Business models / Pizzeria / Own a franchise

A pizzeria franchise, or your own?

17 franchise brands run a pizzeria. 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 pizzeria: $300k to $800k in sales, and the owner keeps 14% 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 pizzeria and each brand, side by side

The independent version

Your own pizzeria

Built and run under your own name

Cost to open
$119k to $709k
Annual sales
$490ktypical
Franchise fee
None
Royalty + ad fund
Noneall marketing is yours
$83,300
The owner keeps in a year, after about $15k of marketing
Selective

Domino's

Pizza

Internal candidates only, manage a store first

Total investment
$107k to $744k
Avg. annual sales
$1.4M
Franchise fee
$10k
Royalty + ad fund
5.5% + 4% of sales
$143k
The owner keeps in a year at $1.4M in sales (what it reports), after $130k to the brand
$60k more a year than on your own
Taking new owners

Fox's Pizza Den

Pizza

Total investment
$109k to $236k
Avg. annual sales
Ask the brand
Franchise fee
$20k
Royalty + ad fund
In the details
$77k
The owner keeps in a year at $490k in sales (your sales), after $6k to the brand
$6k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners

Rosati's Pizza

Chicago-style pizza

Total investment
$147k to $1.2M
Avg. annual sales
Ask the brand
Franchise fee
$35k
Royalty + ad fund
5% + 1% of sales
$59k
The owner keeps in a year at $490k in sales (your sales), after $29k to the brand
$25k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners

Sbarro

Pizza by the slice

Total investment
$212k to $1M
Avg. annual sales
Ask the brand
Franchise fee
$20k
Royalty + ad fund
5% to 7% + 1% of sales
$49k to $59k
The owner keeps in a year at $490k in sales (your sales), after $29k to $39k to the brand
$25k to $34k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners

Hungry Howie's

Pizza

Total investment
$239k to $697k
Avg. annual sales
Ask the brand
Franchise fee
$25k
Royalty + ad fund
5.5% + 7% of sales
$37k
The owner keeps in a year at $490k in sales (your sales), after $61k to the brand
$47k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners

Papa Johns

Pizza

Total investment
$281k to $890k
Avg. annual sales
Franchise fee
$25k
Royalty + ad fund
5% + 6% of sales
$44k
The owner keeps in a year at $490k in sales (your sales), after $54k to the brand
$39k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners

Marco's Pizza

Pizza

Total investment
$286k to $811k
Avg. annual sales
Franchise fee
$25k
Royalty + ad fund
5.5% + 7% of sales
$37k
The owner keeps in a year at $490k in sales (your sales), after $61k to the brand
$47k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners

Mountain Mike's Pizza

Pizza

Total investment
$356k to $994k
Avg. annual sales
Ask the brand
Franchise fee
$30k
Royalty + ad fund
5% + 3% of sales
$59k
The owner keeps in a year at $490k in sales (your sales), after $39k to the brand
$25k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners

Little Caesars

Pizza

Total investment
$377k to $1.8M
Avg. annual sales
Ask the brand
Franchise fee
$20k
Royalty + ad fund
6% + 5% of sales
$44k
The owner keeps in a year at $490k in sales (your sales), after $54k to the brand
$39k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners

Papa Murphy's Take 'N' Bake Pizza

Take-and-bake pizza

Total investment
$450k to $693k
Avg. annual sales
Franchise fee
$25k
Royalty + ad fund
5% + 2% of sales
$59k
The owner keeps in a year at $490k in sales (your sales), after $34k to the brand
$25k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners

Donatos Pizza

Pizza

Total investment
$547k to $1.1M
Avg. annual sales
Franchise fee
$30k
Royalty + ad fund
4% + 5% of sales
$54k
The owner keeps in a year at $490k in sales (your sales), after $44k to the brand
$29k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners

Jet's Pizza

Pizza

Total investment
$628k to $843k
Avg. annual sales
Ask the brand
Franchise fee
$30k
Royalty + ad fund
12% + 1% of sales
$25k
The owner keeps in a year at $490k in sales (your sales), after $64k to the brand
$59k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners

Pizza Hut

Pizza

Total investment
$670k to $2.1M
Avg. annual sales
Franchise fee
$25k
Royalty + ad fund
6% + 4.75% of sales
$45k
The owner keeps in a year at $490k in sales (your sales), after $53k to the brand
$38k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners

Cicis Pizza

Pizza buffet

Total investment
$695k to $1M
Avg. annual sales
Ask the brand
Franchise fee
$30k
Royalty + ad fund
5% + 5% of sales
$49k
The owner keeps in a year at $490k in sales (your sales), after $49k to the brand
$34k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners

Blaze Pizza

Fast-fire pizza

Total investment
$757k to $1.3M
Avg. annual sales
Franchise fee
$30k
Royalty + ad fund
5% + 2% of sales
$59k
The owner keeps in a year at $490k in sales (your sales), after $34k to the brand
$25k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners

Mellow Mushroom

Stone-baked pizza, full service bar

Total investment
$1.3M to $4.8M
Avg. annual sales
Franchise fee
$50k
Royalty + ad fund
5% + 3% of sales
$59k
The owner keeps in a year at $490k in sales (your sales), after $39k to the brand
$25k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners

Pizza Ranch

Pizza and chicken buffet

Total investment
$2.3M to $5.1M
Avg. annual sales
Ask the brand
Franchise fee
$30k
Royalty + ad fund
4% + 2.25% of sales
$64k
The owner keeps in a year at $490k in sales (your sales), after $31k to the brand
$20k less a year than on your own
Free account

See all 17 pizzeria 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.