Checkers Drive-In

   

Drive thru's in todays world are becoming more and more innovative because restaurants are finding easier ways to accommodate more people. I chose Checkers Drive-In for my franchise because of how accessible it is. Unlike many fast food places Checkers has two drive thru's. This means they can accommodate more people at one time. Many could argue that this could get hectic, but Checkers has been getting good feedback and reviews for this innovative idea. Checkers has not been in the news but that doesn't mean that they aren't doing well in there business. They have recently made some changes in their managing department. They have recently hired the former vice president of the dunkins brand Lynette McKee to have a lead in the developmental plans because of the booming franchising expansion. 

   In order to start a franchise you have to pay a fee. That fee consists of $30,000, but that wasn't the only amount it costs. There were other fees that you had to pay for like the cost of insurance and building fees. Those fees included up to $617,200 in total cost. The royalties to having a franchise and earning your own amount of money is a great feeling to have. The one downfall of the business is that they don’t get any financial help. 

          

   The support and training that they give are ones that are meant to help you in the long run. They show you newsletters and plan meetings for you to give you information. They give you Internet and security/safety procedures. This franchise is here to give you support if you are working for them and a safe place to work. They want their business to do well so they try and get as much customers as they can so they try to cater to the customers needs.

            They have co-op advertising, which helps with getting their name out there. The more people you have helping you advertise your coming the greater impact you will have on your business and its earnings. When partnering with another advertisement it gives you a better advantage on other restaurants because you have more experience.  

KFC

 KFC opened in 1930 and started to franchise in 1952. KFC is a Yum brand which supports many other famous restaurants like pizza hut and taco bell. Yum inc believes in giving customers a WOW experience.  I choose KFC because it is my favorite fast food restaurant because i love fried chicken. KFC is really popular all around the world. There are many reasons why KFC is a attractive franchise for many reasons. First is the food, it is one the best fast food restaurant based on quality and quantity. KFC was recently in the news for a bad reason because a customer found some chicken kidney in his KFC meal. That customer was compensated by giving free KFC meals. Every fast food restaurant make mistakes and KFC made up for it by giving free foods to that customer. The initial franchise fee is $25,000 and the royalty fee is 4%. But the bad thing is you have to agree to a 20 year agreement and the renewal fee is $4.9k. Also the total investment  is from $1.2 million to $1.8 million. They don't allow absent owners for their franchise. They plan on opening 130 new KFC around Africa soon. As you can see the franchise is improving. KFC franchise provides you with business coaching, training, and development. These are the reason why i would choose to franchise with KFC.

fro.zen.yo Franchise

FroZenYo was founded in Washington DC to bring something new to the category. By creating a high standard for quality and service FroZenYo has opened nine stores in two years. They are the largest and fastest growing frozen yogurt chain in the Nation's Capital and are expanding. They are also featuring Zombie Coffee. They make visiting the store a fun and unique environment.

The franchise fee is twenty five thousand, and the royalty fee is five and a half percent. Ongoing fees are 40,822 per year. You also get two franchises in one. Every Fro.Zen.Yo serves Zombie Coffee, a premium coffee roasted locally in DC.

I can not find any bad news about fro.zen.yo. The biggest news is that they are trying to go worldwide. A common FroZenYo franchisee invests approximately $354,700 - $588,200. They offer an express version loch costs $182,950 - $285,700 and a co-branded version with Zombie Coffee, which is another $23,000 - $51,000. These prices include everything from furniture and equipment to initial inventory and payroll expenses to open. Their are a variety of franchise options they offer. Single unit, multi-unit, development agent, master franchise and co-branding.

FroZenYo is listed on the Small Business Administration. To be approved for an SBA loan, the typical franchisee needs $120,000 in liquid assets and approximately 500,00 net worth. Also home equity lines of credit and self-guided IRA's are options.

Steps to becoming a Franchisee: Get started, get qualified, get informed, get met, get official, get open. Steps to opening: Real Estate, Construction, Training in DC, Pre-Opening, Grand Opening, Ongoing Support with operation and marketing.

The support part of it is huge. They have a team to help the franchisee with where to put their business, building the FroZenYo, training and hiring employees and opening the business. The franchise leaders treat the owners like customers and will help support them in any way they can.

Frozen yogurt is a great business to open being a healthy alternative of ice cream. Also that fact that it is self serve is another benefit of franchising with FroZenYo. A great start for any future entrepreneur.

Fro.zen.yo Franchise

Fro.zen.yo Franchise

Who doesn’t love frozen yogurt? Frozen yogurt is the healthy alternative to ice cream! It is less calories and lower in fat. Now a day’s people are trying to look for healthier eating habits to counter American’s obesity problems, so why not open a Fro.zen.yo franchise? This frozen yogurt dining experience has more than just frozen yogurt, they have over twenty five different flavors while also offering their own blend of coffee so people can have something hot to drink during the winter.

Fro.zen.yo could be a very profitable franchise to open for any future entrepreneur. They are the only company to offer there coffee collection called Zombie coffee, and are the largest and fastest growing frozen yogurt chain in the Nation's Capital. Fro.zen.yo is also a self-serve yogurt and coffee chain so the customer is allowed to create their own creation based on how they like their frozen yogurt. Because Fro.zen.yo is a self-serve frozen yogurt place it helps reduce the need for a lot of employees and helps to put more money in the franchise owners pocket! Recently the company announced they will be trying to expand and go worldwide.  

The initial franchise startup fee for a Fro.zen.yo Franchise cost about twenty five thousand dollars. Fro.zen.yo also has a royalty fee of five point five percent.  The total Investment cost weighs about three hundred and fifty four thousand and seven hundred dollars to five hundred and eighty eight thousand and two hundred dollars.

                As far as support the Fro.zen.yo Franchise has a team specially designed to help the franchisees with things such as where to put their business, lease negotiations, building the Fro.zen.yo, training and hiring employees, and opening/operating there business. Teams will also help to train you and your staff on procedure. The Fro.zen.yo Franchise helps with financing by helping with the finance decisions such as the lease negotiations, and help with operating the business like stated before. The Fro.zen.yo Franchise leaders will always treat the owners of the different franchises as customers and will be there to give them the help and support they might need.

Siobhan Burke

Rachel DeMarco- Franchise

Rachel DeMarco

February 17, 2013
                                                                           Fro. Zen. Yo

                Fro.Zen. Yo is a self-serve frozen yogurt franchise that was founded in WashingtonD.C. The company was started in 2009 and began franchising in 2011. People are attracted to this franchise because it is a relatively simple business to run and sells a product that everyone loves and at a competitive price. The size of the building required for the store is very small which entrepreneurs find attractive. The frozen yogurt product is also a healthier alternative to traditional ice cream.

Being able to choose your own amount of ice cream, and mix the ice cream types, make it very appealing. Being a self-serve business has advantages for the owners and the consumers. From the owner’s side they can minimize labor costs as no one is needed to scoop or prepare the frozen yogurt. Customer complaints should also be minimal since the only one responsible for making a bad frozen yogurt is the consumer who does the preparation. On the consumer side, selecting your own combination of yogurts and picking your own toppings make it a better experience than just ordering ice cream from a typical spot. The risk of not getting exactly what you want is greater if it is left up to someone else. The owners of these franchises benefit from the “creating your own” concept from both a customer satisfaction and profit standpoint.

Fro.Zen.Yo franchise has been in the news recently and is listed on entrepreneur.com as being part of one of the fastest growing franchise types in the country. The Fro.Zen.Yo franchise is currently listed as number 20 in the Unites States for growing franchises. Since they are trying to go worldwide, they are advertising it through media types such as the internet, newspapers and magazines. The firm was started by entrepreneur Chuck Rendelman. His objective is to bring his Fro.Zen.Yo concept to 1,000 franchise units worldwide. The initial franchise fee is $25,000.  Other startup costs include a total investment of between $350,000 and $600,000. The person making this investment must have a net worth of $1,000,000 and liquid cash available of 150,000 dollars. Ongoing royalties would be 5.5%. The company does not offer specific financing options but does provide a link for people where they can use their 401K savings to help finance their investment. The franchisor offers a lot of training and support. They have a team dedicated to assisting their franchisees with site selection, lease negotiation, construction, training, staffing, opening Fro.Zen.Yo and everything in-between. They also provide marketing support with advertising plans and newsletters as well as provide observations and evaluations of your store. I think investing in Fro.Zen.Yo is a great idea.

 



Domino's Pizza

           

The franchise that caught my eye was Domino’s Pizza. Nobody can resist a delicious pizza, especially from Domino’s. They’re known for their quick delivery and variety of food. Domino’s was started in 1960 as a single pizza restaurant and is now one of the largest pizza franchises known today. In 2007 they started their online ordering and by the next year they had “revolutionized the online deliveryexperience by launching the innovative Pizza Builder and Domino’s Tracker tools.”



Today, about one third of the Domino’s orders are done digitally; either through a computer or mobile device. This online ordering has become a huge convenience especially because we have the internet in our hands. I believe Domino’s Pizza is an attractive opportunity because they are keeping up with society through technology. This development has in turn helped keep them keep up their pace of the other larger pizza companies and has boosted their business.


I always here good things about Domino’s Pizza. They are one company that I don’t hear anything negative about in the news. The only news that I am aware of is that from the article, “Domino’s Pizza: IT A Key Competitive Advantage”. According to this article, Domino’s has an extremely large amount of employees just in the IT department. This is crucial to Domino’s Pizza in order to stay on top of their competitors. They promote online ordering and with coupons also offered online, it keeps customers returning. Also, online delivery has also made it possible for Domino’s to expand outside of the United States.



Domino’s is an LLC franchise that costs at the maximum, $461,700 to establish. The initial fee is anywhere from to $25,000. When starting a franchise, some finances you will have to account for are: lease payments, furniture, equipment, supplies, training expenses, insurance, and opening costs. There is no financial help associated when starting this franchise.

Dunkin' Donuts

For my franchise, I chose Dunkin’ Donuts. I did this because I am an avid Dunkin’ drinker. Also because I feel that it is the perfect franchise for a first time owner to set up. This is because of many things. They have a company person that is there to help you every step of the way, from construction, to opening, to running the business. The market is very open and other than New England has many places just waiting for people to open a franchise. They are in fact setting up to approve many new restaurants in many new areas. However, you will have to be observant of competitors such as Krispy Kreme who are also expanding.

            The Franchise free for Dunkin’ Donuts is somewhere in between, $40,000-$80,000, depending on location and if it will be traditional or non-traditional. There is also a royalty fee of 5.9%. According to Dunkin’ there is a total investment of $255,700-$1,100,000. This at first seems like a lot of money, but Dunkin’ Donuts is a very successful and profitable business that should be able to make all of that money back in no time compared to other franchises, or a company that you start from scratch.

             This may seem like too much to handle, but with the exception of financing the start- up, the company does support the owner in many ways. In addition to the team that helps the new owner that I mentioned before that helps run and build the franchise. There is also so much that has already been set up. Much of the marketing has been done and it has 94% product awareness, and there is already technology set up for the internet and for phones that will further help your franchise’s success and marketing. The higher-ups even set up a forum that allows owners to provide feedback, be heard, and be proactive in their franchise and products. The new owner also has nothing to worry about with training of themselves or their employees because again Dunkin’ Donuts has all set.

            I think Dunkin’ Donuts would be a very good choice for a new franchise start-up.