The world is full of sandwich shops. Seemingly they are on every corner and within every strip mall. But there are a few that have managed to stand out from the crowd. They have in fact become so successful that they are known all around the world. Subway is just such a chain. In fact as far as franchises are concerned they are now the third largest in the world. Trailing only Yum! Brands and McDonald's in total number of stores being operated. For those people looking to buy a franchise this one certainly has some things going for it.

So how did it all start? Well it all started with a thousand dollar loan from family friend Peter Buck to a 17 year old kid. Fred De Luca was the kid in question. At the time he was trying to raise money for college and thought that starting a small business might be a good way of doing it. He had aspirations of becoming a doctor at the time which is what Peter Buck Ph D. was. Hence the official corporate name of Doctor's Associates Inc. which has absolutely nothing to do with any medical organization anywhere.

As soon as the doors were opened the business was started pouring in. Originally they had named the business Pete's Submarines but over the radio it came out sounding like Pizza Submarines. So they soon changed the name to Pete's Subway and eventually just Subway. Regardless of the name they definitely had a hit on their hands. From that first location they have grown to over 29,000 locations as of 2008. And they operate in 86 different countries all over the world. Truly they have become a global force in the fast food industry.

Subway is also responsible for one of the best known advertising campaigns in recent memory. Using Jared Fogle the college student that lost a whopping 245 pounds while eating Subway sandwiches and exercising. Their timing could not have been much better as America was in the midst of a health conscious craze. Still today Subway uses Jared to promote their products.

Each year Entrepreneur Magazine puts out its list of the top 500 franchise opportunities in business. And Subway despite some past problems here and there consistently ranks at the top of the list. In fact for 2008 they were ranked number two along with being ranked the third fastest growing franchise and the number one global franchise going.

What started with a humble beginning has blossomed into a global powerhouse that shows no signs of slowing down. Even the simplest of businesses can still do things better than their competition. So never think that just because your business idea is not new or seemingly innovative enough that you still can't do it better than the next guy. In business you look to gain an edge over the competition and produce better results than they do. If you do then even the simplest of business models can achieve great success.