Entrepreneur Franchise 500 Rank: 79
Initial investment: $199,475 to $380,100
Initial franchise fee: $10,000 to $1,000,000
New units in 2016: 132 units (+8.2 percent)
Auntie Anne's lists over 50 available U.S. locations on its website, but that doesn't include food trucks or concession trailers. With the option of a food truck, though, you can drive your office to work -- wherever that work might be, whether it's a college campus, a stadium or somewhere else.
Entrepreneur Franchise 500 Rank: 144
Initial investment: $10,930 to $39,400
Initial franchise fee: $10,000 to $1,000,000
New units in 2016: 58 units (+1.9 percent)
Vanguard offers two franchise options -- the janitorial franchise and master franchise. The janitorial franchise is smaller and responsible for actually cleaning accounts. The master franchise is a collection of those independent janitorial franchises, which creates support and infrastructure for those cleaners. Both options, though, provide plenty of flexibility for potential franchisees.
Entrepreneur Franchise 500 Rank: 75
Initial investment: $2,095 to $22,867
Initial franchise fee: $495 to $10,495
New units in 2016: 361 units (+17.4 percent)
All of Cruise Planners's travel agents are home-based, which is one reason why the franchise opportunities are so much less expensive than it usually costs to start a business or invest in a franchise -- even the maximum initial investment of $22,867 is relatively affordable. It's also one reason why Cruise Planners has made our Entrepreneur Franchise 500 for 14 years in a row.
Entrepreneur Franchise 500 Rank: 34
Initial investment: $169,503 to $350,231
Initial franchise fee: $7,500 to $15,000
New units in 2016: 53 units (+1.1 percent)
Snap-on Tools, which sells toolboxes, hand tools, power tools and more, offers mobile franchise opportunites, meaning you don't have to pay for a brick-and-mortar building to get started. This helps the company keep the initial investment price relatively affordable (six figures is a lot, but it's less than you'd pay for a restaurant like McDonald's and a lot less than you might pay for most hotels) and accessible to potential franchisees.
Entrepreneur Franchise 500 Rank: 37
Initial investment: $3,985 to $51,605
Initial franchise fee: $2,520 to $44,000
New units in 2016: 375 units (+4.8 percent)
One factor that differentiates Jan-Pro's home-based franchising is that the company focuses on acquiring clients for you in your area so you don't have to worry about hustling to make sales. Instead, the company wants its franchisees to focus on service to make sure the customers they lure in stick around for the long haul.