No Place Like Home
Building an empire one brick at a time
Few people can build a successful franchise location; and even fewer can build successful busi-nesses from the ground up. But no one disputes that Ken Cornett is a master of building things. At age 43, he's the president of two companies: Estate Homes Inc., which he established 22 years ago, and his nearly 2-year-old UBuildIt fran-chise, both in Mill Creek, Washington. With about $190,000 in sales in 1999, Cornett's stint as a UBuildIt franchisee is a nice addition to the nearly $3 million he grosses each year with Estate Homes.
Estate Homes is a high-end home-building enter-prise, and UBuildIt is a consulting service for people who want to build their own homes. Although he was already busy with the contracting business when Cornett heard about the UBuildIt franchise, he decided to go for it. "[I thought,] if I don't jump in here and isolate my area, someone else is going to grab it," he says. Start-up costs for a UBuildIt fran-chise range from about $40,000 to $80,000.
Continue reading this article - and everything on Entrepreneur!
Become a member to get unlimited access and support the voices you want to hear more from. Get full access to Entrepreneur for just $5.
Get 3 months free with code zendesk
Presented by Zendesk

Entrepreneur Editors' Picks
-
These Co-Founders Are Using 'Quiet Confidence' to Flip the Script on Cutthroat Startup Culture and Make Their Mark on a $46 Billion Industry
-
My 7-Year-Old Daughter Started Selling Eggs. Here's What She Taught Me About Running a Startup.
-
Why You Need to Become an Inclusive Leader (and How to Do It)
-
Career Transitions You Can Make in Your 40s and 50s
-
Billionaire Naveen Jain Is an Expert at Disrupting Fields He Has No Experience In. His Secret Sauce for Building Multi-Million Dollar Companies? 'You Have to Come as Naive.'
-
4 Principles to Develop Next-Level Leadership at Your Company
-
This Filipino American Founder Is Disrupting the Beverage Aisle by Introducing New Flavors to the Crowded Bubbly Water Market