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Are Chick-Fil-A Franchise Opportunities the Best Investment Choice?

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Why Does Everyone Love Chick-Fil-A?

The adored quick-service restaurant sandwich began in 1964 in Atlanta, GA. The chicken sandwich was then, a novelty idea before its widespread success which was popularized by original Chick-Fil-A restaurants. Not only is the food great, but many customers visit Chick-Fil-A for the Christian-based culture the company is known for.

Beginning in 1995, on a Texas billboard, a renegade cow statue armed with a paintbrush displayed three words, “Eat Mor Chikin.” These iconic cows and their words became the company’s slogan and marketing mascots. Since then, the cows have evolved into a calendar, holiday, and make-up the majority of the company’s marketing content theme. The restaurants are also known for their stance on being closed on Sundays and using cups with bible verses printed on the bottom.

Chick-Fil-A’s bottom line is, “More than 2.000 restaurants serving hand-breaded chicken sandwiches, hot waffle fries, and genuine hospitality,” as boasted on their website.

How Much does a Franchise Owner Make?

Both franchise and licensing opportunities are available through Chick-Fil-A headquarters.

A prospect operator (what the company calls their franchise owners), must be:

  • Interested in a full-time business opportunity.
  • Possess a proven track record in business leadership.
  • Managed personal finances in a successful manner.
  • A results-oriented worker interested in starting and growing a business.
  • Prepared to have no other active business.

Many writers for business magazines like Forbes and Entrepreneur argue that owners of Chick-Fil-A have a religious investment over fiscal motivations. Many cite company culture like Chick-Fil-A headquarters urging operators to attend Christian-based relationship-building conferences, marketing through church groups, and company-wide political stances as the reasoning for this.

Also interesting, is that  Chick-Fil-A owners usually make around $100,000 dollars compared with the similar franchise Bojangles—whose owners take home $330,000 on average, according to Forbes writer, Emily Schmall.

Licensing a Chick-Fil-A

The company also offers licensing opportunities to food service providers and self-operated food service providers in airports, colleges, universities, health-care facilities and business and industry venues.

Many of these locations have a limited menu to support the interests of the specific licensee.

What Does ROI (Return on Investment) Look Like?

Owning a franchise location in the Chick-Fil-A company costs on average a range between $280,725-$814,650. The liquid capital required is $5,000 with a franchise fee of $10,000.

The reason there is such a large scope within the initial investment is because of other costs to open. Purchasing cooking equipment, construction, hiring employees, training and marketing are all factored into the investment cost. The costs of these all vary depending on the situation.

As with all franchise ownership return on investment (ROI), numbers are situational. This means there is no guarantee of being able to identify how much an individual Chick-Fil-A owner will have the potential to make. A franchisee’s return on investment  is contingent on the demographics around the location, successful marketing strategies, and the cost of opening. But most importantly, it depends on how hard a franchise owner works to ensure their location is successful. Chick-Fil-A headquarters delivers training and support to help franchise owners have a successful opening. On-going support is also facilitated through the company’s headquarters.

Franchising is a two-way street. A franchisor helps build the pathway, but the franchisee is responsible for walking this route to success.

What Are Other Alternate Franchise Opportunities?

Undeniably, Chick-Fil-A is the leader in quick-service chicken consumption franchising. Other top-grossing franchises are: El Pollo Loco, Popeye’s Louisiana Chicken, Boston Market, Bojangles Famous Chicken N’ Biscuits and Entrepreneur Magazine’s best ranking chicken franchise—Wingstop Restaurants INC.

Chicken consumption is up 17% since 2012 reported by the National Chicken Council in 2014. Just taking a look around on major highways and fast-food menus are enough evidence to show the rising national interest in chicken consumption. Most major fast food chains feature a chicken sandwich as a staple on their menu.  

But, what if you are interested in a franchise opportunity outside of the food service industry?

Consider Splash and Dash Groomerie & Boutique

Company History

The company was founded in 2009 and began franchising in 2014 as a specialty pet grooming and retail store. The premise behind the franchise is taking all the amenities of a big-box pet store combined with the friendliness and convenience of a mom and pop grooming location—creating a truly unique experience for pet animals and their parents.

Founder and CEO, Dan J. Barton, envisioned a place where someone could bring their pet to be pampered in a lap of luxury. A place that smelled great and provided all the nutritious dietary and lifestyle retail choices every loving pet parent would ever need. With this concept as a guiding force, Splash and Dash Groomerie & Boutique began.

Growth

Since franchising, the company has grown immensely.

Currently, Splash and Dash is ranked #59 on Entrepreneur Magazine’s 500 List for strong growth rates and unique benefits. Splash and Dash has received various awards and rankings including the 500 lists from multiple business magazine rankings, retailer of the year, media spotlights on Fox, and much more!

What keeps Splash and Dash Groomerie & Boutique competitive is the company-wide signature service, “Unlimited Monthly Bath & Brush.” This is win-win for both franchise owners and the pet parents that visit their shops.

Owners love it because it establishes recurring revenue and opens more retail engagement. Customers love it for the same reasons.  Since a pet parent can schedule an appointment anytime with their membership they can conveniently purchase pet supplies while they are already in the shop. A customer can easily book an appointment at their leisure and are provided with all the things their pet would ever need at a one-stop-shop.

Splash and Dash is the only pet franchise with a recurring revenue stream built into the business model. This is a vantage point in the pet franchise realm.

What also makes Splash and Dash stand above the competition is the style of shop owner the company works with. The company believes franchising is all about finding the right fit. A person with a strong work ethic, drive for success, ambition to better the world, and a mind for business makes the perfect Splash and Dash location owner candidate.

Just as Chick-Fil-A is taking the chicken sandwich world by storm, Splash and Dash is disrupting the pet industry one happy doggie at a time.

Play Dirty. Live Clean.

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Changing Careers at 50, What’s Your Next Move?

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A little foreword before launching into the search for a brighter horizon. Even if you’re not considering changing careers at 50, maybe you’re fresh out of college, maybe you’re in your mid 30’s with two kids and one more on the way? No matter who you are, and what your situation is, never settle! Too many of us work hard under fluorescent lighting in a cubicle that gets smaller and smaller every day. This is not the American dream. Why should it be yours?

If you love your job—you can’t wait to get to work in the morning— tackle the array of challenges waiting for you there, then you don’t need to read this. If you are part of the 51% of individuals who are actively looking to leave their job, according to a Gallup Survey; or even part of the 73% open to hearing about new opportunities, understand that being petrified by change can lead to a devastating life. No one wants to retire and look back with regret. You can absolutely find something better.

All melodrama aside, I once worked in a career where I felt indifferent. I owned 5 gyms and made tons of money. I was surrounded by smiling faces and people trying to better themselves, but I still left at every opportunity I could. On the surface, everything looked grand, but on the inside I was malcontent. I found myself traveling often, not wanting to return to the monotony that wait for me back at the office. By all accounts, I should have been proud of my career and what I built. I wasn’t. I had yet to find that awesomeness—the thing that fulfills me so much I wake up before the alarm clock—ready to conquer the day.

If you’re contemplating jumping ship and changing careers at 50, or any age, don’t let fear hold you back!

Don’t Let Fear Paralyze You

“Remember your dreams and fight for them. You must know what you want from life. There is just one thing that makes your dream become impossible: the fear of failure.”

Paulo Coelho

Mr. Coelho is right. Not only is he a wise man but he is a person not expected to make it. Paulo Coelho, author of The Alchemist, grew up in Brazil without any post-secondary education. He was fortunate enough to live off his talents and was making good money as a songwriter, but as he says, “I was not fulfilling my dream.” At the ripe age of 39, he decided to quit his job, give up all stability, and pursue writing full time. This is a scary move in America, imagine doing this in Brazil!

This unknown author risked everything. He went from making a modest living to having the president at the time be photographed holding a novel that took two him weeks to write. The lesson we can all take away from Mr. Coelho is that fear is the dream killer. Let’s apply this to career changes. What do we look for in a career?

  • Stability
  • Good location
  • Life-work balance
  • Salary
  • Intellectual challenge.

When your job is lacking one of these attributes, your quality of life lowers. Menial careers won’t satisfy any of these categories. You might even have a really bad boss who’s incompetent, or isn’t supportive. Never settle for this. Don’t sink into a place of complacency just for a small sense of stability. Too often people descend into a routine and are crippled by fear. They stay at a job that makes them miserable. Don’t. Take a leap of faith with yourself and make a change. Sometimes, we are our only obstacles.

Find out What You Really Want to do

“Without vision, even the most focused passion is a device without a battery.”

Kevin Auletta

The industry you’re working in now is irrelevant. Don’t limit your possibilities on what you already know or your current skill set. Speaking with job recruiters can be helpful but it’s not always enough to pinpoint your passion. Recruiters will counsel you and help guide you from what they evoke but ultimately you need to decide. Remember, you’re never too old for an internship!

Take an introspective look at yourself. What are your hobbies? What captivates you and holds your interest? What did you want to do as a child? Do some research. Find out what industries are thriving, but don’t let compensation be your only motivator. If you discover what you’re passionate about, where the market is strong, you can whittle down some titles. With some open-mindedness, the process of the elimination can help your search.

For me, it was something more seemingly innocuous. I got a dog. I have always been a huge animal lover but the experiences me and my Yorkie went through scoped my vision. Of course, I loved my dog, but as a dog owner, I experienced the challenges all pet owners go through. Buying her expensive food and treats to keep her healthy. Taking her to the veterinarian. Even taking her to the groomers became the worse. From what seemed like meaningless annoyances of owning a dog became market gaps. Why wasn’t there a better option to take care of your dog’s needs? I had found my inspiration.

This is where you channel your inner entrepreneur. What around you do think needs to change? What makes you happy?

Ascension

“Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision.”

Peter Drucker

A challenging career should cultivate your professional skills as much as your job relies on your current skills. Half the fun of having a stimulating career is personal growth. Many people fatigue from a dull routine, instead of solving problems in the workplace, they’re kept busy. The true recipe for an engaging career is finding the thing that makes you holistically tick. You have to be passionate, challenged, and even the routines make you happy. Is this a realistic career pathway? I believe so.

The route that I took was owning my own business. I was never cut out to do the work of someone else’s dream; even if it was challenging, even if it was enjoyable, I found that I would still burn out, uninspired. Owning my own business was the way to go. I felt the inspiration it takes to chase down your pursuits when I was crafting my own dream. Owning a small business in the pet industry was the reward I was looking for. Working alongside animals is an inherent stress reliever. For some people, reward might be writing software that changes the way we hail a cab, for me, it was seeing a smile on a dog’s face with a brightness matched by their owner.

Not only was I surrounded with like-minded people and their cute animals, but I only answered to myself. Every triumph of my business was my triumph. I had amazing people around. You can’t do it without surrounding yourself with an ambitious and dynamic team. Suddenly I had control of my life again. I loved my work and I handled the daily tasks on my own terms. I controlled my schedule, so I got to spend more time with family and take vacations. It seemed the more love I poured into my business, the more it would grow. This was the enriching career I needed!

I urge anyone driving home from work at night, trying to reason with themselves on why they stay at a job they hate, to break away from the rut. If you have spent the first half of life doing something unfulfilling, think about changing careers at 50.

A brighter horizon is waiting.

 

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