Who New?

Think franchising is all about uniformity? You're wrong. If anything is the key to franchising's success, it's variety. You can count on it: There's always something new on franchising's horizon. For every hamburger-and-fries franchise, you can find a new Japanese-food or chicken-wings franchise. For every ice cream chain, there's an up-and-coming frozen custard franchise. For prospective franchisees, as well as consumers, selection is king.

What are some of the newest stars in the franchising universe? Lucky for you, we've compiled this listing of the 50 top companies that started franchising since 1998, ranked by their scores in Entrepreneur's January 2003 Franchise 500�. This list isn't intended to endorse any particular franchise, but rather to provide a starting point for your research. Before you purchase any franchise, you should investigate the opportunity thoroughly by interviewing existing franchisees, consulting with an attorney and an accountant, and reading all pertinent literature, including the company's UFOC.

Listing compiled by Maggie Iskander and Zoy Parkinson-Smith

This article was originally published in the February 2003 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Who New?.