Business models / Restaurant / Own a franchise

A restaurant franchise, or your own?

13 franchise brands run a restaurant. 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 restaurant: $500k to $1.5M 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 restaurant and each brand, side by side

The independent version

Your own restaurant

Built and run under your own name

Cost to open
$188k to $1M
Annual sales
$870ktypical
Franchise fee
None
Royalty + ad fund
Noneall marketing is yours
$147,900
The owner keeps in a year, after about $26k of marketing
Taking new owners

Huddle House

Diner, breakfast all day

Total investment
$384k to $1.4M
Avg. annual sales
Ask the brand
Franchise fee
$15k
Royalty + ad fund
5% + 2% of sales
$104k
The owner keeps in a year at $870k in sales (your sales), after $61k to the brand
$44k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners

Keke's Breakfast Cafe

Breakfast and lunch cafe, Florida

Total investment
$638k to $1.9M
Avg. annual sales
$2M
Franchise fee
$30k
Royalty + ad fund
5% to 5.5% + 2% to 3% of sales
$230k to $240k
The owner keeps in a year at $2M in sales (what it reports), after $140k to $170k to the brand
$82k to $92k more a year than on your own
Taking new owners

Another Broken Egg Cafe

Daytime breakfast and brunch cafe

Total investment
$802k to $1.6M
Avg. annual sales
Ask the brand
Franchise fee
$40k
Royalty + ad fund
5% + 2% of sales
$104k
The owner keeps in a year at $870k in sales (your sales), after $61k to the brand
$44k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners

Eggs Up Grill

Breakfast and lunch cafe

Total investment
$822k to $1.1M
Avg. annual sales
Franchise fee
$45k
Royalty + ad fund
5% + 2% of sales
$104k
The owner keeps in a year at $870k in sales (your sales), after $61k to the brand
$44k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners

Perkins American Food Co.

Family dining with bakery

Total investment
$1.3M to $3.6M
Avg. annual sales
Ask the brand
Franchise fee
$40k
Royalty + ad fund
4% + 3% of sales
$113k
The owner keeps in a year at $870k in sales (your sales), after $61k to the brand
$35k 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
$104k
The owner keeps in a year at $870k in sales (your sales), after $70k to the brand
$44k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners

Golden Corral

Buffet and grill

Total investment
$1.5M to $6.2M
Avg. annual sales
Ask the brand
Franchise fee
$50k
Royalty + ad fund
4% + 2.4% of sales
$113k
The owner keeps in a year at $870k in sales (your sales), after $56k to the brand
$35k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners

Black Bear Diner

Family diner, large portions

Total investment
$1.5M to $2.3M
Avg. annual sales
Ask the brand
Franchise fee
$24k
Royalty + ad fund
5% + 1% of sales
$104k
The owner keeps in a year at $870k in sales (your sales), after $52k to the brand
$44k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners

Denny's

Family dining diner

Total investment
$1.6M to $3.1M
Avg. annual sales
Franchise fee
$30k
Royalty + ad fund
6% + 3% of sales
$96k
The owner keeps in a year at $870k in sales (your sales), after $78k to the brand
$52k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners

Walk-On's Sports Bistreaux

Cajun sports restaurant and bar

Total investment
$1.7M to $6.6M
Avg. annual sales
Ask the brand
Franchise fee
$60k
Royalty + ad fund
5% + 2% of sales
$104k
The owner keeps in a year at $870k in sales (your sales), after $61k to the brand
$44k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners

IHOP

Family dining, breakfast all day

Total investment
$2.4M to $4.5M
Avg. annual sales
Franchise fee
$50k
Royalty + ad fund
5% + 4% of sales
$96k
The owner keeps in a year at $870k in sales (your sales), after $78k to the brand
$52k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners

Buffalo Wild Wings

Sports bar and grill, wings

Total investment
$2.9M to $4.9M
Avg. annual sales
Franchise fee
$13k
Royalty + ad fund
5% + 4% of sales
$96k
The owner keeps in a year at $870k in sales (your sales), after $78k to the brand
$52k less a year than on your own
Selective

Applebee's Neighborhood Grill + Bar

Casual dining grill and bar

Mostly multi-unit operators; ~1,507 U.S., 2025 FDD

Total investment
$3.9M to $5.8M
Avg. annual sales
Franchise fee
$35k
Royalty + ad fund
4% + 4% of sales
$104k
The owner keeps in a year at $870k in sales (your sales), after $70k to the brand
$44k less a year than on your own
Free account

See all 13 restaurant 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.