Statistics Franchised businesses account for nearly 50% of all retail sales in the United States. The International Franchise Association has reported that franchising is responsible for 760,000 businesses, 18 million jobs, 14 percent of the private sector employment, and over $500 billion in payroll! According to latest estimates, there are over 2,000 franchises available in 75 industry categories. From January, 2000 to December, 2004 the index that tracks the performance of the top 50 franchisors increased 34.5% compared to a drop of 20.1% in the S&P 500 over the same period. According to the February 2005 article by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), 1 of 4 small businesses with employees have their primary location at home, 85% of small firms are operated by owner-managers.
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