Chick fil A Franchise Is For The Birds

If Dan Cathy would have kept his bless-ed mouth shut, I wouldn’t have written this post about his Chick fil A franchise being for the birds.

In a nutshell, the food franchise he runs is an empire. And, speaking of birds, even a Cardinal knows that it’s an empire.

It’s also among the most bizarre franchise systems in the world.

The Chik fil A Franchise Is For The Birds

These are the reasons:

1. The Chik fil A franchise fee for one restaurant is only $5,000. $10,000. Again…

2. The franchise fee for one Chik fil A franchise unit is only $10,000. Not very typical for franchise opportunities these days.

Wait…let’s do this right; let’s call it a Chik fil A “Franchise.”

Here’s Why the word “franchise” is in quotes;

1. 1. Potential franchisees only pay a $10,000 “Franchise Fee”
   2. Franchise owners don’t own a thing
   3. Franchisees maintain no equity in “their” business
   4. Franchisees are not allowed to own any other businesses
   5. Chick fil A chooses the location
   6. Chick fil A owns the location

As a matter of fact, Chik fil A is not really “a franchise business.” It’s an owner-operated business. That just so happens to charge a franchise fee. And, it’s easily searchable on all the search engines under “Chik fil A Franchise Opportunities.”

Typical Franchise Business Systems

Dan Cathy’s franchise system isn’t even a distant cousin to the typical franchise seen today all over the world. The low Chik fil A franchisee fee is the giveaway here. For example, an average franchise fee will run $25,000-$45,000 or more.Proof. And that’s just for starters….

If you were to buy a Chik fil A franchise, theoretically, you would have an opportunity to build equity. Imagine how you would feel, if after working your tail off-building your franchise business up for 10 years or so, you could sell it and deposit a check for $600,000 into your retirement savings account. That’s called equity. What? You don’t believe me? Will you believe my friend, Carol Roth, who’s background includes investment banking?

Or, maybe you decide that instead of cashing in, you want to keep things in the family. In other words, you want to pass it on to your heirs. No problem. Just do it.

But, it would be a problem if you were a Chick fil A franchise owner. That’s because you’re not allowed to do that. No way. No how. You bad person, you….

Did I mention that you can’t sell your business, either? Would you like to know why?

Because you don’t own a thing when you’re a Chick fil A franchise owner. That’s because…

You Bought Yourself a J O B

That’s right. Sometimes you are buying a job.

Like when you pay $10,000 to Chick Fil A headquarters.

(A high-paying job, supposedly. I read somewhere that the average yearly income for a Chik fil A franchise owner is around $200,000. I can’t verify it, though.)

I was going to point out a few other key differences between a real franchise business and a fake hybrid franchise business model, but I’m way too aggravated to do that now, so I hope you’ll forgive me.

But, if you want to learn more about the greatest business model ever invented, when it’s done the right way, read this franchise article.

What I’m Angry About

Today, I’m angry about the fact that Chick fil A, the food franchise with well over $3 Billion dollars in revenue, can get away with calling their franchise “opportunity” a franchise. A true franchise business allows people to invest in their own business, and have something to show for it when they’re ready to exit it.  A true franchise business is a partnership. (Careful, Joel…the word “partnership” may be considered a dirty word in Chick fil A’s uptight kitchens.)

I hope that I’m not the only one in my industry that feels that Chick fil A is an embarrassment to the franchise industry-because of their butchering of the original and current franchise model. As a matter of fact, they should be thrown out of whatever franchise association they’re members of.  But, not for religious reasons. I’m not going there, again. (Probably) But, I did go there in this post about the President of Chick fil A.

Hey, at least there aren’t any Cardinals jumping into the Chick fil A fray.

New! My take on the Chik Fil A “Franchise.”