In this panel discussion led by Chris Prefontaine, participants compare franchising with other entrepreneurial paths, focusing on profitability timelines, financial benchmarks, and the intangible value of experience. Chris and the group note that most franchisees see break‑even or modest profit ($125k‑$130k) within 2‑10 years, with a “good” ROI of about $177k after ten years. They discuss the trade‑off of franchising: the need to answer to a franchisor, which can feel like a parent or a second job, limiting the ability to hold a W‑2 position simultaneously. A real‑world example is shared about a Chick‑fil‑A franchise opened after a decade of training. Throughout, Chris emphasizes “return on experience” – the non‑monetary benefits of programs like QLS Live, boot camps, and mentorship – contrasting it with equity‑firm expectations of 3‑5x returns in 3‑5 years. The conversation highlights the tension between measurable financial ROI and experiential learning value when choosing a business model.
Chapters
My point is, it's always return on experience, and there is no price tag on that, right? I haven't figured out a way to put a price tag on that. One and a half to two years. One and a half.
Yep. Okay. On the low end.
Okay. That's if you maxed out the pro. I mean, I'm sure the revenue, right?
Yeah.
That was sort of a middle case scenario. There was a high end like a McDonald's and then a lower end as well.
So.
Yeah, I'm not mistaken, that was, uh, like 1.5 to 3 years. So it's, it's probably more accurately like closer to 3 years, right? Yeah, most service businesses, whoever just said earlier, you, you're in it. They— yeah, at least at the beginning. Okay, cool. What else? Anything? Was there another couple groups?
So I haven't heard anything mentioned about it, but a lot of people want to get out of a W-2 job And when you enter into a relationship with a franchisor, is that kind of like having a parent telling you what to do all the time?
Yeah, it is, in my opinion.
I'm—
but I'm biased. And someone else said it earlier, it's like a job. 100%, Larry. Yeah, you can't do them both at the same time, right? I can't have my W-2 and then open a franchise. Like, it would be impossible to do.
But, but when you're a franchisee and you have to answer to your Franchisor. Um, is that a source of contention for a lot of people?
Oh sure, I would think. I would think.
Cool.
Do we got a group I missed, or any ideas that you guys are— you're not hearing that your group hit?
Chris, my vice president's son just opened a Chick-fil-A franchise. He's been traveling around the country for years He and his wife working towards this. He started this when he was in college and he was in their trainee program. So never mind all the financials, it's taken him about 10 years and they just had their grand opening in Indianapolis. Not anywhere they probably would have chosen to live.
Wow.
But that's where they got. And everything has to be done according to the franchise.
Yeah, yeah, they, they hamster up here. So this wasn't about bashing franchise, let me be clear. This was just about we— I like out here whining and going, what do you like? We, we have our fingers on some really cool stuff. I'm going to talk about timing before I pivot away from this, and I just think it quite frankly needs a reminder now and then. I hear from outsiders and then I'm like, I wonder how many times we visited as a community. That's why I wanted to bring it up. Um, I didn't get as sophisticated as Jeff with chat GPT. But what I did is just simple stats on, on Google. It was interesting. It said within the first 2 to 10, it was so broad because everybody wants to make a claim that they'd be turning profit. But after 10, then it'd be significant. So then I went deeper and it said for the 2 to 10 year mark was like $125,000 or $130,000 profit. Now this was 35,000 franchises across 375 brands. So this is pretty broad. It's at $130 grand. So let's say you are breaking even, you're getting past that in the 2 to 10. Let's say it's 3. Would you be ecstatic? Some of you, it's okay if you say yes, but would you be ecstatic with $130 grand after all that profit? That's just a thought for you. And that's again over a lot of brands. And then it said over 10 years, their significant was defined as 100— the exact number, $177,240. $177,240 profit. So that's what they consider to be a good ROI. So again, just for comparison's sake, so you guys know what you have your fingers on. 2 other things relative to this, as far as what you have your fingers on, what we all have our fingers on. One's market-driven, so I'll do that second. First one is, at the very beginning, I called it return on experience. I know, Rusty, you might have heard me say 8 million times, but when I said earlier, factor in the cost of the program and factor in the cost of this, As you've heard me say, it's not a program; it's an experience if you live it. Like if you came to QLS Live, for example, you had experience, right? Would you guys agree with that? Raise your hand if you had QLS Live. That's that's different than not being there, right? So that's an experience. You come to In the Trenches Boot Camp. Raise your hand if you came there and that was a good experience. And you and you probably had some ahas, right? So or high six call sessions. Some of you have come in now with the that new thing I just started doing on a whim. So could be a conversation, could be a conversation in breakout, could be a conversation live. But my point is, it's always return on experience, and there is no price tag on that, right? I, I haven't figured out a way to put a price tag on that. If you look at, uh, those of you who are in Chairman, the stat I gave you, and some of you, Jeff and others, might know this, but equity firms look for— and forget the experience and all that, right? They're just straight money, like facts and metrics. They look for like a 3 to 5 time return within 3 to 5 years, usually 5. So say a 5x return after 5 years. And I love when Rick says wherever he's at now, maybe he's climbing, but it's 5 or 6 for him. That's pretty cool because I don't think he would have had as much fun in return on experience as if he did it in a franchise. So just food for thought.
