Although Rogers has to have his eye on the bottom line at all times, what's interesting about this entrepreneur is that it doesn't seem to be his entire focus. Rogers takes pride in helping younger entrepreneurs who are gifted with the talent and drive to create a bright future for themselves.

"I don't take people under my wing – that's not me," Rogers said. "I believe in people making their own choices and their own way – and that's what the term entrepreneur means. I'll help by giving them an environment for success and if asked I'll give them my unfettered two cents worth," he said.

"I was a kid in my early 20s and I was earning between $20-25K net..net.. in my pocket in one summer [after paying 15% royalty]. I could afford a cleaning lady when I was going to university," Maingot said.

Paul Clements, VP Finance with The Franchise Company says that the good thing about becoming a franchisee is that the infrastructure of the business is already set up. That means that an entrepreneur can focus directly on building a loyal client base rather than waste time worrying about effective marketing tools, building financing, and other distracting managerial issues. What's more, Clements says that the affiliation with the larger company can provide support to individual entrepreneurs who run into difficulty.

"Franchises are cookie-cutter operations," said Paul Clements, VP Finance with The Franchise Company, who also began his career as an independent painter in the early 1970s. "It's a business in a box … basically the tools are given to entrepreneurs to work with," he said.

Take Stephan Maingot, 37, of California Closets in Vancouver, B.C., who started with College Pro Painters while he was a student at the University of Montreal. Although Rogers didn't personally mentor Maingot, the French-Canadian entrepreneur says that the Franchise Company gave him remarkable hands-on and educational training to nurture and grow his business.

Maingot said he was embarrassed at the amount of free training he was given before and after he started to run his business. "I became certified in 14 different managerial skills – ranging from interviewing, to conflict management, selling and coaching – which I used to my advantage," he said.

"What Steve's done is build a company where if you want to become an entrepreneur – you can. They hired me while I was in university. Who's gonna give you a chance to run a business in university? They also gave me world-class training," he said.

Today, Maingot owns and operates a California Closets, a storage-solution/home organizing company which he hopes will rival The Franchise company in million-dollar sales.

Recipe for Success

The Final Word