Have you been looking to the future lately and wanting to make a big change? Have you always wanted to be your own boss, but worry about failing? The fast food industry is a great business to get involved in for many reasons.
Here are 5 practical reasons to invest in a fast food franchise:
1. There Is Always a Need for Fast Food
Even with more attention being paid to healthier living, there will always be a need for fast food. We all crave that burger and fries at some point, whether it is for a family treat on a Friday night or for a quick lunch during the work week. This is an area that will never be oversaturated. Fast food franchises are the best franchises to start with.
2. You Are Not Doing It Alone
One of the biggest incentives of choosing to invest in a fast food franchise is that you will have a support structure to help you get started. This is something you don’t have when you are opening a restaurant on your own. With a fast food franchise, the franchisor offers you training for you and your staff and will help you find your location and prepare for your grand opening. If you are new to the restaurant business, this is especially attractive.
3. You Get Brand Power
There are a lot of popular fast food franchises like Zac’s Burgers and Papa John’s who have strong brands that people immediately recognize. By choosing to go into the fast food franchise, you will benefit from sharing in the brand recognition.
4. There Is Still Room for Creativity
Although there is a definition structure and process to each fast food franchise, there are still opportunities for you to put your own personal stamp on your location. When you are researching and shopping around, make sure to ask what the rules and regulations are for each individual franchise. If some individual freedom is important to you, don’t sign on until you have the reassurances that you will have some creative control.
While certain foods are the staple of the food industry like burgers, chicken sandwiches, steak sandwiches and fries, there are a lot of ways you can spice things up to keep your customers interested. Add unlikely ingredients to your burger for an extra explosion of taste or if you sell burritos try wrapping up something people wouldn’t expect like sushi in a burrito.
5. Today’s Fast Food Franchises Are Evolving
As customer’s desires have changed, fast food restaurants are evolving to keep up. The days of heavily processed, cookie cutter dishes are over and fast food restaurants are exploring fresher ways to keep the customers coming back. The fast food world is definitely not passé.
Here are some of the newest trends in the fast food industry:
- More and more fast restaurants are offering more bowl options and not just bowls of salad. They are offering bowls of healthy grains and veggies that are prepared right in front of the customer so they can see the freshness first hand.
- There has been a trend in healthier drink options. There has been a lot of buzz about kombucha, a fermented tea that has a lot of health benefits lately, and you will see more fast food chains offering it on their beverage menu. Because it is low calorie and good for you, your more health-conscious customers will drink it up.
- Many fast food franchises are also offering more veggie options.Veggie lovers will love that they can get healthier food options, but still with fast service and a more economical price.
- Most fast food breakfast options focus on quick dishes like a breakfast sandwich, scrambled eggs, pancakes or in a healthier vein oatmeal with yogurt parfait, but many fast food restaurants are now offering more creative robust meals like quiche or French toast as well as adding unexpected ingredients like avocado, sriracha or green chile.
Are you sold yet? Of course having enough money to open and run a successful fast food franchise also needs to be a practical consideration. Startup costs for fast food franchises can vary from $10,000 to a couple of millions so you need to really save up seriously.
Don’t jump into it until you have enough money to not only open strong, but to stay afloat while you start to build your customer base. Remember that Rome was not built in a day.
Here are some tips for saving:
- Know Exactly How Much You Need to Save. Even if your saving is slow-going at first, chipping away at your goal will help keep you positive throughout the process.
- Switch to a Bank with a Better Incentives. Higher interest rates on your savings account, no ATM or overdraft fees are all small ways to save more money. It might not seem like a lot at first, but you will be surprised by how much money can be frittered away with bank fees.
- Set Aside a Certain Amount from Each Paycheck. Make sticking to a budget easier for yourself, by having a certain amount of money from each paycheck put right into your savings account. We all know how easy it is to let coffees and lunches and dinners out can fritter away our money before we have a chance to save anything. This way there are no excuses.
- Use Cash As Much As Possible. While having a credit history is important, using cash for most of your daily purchases can go a long way to helping you save more money for your franchise. Each week, calculate how much spending money you have and take the cash out of the bank. You will not only save on ATM fees, you will not overspend because once the cash is gone you know you can’t spend anymore. Use envelopes to separate out food shopping money from gas money from I really need that cappuccino money.
- Turn Those Lights Down. Utilities..Utilities..Utilities. Do you cringe when you get your water or electric bill? Just paying for utilities and mortgage or rent can pretty much eat up your paycheck so you need to find ways to lower the utilities portion of your monthly budget. Take shorter showers, turn off lights when you are not in the room. You will be surprised by what a difference it can make.
- Go Cold Turkey on Any Expensive Habits. Whether it is that Starbucks run every morning, your weekly bottle of wine or regular pedicures and manicures, identify those expensive habits that are sabotaging your efforts to save. If you can, go cold turkey, but some addictions are harder to beat than others so you might want to gradually wean yourself off instead. The great thing is that not only will your wallet thank you, but so will your body. Think how much healthier you will feel as well.
One of the best franchises to start with is Zac’s Burgers. Their tasty fast food favorites and great customer service makes them a popular stop for hungry customers. And they have a strong franchise program. For more information about the benefits of investing in a fast food franchise, contact Zac’s Burgers.
Zac's Burgers is presently not selling franchises and does not have a certified franchise disclosure document. Zac's is offering licensing opportunities, however, potential licensees must meet all federal and state requirements.
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