This is such a great topic. It reminds me of the joke we used to tell as kids, “How can you immediately double your money? Fold it in half and put it back in your pocket!” So how can you make a lot of money as a franchisee? At the risk of sounding trite, the easiest way is to start by selecting a franchise opportunity that is capable of making a lot of money.

Actually, there are a number of things you can do to increase your chances of making good money as a franchisee. Though picking the right opportunity where others are making a lot of money is a good start, it is no guarantee you will do the same. The keys to making as much money as possible include:

1. Starting with the right definition. This goal begs the question, “What is a lot of money?” Many people think of this answer first in absolute terms such as making a fixed amount like $100,000 per year. I think it is wiser to define “a lot of money” in terms of return on investment. If you can invest $5,000 and get a return of $25,000 per year, I’d contend you’re making a lot of money on that investment by any reasonable standard of measure.

2. Starting with the right opportunity. It’s essential to select an opportunity that matches up well with you, in which you are willing and capable of performing the primary role of the franchisee.

As just one example, I know of a franchise that cleans public restrooms. This can be an intensely profitable business with a great return on investment, but many people simply wouldn’t want to be involved in such a business. Their reluctance would probably mean they wouldn’t make a lot of money, because they couldn’t project the excitement and enthusiasm necessary to sell a prospective customer on the value of a sparkling urinal.

3. Keeping the investment size reasonable. A host of franchises can produce a great return on investment. Make sure you focus on ones where the per-unit investment is reasonable given your net worth and the liquid capital you have available to invest. Remember what your mom told you about not putting all your eggs in one basket.

4. Reinvesting to achieve your absolute goal. If you find an opportunity that fits well for you and has a great return on investment, and you’ve got your first unit up and making a lot of money, you can reach your absolute number goal by acquiring additional units. This can either be done through further out-of-pocket investment or through the reinvestment of the profits you’re making into growing the business.

I have a good friend who owns more than 40 haircutting franchises. The return on investment in each unit is great, but the absolute dollars in any one unit don’t meet his overall total income goal. He found that by adding additional units over time through the reinvestment of profits, he could realize a total income far in excess of what his absolute goals were when he started the business. In the example mentioned in the first point, if you want to make $100,000 per year, make four of the $5,000 investments and you’re there.

5. Following the system. The biggest reason to get a franchise, as opposed to starting an independent business, is to acquire the rights to use a proven system to achieve predictable results. A good franchise company has developed its systems through extensive trial and error and should be able to tell a new franchisee exactly what to do to make a lot of money. All you should have to do is execute the system well to achieve the success you want. If you want to make a lot of money, don’t be an innovator–just pick a great system and execute it well, and you’ll get your wish.

6. Capitalizing your business properly. This is a corollary point to the one about making sure the size of the investment for each unit is reasonable for you. There are many ways to capitalize your new business, including using all cash or using some portion of your cash combined with loans or leases to come up with the total investment. Most franchisees use a combination approach. When you’re evaluating how to capitalize your business, keep in mind that the service costs of loans or leases will reduce the amount of money you’ll have for other purposes. Too much leverage can be very dangerous and get in the way of making a lot of money.

7. Working with a good accountant. One of the hard lessons of life is that there can be a big difference between the money you make and the money you have. The difference is taxes, and they take many forms. One of the most important steps to making money that stays in your pocket is to use a good accountant to help you structure your business entity and ongoing activities in a manner that reduces the tax bite whenever possible.

The entity selection can help you avoid double taxation of earnings- and/or business-specific taxes like B & O tariffs. In terms of your business activities, some techniques can be as simple as the timing of investments and major purchases or the type of capital structure you use. It’s typically well worth paying some accounting fees to ensure you’re minimizing the tax bite if your goal is to make a lot of money in your franchise.

Finally, keep in mind that in any successful franchise system, many people have traveled the path before you. Whether they are other franchisees or the franchisor, take advantage of their experience by asking for advice whenever you have doubts or your results aren’t what you expected, especially when you’re first starting out. They’ll be happy to help you, and you can return the favor to other new franchisees in the future.

Tottenham will today complete the signing of Gareth Bale from Southampton for a fee in the region of 10m. Bale will complete a medical in north London and sign a contract on a deal which is understood to involve an initial payment of 6m.

Bale last night agreed personal terms and sources close to the family confirmed he will tie up the formalities this morning, ending competing interest from Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea in the left-back.

Bale’s representatives had met Southampton officials earlier in the week and the Saints’ manager, George Burley, retained hope that the 17-year-old Wales international could be persuaded to stay in the Championship for another season. “There has been nothing accepted for Gareth Bale and the situation remains the same,” said Burley. “We will speak to him about staying for a longer period. That is something Gareth, his parents and advisers are thinking about.”

West Ham’s chairman, Eggert Magnusson, has expressed his desire to keep Carlos Tevez despite the controversy surrounding the Argentinian and the possibility of a legal battle. West Ham unilaterally terminated their third-party agreements with Tevez’s agent Kia Joorabchian which gave his company Media Sports Investment the right to sell the player.

Joorabchian could go to court to try to force the club to release the player but West Ham’s chairman points out they still hold his registration. “There will be a particular focus on Carlos Tevez and I want him to stay,” said Magnusson. “The starting point is that he is a West Ham player, registered with and contracted to the club with three years remaining on a four-year contract.”

Nicklas Bendtner wants to force his way into Ars?ne Wenger’s plans next season after agreeing a new five-year deal with Arsenal. The 19-year-old striker was on loan at Birmingham last season.

Birmingham made a pre-tax profit of 3.4m on ordinary activities for the six-month period ending in February this year. But, despite the club winning promotion, the plc chairman, David Sullivan, predicts the club will make a loss in the remainder of their financial year.

“As anticipated, relegation substantially reduced turnover and hence affected performance at the operating level, despite the measures taken to reduce costs,” said Sullivan.

QPR will announce on June 15 a loss of more than 3m last year.

Everton’s forward James McFadden has pulled out of Scotland’s friendly with Austria next week and the Euro 2008 qualifier in the Faroe Islands with a foot injury.

Pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. will be in the audience at the D.C. Armory in the nation’s capital Friday when brothers Lamont and Anthony Peterson make their televised hometown debut on ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights (9 p.m. ET).

The Petersons, since being rescued off the streets by mentor and trainer Barry Hunter, have become two of boxing’s fastest-rising stars. Both are unbeaten and will be putting titles on the line.

Younger brother Anthony, the North American Boxing Organization lightweight champion (22-0, 16 KOs) will face Luis Ernesto Jose (27-4-2, 24 KOs) of the Dominican Republic in the 10-round main event, while Lamont, the WBC United States light welterweight champion 20-0, 8 KOs), will square off against Atlantic City’s John Brown (23-13-2, 11 KOs).

Since turning pro in 2004, the Petersons have fought mostly out of Memphis, but have longed to show off their stuff at home.

“I can’t wait to make my hometown debut in front of my family and friends who won’t have to travel to see this one,” says Lamont, 23. “The place is going to be packed with our fans whom have been waiting to see us fight at home.”

Anthony, 22, agrees: “Ever since my brother and I turned pro we have wanted to fight at home. With both of our careers on the brink of national success and world championships, the hometown crowd and fighting on national television brings us one step further to realizing our dreams.”

Mayweather, fresh off capturing the WBC super welterweight title May 5 in Las Vegas against Oscar De La Hoya, will attend the fight with friend, adviser and D.C. native Leonard Ellerbe as guests of Mayor Adrian Fenty.

Mayweather also plans to visit with military men and women and their families as part of an ESPN tribute to the armed forces for the Memorial Day weekend matchup.

“D.C is a great city, and I am excited to be able to visit and support the Peterson brothers on their big night,” said Mayweather. “It makes it even more special that I get to be here on such an important weekend to honor the troops and to celebrate with Leonard Ellerbe who is coming home to visit his family and friends.”

The show is being promoted by PMG Boxing Inc. headed by NBA star Steve Francis and company founder Nate Peake.

VALENCIA, Spain: Arms folded, Larry Ellison looked satisfied, at least for the moment, as he stood on the deck of USA 98 and gazed back on the Italian boat that had not found a way to catch him and his BMW Oracle Racing team.

It has not quite been an all-conquering first phase of the Vuitton Cup for Ellison, the American software mogul, and his primarily New Zealander crew. There has been the odd loss; the odd equipment breakdown and a few too many close shaves and early deficits for complete comfort.

But this was a chest-thumping afternoon, as BMW Oracle temporarily broke the tie at the top of the challengers table by coming from behind to defeat Luna Rossa Challenge by 19 seconds.

With BMW Oracle not sailing in the last round in the afternoon, Luna Rossa soon regained a share of the overall lead by convincingly defeating Frances Areva Challenge.

But the message had been sent, and BMW Oracle has now beaten Luna Rossa twice in two races here in this challenger series that will eventually produce an opponent for Americas Cup holder, Alinghi.

The real Americas Cup wont begin until June 23, and with the way the wind has been blowing and not blowing here, it has sometimes seemed that the local weather might not allow for the challengers the time to sort themselves out.

But for a change, there was no cancellation, or even a major delay, on Friday as the fans on the spectator boats got double their moneys worth. The second round of the round robin was supposed to feature just one flight of racing per afternoon, but the inability to race on Thursday altered those plans and forced two flights to be contested on Friday.

BMW Oracle now needs just one more victory in its final five races - a victory that will probably come against Areva on Saturday - to clinch its spot in the semifinals.

It seems clear that two of the other semifinal spots will go to Luna Rossa and Emirates Team New Zealand, which is just one point back of the leaders and won twice on Friday.

The suspense concerns the fourth and final spot, with two teams in strong position - Desafio Espa?ol and Victory Challenge - and a third, Mascalzone Latino, still barely in contention after winning twice on Friday.

The sentimental favorite, Team Shosholoza from South Africa, is still mathematically in contention in seventh place, but the math could eliminate it as early as Saturday, when it is scheduled to face the Spanish.

“It looks like were not making the semis, but weve got a lot to be proud about,” said Charles Nankin, Shosholozas mastman.

Areva, the French team, is on its way out, too, which will shore up the strange but true fact that the French are among the worlds finest off-shore sailors yet continue to struggle in the sports premier in-shore event.

Deep pockets and deep talent remain the key to success, and the three leaders in the standings all fulfill those requirements, even if the New Zealanders are not quite as well financed as the market leader, BMW Oracle, or Luna Rossa.

Mascalzone Latino will re-sail its fourth-flight match against Desafio Espa?ol on Saturday if the scheduled seventh flight goes ahead, The Associated Press reported.

The Naples-based team breached rules by altering its rigging configuration during the match race, resulting in the re-sail and a fine of ,000, or $13,560. It is the teams third breach of the rules.

The Italians acknowledged that they had stowed the backstays alongside the mast during two of the upwind legs of the race to avoid drag and had then set them up before the final run to support the top mast.

Americas Cup rules state that the backstays should remain permanently attached to their fixing points throughout the race.

Desafio had asked the jury to disqualify Mascalzone and award the points from the match to their team.

The Italian sailors, however, argued that the error did not influence the result of the race, which they won by 11 seconds.

Robin Knox-Johnston finished the Velux 5 Oceans solo around-the-world yacht race Friday, The Associated Press reported from Bilbao, Spain.

Knox-Johnston finished the 48,300-kilometer, or 30,000-mile, race in a total of 159 days 12 hours 42 minutes. He departed from Bilbao on Oct. 22.

The 68-year-old Englishman became the first man to circumnavigate the world alone nonstop in 1969.

“It was my last circumnavigation,” Knox-Johnston said. “I wont do it again, which is sad.”

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. Last week, someone asked Flip Saunders about the famed 0-81 statistic, the mark of teams that trail a best-of-seven series, 3-0. The Pistons coach said he knew eventually some team would end that shutout.

Why not the Chicago Bulls? Why not now?

On Tuesday night, the Pistons folded to that superior effort with embarrassingly little resistance.

Shooting an astonishing 70% for more than half of the game, the Bulls didn’t just take Game 5, 108-92, at the Palace, they turned it into a laugher.

GAME 5 BOX SCORE: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/scores107/107135/NBA768404.htm PHOTO GALLERY: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/gallery/nba/2007/flash.htm?gdrop1=2007%20Playoffs%20Round%202

To say it was stormy from start to finish hardly cuts it. With six minutes left and the Pistons down 20, a majority of the fans in the sold-out crowd rose to their feet, turned and left, deciding to weather a real storm rather than watch the one on the court.

Besides a miniature Pistons’ run before halftime, the Bulls dominated the game in every way. Shooting guard http://fantasybasketball.usatoday.com/content/player.asp?sport=NBA&id=1043 arrived in the series in a big way, scoring 28 points while shooting 10-of-16 from the floor. Point guard http://fantasybasketball.usatoday.com/content/player.asp?sport=NBA&id=933 controlled the tempo and the game, setting up his teammates with 13 assists. He scored 17 points.

As a team, the Bulls shot 57.3%, proving for at least one night that Bulls coach Scott Skiles had a point when he said outstanding athletes can take advantage of a team that plays too much zone defense.

The Pistons did not lead once. Their once dominating series lead is now 3-2 with Game 6 on Thursday night at the United Center.

Pistons point guard http://fantasybasketball.usatoday.com/content/player.asp?sport=NBA&id=468, who led his team with 17 points, picked up three fouls in the first 4 minutes of the third quarter. That put him at four and sent him to the bench.

The whistles didn’t stop there. With 5:41 to play, the Bulls entered the bonus before the Pistons had drawn a single foul. Pistons forward http://fantasybasketball.usatoday.com/content/player.asp?sport=NBA&id=353, who had 15 points, then let it rip, picking up his third technical of the postseason.

He tried to let his anger fuel him, but he missed shots on the Pistons’ next three possessions, and the Bulls’ lead grew to 18.

By the end of the third, things had only gotten worse. The Bulls’ lead reached 23, and after three quarters, they led, 92-71. They shot 67.7% in the first three quarters, on pace for an NBA record.

The Bulls thought a fast start was the key to winning a game at the Palace, and they got one Tuesday. They made eight of their first nine shots, taking an early 18-10 lead. They shot 77% from the floor in the first quarter, missing only four of 18 attempts. Hinrich’s five assists single-handedly topped the Pistons’ three.

Shooting guard http://fantasybasketball.usatoday.com/content/player.asp?sport=NBA&id=611 scored 10 of his 16 points in the opening quarter.

With the Pistons missing their first six attempts of the second quarter, the Bulls opened on a 16-7 run to stretch that lead to 15. As the Pistons came out of a time-out, Wallace summed the situation up well as he yelled to Billups, “Let’s get it to single digits before the half.”

They did, miraculously, considering the Bulls went to halftime shooting 72.2%, a near 30% better than the Pistons’ 42.5%.

Using their trapping zone and Billups’ hot hand, the Pistons ? actually, make that just Billups ? outscored the Bulls, 10-4, in the final three minutes of the half.

They cut the lead to 57-51 when Billups faked out Bulls rookie http://fantasybasketball.usatoday.com/content/player.asp?sport=NBA&id=1279 and buried a three from the corner with 34.9 seconds left. But Gordon made a jumper after what looked like a push-off on http://fantasybasketball.usatoday.com/content/player.asp?sport=NBA&id=272 with sixth-tenths seconds left to make it 59-51 at halftime.

Gordon went to halftime with 16 points on 7-for-9 shooting. Hinrich had 10 points and five assists. Hamilton had 15 in the first half for Detroit.

After two scoreless games in a row, Pistons center http://fantasybasketball.usatoday.com/content/player.asp?sport=NBA&id=263 had nine points and eight rebounds.