Subway or other Franchise
Discussion
I've no idea of the viability of subway as a business but the one that has opened in town has been doing some decent trade. I've also seen them getting people though the door in other local towns, in less than prime locations so I guess the brand has something going for it.
Having said that, given the substantial investment needed to take on a subway franchies - could it not be more profitable to develop your own brand. You could certainly do a lot of marketing with the money you'd save by not going subway....
Having said that, given the substantial investment needed to take on a subway franchies - could it not be more profitable to develop your own brand. You could certainly do a lot of marketing with the money you'd save by not going subway....
condor said:
Make sandwiches, rolls, etc. sell them - how difficult is it?
£10K rent and rates, £50K staff ( don't bother about your wages)ullage.....
Hmmmmmm franchise sandwich business.....if you really want to do it, buy yourself a van
I would go with this. Its the staff issues that are the real pain. Sandwiches are sandwiches chain/supermarket/private it doesnt matter to me (I would pay a max of £2.50 and often £1.90) so I wouldnt go down the premium sandwich route£10K rent and rates, £50K staff ( don't bother about your wages)ullage.....
Hmmmmmm franchise sandwich business.....if you really want to do it, buy yourself a van
I would suggest a better option would be sandwiches and a hot counter similar to what some Wairose/Asda stores do - small takeaway chinese/indian/potato -it only a limited menu by get my thumbs up
mcflurry said:
Balance my arse, that blog is a load of tosh.blogging chump said:
I know I made a foolish decision purchasing into this franchise business in this particular area. Everyone is asking why I opened the business in a rural location. I don’t have much answer for that except that is where I live! However, what is done is done, and at this point I just have to make it work! It was also foolish letting the “Subway team from my DA’s” office hype me up telling me this restaurant would be a huge success.
So in the same way as people who see everyone else making money out property he though, "I'm in", taking no consideration of location or the feasibility of the business in that location.Oh oh, the rep said it would work. No shit, he's hardly going to knock back a contribution to his bonus is he?! Back to my previous analogy, would an estate agent tell you you have no chance of a good buy to let yield on a property? NO! Its YOUR responsibility to research YOUR business investment before YOU make them.
Sorry, rant over, I'll read the rest of the thread now
Subway is currently seeing huge growth up here. There are 5 new stores I can think of that have opened in the last year and a few more in the year before that.
They are all surviving (or at least havent closed or started cutting staffing), but they are all in good locations.
You could budget for a lot of marketing materials and campaigns with your subway franchise fee, thats certain. But, out of interest, those who have dismissed the brand as unknown etc, how old are you? I'm not saying that by way of condescention, but seriously, as far as brands go, subway is very strong within the younger population, and that is the market they aim for.
I remember reading a franchise magazine at one point and of the food franchises, subway was ranked as the most profitable. Costa and Starbucks were more lucrative but not counted as food as they only sold prepackaged sandwiches at most.
They are all surviving (or at least havent closed or started cutting staffing), but they are all in good locations.
You could budget for a lot of marketing materials and campaigns with your subway franchise fee, thats certain. But, out of interest, those who have dismissed the brand as unknown etc, how old are you? I'm not saying that by way of condescention, but seriously, as far as brands go, subway is very strong within the younger population, and that is the market they aim for.
I remember reading a franchise magazine at one point and of the food franchises, subway was ranked as the most profitable. Costa and Starbucks were more lucrative but not counted as food as they only sold prepackaged sandwiches at most.
tr7v8 said:
Yup Subway opened in Chatham, prime location, in middle of high street. Struggled to get & keep staff & it's a fiddlier product to make so takes longer. Tried it a few times as a change & it was OK. Lasted around 4-6 months & folded.
Now Subway in Maidstone seems to do OK.
And now there is another Subway in Chatham, a bit further down the High Street, and a Fish and Chip shop is where the old Subway used to be Now Subway in Maidstone seems to do OK.
IMHO the previous one was there too early. No one had heard of Subway in the UK 6 or 7 years ago unless they had been to Canada or America
Am glad they are here now as I enjoy a sub
I think the Subway brand is quite powerful and is definitely growing in the UK.
Speaking as a consumer, if i had the choice of a sandwich shop and a Subway, despite Subway probably costing more, i'd probably go to Subway. And as someone who eats MacDs once a week, I'd probably go to a Subway instead if it was available to me rather than MacDs.
Foot long chicken teriyaki with everything but no olives please
Speaking as a consumer, if i had the choice of a sandwich shop and a Subway, despite Subway probably costing more, i'd probably go to Subway. And as someone who eats MacDs once a week, I'd probably go to a Subway instead if it was available to me rather than MacDs.
Foot long chicken teriyaki with everything but no olives please
I've the view that these sandwiches are aimed at a specific type of audience.
As such, I would look for a high street which has plenty of Southern Fried Chicken type of outlets (bookies a good indicator as well).
Once a location is found I would do the following basic research:
Check how many 'quality' sandwich shops there are and the queues.
Check how many crappy/normal ones there are (your real competition).
Ensure there are a strong number of offices in the area.
Check for strong office growth prospects for the area, ie that the number of white collar workers is visibly increasing.
Call around a few suitable local offices etc and guage what the interest would be in a morning delivery of stock. I.e you want to hit quite a few people at their desks before they leave to go to their regular shop.
I would suspect that location is the real key.
As such, I would look for a high street which has plenty of Southern Fried Chicken type of outlets (bookies a good indicator as well).
Once a location is found I would do the following basic research:
Check how many 'quality' sandwich shops there are and the queues.
Check how many crappy/normal ones there are (your real competition).
Ensure there are a strong number of offices in the area.
Check for strong office growth prospects for the area, ie that the number of white collar workers is visibly increasing.
Call around a few suitable local offices etc and guage what the interest would be in a morning delivery of stock. I.e you want to hit quite a few people at their desks before they leave to go to their regular shop.
I would suspect that location is the real key.
We were doing a stock take yesterday and 3 viggens were dispatched for the din-dins run: one to KFC, one to Maccy D's & one to Subway.
Until a year ago, it would have been burgers v. poultry.
Out of some three dozen orders, 9 went with me to Ronaldo's, half a dozen to The Colnel's and the rest to the aforementioned butty emporium.
As a brand, successfully impregnated upon the collective conscience of the populace, I'd say.
Apparently, if you have 13 branches you get a personal visit from a man called Horatio brandishing papal loafers and a celebratory Zonda F.
Until a year ago, it would have been burgers v. poultry.
Out of some three dozen orders, 9 went with me to Ronaldo's, half a dozen to The Colnel's and the rest to the aforementioned butty emporium.
As a brand, successfully impregnated upon the collective conscience of the populace, I'd say.
Apparently, if you have 13 branches you get a personal visit from a man called Horatio brandishing papal loafers and a celebratory Zonda F.
Seems simple enough, if you open up a subway in a good location, run it well etc etc, you may stand a chance of making a profit!!
If you pick the wrong location, then you're doomed from day one.
Same as almost any other retail business then really.
The question is how many good locations are left that subway doesn't already occupy?
If you pick the wrong location, then you're doomed from day one.
Same as almost any other retail business then really.
The question is how many good locations are left that subway doesn't already occupy?
GuildfordPaul said:
Seems simple enough, if you open up a subway in a good location, run it well etc etc, you may stand a chance of making a profit!!
If you pick the wrong location, then you're doomed from day one.
Same as almost any other retail business then really.
The question is how many good locations are left that subway doesn't already occupy?
The other route is to do what all the bar franchises did and just a local butty shop up for sale and convert. You remove part of the competition, you have an existing client base.If you pick the wrong location, then you're doomed from day one.
Same as almost any other retail business then really.
The question is how many good locations are left that subway doesn't already occupy?
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