How Much Does a Chick-Fil-A Franchise Cost?
Chick-Fil-A Successful AND Delicious
More than 60 years have passed since Truett Cathy opened his very first restaurant in rural Georgia. In 1964, the company came out with what is reported to be the first boneless breast of chicken sandwich – naming it Chick-Fil-A – and eventually the entire restaurant chain took on that moniker. Chick-Fil-A franchises also became the first restaurants to sell chicken nuggets; that was in 1982. Another pioneering move involved the decision to place its restaurants inside shopping malls. The first one opened in suburban Atlanta in 1967, and most Chick-Fil-A franchises (and Chick-Fil-A franchises for sale) are situated in malls today. The corporation continues to be family-owned and privately held, which is one of the reasons quality has never flagged over the years. Here is some additional Chick-Fil-A franchise information.
Chick-Fil-A Franchise Review
Today there are more than 1,430 locations in 38 states plus Washington, D.C. The Chick-Fil-A franchise has grown to become the second largest quick-serve chicken restaurant in the nation, with annual sales that top $2.9 billion. The company has enjoyed 41 consecutive years of positive sales growth, which places it head and shoulders above nearly every other food franchise operation available today, and continuous innovation at corporate headquarters is designed to continue that unbroken streak. In conjunction with Business Week, a 2008 survey by J.D. Power & Associates named the Chick-Fil-A franchise operation “Customer Service Champs”, and the company has earned dozens of other awards from consumer groups and industry publications down through the years.
Chick-Fil-A Franchise Information & Costs
Unlike other companies in this field, a Chick-Fil-A location is not actually considered a franchise. Interested parties are operators when they become part of the team, but the barrier to entry is set quite low. To buy a Chick-Fil-A franchise, one need only to come up with an initial $5,000. However, there are some fairly strict rules that go along with this opportunity. All stores must remain closed on Sundays, which gives employees an opportunity to attend worship services or spend time with their families. Locations are selected by the parent company with no input from the operator, and a full 50 percent of net sales profits flow directly to the corporation. The equipment in each location is leased to the operator for an additional 15 percent of net proceeds. The amount of money required to fulfill the initial investment requirement – above and beyond the upfront five grand – is a closely guarded secret, divulged only to those people who send in a formal application and make it past an initial screening by upper management. Even though Chick-Fil-A ends up with approximately 65 percent of the bottom line – excluding any local advertising expenses – there is still some very stiff competition in order to become a Chick-Fil-A franchisee. Fewer than a hundred operators are chosen every year out of more than 10,000 applicants. The corporation seeks out experienced food service professionals who have a better than average credit rating and high moral standing. The training regimen is considered one of the most stringent in the industry, a multi-week session that must be passed successfully before your store can open for business.
Hot Advertising – Great Food
One of the advantages of becoming part of a Chick-Fil-A franchise operation is the ability to take advantage of its broad-based, innovative advertising campaigns. The Chick-Fil-A billboards and their unique concepts have won tons of ad awards over the years, thereby helping to raise awareness and drive business into your franchise operation. The most famous aspect of this campaign is the use of cows in an anthropomorphic manner – responding in a way a human might act – by humorously convincing us to “Eat More Chiken”. The misspelling is intentional, by the way. The most well known of these billboards features two 3D fiberglass cows, with one standing on the other’s back in order to write out the aforementioned message in giant block letters. It’s a message few people ever forget, which is the whole idea.
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