HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO OPEN A FRANCHISE? - Great American Cookies … · 2019-09-13 · GREAT AMERICAN COOKIES AVERAGE Our franchise owners rarely spend less than $202,900 or more

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HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO OPEN A FRANCHISE?

(and Seven Other Essential Answers to Know Before You Invest)

2GREAT AMERICAN COOKIES®

So, you think franchising is the right choice for you. You know you want the independence and freedom of owning your own business, and you’re ready to begin a career you’re passionate about.

But you don’t want to start a new business from scratch.

That’s where Great American Cookies comes in. When you invest in a Great Ameri-can Cookies franchise you’ll benefit from

our years of experience operating busi-nesses across the country.

Regardless of level of business experience, it’s important to have some basic questions answered before you take the leap and make an investment. Here are the answers to the eight most common questions that potential franchise owners ask us before they are awarded a Great American Cookies franchise.

How Much Does it Cost to Open a Franchise? (and Seven Other Essential Answers to Know Before You Invest)

A 2016 Guide to Opening a Great American Cookies Franchise


Because each territory, location, owner, and store is different it is difficult to say exactly what your total startup cost will be, but you should consider the following factors.

STORE SIZE Your Great American Cookies store can take up as little as 400 square feet or as many

as 1,000 square feet, which obviously has an impact on your startup cost.

LOCATION The city or state in which you open your store can have location-specific requirements

for you to open a business, which may cost additional money. And of course, rents will be higher and lower in certain neighborhoods.

FRANCHISE FEE One expense that you can count on to be set is our franchise fee of $35K, which you

then add to the other costs of licensing, rent, etc.

GREAT AMERICAN COOKIES AVERAGE Our franchise owners rarely spend less than $202,900 or more than $362,650 to

open their Great American Cookies stores.

THE MAGIC NUMBERS As you are preparing to invest in a Great American Cookies franchise, know that we

require our franchise owners to have a minimum net worth of $250,000 and at least $100,000 in liquidity. These numbers apply to one store but this is only an estimate and your costs may vary.

We determine these amounts based on what banks require to finance a franchise. Please check with your lender for their liquidity and net worth requirements. What we recommend is just a guideline.

Some municipalities require additional permitting, rent varies from location to location, some owners choose to add additional furniture, fixtures, and equipment to their stores, and so on.

There are many different variables when it comes to startup costs for a Great American Cookies franchise. It’s important to remember that no two stores are exactly the same and therefore no two startup costs are exactly the same. Because of these factors, it’s impossible for us to determine an exact cost to start, but we do provide a range of investment in our Franchise Disclosure Document.


How Much Does it Cost to Open My Own Franchise?


What Experience Do I Need To Open a Franchise? The most important quality we look for in a Great American Cookies franchise owner is a friendly attitude and outgoing personality.

These two qualities can take you a long way as a business owner, manager, and customer service expert.

That being said, restaurant and/or business experience can certainly help you operate your store, but neither is necessary.

What Does a Day in the Life of a Franchisee Look Like?We don’t want to sugar coat it for you (or frost it, or put sprinkles on top) opening and operating a Great American Cookies franchise is a lot of hard work.


Do not despair, though, because the hard work you are doing as a Great American Cookies franchise owner is some of the most fulfilling work there is because you are furthering your own goals and dreams. As a business owner, you can take comfort in knowing that you are working towards building your own dream, not that of someone else.

As a Great American Cookies franchise owner, this satisfaction in your product makes all the difference.

But don’t take our word for it! Get in touch with one of our hundreds of franchise owners and see what they say about owning their own businesses.



What Kind of Training and Support Can I Expect? One of the biggest perks of opening a franchise as opposed to starting your own business from scratch is the training and support from an established corporate network.

Global Franchise Group (GFG), the parent company of Great American Cookies, offers industry leading training to all our franchise owners.

GFG UNIVERSITYAs a Great American Cookies franchise owner, you will receive initial training at the Global Franchise Group, or GFG, University in Atlanta, Georgia. At this training, our goal is for you to be able to do the following:

• Develop and be able to execute an effective Local Store Marketing Plan• Understand Return on Investment (ROI) and the effect building

revenues and controlling costs have on this• Develop an annual financial plan• Learn to analyze key components of the Profit and Loss

(P&L) Statement• Understand the most important aspects of cost controls, including Cost

of Goods Sold (COGS) and Labor Costs• Understand the importance of regular and accurate inventory

counts and calculations• Understand and be able to execute key Human Resource systems,

including; Recruiting, Interviewing, Selecting, Training and Coaching

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• Understand the importance of complying with Federal and State Labor Laws

• Learn the process involved during the weeks and days prior to opening to ensure the best possible guest experience

IN-STORE TRAININGBut your training does not end at GFG University. When you open your store, our corporate personnel will be there to assist with the opening and to offer additional in-store training.

This in-store training is key to helping our franchise owners learn how to run and manage the store once it is open.

CORPORATE PERSONAL & FRANCHISE CONSULTANTSAdditionally, you will build a relationship with our corporate personnel, who can help you in the future with questions or concerns that arise as time goes on. Our field consultants can also assist you when it is time for you to grow your business.

Apart from training, GFG offers our franchise owners ongoing support from the moment they sign the franchise agreement and throughout the life of the business.

One of the biggest perks of opening a franchise is that you are investing in a proven business concept and a huge network of experienced individuals who have stream-lined the franchise process.

As a franchise owner, you will receive help from our corporate personnel with everything from real estate identification to lease negotiations to location build out. Great American Cookies and GFG have experts in these fields so that you will not be left to do these things on your own.



How Do I Find a Location? Real estate can be one of the most important aspects of your business; as such, it is your responsibility to decide the optimal location for your Great American Cookies store.

At Great American Cookies, we know that location can make all the difference in your franchise, so we have a real estate team that is available to assist you in market research, site location analysis, as well as demographic information.

An additional perk of opening a Great American Cookies franchise is our national brand recognition. Landlords often seek out our brand because of our reputation and recognition.

How Much Are Your Royalties?Our Royalties are 6% of Net Sales* for the preceding week as well as a 1.5% marketing royalty The Royalty fee is an on-going fee that provides ongoing brand recognition, a Franchise Business Consultant, training and ongoing support, real estate and construction assistance, preferred vendors, and marketing and advertising.

They also cover ongoing online training, updates to operating manuals, updates to marketing collaterals and branding, and ongoing consulting from our Operations team to help you run your business.

What Are Your Financial Requirements?The liquidity requirements for this investment level is a minimum of $100,000 and the net worth requirement is a minimum of $250,000. Liquidity can be in the form of cash, stocks, bonds, retirement accounts, and home equity.

All materials have been prepared for general information purposes only to permit you to learn more about the FDD. The information presented is not legal advice, is not to be acted on as such, may not be current and is subject to change without notice. The information presented is a summary of the disclosures required by the Federal Trade Commission. The terms of your contract will govern your franchise relationship. Don’t rely on the disclosure document alone to understand your contract. Read your entire contract carefully. Show your contract and the FDD to an advisor, like a lawyer or an accountant.

This information is not intended as an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, a franchise. It is for information purposes only. Currently, the following states regulate the offer and sale of franchises: California, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. If you are a resident of or want to locate a franchise in one of these states, we will not offer you a franchise unless and until we have complied with applicable pre-sale registration and disclosure requirements in your state. Franchise offerings are made by the Franchise Disclosure Document only.

For New York: This advertisement is not an offering. An offering can only be made by a prospectus filed first with the Department of Law of the State of New York. Such filing does not constitute approval by the Department of Law. For Minnesota: MN File No. F-6173

5555 Glenridge Connector, Suite 850, Atlanta GA 30342

770.514.4500 | 800.524.6444

[email protected]

SOURCES http://www.statista.com/topics/863/fast-food/http://www.statista.com/statistics/512579/quick-service-restaurants-us-revenue/https://www.franchisehelp.com/industry-reports/fast-food-industry-report/


How Much Money Can I Make? Ah, the million dollar question. As we discussed above, each franchise is different and has a different experience, so there is never one answer for this question.

There are two easy ways to learn what earnings to expect. First, visit www.greatamericancookiesfranchise.com and submit your contact information to speak to one of our Franchise Development Managers and obtain a Franchise Disclosure Document. This document contains earnings claims companywide and can be extremely in-formative.

Once you have received the FDD, you will have the contact information for our fran-chise owners. You’re free to call our owners at your leisure and ask them any ques-tions you would like about our business.

QSR & FAST FOOD INDUSTRY While we cannot promise exact numbers or disclose specifics about what you will earn, we can provide some basic data on the Quick Service Restaurants and Fast Food industry.

This industry earned nearly $200 billion in the United States in 2015* and earnings are projected to increase by 2.5% each year at least until 2020. The industry, which has historically been dominated by hamburgers

and French fries, is responding to consumers’ changing tastes and is becoming increasingly more diverse.

The industry shows no signs of slowing down so an investment in Great American Cookies is a relatively safe bet.

If you’d like to find out more, please visit www.greatamericancookiesfranchise.com

http://www.greatamericancookiesfranchise.com

http://www.greatamericancookiesfranchise.com

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO OPEN A FRANCHISE? - Great American Cookies … · 2019-09-13 · GREAT AMERICAN COOKIES AVERAGE Our franchise owners rarely spend less than $202,900 or more

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