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Starbucks is one of the most recognizable brands in the world, with thousands of locations in the United States, Africa, Europe and Asia. This makes them an ideal choice for franchising. Unfortunately, Starbucks stopped franchising in 2011. They do however, offer franchising opportunities for business owners looking to open a Starbucks in their already established storefront. This is a very difficult process that requires a lot of preparation and capital. If you are an entrepreneur interested in opening a Starbucks location in your facility, you may wish to know what the Starbucks franchise fee actually is. Here is a guide to Starbucks franchise fees, KPIs and other helpful information.
Check Your Location
Starbucks is very selective about the businesses it chooses to franchise with. They prefer established businesses that are situated in optimal locations. Areas such as shopping centers and public facilities are ideal. Starbucks also looks for areas with a lot of foot traffic, preferably students and workers who are the most common Starbucks customers. Building a location where a lot of their key demographic walks through is paramount. After conducting customer research, if you feel that your business is in such an area, you can proceed on to the next step in applying for a Starbucks franchise.
Odds are, if you want to open a Starbucks franchise in the US, you might have a tough time finding the right location because of existing company stores. As you can imagine, the Franchise team at Starbucks is concentrating on international expansion. If you are willing to go abroad, you may be able to buy a Starbucks franchise opportunity in Europe or Africa where the company expanding rapidly.
Starbucks Franchise Fee Requirements
Due to their selectivity, Starbucks does not make any of its franchising fees or finance sources requirements public. They simply look at applications and choose one that fits their profile. This makes it difficult for potential applicants to prepare adequately. What you can do however, is research their other business partners. For example, Seattle’s Best Coffee is a Starbucks subsidiary. They are similar in status to a coffee franchise. Thus, you can use them to estimate your costs. Depending on your store size and location, your franchising costs may range from $265,000 to $440,000. With this information on hand, you can move on to the next step in applying for a Starbucks franchise.
Apply For A Licensed Store
All of the information you need to apply for a franchise is on the Starbucks website. The option you are looking for should be under “apply for a licensed store.” If a drop-down menu appears, select the description that fits your business. The application form will then load. This is where you will need to have your important financial information prepared. Required information includes business location, total assets, liabilities and net worth. You also need an estimate of non-borrowed funds you have available for investment. Don’t be surprised if you are expected to have over $700,000 in liquid assets. Once you have filled out the necessary figures, you can advance towards the final step in applying for a Starbucks franchise.
Write A Comment
There is a small comments section at the end of the “licensed store” application form. You can use this opportunity to add a personal touch. Explain why you think you would be an ideal candidate for franchising. Include all of your business details and share your business plan, including any information regarding restaurant equipment you plan for the store. This will help to separate you from the other applicants and improve your chances at acceptance. All that is left to do after this is to submit the application. If you get a response in the following weeks, you will have successfully applied for a Starbucks franchise.
Starbucks Franchise Opportunity
At the moment, applying to open a Starbucks retail store is the only way around Starbucks franchising. This is mainly because Starbucks already has great franchisee partners. They are working with them to open multiple locations. Their partners have multi-store licenses, owning over 25 different locations. Of course, that’s their choice. Until Starbucks starts selling franchises again, you can still try to invest with one of the franchise owners, the Starbucks publicly traded stock or invest in Starbucks franchises abroad.
Why They Do Not Franchise
Starbucks has recently went on record regarding why they do not franchise. Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has said that Starbucks does not franchise because they feel that this would do a disservice to Starbucks values and culture. Shultz has said that he believes franchisees are just middlemen getting in the way of business/customer relations. Thankfully, there is still the Starbucks licensed stores loophole, which grants you the opportunity to get a piece of Starbucks’ success.
Starbucks’ status as a globally recognized brand makes them very exclusive in terms of franchising opportunities. They only offer franchises to select businesses who wish to incorporate them into their facilities. This exclusivity is also the reason why an estimated Starbucks franchise fee is not readily available on the internet. In order to learn more about Starbucks franchise fees and opportunities, follow the steps laid out in this post. You will be on your way to franchising with Starbucks in no time.
Starbucks Coffee Franchise Alternatives
If the exclusivity of Starbucks is making it difficult for you to open a franchise, why not consider other coffee shop franchises? Dunkin Donuts is another incredibly popular coffee shop chain that is far less exclusive but still presents a very lucrative opportunity. CaffeBene is another shop to check out that may not be quite as popular, but still present an excellent opportunity to get in on the ground floor. Or, if you want to open a low-cost coffee franchise consider Cafe2U, an on-the-go coffee shop operated out of a van. This coffee shop business model allows you to take your shop on the go. You can travel from football games on the weekend to morning rush hour in the city. If you want to open a coffee franchise, there are plenty of options that are a bit easier to obtain than Starbucks.
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