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That’s just being overly conservative. I can’t imagine learning much in year 20 that you didn’t already learn in say, year 5.
You're reading me a little narrowly. I said the couple I knew that were successful had 20 years of experience between them - which is generous but proved useful.
I don't say that someone should have 20 years in specifically running a fast-food place, but I'd bet that all things considered there are very few restaurateurs/fast-foodies who are (1) successful by any standard measure and (2) under about 40 with (3) about 20 years of experience in relevant fields, with "business" being the least of those but neither irrelevant nor a sole skill.
This forum is good for shooting down any and every business idea anyone brings up.
How is it that there are so many Subway stores worldwide if they're such a horrible investment?
Nah......Subway stores are just great at franchising!
A friend owned 20, then 30 Domino's pizzas. They were killing it but lots of franchise non-sense, they sold the chain and swore if they ever re-opened it would be non-franchise/ Bob's pizza!
Think about it: Subway sells sandwiches cheap. Why put up with all the rules/fees just to sell a cheap sandwich? They aren't really great sandwiches anyway, not like they have a secret recipe or something super unique on the menu.
Franchises are for dummies that don't know how to make cheap sandwiches!
IMO, the $5 footlong failed because they skimped on the fillings, and never even gave you $5 worth of value. There's NO WAY that $5 footlong cost the franchise person $4 to make.
More like $1 from what I've seen at our local Subway places...
So if you think the sandwich cost a dollar.......what did you figure your labor rate was per sandwich?
How about overhead figured in? Rent $3000, utilties $800 = $127 a day, so if you are open 12 hours a day, it is $12.70 per hour in overhead. If you make 10 sandwiches an hour (average slow day) then overhead cost you $1.27 per sandwich that day.
Do you realize that local food distributors won't tell you about cost increases until after they deliver? Tomatoes $20 a box, oops now they are $28 but it is just a line item on the bill. What do you do? Skip offering tomatoes? Raise prices 29%? You do neither but they just cost you 29% more this week.
This is the one forum on C-D that deals in stone cold reality, not flights of fancy.
I find it refreshing. Most business ideas are terrible, anyway.
If the criticism is coming from successful business owners... or maybe even business owners period, then fine. But I don't know that to be the case here.
This forum is good for shooting down any and every business idea anyone brings up.
How is it that there are so many Subway stores worldwide if they're such a horrible investment?
It is simple, read the FA. It is the personal guarantee, the right of first refusal, and the need to approve any subsequent franchisee. If you cannot understand how those factors tie together you should not consider franchising.
IMO, the $5 footlong failed because they skimped on the fillings, and never even gave you $5 worth of value. There's NO WAY that $5 footlong cost the franchise person $4 to make.
More like $1 from what I've seen at our local Subway places...
A Subway zee is not a allowed to source their products(last time I read the FDD and FA, which has been a long while) so the zee has no control over the cost of the goods sold. Every Subway zee I spoke to indicated they could source for far, far less locally (and at higher quality). But that is not how it works at Subway, you buy at a mark-up from the zor. Understand that the sandwiches are audited by mystery shoppers who will weigh out the ingredients and fine the zee for being on either side of the scale.
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