* The guy who starts an Internet business spends a lot of his start-up cash on fancy business cards and furnishing a nice office. Then it turns out all his customers work with him via email. He never has a chance to hand out his business cards and no one notices his nice office.



* The woman starting a gourmet coffee bar spends tens of thousands of dollars on equipment and staff, only to discover the gourmet coffee craze has move on and she needs to retool her location to offer breakfast and lunch.

* The couple opening a retail store find out just a little too late there is little demand for their products. Similar items can be conveniently purchased at WalMart for a lower price.

All these cases involve good, ambitious people losing most of their start-up investment to bad ideas. The really sad thing is they could have saved all that money AND time by simply learning from someone who had already worked the business.

It's one of the oldest and truest rules in business. First find others who have succeeded in your chosen business. Pick their brains. Learn from their experience.

The only problem with that is most businesses are so complicated that no expert is going to spend the months, and maybe even years, it takes for you to fully learn the business.

That's why franchise and licensing opportunities are so popular. For decades, America's most successful small businesses have started as franchises.

A franchise is always based on a very successful and completely proven business idea. The parent company shares their methods, knowledge, and experience with you. Rather than having to learn from the "school of hard knocks," you simply follow a prescribed formula set out by the franchiser.

Good franchise opportunities can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars or even millions. Good licensing deals often cost considerably less.

A company with a proven business and market can license you to work their business in your town or area. You can benefit from the parent company's extensive training, marketing, supply sources, and brand name recognition.

Rather than having to find all your own products or services, advertise to familiarize your name with prospects, and figure out effective accounting and operating systems -- all of which can be extremely expensive and time consuming -- you fast-forward to profits using the extensive assistance provided by the parent company.

Licensed opportunities are free from many of the extensive government regulations that limit franchises. This gives the parent company MUCH more flexibility in creating an opportunity that is perfectly tailored to their industry.

The best way to tap into the food industry's massive profits is to follow a simple, step-by-step system developed by someone who has done it successfully many times.

And, by looking for systems that involve a license instead of being a franchise, you will save a lot of money in both start up and operations costs while still getting the benefits from following a proven system.

In these days of slow sales and downward expectations, this type of proven business is just the reliable money-earner you need.