percent of all retail transactions in the United States. It'salso helped millions of Americans make millions of dollars-some bystarting a franchise, others by buying one. It's taken peoplewho didn't think they could own a business and made themextraordinary entrepreneurs. It took a teenager and made him one ofthe most successful entrepreneurs in America (read "From Zero toHero").

Entrepreneur is no longer a magazine about start-ups.But, the Franchise 500® still provides an objective view ofthe hundreds of franchise opportunities clamoring for yourattention. And this, the 25th anniversary edition of the Franchise500®, contains the most comprehensive assessment of franchiseopportunities available anywhere. Use it wisely.