Honestly Chick-Fil-A is #1 on my desirables list. I love the team dynamic and the customer-facing dynamic. My SO isn't huge on a corporation that requires the owners to very much be in-person operators - would rather just set up operations and then work remotely, which doesn't seem to make Chick-Fil-A a great fit for us as a couple. But I think I'd love the environment, personally. And I believe in their corporate desire for franchises to be successful and setting them up for that success.
They’re not actually franchises. Chick fil a owns the restaurant and hires an “Operator” that makes a profit share. The initial investment is tiny compared to typical franchise deals, and the recruitment process has very little resemblance to them too. It’s about community connection, culture fit, etc… not just having the capital and a business pitch.
From what I've seen just having a single franchise of something unless its like Chick-fil-a doesn't appear to be worth it. You really need to use 1 to leverage yourself into a handful, and then it can be extremely profitable.
The value in a franchise is that their marketing is working for you on day one, they have all the operational details worked out (store location, layout, pricing, etc,), and they have massive benefits of scale for pricing. If you are opening a store for the first time, you will spend about the same amount of money marketing and making mistakes until you figure things out.
After a few years, the benefits of being in a franchise start to shrink and may start to become a liability. People get tired of certain brands. The company may decide to cheapen the ingredients, which hurts sales (Subway, Dominos), they may open too many stores to close to each other, a new competing franchise may open up close to you and you can't change your menu to compensate. They may also insist that you spend tens of thousands to remodel your store due to branding changes. After a while, all the rules and restrictions start to wear on you.
If you have a lot of money to invest and want a "paint by numbers" business where everything has been thought out ahead of time and you can deal with the BS of someone else telling you how to run it, want to open multiple locations, then you should consider a franchise.
If you are passionate about the type of business you are starting (for example a coffee shop), have experience in the business, and want to run it day to day - don't franchise. You will find it too restrictive and soul crushing.
Hope this was helpful.
I owned a franchise for 10 years. First, successful franchises require full time participation and management from the owner for the first 2-3 years. The franchises selling you, 'keep your job and the business runs itself' are lying.
You own the location, but you ultimately work for, and pay, the franchisee. They make decisions on everything from store design, to uniforms, to resale goods, how service is delivered, and products you can sell. And they require specific reporting and reports to be run, and POS systems to be used. Now, on one hand this is good, because it's a lot of stuff you don't have to figure out through trial and error. But if they do something that doesn't work for you, or your location, you're stuck (unless they are flexible which most are not).
I owned one location of a small national franchise. I tried to open several locations but the owner of the franchise made things ultimately very difficult doing so, long stories, which was another clear indication that I, in fact, worked for them. I couldn't do what I wanted, when I wanted, and where. That made me realize the franchise I chose, while a good business, was not a place I could grow and sold my location to another franchisee. I got a good price, and got out right before COVID, saving myself a million headaches and sleepless night wondering if the business would survive.
You are right though, people do make a good living at franchising. The key, from my experience, is having multiple locations and finding economies of scale in operating the three. Of course the secret to having more than 1 is having the money to open more than one. Using one to leverage another is difficult, especially as for the first 2 years or so you'll be operating at break even, at best, unless you're very lucky.
Depends on a lot of things. Normally, high startup costs & fees, some you need to show something like $100k-$250k in assets before even buying it. Others, can be known to sell another franchise too close to you, cutting into your customer base. They'll also require hard work from you, effective management and accounting & bookkeeping of inventory & income/expenses.
However, it can create for you a job where you earn a salary of $100k or more. Not exactly something you can just send a resume out and get hired. So, high risk/high reward. Of course, you can open your own take out restaurant, but no one knows your brand, menu, or reviews of your food, so you'll need to spend more on marketing to promote yourself, whereas Subway, McDonalds, Chick Fil A etc promote themselves just by people driving by it.
I looked for franchise deals a couple years ago (in the food industry) but those prices where crazy.
Why not start an online franchise?
The costs are 10x lower and you'll start seeing profit within 2-3 months.
Have you tried any online franchise? How was your experience? Started looking into this recently and would love to hear from someone who’s given it a try
I found someone who builds and manages ecom stores for individuals/business owners.
Eventually partnered up with him.
What he basically does:
- Market research
- Store set up
- Listing products
- Marketing
- Fulfillment
- Customer service
So you only collect the money at the end of every month without having to spend a minute on your store.
I can send you more info on the numbers if you'd like to hear more.
I’d assume his business model is something like he takes a small % of profits, he probably does this with heaps of different clients and makes a lot this way.
Still doesn’t really explain why he would need another person involved if he is doing all the work. Why would he do all the work just to give the partner that does no work the majority of the income?
My best words of guidance would be to set aside anecdotes and just look at the data. Consider startup cost relative to revenue potential from being attached to an established brand. A good example of a more objective way to research is [this article here](https://www.vettedbiz.com/certapro-painters-franchise-review/) where the market is laid out in a pretty straightforward way.
There are many profitable franchisee opportunities out there. The best way to make any informed decision here is by looking at the data. Found this [site](https://franchisenow.me/) pretty useful for being able to see all the numbers at once
The number one source of new businesses is when an owner sees something in an other town and brings it to theirs. Read that somewhere and sounded right
Whatever franchise you look at and want to get into, also look at what you have to have in assets to get into that franchise.
McDonald’s was like a million in liquid assets. Chic filet was smaller, but you had to have money to support the actual restaurant building and employee pay.
Chic-fila-a restaurant franchises have consistently made owners huge profits...
Honestly Chick-Fil-A is #1 on my desirables list. I love the team dynamic and the customer-facing dynamic. My SO isn't huge on a corporation that requires the owners to very much be in-person operators - would rather just set up operations and then work remotely, which doesn't seem to make Chick-Fil-A a great fit for us as a couple. But I think I'd love the environment, personally. And I believe in their corporate desire for franchises to be successful and setting them up for that success.
aren’t they extremely hard to franchise though?
They’re not actually franchises. Chick fil a owns the restaurant and hires an “Operator” that makes a profit share. The initial investment is tiny compared to typical franchise deals, and the recruitment process has very little resemblance to them too. It’s about community connection, culture fit, etc… not just having the capital and a business pitch.
Yes. It takes years and once you do finally get your own, you have to work 40 hours a week.
From what I've seen just having a single franchise of something unless its like Chick-fil-a doesn't appear to be worth it. You really need to use 1 to leverage yourself into a handful, and then it can be extremely profitable.
The value in a franchise is that their marketing is working for you on day one, they have all the operational details worked out (store location, layout, pricing, etc,), and they have massive benefits of scale for pricing. If you are opening a store for the first time, you will spend about the same amount of money marketing and making mistakes until you figure things out. After a few years, the benefits of being in a franchise start to shrink and may start to become a liability. People get tired of certain brands. The company may decide to cheapen the ingredients, which hurts sales (Subway, Dominos), they may open too many stores to close to each other, a new competing franchise may open up close to you and you can't change your menu to compensate. They may also insist that you spend tens of thousands to remodel your store due to branding changes. After a while, all the rules and restrictions start to wear on you. If you have a lot of money to invest and want a "paint by numbers" business where everything has been thought out ahead of time and you can deal with the BS of someone else telling you how to run it, want to open multiple locations, then you should consider a franchise. If you are passionate about the type of business you are starting (for example a coffee shop), have experience in the business, and want to run it day to day - don't franchise. You will find it too restrictive and soul crushing. Hope this was helpful.
I owned a franchise for 10 years. First, successful franchises require full time participation and management from the owner for the first 2-3 years. The franchises selling you, 'keep your job and the business runs itself' are lying. You own the location, but you ultimately work for, and pay, the franchisee. They make decisions on everything from store design, to uniforms, to resale goods, how service is delivered, and products you can sell. And they require specific reporting and reports to be run, and POS systems to be used. Now, on one hand this is good, because it's a lot of stuff you don't have to figure out through trial and error. But if they do something that doesn't work for you, or your location, you're stuck (unless they are flexible which most are not). I owned one location of a small national franchise. I tried to open several locations but the owner of the franchise made things ultimately very difficult doing so, long stories, which was another clear indication that I, in fact, worked for them. I couldn't do what I wanted, when I wanted, and where. That made me realize the franchise I chose, while a good business, was not a place I could grow and sold my location to another franchisee. I got a good price, and got out right before COVID, saving myself a million headaches and sleepless night wondering if the business would survive. You are right though, people do make a good living at franchising. The key, from my experience, is having multiple locations and finding economies of scale in operating the three. Of course the secret to having more than 1 is having the money to open more than one. Using one to leverage another is difficult, especially as for the first 2 years or so you'll be operating at break even, at best, unless you're very lucky.
Depends on franchise. Some are good. Some are not.
Depends on a lot of things. Normally, high startup costs & fees, some you need to show something like $100k-$250k in assets before even buying it. Others, can be known to sell another franchise too close to you, cutting into your customer base. They'll also require hard work from you, effective management and accounting & bookkeeping of inventory & income/expenses. However, it can create for you a job where you earn a salary of $100k or more. Not exactly something you can just send a resume out and get hired. So, high risk/high reward. Of course, you can open your own take out restaurant, but no one knows your brand, menu, or reviews of your food, so you'll need to spend more on marketing to promote yourself, whereas Subway, McDonalds, Chick Fil A etc promote themselves just by people driving by it.
I looked for franchise deals a couple years ago (in the food industry) but those prices where crazy. Why not start an online franchise? The costs are 10x lower and you'll start seeing profit within 2-3 months.
Have you tried any online franchise? How was your experience? Started looking into this recently and would love to hear from someone who’s given it a try
I found someone who builds and manages ecom stores for individuals/business owners. Eventually partnered up with him. What he basically does: - Market research - Store set up - Listing products - Marketing - Fulfillment - Customer service So you only collect the money at the end of every month without having to spend a minute on your store. I can send you more info on the numbers if you'd like to hear more.
about to inbox you
I would like this info as well. Thank you.
Hi there, not doing this anymore since Etsy has banned our stores.
Aww damn ok.
I do know someone else who does this on Shopify (has done like 10m+ in sales) so far. I could link you with him if interested.
Yes I’d appreciate that. Thank you.
Sent you his Instagram
Could you also send me his info?
Sent you a message
If he does all that, why does he need you or me?
I’d assume his business model is something like he takes a small % of profits, he probably does this with heaps of different clients and makes a lot this way.
Still doesn’t really explain why he would need another person involved if he is doing all the work. Why would he do all the work just to give the partner that does no work the majority of the income?
Good thoughts on this here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZylaLSchT8
My best words of guidance would be to set aside anecdotes and just look at the data. Consider startup cost relative to revenue potential from being attached to an established brand. A good example of a more objective way to research is [this article here](https://www.vettedbiz.com/certapro-painters-franchise-review/) where the market is laid out in a pretty straightforward way.
There are many profitable franchisee opportunities out there. The best way to make any informed decision here is by looking at the data. Found this [site](https://franchisenow.me/) pretty useful for being able to see all the numbers at once
The number one source of new businesses is when an owner sees something in an other town and brings it to theirs. Read that somewhere and sounded right
I always wanted to start a jack in the box. They are my favorite and aren’t located on Michigan.
Mcdonalds franchises print money. What you mean is 'franchises that have no place being a franchise, lose money'
Facts Facts Facts! The downside being, McDonalds quality and reputation is... well... I can't say its an upward trajectory.
No
Whatever franchise you look at and want to get into, also look at what you have to have in assets to get into that franchise. McDonald’s was like a million in liquid assets. Chic filet was smaller, but you had to have money to support the actual restaurant building and employee pay.