As a poor imitation of my good friend, senior pastor Jon McClarnon of True North Church, and his blog's "Five for Friday", I'm starting a "Two for Tuesday". 2 rather than 5 because I'm not as smart as Jon nor do I have the detailed knowledge of trivia as he does.

So, my first Two for Tuesday is based on Entrepreneur Magazine's 2008 Franchise 500 list of top franchises. I didn't just want to pick the #1 and #2 franchises (Seven-Eleven and Subway) because, although good franchises, they aren't that interesting to me. I'd rather emphasize a couple that I think are interesting.

Dairy Queen (#25)
    How many of us loved DQ as kids? From the dilly bars to the unnaturally blue slushies, DQ brings back memories for me. We used to live about 100 yards from one when Lori and I first got married and we would take strolls with our dog to go get soft serve on hot summer nights. And only $655K to 1.3 million to start one! What are memories worth?

Hardee's (#62)
    Hardee's - the name makes my mouth water. There is a Hardee's in Sanford, on the way home from Pinehurst. My 14, nearly 15 year old son and I make a habit of stopping there after every round he plays junior golf tournaments down there. I start thinking about it when he's on about the 9th hole and it always matches my expectations. Great fast-food burgers and the shakes are top notch! And under 1.2 million to start firing up your own burgers!