Why This Entrepreneur Went from Independent Business Owner to Franchisee

Nikki Taheri grew up in Tehran during the Iranian Revolution and was raised on tales of her trailblazing grandmother -- a six-foot-tall woman who chose to forgo a hijab and as a man in order to pursue a in trade. Taheri never met her grandmother, but she likes to think she inherited some of her gumption. In 1993, as opportunity and education for women for design, and eventually opened a sign-and-awning business in Bayonne, N.J. Nearly two decades later, as business was thriving, Taheri made yet another bold decision and converted her business into a franchised location of International in 2018. Joining a network of 700 locations may seem like an odd choice for a successful (and independent) business owner, but so far, all signs point to success.