Ten franchise brands run a deli / sandwich shop. Here they are beside the independent version of the same business, with each brand’s fees as it publishes them and worked out in dollars. A brand can bring customers an independent has to earn one by one. The question is whether it brings in more than it costs.
Typical for a deli / sandwich shop: $200k to $550k in sales, and the owner keeps 15% to 20% after paying for its own marketing. Change either to your own numbers.
Work each brand out at
How the two sides are counted
Sales. A brand’s name brings customers an independent wins one at a time, so each brand is worked out at the sales it reports where we have them, and at yours where we don’t.
Marketing. On your own you pay for all of it, about 3% of sales here (the SBA’s usual range for ongoing marketing). The ad fund does part of that job, so it is counted once, not twice.
Survival. New franchised businesses were about 5 to 6 points more likely to make it through their first two years in Census data, and about half of all new businesses close within five years. It is not in the dollars; each brand’s details give the sources.
Your own deli / sandwich shop and each brand, side by side
The independent version
Your own deli / sandwich shop
Built and run under your own name
Cost to open
$102k to $582k
Annual sales
$330ktypical
Franchise fee
None
Royalty + ad fund
Noneall marketing is yours
$59,400
The owner keeps in a year, after about $10k of marketing
Selective
Subway
Sandwiches
Multi-unit and buy-and-build candidates preferred
Total investment
$199k to $537k
Avg. annual sales
Undisclosed
Franchise fee
$15k
Royalty + ad fund
8% + 4.5% of sales
$28k
The owner keeps in a year at $330k in sales (your sales), after $41k to the brand
$31k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners
Charleys Cheesesteaks & Wings
Cheesesteaks
Total investment
$203k to $1M
Avg. annual sales
$813k to $911k
Franchise fee
$25k
Royalty + ad fund
6% + 1% of sales
$103k
The owner keeps in a year at $862k in sales (what it reports), after $60k to the brand
$44k more a year than on your own
Taking new owners
Jimmy John's
Sandwiches
Total investment
$366k to $734k
Avg. annual sales
$935k to $986k
Franchise fee
$35k
Royalty + ad fund
6% + 4.5% of sales
$101k
The owner keeps in a year at $961k in sales (what it reports), after $101k to the brand
$42k more a year than on your own
Taking new owners
Firehouse Subs
Sandwiches
Total investment
$380k to $1.4M
Avg. annual sales
Franchise fee
$20k
Royalty + ad fund
6% + 5% of sales
$33k
The owner keeps in a year at $330k in sales (your sales), after $36k to the brand
$26k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners
Jersey Mike's Subs
Sandwiches
Total investment
$436k to $1.2M
Avg. annual sales
Franchise fee
$20k
Royalty + ad fund
6.5% + 5% of sales
$31k
The owner keeps in a year at $330k in sales (your sales), after $38k to the brand
$28k less a year than on your own
Selective
Penn Station East Coast Subs
Grilled subs
Managing owner must live in or near the market
Total investment
$508k to $859k
Avg. annual sales
Ask the brand
Franchise fee
$25k
Royalty + ad fund
0% to 8% + 2% of sales
$33k to $59k
The owner keeps in a year at $330k in sales (your sales), after $7k to $33k to the brand
$0 to $26k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners
Capriotti's Sandwich Shop
Subs
Total investment
$595k to $935k
Avg. annual sales
Franchise fee
$40k
Royalty + ad fund
6% to 7% + 2% to 4% of sales
$33k to $40k
The owner keeps in a year at $330k in sales (your sales), after $26k to $36k to the brand
$20k to $26k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners
Potbelly
Toasted sandwiches
Total investment
$629k to $999k
Avg. annual sales
Franchise fee
$40k
Royalty + ad fund
6% + 3% to 4% of sales
$36k to $40k
The owner keeps in a year at $330k in sales (your sales), after $30k to $33k to the brand
$20k to $23k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners
Schlotzsky's
Deli sandwiches
Total investment
$658k to $2M
Avg. annual sales
Franchise fee
$36k
Royalty + ad fund
6% + 4% to 5% of sales
$33k to $36k
The owner keeps in a year at $330k in sales (your sales), after $33k to $36k to the brand
$23k to $26k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners
McAlister's Deli
Deli
Total investment
$910k to $2.6M
Avg. annual sales
Franchise fee
$36k
Royalty + ad fund
5% + 2% of sales
$43k
The owner keeps in a year at $330k in sales (your sales), after $23k to the brand
$17k less a year than on your own
Free account
See all 10 deli / sandwich shop brands side by side
Every brand’s investment and fees, and what the owner keeps against running your own
The yearly sales the first 3 report, and a plus to add brands to your comparison and benchmark them in your account
Members see the sales every franchisor reports, for every brand
Free, no card. A new account accepts the Terms and the Privacy Policy. smbnest is a self-assessment tool and never takes a cut of your deal or a fee from a franchisor.
Before you sign: what to read in the disclosure document
Every franchisor must give you its Franchise Disclosure Document at least 14 days before you sign or pay. These are the parts that answer the questions above.
Items 5 to 7, the fees and the investment. The franchise fee, every other fee (technology, training, transfer, renewal), and the full opening budget, including working capital.
Item 19, what owners earn. Whether the brand states owner sales or earnings at all, and for which units. Put its figures in the boxes above in place of the typical ones.
Item 20, units opened, closed and sold. How many owners left in each of the last three years, and a list of current and former owners you can call.
Item 12, the territory. Whether you get a protected area, and what the brand can open or sell inside it.
Item 21, the franchisor’s own finances. Whether the company behind the brand is in good health.
smbnest is a self-assessment tool, not individualized advice. Fees are as each brand publishes them on its franchising page and in its disclosure document, reviewed in the month shown, and change; the figures in dollars are worked out at the sales you enter and are not a forecast. We never take a cut of your deal or a fee from a franchisor. Before you sign, speak with a franchise attorney and a qualified financial adviser, and call owners from the disclosure document.
Your guidesmbnest
The guide is an automated assistant. Answers come from this business’s model, its sources and your plan; they are general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Talk to a person