Pool Your Resources of Family, Friends, Etc., and Franchise Yourselves!

Top 20 Franchises For The Buck

Intro

Don’t have the patience, capital or guts to generate sales from scratch? Try franchising. With the help of Robert Bond, chief executive of the World Franchising Network (a franchise database) and publisher of Bond’s Franchise Guide, we waded through data on 110 of the most established names to find 20 that deliver the biggest bang for a competent operator’s investment buck. The methodology is based on five variables: average initial investment (franchise fees plus equipment costs); total locations (the more the better); closure rate (the number of closings in the last three reported fiscal years divided by the total number of existing locations); growth in the number of U.S. outlets in the last three years; and the number of training hours as a percentage of startup cost (the more support from the home office, the better). Overall footprint and survival rates carried the most weight. We did not include royalties paid to franchisors because they ranged in a tight band and thus barely affected the overall rankings.

Age Discrimination at Its Best in the 21st Century

Exclusive: Over 55 and jobless, Americans face tough hunt

The number of long-term unemployed workers aged 55 and older has more than doubled since the recession began in late 2007, and getting back to work is increasingly difficult, according to a government report being released on Tuesday.

For unemployed seniors, the chances of reentering the workforce are grim.

Experts worry that unemployed seniors face a long-term threat as the impact of lost wages compounds.

New York Voters Support Minimum Wage Increase, Poll Says

More than three-quarters of New York State voters support a proposal by Democrats in the Legislature to raise the minimum wage to $8.50 per hour from $7.25, according to a new poll released on Monday.

The poll (pdf), conducted by Siena College from May 6 to 10, found broad support for what has emerged as the highest-profile issue in the closing weeks of this year’s legislative session, which is scheduled to conclude in six weeks.

Democrats and independent voters were strongly supportive of raising the minimum wage, the poll found, with 88 percent of Democrats and 75 percent of independents in support. And while the Republican majority in the State Senate has derided the proposal as a job killer, a majority of Republican voters – 58 percent – said they supported it, as did 64 percent of voters who described themselves as politically conservative.

Americans optimistic things are looking up, poll says

Americans may be downbeat about today's economy, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds, but they are increasingly optimistic that things are about to get better for the nation and themselves.

Though an overwhelming 71% rate economic conditions as poor, a 58% majority predict they will be good a year from now. Although those surveyed are inclined to say they are financially worse off than a year ago, nearly two-thirds say they think they'll be better off this time next year.

That assessment of personal finances already is on the upswing. More than one-third report they are better off than they were a year ago — the highest number since before the economic meltdown in 2008. (They're still outnumbered by the four in 10 who say they're worse off.)

Best Places for New College Grads, 2012

Though the economy is showing signs of life, the job market for new college graduates is still extremely tough. A daunting figure – three million new grads competing for one million jobs – has been widely reported, as has the fact that more than half of recent grads are unemployed or under-employed. It's also been widely and incorrectly reported that 85 percent of grads are moving back in with mom and dad. The correct figure is actually 40 percent, according to the Pew Research Center. That's nothing new, really. The period immediately after college has always been one of flux.

A good way to improve your economic prospects is to pick the right place to live. Choosing the right location is one of the most important, if not the single most important, decisions you will ever make. It will influence your job and career opportunities, not to mention your ability to make friends, develop personal and professional networks, and find a potential life partner.

The 10 Mistakes Everyone Makes When Working From Home

When your commute is as short as your bedroom to your living room, a lot of workplace anxieties go out the window: water-cooler conversations, intra-office workout competitions…whether you’ve worn the same pair of jeans for six days straight.

But whether you’re a full-time telecommuter or simply “working from home” for the day, it’s important to keep professionalism in check. Executive coach and author Debra Benton, whose book The Virtual Executive hit shelves in April, warns that as the American employees working from home full or part time increase (current data shows roughly 2.8 million people call their homes their primary workplace, with an additional 20 to 30 million working from home at least one day a week), bad work habits are becoming more and more apparent.

“People often think that they can get away with a lot of things when they’re behind closed doors and computer screens,” Benton says. “But the reality is that professional communication is professional communication, regardless of whether or not technology is there to facilitate it.”

Bye bye unemployment benefits

More than 200,000 long-term jobless Americans will lose their unemployment checks this week, when eight states roll off the federal extended benefits program.

Nearly half of them live in California, and the rest reside in Florida, Illinois, North Carolina, Colorado, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Texas.

The federal extended benefits program has provided the jobless with up to 20 weeks of unemployment checks after they've run through their state and their federal emergency benefits, which together last up to 79 weeks.

But the extended benefits program is expiring throughout the country as the economy improves. To be eligible for these benefits, a state must show that its unemployment rate is at least 10% higher than it was in at least one of the past three years.

Starting later this year, the maximum number of weeks the jobless can collect unemployment benefits will be reduced to as little as 40 weeks in states with jobless rates below 6% and to as many as 73 weeks where unemployment tops 9%.

'Don't Go To Law School,' 'Move To Asia,' And 28 Other Pearls Of Wisdom For 2012 Grads