Standing on their own: after years of dreaming, this couple decides to go it alone with their own Woody's Hot Dogs kiosk

Entrepreneur,  July, 2003  by Devlin Smith,  Jodie Carter

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"WERE BOTH PRETTY INDEPENDENT. WE never enjoyed punching the time clock or answering to other people," says Chris Lycan, a Woody's Hot Dogs franchisee. Since 2001, Chris, 40, and husband David, 41, haven't had to do either. That's how long they've been operating their hot dog kiosk at the Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

'We'd been thinking about [starting a business] for years," says Chris, a former grocery merchandiser. "We just didn't know for sure what to do." A look through the want ads brought Woody's to their attention. Says Chris, "I thought it sounded like fun."

Weather permitting, the Lycans' kiosk is open every day in front of Lowe's. Because David still has a fulltime job, Chris handles most of the day-to-day operations herself, leaving the house around 8:30 a.m. to head to her off-site commercial kitchen, where she sets up for the day. About an hour later, it's off to the kiosk to serve hot dogs, Polish sausages, nachos, pretzels, chips and sodas until dark. After closing, it's back to the commercial kitchen to clean up.

Being in such a high-traffic area provides the Lycans with plenty of repeat business. "We get several customers every day who drive up, buy a hot dog and drive away without even going in the store," Chris says. "We know many of our customers by name because people like contractors come to Lowe's every day, and a lot of them stop by the stand." Building a loyal client base and having their own business has been a joyful experience for the Lycans. "If it was someone else's business, I don't think I'd enjoy it as much," Chris says. But when it's yours, you take pride in it."

Breaking Ground

ONE SEASONED LAND DEVELOPER PUTS HIS EXPERIENCE TO GOOD USE.

JERRY BAKER HAD BEEN FINANCING AND building subdivision homes for seven years in a successful land development business with his father and brother. But as the economy slowed and the risk of keeping large capital investments became too stressful, Baker decided to look for another opportunity. After researching different franchises, Baker found the perfect one: A UBuildlt franchise would capitalize on his 16-plus years of construction experience without requiring a huge investment. UBuildIt is a construction service that helps inexperienced homeowners build or renovate their homes by mapping out the gritty de tails--from scheduling and site visits to creating budgets and finding subcontractors. "It provides systematic, step-by-step [direction] on how to go through the building process," says Baker, 42. "It simplifies the process for [owner-builders]."

Just a little more than three years after starting his UBuildIT franchise in Vancouver, Washington--with revenues increasing at a whopping 60 percent per year--Baker expects to expand his two-person staff and move into a bigger office. He's even looking into the possibility of opening another UBuildIt franchise within the next two years.

The best thing about his franchise? Being able to take off running. "I was a bigger business than I would have been by myself," says Baker. "All the stuff involved in the franchise I could have created. I said someday I'd have checklists for superintendents for every stage of construction, but I never got around to it because I was so busy working in my business instead of working on my business." Thanks to franchising, Baker's "someday" has finally come.

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HELPING HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETS GET THEIR BIG BREAKS

It's every high school athlete's dream to be recruited by a big-time school, but to do that, he or she had to get noticed. Enter Orlando, Florida-based Options Sports Group an online yellow pages of student athletes. Franchisees enroll athletes for the Web site, filling in scholastic and athletic details about each student. The franchise then uploads the information onto the student's personal page for college and university coaches to view.

Some of Options Sports Group's franchisees are former college and professional athletes and coaches who see a major benefit for the athletes participating in this Web listing.

--D.S.

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