Which franchise would you purchase?
 

I decided that its time to put some money into something other then porn/booze... and thought that the best way would be a franchise.

McDonalds, Tim Hortons and Krispy Kreme are my choices so far. The investment is quite high (minimum of $150k US as a downpayment) but I think that monthy income should be pretty steady.

Should I risk that much and go for it or is that a bit too high of a risk?

my dad owns the northernmost two krispy kremes in the us. I think it was like 750k for both of them.

it seems to have worked out quite well though :).

You could always invest your 150k into the 21asian.com trust fund. You will get an average return of $1 a day. Good investment I say!

:thumbsup

Jackshack

i've really looked into franchises, and have decided to stick with real estate and land. less hassles imo.

I used to own a couple of Dunkin Donuts (in Syracuse, NY). I can't speak to the economics of owning a Krispy Kreme, but Dunkin was hell. When you own something that is open 24/7/52 and is staffed by minimum wage students...that don't give a crap about their job, your day never ends and there are problems around the clock. It was hard to make a decent profit as well, so its a franchise I would never consider and warn others against. When you step over to the side of being a manufacturer (donuts, muffins), it no longer becomes a fun business. Try having to wake up at 2AM after putting in a 16 hour day because the phone rang with the baker saying he has a stomach ache and is going home and you know you have to get up to rush in to finish his shift because you are a donut store and if you don't snap to attention, there will be no donuts in the morning for people.

You're forgetting rent, supplies, stoves, insurance, licenses, etc.

McDonald's is no joke. You're not starting one for $150k. Last I heard it was around $500-750k, depending on the area.

hooters... night club is nice too...

Krispy Kreme? Open one in a walmart... and make some $$$ with the fat asses they got there...

yep. sounds like hell.

No offense, but you should do a bit more due dilligence if you are at all contemplating a McDonalds. Just do a quick search at Fobes.com, Fortune.com or BusinessWeek.com. You will find article after article of surveys and interviews with franchisees complaining and actually suing Oak Brook. They are doing shit and as a whole recorded their first ever quarterly loss recently in their history and also same store sales for US based stores opened over one year have actually slipped backwards, so growth is going nowhere fast...

Starbucks!!!!

It would be great if it were possible to OWN a UK branch of PC World. The fucking prices they charge.

120GB hard drive - equivalent of $350
256MB memory - equivalent of $100
P4 2.6Ghz, 256 RAM, 15 inch monitor - equivalent of $1300

and so on.

Fucking DAYLIGHT ROBERY. :321GFY

Thanx for the tips. The $125k investment is the pure minimum not counting the building so bout $200k MIN investment for a McD's.

I never thought that franchising a McD's or any other famous fast food or coffee place would be hard to turn into a good profit. But I will look more into this now...

quiet, real estate is my other idea, it's good but if you do it in a country where the tenent has too many rights then you might be screwed for a few months if he or she doesnt pay. But it is surely a safer investment (stress wise) then a franchise.

I waiting for lil2rich TGP franchises to come onto the market. I wanna be first to grab a lil2rich branded TGP.

I think Krispy Kreme has great potential. Everyone loves Krispy Kreme.

For a donut shop like Tim Hortons or Dunkin - the leashold improvements to make the building look right and be functional to operate a franchise could cost about 200k, and the equipment will be around the same as well. With Dunkin - you also have to cough up about 40 or 50k upfront in franchise fees, spend 8 weeks in Boston going to Dunkin Donuts University before you can open up.

Doesn't nessesarily mean that Krispy Kreme would make higher profits though!

I purchase the Catholic Church. They're all about the money - just look at the clothes Pimp Pope John Paul is always wearing!

You're dreaming. Seriously. You need big money laying around to start up a huge franchise. Not only do you need the money to buy everything necessary, but also, McDonald's doesn't want some fly by night wasting their time. If you don't have a bank roll, forget it.

I was thinking about franchising a Quiznos about a year ago, but chose not too because its just too much of a hastle and work that I wouldnt enjoy doing.. BUT, quiznos is the fastest growing franchise restaurant... and it depends what size quiznos you get for how much it will cost.. Its about 150k plus you have to have a certain amount in assets... but i know a couple people who are franchise owners.. they do decent.. its all about location

Put that $150,000 towards a nice apartment building. Still lots of headaches, but no where near as many as trying to open a fast food restaurant.

Have you ever sat and watched those people work in there? It must be a nightmare trying to manage one of those places.

Tim Hortons. It doing better than McDonalds in Canada and like theie donuts more than Krispy Kreme.

Forget franchises and real estate that's hot and cold.

If you want to invest $150k in something lucrative, open a check cashing and beer store, that also does Western Union transactions. There's a ton of money in it.

Cash government and trusted/verified payroll checks, they usually get about $2-$5 per $100. Western Union gets a percentage of every transaction. Then after people cash their check, they will always turn around and buy beer. Good hours, low overhead. All cash business... sounds good to me :)

I think he's in Canada though, so beer stores are all government run.

Yes, I have a friend of the family with two check cashing stores up in Sarasota. He's making about $100K off of each one. Not enormous money, but decent for a retirement type business.

However - I'm guessing you'd need security up the ass.

All part and parcel of that kind of business, though. :glugglug

Blockbuster Video -- Some of them have digital arenas like in Germany and England -- Internet Access. etc etc

Or Kinkos - But they are open 24/7

Factor in bullet proof vests for your workers. All that cash on hand plus alcohol sounds like a disaster waiting to happen to me. Seperately I think they'd both work well though. :)

i believe that in the state of oklahoma we have 2-3 krispy creams right now(they moved here i believe last year). that would be the first franchise that i would look into, especially considering the fact that we have plenty of "college towns" and the two major cities(and a few of the smaller towns) are growing at rapid rates.

Security cameras and alarms - one time installation.
Bulletproof glass - one time installation.
Armored service pick up/delivery, shouldn't be that costly, if even needed.

I'm sure gas stations/convenient stores have just as much cash in and out, and they are relatively low security.

Like KRL said, not an enormous amount of money... but more than decent for offline, considering most major corporations put all other small businesses out of commission.

good luck getting a krispie kreme franchise. there is a huge waiting list and they usually only accept those who have experience with running a similar business already. my friend owns 7 t.g.i.f's and 2 krispie kremes. 150,000 is not even close for a down payment on a krispie kreme.

Micky D's is in the shitter and you are looking at out state only as they offer any new locations of merit to existing franchises.

Krispy kreme was all locked up for any US locations over a year ago. They offered me latin america locations. um... NO!

Buy office/wharehouses or apts. Both appear to be idiot proof as I am able to run them.

:2 cents:

BASKETBALL:
Buy the Orlando Magic or Bucks. I hear they're both for sale. Also, Shin will be selling the Hornets soon.

FOOTBALL:
LA needs a NFL team.

:thumbsup

I've looked into starting a Hooters and found out that you need a minimum of $3mil in liquid assests, a spot picked out with a certain amount of people in a certain radius, and must know the innerds of restaurant ownership. Most resturant franchises will be like that. So, $150k they will laugh at.

Something that will never be a bad investment is real estate. Some things to consider: coin operated car washes, coin operated laundrymats, and video arcades.

best franchise on the market right now,

httphttp://pitapit.com

easy set up, 100K total,

small over head rents, under 100sf,

low royalties, average 2%,

good product,

similar margins as subway, but more profit,

sub way is number one because of small rents, and low employee cost, ie you can run a subway for 7$ a hour with one good employee, durring slow time,


the problem with subway is,

10,000$ no garanteed location, you get what the developing agent can find, adn 8% royalty audited weekly and 4% advertising,

with pita pit, its 25K, garanteed teritory, and fixed rate royaltyes average out to 2%, and no audit,

look with franchises, all the big ones, are over done and the great locations are gone,

except cripsy cream in canada they are still growing,

adn stay away from 5 location rip offs,

you want up and cummers, get in early in prime locations,

pitapit, is awesome 100+ locations, no closings, you can still get in on the grown floor like I did,

thanks

The $500k-$750k estimate is more accurate. ($1.5 million to open a Burger King). I am re-reading Fast Food Nation, and they have a whole chapter on McD's franchises. Franchisees lease their land/buildings from the McD corporation. Franchisees have to buy their supplies from the McD corporation, etc. And the franchisee prays that they have enough sales, along with 3 other McD franchisees a block down the road, that their sales cover their operating expenses and franchise fee.

it's no secret that mcdonald's corp makes most of it's money from the real estate it leases to it franchisees

I knew that, I was wondering if the OP thought he was going to be able to open with $125k by building his own.

"We are not basically in the food business, we are in the real estate business. The only reason we sell fifteen cent hanburgers is because they are the greatest producer of revenue from which our tenants can pay us our rent." - Harry J. Sonnenborn, Ray Kroc's partner.

i would check out coldstonecreamery.com, they opened one by my house and the past few months ive seen it the line went way out of the store. im sure its just because of the buzz, but looks like a good store.

i figured this would be a great time to ask...

Has anyone here looked into starting a classy strip joint and would know how much it might cost to get started?

Strippers are more of a headache than minimum-wage teenagers!

No idea what they make, but the pita pit franchise puts out some great places.

One here in my small bumfuck town. I really dig it.

ive never seen a mcdonalds close

If you think you can just go buy a Kryspy Creme franchise you should get back to your TGP's. The process to buying a franchise from a top company like wendys, subway, etc is long and involved. For that matter, subway and kryspy kreme are not bringing any ANY new US franchisees at the moment.

well i already knew that. i was hoping for insight reguarding licenses, laws, etc

Ive never seen a poor strip club owner, and ive seen several owners in florida driving a new exotic car everyday of the week.

:(

Real Estate..

I hear commerical is the way to go in real estate for renting..


You might want to research it..

Has anybody tried a "self storage" business? They are popping up like mushrooms on shit around here...

Really cheap construction, generally located on out of the way industrial (i.e. cheap) land, and they have hundreds of storage bays in them going for $100-$500/month. Best part is, if the tenant doesn't pay his rent, you just slap a padlock on there and 2 weeks later you auction off his shit.

I would think that would be a very low risk high cash flow business particularly in an urban area where people don't have storage space in their apartments/houses.

YES! I forgot to mention that earlier. An old friend of mines parents own one of those w/ a shitload of bays to rent. They make very nice off of it, but not sure on exact figures.

I'd launch a Krispy Kreme in the Toronto East (Pickering/Scarborough) area.