In a difficult economy rife with layoffs, Carol Ivey is one of a handful of entrepreneurs who has seen her business grow.

"People think to themselves, 'Hold on. I don't want to go back to a job where I could get laid off again. I want to make my own money, be my own boss,' " Ivey said.

That's where she steps in.

As a franchise consultant based in Beaufort County, Ivey helps match people nationwide interested in starting their own franchise with a business opportunity that fits their desires, skills and personality.

Her service is free to budding business owners. The more than 7,000 franchise companies she represents -- everything from restaurants to senior care facilities and repair and restoration services -- pay her for bringing ideal candidates to them.

Military retirees make some of the best owners, Ivey said.

"They're excellent franchisees," Ivey said. "They're well-educated and have a tremendous work ethic."

In February, Ivey will be at the New River campus of the Technical College of the Lowcountry off U.S. 278 across from Sun City Hilton Head for a seminar that will be open to the public. Practically anyone with an interest in business and the ability to pay the upfront franchise fee or secure financing for it -- often through the companies themselves -- have potential, she said.

"The least amount you should think of spending is $15,000," Ivey said. "That money gets you the method and the training. They give you the recipe, and you follow the recipe."

Ivey said the clients she has seen lately have been pushed out of their comfort zone by a down economy and are ready to give in to the entrepreneurial spirit inside them.

"It is what you make it," she said. "There is opportunity out there."

Other recent business openings, closings and changes in the Beaufort area:•After a successful Thanksgiving Day opening, the Southern Graces restaurant at the Anchorage House in downtown Beaufort is no longer there, according to owner Bethany Hewitt.

Building code restrictions made it too difficult to run a restaurant out of the historic home at 1103 Bay St., she said.

"We are in negotiations for several other options and we continue to do off-site catered events as we have been in the Beaufort area," Hewitt wrote in an e-mail. "We are certainly going to be in Beaufort, we are just having to step back and re-invent the culinary wheel for Southern Graces Beaufort."•Ballenger Realty at 613-A Carteret St. has dropped the "Keller-Williams" from its name after deciding the Keller-Williams realty model would not work in the Beaufort housing market.

"They say we need to have a least

1,000 transactions in our area to make their model work," said broker Everett Ballenger. "Our area runs approximately from Gardens Corner to north of Okatie. We have nowhere near 1,000 transactions."

But Ballenger said he has no regrets over his work with the realty company.

"We have learned a lot from our association with KW over this last year," he said.•Beaufort Engineering Services held a ribbon-cutting Jan. 8 at its 2712 Bull St. location during Business After Hours with the Beaufort Regional Chamber of Commerce.

BES performs planning, design and construction of commercial, residential and government facilities.
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