Hurley’s business model is a business opportunity as opposed to a franchise. Here are some basic differences: Price - The biggest selling point in a business opportunity via franchise. As stated, In Hurley’s example her packages cost less than $3000, whereas some franchises can cost upwards of $25,000 or more. In today’s economically challenging times, that makes a big difference. With gas over $4.00 gallon in most of the country, record layoffs in the educational industry, mortgage industry, and real estate fields, thousands of talented, driven people find themselves without a job and usually a family to support. Even stay-at-home moms are looking for a way to contribute to the family income. Therefore, price is absolutely a contributing factor for many in determining the business they wish to start.

According to Sean McCusker, owner of Get Connected Tutoring in the greater Portland, Oregon area, "I decided to start a home tutoring business because I had just graduated with a Masters degree and the prospect of a job in my specialty field wouldn’t be worth the pay. I would also be giving up seeing my two small children grow up and that would mean missing a lot." Sean and his wife decided that being home-based with no overhead and no employees was the way to make a living and give back to their community.

Your Own Terroritory – Business opportunities normally don’t have a specific territory. This can be a big contributing factor in determining what is right for you, especially with the growth in the Internet, and the ability to market globally. Most business opportunities don’t have defined territories and buyers are free to work as large or small of an area of their choosing. As an example, Jeff Bibler in the San Diego area started a tutoring service, Better Report Card Tutors that covers the San Diego and the outlying suburbs of Encinitas, Carlsbad, Oceanside and other cities which accounts for about 2.5 million people. That’s a lot of territory. Franchises offer a limited territory, charging extra for a bigger geographical area. A franchise would let one work that large of an area, but the price would be considerably higher than their initial asking price.

Support - Franchises rarely provide on-going support. Once you buy, you are basically on your own or can call into a call-center where an operator or someone in one of the many "departments" will answer your question, sometimes the next day. When one is starting out, questions arise all the time and having the ability to have someone to answer those questions is priceless. Business opportunities offer ongoing support and usually on a more personalized basis.

Cathy Hogg, Owner of Beyond The Books Tutoring in Middlesex County, New Jersey puts it like this, "Laurie Hurley had several years of experience that could support me in starting up a new business. I knew that she could guide me to being successful and help me avoid the mistakes that could have happened if I did this myself. " That’s the kind of support most are looking for when starting their own businesses.

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