The Best Restaurant Franchises

One of the safest bets in the restaurant business is to buy a well established franchise. The best restaurant franchises have strict requirements. Just because you have the cash doesn't mean you will be granted a franchise. The better the franchise and the longer their track record, the tougher and omore expensive it is to obtain a franchise license.

(If you're not the kind of person (like I am) that likes being told exactly what to do, here's another option click here)

Best 8 Restaurant Franchises

Here are the best restaurant franchises over the past few years. I've included the minimum cash required to apply for any of these franchises.

SUBWAY          (minimum cash investment) $100-$250K

McDonald's    (minimum cash investment) $175K(satellite store)-$700K

KFC                   (minimum cash investment) $200K- $2.5million

Burger King    (minimum cash investment) $50K- 1.5million

Pizza Hut         (minimum cash investment) $100-$400K

Dunkin' Donuts    (minimum cash investment) $80K-1.3million

Domino's Pizza     (minimum cash investment) $50-$500K

Taco Bell        (minimum cash investment) $45K-$2.5 million

Papa Johns      (minimum cash investment) $5K-$500K

Wendy's         (minimum cash investment) $200K-$500K

As you can see, the above list of best restaurant franchises are mostly the fast food type. Of course, there are many other successful restaurant franchises available. Many of the newer ones are regionally based. Make sure you do significant due diligence on any franchise that has a history of less than 10 years. Check their prospectus and check with the regional BBB for any complaints. One very important question to ask any newer franchise is "Have you had any franchisee's that have closed or failed?"

I know of one story were a well meaning couple decided to invest a large severance package and buy a famous burger franchise. They had all the money the needed. They went through 3 interviews and were then told to go work a shift at a local franchise for 3 consecutive days. They were supposed to wear the regulation outfit and spend one day serving customers and learning the till. One day prepping food. And one day shadowing the manager to learn her duties. They decided to spend all 3 days shadowing the manager as they had no intention of working in the kitchen or serving customers. They wanted to buy this franchise, hire managers and staff and have a passive income generator. They were shocked when the head office declined their application.

The chances of success with the best restaurant franchises are 20 times that of opening your own restaurant. Personally, I'm not the type of person that would do well in a franchise. As I stated above, you better be willing to do exactly what head office tells you. They have created a profitable system and you are paying for that system. If you like to be an individual and are very creative you could become very frustrated as a franchisee. The upside is that the financial remuneration is great. If you are willing to buy a "job" and do exactly what they say, you'll put in some long hours and be constantly graded and reviewed. Down the line you'll have a valuable asset and a healthy bank account to show for it.

If you love the restaurant business and want the security of proven system and track record you'll reduce your risk and sleep soundly if you work with the best restaurant franchises.