$674 Billion

According to Babson College, $674 billion is how much money franchising generates every year in the United States.

As a way of doing business, it is effective, enduring, and lucrative, and evidence of its success can be seen far and wide. Take a drive just about anywhere, and myriad franchises that are household names dot the landscape.

Are you running a franchise business?  Discover what the future of franchising has in mind for you.

Article of Interest: Start Noticing Successful Women Entrepreneurs

Successful entrepreneur Dr. Marsha Firestone

I am a big fan of Candida Brush, chair of entrepreneurship and research director of the Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship at Babson College.  In the article below she homes in on the single most important thing she notices when she teaches:  the majority of her students are much less aware of successful women entrepreneurs.

She starts the classroom dialog like this:

How would you answer the question: “Name a successful entrepreneur?” Did you say Bill Gates? Mark Zuckerberg? Steve Jobs?  Richard Branson?  Or maybe you said Larry Page or Howard Schultz if you like coffee?

According to Professor Brush, she says it takes about eight names before a woman is named.

What needs to be done to correct the situation?

In order to change perceptions about who is a successful entrepreneur, we have to work a little harder to intentionally include the names of successful women. 

Read the entire article:  Candida Brush: Include More Women as Textbook Examples of Success

Photo Credit: Women Impacting Public Policy - Marsha Firestone, Ph.D., President and Founder of the Women Presidents' Organization

News of Interest: Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2007 Report Released

The latest Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2007 Report has been released.

Download it here.