Jeff Yoder had been a creature of many offices. He spent two decades as a federal government contractor, but a tough 2019 prompted him to reevaluate his job. He wanted more freedom and started shopping for a franchise to buy — and eventually zeroed in on ShelfGenie, a brand that installs versatile shelving in people’s homes. He liked many things about it, including that most ShelfGenie franchisees operate out of their own homes. In other words, no more office. “That was huge to me,” says Yoder, who is based in Alexandria, Va. “I’m comforted by not having the overhead of thousands of dollars a month in rent as I’m starting a business.”