A couple franchise selection questions
 

Hey guys, I'd love any advice from anyone who is knowledgeable about franchises, or really anyone who can add some value to this discussion:

I am starting an MBA program in the fall. In the meantime, I have access to a large amount of capital that I'm thinking about using to open a franchise.

I also own a portion of some land that is within 1 block from a large high school (2000+ students), near several residential areas, and in an area of high traffic. I am trying to come up with franchise ideas that meet the following criteria:

1. appeal primarily to high school students, teachers, and their parents that pass through this area several times a week

2. franchises where I can hire a manager to oversee day-to-day operation as I attend my MBA program

The things that immediately popped to my mind were coffee franchises (damn you for not franchising, Starbucks), smoothie places such as Smoothie King or Smoothie Factory, or a juice place like Juice Zone, Jamba Juice, etc, but I'm open to any and all ideas.

Some key points:

I won't be able to devote an incredible amount of time to day-to-day operations because I will be at class a significant amount of time. I will, however, be able to be there most late afternoon/evenings and the weekends.

Students have off-campus lunch and are frequently passing by this location, it is literally 30 seconds from the high school. There are also a large amount of residential neighborhoods and a decent amount of businesses nearby.

The land is large enough to build a strip mall on, with several tenants, however, there are 2 strip malls nearby that have many open spaces (troublesome).

A high-traffic CVS pharmacy is on the opposite corner.

So what do you guys think? Any franchise opportunities pop to mind that would be a great fit/profitable?

Thanks,
Matt

Re: A couple franchise selection questions
 

Subway's are pretty inexpensive to start; appeal to your target group, and are always ranked very high on the top franchises to own list.

Re: A couple franchise selection questions
 

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Subway's are pretty inexpensive to start; appeal to your target group, and are always ranked very high on the top franchises to own list.

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Yeah, I like this idea.

Re: A couple franchise selection questions
 

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Subway's are pretty inexpensive to start; appeal to your target group, and are always ranked very high on the top franchises to own list.

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yeah, they don't make much but are nothing tough...maybe pizza type place also

Re: A couple franchise selection questions
 

Subways range anywhere from $90k - $200k to start. This includes all fees, equipment, and three months worth of expenses. See the post at the bottom of this thread. The franchisee that made the post says the average store does ~ $400k per year in sales with a 20% net profit margin.

Re: A couple franchise selection questions
 

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Subways range anywhere from $90k - $200k to start. This includes all fees, equipment, and three months worth of expenses. See the post at the bottom of this thread. The franchisee that made the post says the average store does ~ $400k per year in sales with a 20% net profit margin.

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First, thanks to those that replied, I could run with this Subway thing, but I do have more questions/thoughts:

A 2 to 1 sales to investment ratio with 20% net profit is pretty damn good, but is that realistic for every store? (The average often isn't). In addition, I would like to meet those goals the first year of operation.

Also, I was under the impression that for Subway and other food-related franchises, the owner is the full time operator. I have to hire someone for day-to-day, I can't manage this full time.

Anyone Subway franchisees out there to shed some light?

Re: A couple franchise selection questions
 

The subways I go to always have high school kids working there. I'm sure if you advertised or gave even a school discount you could clean up in that area.

Re: A couple franchise selection questions
 

I've been up (can't sleep, this franchise idea is consuming me) and I've been thinking, real, real hard about an It's a Grind coffeehouse franchise.

Right next to a highschool, huge pool of students/teachers/parents, off-campus lunch, they can't spend a large amount of time there to annoy other customers..seems pretty sweet.

What other market research/due diligence would be recommended to see if the location will support a profitable coffee shop?

Re: A couple franchise selection questions
 

coldstone, chipotle?

Post deleted by Mat Sklansky
 

Re: A couple franchise selection questions
 

Chipotle doesn't franchise.

Re: A couple franchise selection questions
 

If students have an offcampus lunch period then subway is much better than a coffee shop. If you were near a college I would go with a local coffee shop as you can always play on the "corporate world sucks" motto to gain people.

I dont know that high school students spend the time in a coffee shop like college students do.

Re: A couple franchise selection questions
 

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Also, I was under the impression that for Subway and other food-related franchises, the owner is the full time operator. I have to hire someone for day-to-day, I can't manage this full time.

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The franchisee in the post I gave said he owns three stores and spends an average of about 10 hours in each store per week.

Re: A couple franchise selection questions
 

Also, if you apply as a franchisee online they will send you a Franchise Offering Circular which goes more into detail about opeations, and start-up costs. They also include a list of current franchisees that you can call with any questions.

Post deleted by Mat Sklansky
 

Re: A couple franchise selection questions
 

chik filet ftw

Re: A couple franchise selection questions
 

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Also put camera's in your shop so you don't have to wait around all the time to make sure people aren't stealing. Then randomly check the feed and call in each time you do this and complain about people standing around or eating the product...then they'll think you are always watching them [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

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This is a great idea and I'll definitely be doing something of this nature no matter what franchise I select, I'm still leaning heavily towards the coffee shop but I really need to find out if the area will support one. I'm working on how to figure that out. Thanks for the suggestion!

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chik filet ftw

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Thanks, but Chick-fil-A is not really what I'm looking for. You just go to one of their stores and be the manager, you don't actually own it.

http://www.chick-fil-a.com/operator.asp

Good stuff in here guys, thanks a lot, hope someone continues to fill my head with ideas.

Re: A couple franchise selection questions
 

How big is the property? I was thikning, as I was walking to my library (college), we have a lot of small coffee stands around campus. If you open a franschise whatever it may be, just have a coffee cart in it. They are small and one person can take care of it. I think that'll take care of your coffee idea plus you can use the property for another franchise. Does In and Out burger franchise?

Re: A couple franchise selection questions
 

Here is something you usually find near Colleges, Pita Pit.

I have enjoyed their fine food skiing in Whistler BC at 3:00 AM, driving 120+ miles to Western Washington University at 2:00 AM from Seattle, and stopping by the local one down here in San Jose, CA. Pretty good cheap food, and when you are craving it.. you're craving it.

Pita Pit food is quick to prepare, conveyor line operation, and cheap. I knew a lot of friends at WWU who would eat there three to four times a week.

Pita Pit Canada Web Site
Pita Pit USA Web Site

Unluck Subway, Quizno's, etc, you do not see them on every corner. There only two in the Bay Area, thirteen in Washington State (my two 'stomping' grounds).

Not sure about ROI, but I imagine it is online with Subway. The only negative I can think of is that the Pita's MUST be ordered from Canada, and the Pita Pit in San Jose sometimes runs out...

Re: A couple franchise selection questions
 

Cereality! It's a cereal bar... I've never been to one but it sounds cool.

Re: A couple franchise selection questions
 

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Here is something you usually find near Colleges, Pita Pit.

Pretty good cheap food, and when you are craving it.. you're craving it.

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I've never eaten there, but I just took a look at their website. I wouldn't exactly call it cheap food...it looks like around $8.50 for a pita, chips, and a drink at the one nearest to me. Personally, that is more that I usually want to pay for fast food. That doesn't mean they do poorly, of course...Quizno's costs about that much too...but I don't consider either of them to be "cheap". That may be an issue if you are trying to capitalize on proximity to a high school. I imagine high school students are more price-sensitive than college students. Then again, maybe I'm wrong about that...maybe they just get money from their parents and don't think twice about it.

Re: A couple franchise selection questions
 

the only cereality i know of in chicago shut down recently...prime spot in downtown chicago.

Re: A couple franchise selection questions
 

Subway Franchisee here, ask away.

Location Location Location is my primary advice.

Depending on your area all the Subway Franchise's may have been sold. However many Subways are sold each year. I bought both of mine. Buying an existing store with a skilled manager is the easiest way to go. Building a new store from ground up will require more time especially while your store manager learns their job. If your gonna be very hands off I would say a 15% profit margin is more likely.


Talk to your local Subway DA office, they can give you information about your area such as whether or not they are bulding more, and leads on potential sellers. They will not give you sales data though. Just the way they are.

Oh and you better be a people person, cause your employees are what sells your sandwiches, and if you get and keep good employees than your sales grow.

Oh and Taxes and the governments ( local,state and Feds ) are annoying.