Little Kickers was recently ranked in Entrepreneur magazine’s Franchise 500®, the world’s first, best and most comprehensive franchise ranking. Recognised by entrepreneurs and franchisors as a top competitive tool of measurement, the Franchise 500® places Little Kickers as #138 for its exceptional performance in areas including financial strength and stability, growth rate, and brand power.
“138 may just be a number" Christine Stanschus, CEO, states "but that number represents the willingness of a large group of people to invest their savings and take a chance on entrepreneurship, hundreds of thousands of hours of hard work, uncompromising commitment to the happiness and well-being of teams of employees and a real passion to be the best at what we all do. I'm so grateful to everyone involved, and so proud to be a part of this!”
“We spend months gathering and crunching data in order to produce the Franchise 500 ranking. We’re proud of the result and the way it continues to be a resource for the franchise community,” says Jason Feifer, editor in chief of Entrepreneur. “Like every industry, franchising is ever-evolving and must smartly react to new technologies and consumer demands. We know it takes a lot to stay competitive, and are excited to celebrate those that do it best.”
“In order to reflect the evolving business world at large, we at Entrepreneur continue to evolve our annual ranking, too,” says Ryan Shea, president of Entrepreneur. “We’ve developed new ways to measure and analyze our collected data as new critical data points come into play. We take into account pertinent factors such as social media presence and financing availability, which have become increasingly important in today’s economy. The result is a more complete and relevant Franchise 500® that can serve as a valuable resource for our readers.”
The key factors that go into Entrepreneur’s evaluation include costs and fees, size and growth, support, brand strength, and financial strength and stability. All franchises are given a cumulative score based on more than 150 data points, and the 500 franchises with the highest cumulative scores become the Franchise 500® in ranking order.
Over its 38 years in existence, the Franchise 500® has become both a dominant competitive measure for franchisors and a primary research tool for entrepreneurs. Little Kickers’s position on the ranking reinforces its strength in the industry.
To view Little Kickers in the full ranking, visit www.entrepreneur.com/franchise500. Results can also be seen in the January/February issue of Entrepreneur available now on newsstands.