Rising Stars

Perhaps only one thing can overshadow a superstar, and that's a breakthrough performer. Even in franchising, while thousands set their sights on hooking up with a big-name franchise like McDonald's or Subway, a select few will skip the obvious choices and aim to discover the next breakthrough franchise. Fortunately, popular, proven companies that have enjoyed local success are getting into franchising as a way to expand their success, which means you have even more opportunities to get in on the ground floor of a great franchise before it becomes a household name. To help you get started, we've compiled the following listing of the top 50 franchises with breakthrough potential.

These top 50 new franchises, which all started franchising in 2002 or after, are listed in order of their rankings in Entrepreneur's 2007 Franchise 500©. This listing 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 talking to existing and former franchisees, consulting with an attorney and an accountant, and reading all available literature, including the company's Uniform Franchise Offering Circular.