Micah and Tom Nisley wanted to start their own business but didn’t want to go into debt to pay for it. The couple were in their 20s and were working in restaurants and socking away as much as they could. Then they quit their jobs to figure out what business they wanted to start. “We knew that if we put in the work, the returns would come,” Micah says. But despite their savings, the barrier to entry just seemed too high. Then they discovered low-cost franchises. // Even a decade or two ago, people like the Nisleys may not have been so lucky. Traditionally, most promising franchises carried a high buy-in fee and required a ton of overhead. Some were more affordable to launch, sure, but they typically required years of grunt work without much growth potential.

Today, that’s all changed. A new breed of low-cost franchises requires minimal investments, because most of the expensive parts of running a business have been stripped away. Call centers and marketing are centralized and automated. Physical stores or offices aren’t necessary. Some even allow their franchisees to run their businesses from a laptop or mobile phone.

The Nisleys had many options, but they were most excited by i9 Sports, which organizes and operates youth sports leagues.

The franchise fee was $32,000, which was within their budget. They signed up and moved from Austin, Tex., to the Dallas Fort Worth area, which was i9’s most desirable territory available. Six years later, they own two i9 territories, run sports leagues for 5,500 kids and employ two full-time employees and a part-time marketing person.

Stories like this one are becoming common. As the cost of franchising continues to drop, motivated and cash-strapped entrepreneurs are paying their dues with sweat instead. Here are four of the year’s hottest franchise categories that do more with less.

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