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Yesterday we were discussing innovations that fitness franchises are implementing to attract business during what it is typically one of their busiest months of the years. Fitness franchises are not alone: just look at some of the changes food franchises are bringing in to attract new customers.

Some food franchises are betting on a breakfast resurgence. Oatmeal, that cheaply-made, unfashionable, extremely-filling breakfast meal has started to pop on the menus on Starbucks and Jumba Juice in cold-weather cities like Chicago. Considering that breakfast has become less and less integral for workers on the go, the return of oatmeal shows that franchises are thinking outside of the box to attract customers. Easily-made and highly nutritious, oatmeal is a perfect meal for the recession, and one wonder what other formerly passé foods franchises might bring into the fold.

Franchises have long been hoping that new technology might provide them with a competitive edge. Few food franchise markets are more competitive than the pizza industry, and signs show that franchises are turning to the internet to attract customers. Domino’s Pizza now lets customers order pizza on TiVo, while you can order Pizza Hut from the couch with your TiVo and Papa John’s now accepts text message orders. Each pizza franchise is obviously trying to adapt to the changing ways we interact now, but will these innovations really bring a flood of new customers, not to mention imitators? Time will tell, but franchisors obviously feel this is a risk worth taking.

One of the unexpected by-products of the boom of reality TV is a new-found interest in entrepreneurship. Reality TV might have grown popular thanks to exotic locales and hair-raising stints – as anyone hooked in by the first few seasons of Survivor will attest – but interestingly, as budgets have become constrained and program ideas more democratic, producers have begun put entrepreneurs under the limelight – and are reaping ratings success.

TV viewers will, of course, remember ABC’s popular program American Inventor, which ran for two seasons. Another sign of a boom in entrepreneurial TV is news that ABC has teamed the don of reality TV, Survivor creator Mark Burnett, to produce a show called ‘The Shark’s Tank’, which is based on the successful British show ‘The Dragon’s Den’. The Shark’s Tank concept, which has already proved itself popular in Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Canada, the Netherlands, Finland, Nigeria, and the UK, allows entrepreneurs to pitch their new concepts to a group of investors with the hope of receiving capital investment.

So how do you explain network television’s sudden interest in the experiences of entrepreneurs? First off, programs like American Entrepreneur make for good, entertaining television, otherwise they wouldn’t last in prime time. Still, the growth of entrepreneurial television seems to speak to something deeper in the American experience. Certainly, these programs celebrate the value and spirit for entrepreneurship. But the small business owner, who was quite common in 1950s television, has been somewhat phased out of prime time in recent years. This trend directly goes against the perceived political value of small business owners—who became the centerpiece of John McCain’s flailing campaign in its final days. Joe the Plumber, as none of us will forget, emerged as a national phenomenon.

At a time of great economic uncertainty in America, these programs reinforce the notion that it’s America’s innovative businessmen and businesswomen who got the country to where it is today and will guide it in the future. Time will tell if reality shows like American Entrepreneur help mold the next generation of entrepreneurs, but for anyone passionate about small business, it is refreshing to turn on the television and see the entrepreneurial spirit being celebrated. And, who knows, there might be a profitable idea or two to be promoted as well…

It might seem a bit early to be thinking about summer vacation with the kids just back to school, but the truly enterprising parent might be intrigued to learn about the many summer business camps on offer for kids.

Here’s the idea: rather than have kids sitting in front of their Playstation all summer, why not have children learning about business in a more informal environment, like a summer camp? And let’s face facts: the likelihood of your child working in business twenty years down the road is somewhat better than he or she being the next Michael Phelps or Lisa Leslie. A bit practical know-how here and there might going a long way.

The American Camp Association has noted a big push towards business-related camps in recent years.

GirlsInc: Partnering with investment giant Goldman Sachs, Girls Inc. operates a corporate camp for young female entrepreneurs for one week every summer. Girls Inc. is a national non-profit youth organisation designed to empower young women.

Julian Krinsky Camps & Programs: There’s everything here from day camps at Bryn Mawr University for 4-6 year olds to pre-college at Princeton for teens. A great number of exciting things to do for young people in the greater Pennsylvania area.

Kidscamps.com: Finally, search the national database at Kidscamp.com for the perfect opportunity for your child, whatever the age or the location.

Have your child make the most of his or her summer next year.

To the ambitious businessman or businesswoman, it seems anything can be franchised.

That might be the lesson to take from the expanded growth of the health care franchise industry in recent years. Time was, your local doctor could be relied upon to make house calls for a biting flu, or worse. And while the accessibilty of health care is a politically divisive subject in this year’s election, many entrepreneurs have thrived by bringing the doctor to the people.

So these days, specialist elements of the health care sector are experiencing a resurgence thanks to the benefits of the franchise model.

The rise in health care franchises follows along the familiar franchise story lines: members of niche areas of the health care industry- optometrists, chiropractors, etc. – have found support for their business by signing up with franchises that have broad popularity rather than testing the choppy waters of independent practice.

One of the main advantages of running a health franchise for people trained in medicine is that medicine can again become their primary focus. Under the umbrella of a franchise, doctors can take off their ‘businessman’ cap, as people within the franchise take care of any of branding concerns.

Another advantage of franchising for health care professionals is that customers are attracted to consistent pricing. In independent practice, the cost of routine care can veer wildly from doctor to doctor. Franchises offer fixed pricing from store to store and consumers, whether they are looking for a Big Mac or an eye test, find that reassuring.

Still, health care franchises are not exactly a new industry: estimates put the healthcare and senior care industry around $70 billion. Optometry continues to be perhaps the easiest and one of the most popular health care areas to franchise. Pearle Vision was the first optometry firm to franchise itself and still continues to be a national force. In recent years, there’s also been a boom in spinal care and massage franchises.

There’s probably been no better time to explore purchasing your own health care franchise. In all, Franchise Direct have quite a diverse array of franchises opportunities available. If you think opening your own health care franchise might interest you, why not consider a move with Franchise Direct?

Has the business world even been so reliant on the innovations of young entrepreneurs? As the corporate world adapts to the revolution in communication and technology spurred on by the internet, it leans more and more on the input and direction of millenials, as they are now known, who came of age in a world of social networking and instant messaging.

Time was, the experience of young entrepreneurs was limited to dog-walking and lemonade stands. Now, many of the most important companies of the past 10 years have been started by people younger than 25. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, the patron saint of young entrepreneurs, was a sophomore at Harvard when he launched his now-famous social networking experiment. The founders of Google were college students at Stanford when they decided to launch their own search engine. The list goes on.

For franchisees, the meteoric rise of the young entrepreneur creates both great opportunity, as well as a few challenges. Many ideas from young entrepreneurs come from right outside of the box, and unlike the blue-chip, tried and true franchise models, their business ventures often include an element of risk.

That said, franchisors should not feel in the dark when dealing with young entrepreneurs. There are networks to tap into. Many of America’s top business colleges, like Wharton College at the University of Pennsylvania, boast their own entrepreneurial centres. Other colleges have carved a niche out of entrepreneurship. Babson College in Massachusetts, the alma mater of Arthur Blank, the co-founder of Home Depot, consistently ranks first in polls as national undergraduate entrepreneurship programs. The Johnson Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Indiana University is another top ranking entrepreneurial program.

It is clear that young entrepreneurs have changed the business world irrevocably, and as the largest generation in American history with over 80 million people, the changes are only beginning. The businesses that survive will be the ones that adapt the fastest. Today’s young entrepreneurs would rather go it alone than feel stifled in a stale office environment. Equally, tech-savvy entrepreneurs do not see a division between work and the social innovations like Facebook that define their lives outside of the office.

Business owners and franchisors will have to shrink the generation gap in order for young entrepreneurs to flourish. But recent history of business tells us the next billion dollar idea is right under our noses. The challenge is to find it.