When the job market hits the skids, employees start looking for a little more stability.

Often, their gaze lands on franchising.

In New York, more than 430,000 people make their living owning franchises, according to a

report by the International Franchise Association. Franchises employ a total of 842,500 people

in New York. That amounts to about one of every 10 jobs in the state.

&#8220More people are getting disillusioned with corporate America, and that&#8217s nothing

new,&#8221 said Joel Libava, also known as the Franchise King, a blogger, franchising

consultant and founder of FranchiseSelectionSpecialists.com. &#8220But the longer people are

out of work, the more open they are to getting into business for themselves.&#8221

That was the case with Tammy and John Young of Tonawanda. John Young had worked at

Colorforms, a Tonawanda printing plant, for 20 years. But toward the end, he knew the company

&#8212 and the printing trade itself &#8212 didn&#8217t have much life left.

&#8220I really needed a job. I had always looked at franchises, but when Jared

[Subway&#8217s spokesman] became popular, I really started looking at Subway,&#8221 he said.

&#8220I thought, this could really work. It was something I could afford and that I thought

would make money.&#8221

So in 2002, plunking down $50,000 of his own money and another $100,000 loaned by a bank,

he took the plunge.

But it was never easy.

In the beginning, he worked up to 100 hours a week. He had health problems, which kept him

out of the franchise for two months, to be replaced by Tammy, a stay-at-home mom. There is no

employer health insurance to rely on, no unemployment benefits. And the store really

didn&#8217t start making a profit until five years in, when the chain started its wildly

successful $5 footlong promotion.

And if you think worrying about being laid off is stressful, try worrying about your own

business failing, watching your life savings disappear, or working around the clock only to

have no income coming in.

&#8220You can be your own boss, and that&#8217s the big thing. But thinking you don&#8217t

have to answer to anyone is not necessarily true,&#8221 said Tammy.

The Youngs&#8217 store is thoroughly evaluated and inspected once a month for up to four

hours by one of Subway&#8217s corporate representatives.

But now that the store is doing well and bringing in money, the Youngs are happy they put

in the hard work and took the risk. The Subway brand is booming. Its ads are on television

every time you turn around &#8212 even incorporated into popular television shows, such as

NBC&#8217s &#8220The Biggest Loser.&#8221

&#8220I pay a lot for that advertising; 4.5 cents out of every dollar. But I could never

reach that kind of national recognition on my own. It helps bring people in,&#8221 said John.

George Traikos, master franchisee of the Yogen Fruz frozen yogurt chain, also attests to

the hard work, immense risk but possible handsome rewards of franchising.

&#8220If you think you&#8217re going to own a business and then go fishing every day,

that&#8217s not going to happen. On the contrary, you will work as hard or harder than you

ever did,&#8221 he said. &#8220But you do have more control. And every victory accrues to your

own bottom line, rather than going to make other people richer.&#8221

Traikos spent decades in both the corporate world, as well as owning his own business,

before he bought the Yogen Fruz franchise rights in upstate New York and northern and central

Florida. Frozen yogurt is expected to be one of the hottest franchising trends of 2010,

according to Libava and Small Business Trends magazine.

&#8220[Frozen yogurt] is a huge, huge, booming trend on the West Coast. The shops are on

every corner, the way Starbucks used to be,&#8221 Traikos said. &#8220I know trends usually

start on the West Coast and spread to the East Coast and I wanted to be part of it.&#8221

In his studies, he found that upstate New York had a large concentration of

health-conscious people, Yogen Fruz&#8217s target audience. In fact, health food is expected

to be just as popular a franchise segment as frozen yogurt itself, a double-threat for the

Ontario-based Yogen Fruz.

The company&#8217s first New York stores opened in Rochester and Syracuse before opening in

Buffalo in October 2008. The company has locations at the Boulevard and Eastern Hills malls,

and another is being finalized and slated to open within the next three months.

&#8220We&#8217ve had a lot of inquiries from people who have been downsized out of jobs or

bought out into early retirement. They say, &#8216I have a chunk of change but I&#8217m not

ready to retire,&#8217&#8221 he said. &#8220They want a business, but they don&#8217t want to

run the risk of inventing their own model. So they pay for the right to use a brand and a

system that&#8217s already figured out.&#8221

Traikos himself came to Yogen Fruz after sensing the impending housing crisis and detecting

his career in real estate would soon be ending.

For many would-be franchisees, financing has been the biggest difficulty, as the recession

caused credit to dry up, and banks tightened their lending standards.

Ironically, the same market conditions enticing people into owning their own businesses are

keeping them out of the game.

To counter that, some franchises have offered internal financing or have discounted

franchise fees during the recession, according to Libava.

Florida franchisor SKY-Shades offered to refund its $75,000 franchise fee if new franchise

owners didn&#8217t hit the $1.5 million revenue mark within their first three years. The Maaco

auto franchise vowed to buy back franchises that didn&#8217t hit $750,000 in sales within

their first 15 months. CiCi&#8217s Pizza waived its franchise fee for existing franchisees and

managers willing to take on less-successful locations.

But in those situations, franchises get away from their core business, playing the role

of bankers, taking on more risk, and possibly taking on franchisees who are not ready.

&#8220Some franchisors found themselves up against a wall. Their revenues were down. They

said, &#8216Man, I&#8217ve gotta sell some franchises,&#8217 &#8221 said Libava.

&#8220It&#8217s kind of a conundrum. It&#8217s been pretty tough.&#8221

It&#8217s a conundrum Traikos hasn&#8217t set himself up for. Part of what makes

small-business owners fight for success is having their own money at stake.

&#8220If someone says they are ready, willing and able except for the money &#8212

they&#8217re not ready,&#8221 he said. &#8220You have to bring all your chips to the table,

and if you don&#8217t have enough chips, or you do have enough chips but you want to play with

mine instead, you&#8217re not ready.&#8221