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It costs $10k to ‘own’ a Chick-fil-A franchise

thehustle.co

101–110 of 233 posts

Re: It costs $10k to ‘own’ a Chick-fil-A franchise

#101
post #80

From the article. Already knew, but this summarizes the food business so beautifully. “As a fast-food franchise owner, you’re often fighting a war for pennies,” says Rose. “Food is the most competitive industry known to man: It has the highest investment level of any industry, the highest failure rate, and the lowest margins.”

There are exceptions which indicate that may not be the whole story. https://www.businessinsider.com/in-n-out-employee-pay-2018-1 * Store managers earn an average yearly salary of more than $160,000, more than what the typical tech worker in Silicon Valley makes for the year. * High wages for fast-food workers can lead to increased productivity, less employee turnover, and bigger profits in the long run.

Yes, and when you make $160,000 in the rural south each dollar goes much further

Re: It costs $10k to ‘own’ a Chick-fil-A franchise

#102

My biggest takeaway from this is that Wendy's standards are surprisingly high. Why do they require a net worth of $5 million when most seem to top out at $1 million? Is it a way of ensuring a lower closure rate as people with $5 million net worth are less likely to go bankrupt and shut down the restaurant?

What's even more weird to me is that they have these high franchise standards, but apparently they don't seem to hold the franchises to high standards (at least not the stores I visit). They're always dirty / unkempt.

The Wendy’s near me are all pretty high quality

Re: It costs $10k to ‘own’ a Chick-fil-A franchise

#103

After getting kicked out of their first store in England the owners announced they were ending ties with anti-gay groups.

> ending ties with anti-gay groups. Salvation Army. The Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Calling those groups "anti-gay" and protesting a fast food restaurant for donating to them is absurd.

Could you please elaborate on why those groups aren't "anti-gay"? I've never heard of "Fellowship of Christian Athletes", but the Salvation Army is absolute anti-gay.

Re: It costs $10k to ‘own’ a Chick-fil-A franchise

#104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uh...this is a common conflict between owner-operators and franchise groups. Also a common area of abuse. There was a sandwich shop chain in the US where this got very ugly a few years ago...

Was it Quiznos with the franchisee committing suicide in the store bathroom with a shotgun?

Yup. But it was more than that one guy, the whole model was crap and they kept selling more units...

https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/financing/brief-his...

Re: It costs $10k to ‘own’ a Chick-fil-A franchise

#105

After getting kicked out of their first store in England the owners announced they were ending ties with anti-gay groups.

> ending ties with anti-gay groups. Salvation Army. The Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Calling those groups "anti-gay" and protesting a fast food restaurant for donating to them is absurd.

Salvation Army is extremely anti-gay. https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/12/16/21003560/salvation-...

Please do not spread such dangerous falsehoods like stating that they have not been anti-gay. These false ideas can get people hurt. Salvation Army has a very long, very intense history of going out of its way to harm LGBT people.

Re: It costs $10k to ‘own’ a Chick-fil-A franchise

#106

I know several CFA owner-operators, and this article is mostly on point. Some of the comments I’ve seen are a bit off. 2 of the 3 owner-operators I know have multiple locations, although this is rare. Income estimates are a bit low for typical stores I’d be surprised if any owner operator of a freestanding unit is below $250k. Also, the estimates of worked hours are a bit high. All the owner operators I know have gre…

Extremely well put. I completely concur. My first cousin is in the process of getting his “own” store now. While it has been a grind (he often worked the mythical 100+ hour week while in the Leadership Development Program) it will pay off handsomely. The best part of Chic-Fil-A (in my opinion) is not the food but their total devotion to the customer. The level of service you receive at a Chic-Fil-A freestanding store…

And perhaps apostrophes destroy the service culture? (McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Arby’s)

Re: It costs $10k to ‘own’ a Chick-fil-A franchise

#107

> At $4.2m per store, Chick-fil-A’s average revenue is the highest of any fast-food chain in America, dwarfing both direct competitors (KFC; $1.2m) and bigger brands (McDonald’s; $2.8m) Wow, I did not know this. Why is that?

One reason might be that in the US, there are close to 14,000 McDonald's locations, but only close to 2,400 Chick-Fil-A locations. If you want McDonald's you have almost 6 different locations to consider for every 1 Chick-Fil-A.

In other words, the "per store" metric isn't as impressive when you look at the number of stores.

Re: It costs $10k to ‘own’ a Chick-fil-A franchise

#108
post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It hits square in the middle of the “healthy” fast food market. It is perceived to be slightly more upscale and less bad for you than the traditional burger chains. It is literally the default choice for soccer moms ferrying kids among afternoon activities.

Fried chicken sandwiches are somehow healthy?

Key word being “perceived”...

Re: It costs $10k to ‘own’ a Chick-fil-A franchise

#110

My biggest takeaway from this is that Wendy's standards are surprisingly high. Why do they require a net worth of $5 million when most seem to top out at $1 million? Is it a way of ensuring a lower closure rate as people with $5 million net worth are less likely to go bankrupt and shut down the restaurant?

What's even more weird to me is that they have these high franchise standards, but apparently they don't seem to hold the franchises to high standards (at least not the stores I visit). They're always dirty / unkempt.

That's interesting! In Canada, the Wendy's I have been to are generally very clean.
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