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Franchisors included in female entrepreneur list

Sarah Stowe

To help celebrate International Women’s Day, SmartCompany has put together a list of Australia’s top 48 business women, and two franchises have been included in the list’s top 10.

Janine Allis, who established the Boost Juice Bars franchise in 2000, comes in at number eight on the revenue-based list, and is described as being the woman behind Australia’s “craze for juice bars”.

The business currently operates 180 stores across Australia, 160 of which are franchised, making it the largest and fastest growing juice and smoothie chain in the southern hemisphere.

Fernwood Women’s Health Clubs’ founder, Diana Williams, claimed the tenth spot on the top female entrepreneurs list.

In 1989, after recognising a need for women to have their own space to exercise regularly, the first Fernwood Club was established. Today, the franchise is the largest organisation of its kind with over 80,000 members.

Williams believes that the franchising model has definitely contributed to her success as a businesswoman. “Through franchising, I have been able to grow a complete community of franchisees who are all growing and developing their own Fernwood businesses under the Fernwood corporate umbrella. The high level of quality service, customer care and ethical business standards are so much easier to develop under the franchise model,” she said.

Other franchises on the list include:

  • Wild Retail Group – founded by Sandra Boyle (ranked 16th)
  • Bark Busters – founded by Sylvia Wilson (ranked 17th)
  • Go Sushi – founded by Nicola Mills (ranked 26th)
  • Pie Face – founded by Betty Fong (ranked 27th)
  • Brazilian Beauty – founded by Francesca Webster (ranked 32nd)
  • Spudbar – co-owned by Kirsten Roberts (ranked 40th)
  • My Coffee Shop – founded by Carmelina Pascoe (ranked 42nd)