Comparison and Contrast Paper
            
            
             The Entrepreneurial Revolution:
             A Contrast between Franchises and Network Marketing Opportunities
            
             An "entrepreneurial revolution" has been sweeping America throughout the past decade as millions of people are remaking themselves as entrepreneurs and salespeople. The entrepreneurial revolution can largely be attributed to corporate downsizing, which has resulted in mass numbers of individuals leaving the false security of big companies to go into business for themselves. Franchises and home-based network marketing businesses have emerged as two of the fastest growing sectors in today's business economy. Both opportunities have captured the interest and spending dollars of entrepreneurs and consumers throughout the world. Although franchising and network marketing have many distinctions, which allow each business opportunity to stand on its own, they both also share some similarities.
            
             Franchises have been the fastest growing segment of the retail industry for the last fifteen years. In 1997, sales through franchises exceeded $800 billion in the United States, representing about half of all retail businesses. Franchising is growing primarily for two reasons. First, many franchisees view the purchase of a proven company with a solid reputation and a tried-and-true concept to be a phenomenal opportunity and a way to minimize the headaches of starting a business from scratch. Second, the franchiser's who desire to expand their existing businesses, view franchising as a way to utilize other people's energy and capital to help themselves expand quickly and at less cost to themselves.
            
             During the past decade, network marketing has grown into a solid, "mainstream" multi-billion dollar industry, which is currently producing worldwide sales in excess of $50 billion annually. Network marketing is truly a unique business opportunity that's taking the wor...