A franchise seems like an easy business to start. You’re given the illusion that everything is packaged up nicely for you and you can have your business running in no time. Actually, running a franchise is vastly different than starting your own original business or starting with a home based business opportunity.

Some franchises like Subway, for example, will ask the potential franchise owner to complete very long applications, to review tons of legal documents, and to demonstrate aptitude by completing complicated exams. The problem with this is that some people who are great at running a business may not be great at taking an exam. It’s like having to suffer through the torture of testing and feeling like an underachiever, especially if you’re someone who always struggled with school and tests.

Buying a franchise is also very expensive. You’d have to be approved for a huge loan before you could think to pay the thousands of dollars it costs to buy one. And after you do buy one, you don’t have much freedom in choosing your own products because you’ll have to buy from whatever distributors have already been contracted to supply you with your ingredients or necessary materials. If your franchise is a Burger King or McDonald’s, you’re going to be expected to serve the same exact food as any other Burger King or McDonald’s location.

The thing about going into business for yourself with a home based business opportunity is that you don’t need to be approved for a loan. You don’t need to invest a large amount of money upfront just to get started. You can start your own business with an amount equal to or less than what you might spend during one grocery shopping trip. Franchises do offer support and training, but so do home based business opportunities.

The best part about becoming an independent business owner is that you get to meet so many new people who you can learn from and who are probably eager to work with you to see some results in your business opportunity. You also don’t have to worry about hiring employees and providing them with health benefits or worker’s compensation should an accident occur.

I don’t mean to suggest that you can’t possibly become successful with a franchise, but owning one requires you to invest a lot of your personal time into it. The reason so many people are becoming independent business owners is because they love to work for themselves on their own time and home businesses offer them the flexibility to do so.

Our biggest excuse for not eating better is that we don’t have time to prepare our own meals. The truth is that we’re not making the time. No matter how busy we are, don’t we somehow make time for other things like sleeping, showering, and eating? It actually doesn’t take very long to plan for 2-3 days of at least one meal.

If you’re looking to cut back on how much restaurant or fast food you eat during the week, you have to set aside at least 30 minutes of food prep. For example, set a little time aside on Sunday nights to prepare the breakfast you’ll eat Monday through Wednesday. That way, if you’re in the habit of buying a breakfast sandwich every morning, you can eliminate that from your schedule because you’ll already have something ready. Take time Sunday night to prepare a breakfast sandwich of your own as well as anything else you’d like to eat. Put them in containers so that you can grab them quickly on your way out.

If you’re always stopping for your morning coffee, you can save some extra time and dollars by brewing your own if you have an automatic coffee maker that you’ve been ignoring for a while.

And who says you only have to eat breakfast foods for breakfast? Whatever you start your day with, just know that it will keep your energy up for several hours, almost all the way to lunch time. You can prepare fresh salads with proteins like boiled eggs, and calcium when you use spinach. Throw in some sliced almonds or grilled chicken. It really doesn’t matter that you’re having a salad in the morning. The more flexible you are with your meal options, the more fun you’ll have preparing things you’ll enjoy.

If you’re very traditional with your breakfast, you can very easily put together containers of instant oatmeal. Include the amount you want to eat and throw in whatever toppings you most enjoy (like a little bit of brown sugar, some dried fruits and chopped nuts) and if at work you have a hot water dispenser, your breakfast will be ready almost immediately.

Granted, this may not work for everyone, but the point is that whatever you’re putting off doing because you believe you don’t have time, you can actually achieve it. It’s really a matter of being aware of how you distribute your time among the activities that matter to you. And if work is very important to you, you know that it is also important to have a healthy body and mind so that you can continue working. One of the ways to ensure that you are always at your best is by fueling up with foods that are good for you and will keep you feeling strong and focused throughout the day.

While many of us can get into exercise on our own, some of us could use the help of a personal trainer. The thing is we have to work with one who will take good care of us so that we don’t suffer any unnecessary injuries. You definitely want to work with someone who knows not too push you too hard and who takes into consideration the kind of fitness goals you are looking to achieve.

Here are a few things you should look for when working with a person trainer:

1. Working At Your Pace: If you’ve never worked out in your life, work with a trainer who isn’t going to be too demanding or you’ll get really discouraged about working out. If you start with one who doesn’t understand that you need to take things slowly, you can say, “I don’t think we’re a good match for each other.” It may be awkward but a moment of awkwardness is better than being out for a month with an injury.

2. Train To Improve: You may not be able to do all of your reps, but you ought to learn to do them correctly. When we work on our own, it’s tempting to just get through several reps of situps even if at the end we do them incorrectly for the sake of finishing. That’s not exactly a smart way to complete a work out. If you can only do one set of ten situps, only do the one set and make sure each one is done correctly. You’ll see that over time, you build up your strength and endurance and you can increase the number of reps you can complete.

3. Don’t Aggravate Existing Injuries: Lots of us have back problems and doing workouts incorrectly will only make them worse. Ask your personal trainer about other ways to work your core muscles without relying too much on your back. For example, crunches are great for toning your abs, but you might be injuring your back while doing them.

Just as in regular relationships, communication is important, and if you’re going to work with a personal trainer, you’re going to have a relationship with him or her. You must allow yourself to express when you feel discomfort or when you might be doing something that you know will cause pain long after the workout. And if you don’t feel the pain right away but do feel it long after the workout, communicate that to your trainer as well so that you can revise your workout plan.