Instead of starting a business independently, you may want to look into the options of franchise business consulting. What is a franchise? With a franchise, you pay someone else for the right to sell and distribute their products and use their trade name or trademark. A franchise consulting fee is charged and, depending on the franchise, there may or may not be ongoing royalty fees, advertising costs, or the mandatory purchase of the company’s supplies needed to run the franchise. Business consulting franchise is now a popular way of being in business for oneself. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, there are more than 3,000 franchises, with some 500,000 people who have invested in them. As of 1994, franchises accounted for 40 percent of all retail sales in this country and employed 7 million people.