Our original 2021 franchise list brought together businesses in fitness, travel, education, real estate, food, salons and commercial cleaning. Its useful starting point was that variety. A dated list, however, does not establish which franchise is best for a buyer today or prove that any brand was newly emerging in 2021.
This updated guide retains the eight examples and compares what each business does. The linked official sources describe the brands’ offerings; they are not evidence of a historical ranking, investment return or guaranteed customer outcome.
Anytime Fitness: a gym business
Anytime Fitness’s franchise website describes a fitness-club model with 24-hour member access. For a prospective owner, the useful comparison is between operating a physical gym and other fitness formats, rather than assuming every fitness franchise has the same staffing and premises needs.
Ask how member access, cleaning, equipment maintenance and coaching responsibilities would be managed. Prepare a local competition review and a staffing plan. Which duties would you perform, and which would need a qualified manager or service provider?
Dream Vacations: home-based travel sales
Dream Vacations presents its opportunity as a home-based travel agency franchise. That offers a different operating setting from a gym or bakery, but it still calls for a plan to find clients and serve travelers.
Ask about booking administration, customer communication, supplier relationships and support when travel plans change. Consider the hours you can devote to sales and service. Compare it with other models in our home-based franchise guide.
Kumon: math and reading programs
Kumon’s official website describes math and reading programs built around progressive practice. Treat it as an education-business example, without assuming a particular student result or owner return.
For ownership research, ask about the instructor’s role, preparation requirements, center operations and communication with families. Map the expected weekly schedule, including preparation and administration, before deciding whether the work matches your interests.
Keller Williams: real estate brokerage ownership
Keller Williams’s franchise page describes opening a Market Center. This is a different decision from joining an existing real estate office as an agent.
Ask what leadership, brokerage supervision and recruiting responsibilities the owner would undertake. Have qualified advisers explain applicable licensing obligations. Use our real estate franchise guide to organize comparisons by role rather than brand familiarity alone.
Taco Bell: restaurant operations
Yum! Brands describes Taco Bell as a Mexican-inspired restaurant concept. The brand’s visibility is a starting point for research, not proof that a particular location or agreement will suit your goals.
Build questions around the restaurant format, site, food preparation, staffing, operating hours and management responsibilities. Compare the operational work with other concepts in our food franchise guide.
Great Clips: a hair salon business
Great Clips’s franchise website describes a manager-run salon model. Separate that description from a promise of passive ownership: ask what oversight the franchisee must provide and how managers and stylists would be recruited and retained.
Evaluate staffing coverage, customer service and premises needs. Ask how responsibilities change if a manager leaves. Your comparison should reflect the business you would oversee, not simply whether you personally provide haircuts.
JAN-PRO: cleaning and regional-development roles
JAN-PRO’s franchise information distinguishes a cleaning business from a regional developer opportunity. Identify the specific role and contracting entity before comparing it with another cleaning franchise.
Ask who performs the cleaning, who manages customer accounts and what support applies to the offered arrangement. Do not treat unit and regional-development rights as interchangeable. Our commercial cleaning comparison provides additional research questions.
Nothing Bundt Cakes: a bakery business
Nothing Bundt Cakes’s franchise page describes bakery ownership focused on Bundt cakes. Consider the day-to-day work behind the product: preparation, scheduling, inventory, guest service and order fulfillment.
Ask how the owner and operating team divide those responsibilities. Review the proposed premises and production workflow with advisers, and investigate local customer demand without relying on an unsupported “best bakery” label.
Turn a list into a research plan
Choose two or three models that match the work you want to do. For each, record the ownership format, owner duties, premises, staffing, documents received and open questions. Request the applicable FDD and agreements, then review the financial and operating commitments with independent professionals.
A comparison is useful when it helps you decide what to investigate next. The eight examples above span different kinds of work; their inclusion is not a ranking or a recommendation that every reader should buy one.