f o o d fr a n c h i s i n g fe at u r e
EXPERT ADVICE: Chris Conner | Founder | Franchise Marketing Systems
Why Food Franchises Are an Easy To Swallow Business Let’s try something — close your eyes and think of franchises in your community. Chances are, you may have McDonald’s, Subway, Burger King, or Chick-fil-A come to mind. More than likely, your list contains several food franchises, if not these very ones we’ve listed here. Franchising is to food what Shakespere is to poetry. They go hand in hand. Are you pondering a franchise model to fit your palate? There are quite a few different types out there. That is one of the things of beauty for food — the sheer flexibility in these concepts and models means there is something for anyone who desires a food business.
Traditional Fast Food “If you’re not a risk taker, you should get the hell out of business.” That’s a quote from McDonald’s visionary and founder, Ray Kroc. His company went on to pioneer some of the riskiest moves anyone had ever seen. He grabbed the bull by the horns, made it a hamburger, and threw it on the assembly line. Fast food was born. 32 Franchising MAGAZINE USA
Fast food franchises are an excellent choice for those seeking to sink their teeth into franchising. High volume, low cost labor, low cost inventory. These will have a smaller footprint that a full service establishment, but are dependent on high priced real estate since convenience is key to the drive thru model. One of the brands we’ve worked with, Southern Classic Chicken, for example, requires things like access to an intersection, strong day time traffic, and great visibility for their locations, indicative of most fast food models.
Sit Down and Dine In Full service restaurants have quite the reputation to precede them. Long hours. Working weekends and nights. High employee turnover. While these not-sopleasing characteristics may be all too true, buying into a full service restaurant franchise greatly mitigates your business risk. Like any franchise, the guesswork has been done for you. You will know the hours to expect, the type of staff that stay, the high selling menu items, and the best schedule to keep.