Many people think of franchises as individually owned, mom-and-pop run businesses. On the contrary, many large corporate style operators with access to large quatities of capital have been in the business for a while. For example, I’ve heard a lot of about Lenny’s Sub Shop lately but haven’t been in one. The company started in 2001 and now has 63 franchises in the southeastern United States. This week a large investor group of former CEO’s living happily in Florida got together and signed a deal to open 125 Lenny’s Sub Shops in South Florida. The article says the deal is expected to contribute over $1 billion in revenue (that sounds way high, that is over $8 million in sales per store).

Looking at the photos on their web site, the Lenny’s ubs looks very similar to Jersey Mike’s, and somewhat similar to Jimmy John’s.

Lenny’s cost to open a store is claimed to be under $225,000, which includes all fees, build out costs and initial operating capital. The roaylty AND national marketing fees total 7%. Maybe worth a look.

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