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With the tennis season underway, pros are inspiring droves of children to pick up a racket and follow in the footsteps of Martina Hingis and Pete Sampras.

Janet Grossman knows that feeling. Grossman, co-founder of the Manhattan Beach, California, franchise company TennisKids Inc., which offers tennis classes for children ages 2 through 10, is also a former world-ranked, professional tennis player.

Grossman, 36, taught tennis for 11 years before starting TennisKids with her husband, Douglas, in 1991. The idea scored so well with kids, the Grossmans franchised it in 1994; now the 22 TennisKids franchises conduct lessons in backyards, parking lots . . . wherever the homebased businesses can set up their portable nets. For $10 each, students are taught in groups of six, according to age.

TennisKids, which also sells a line of clothing and merchandise, recently reached an endorsement agreement with Spalding Sports Worldwide to manufacture TennisKids' rackets and equipment.

The total start-up cost for a TennisKids franchise is less than $12,500, including the $10,000 franchise fee, equipment, proprietary software and two weeks of technical training--for the franchisee or the franchisee's hired tennis trainer--that covers all aspects of the game. There's also a 2-percent advertising fee and a 6-percent royalty fee.

The benefits of working with TennisKids are not just for the future aces. "Watching these little, tiny kids rally," Grossman says, "and seeing how excited they are to hold the racket . . . It's a lot of fun."

For more information, call (800) 959-1322