Well, you have to go to Australia to buy these Pizza Hell franchises. Hell has been torture for Matt Blomfield – so he’s auctioning his $830,000 Auckland store for a $1 reserve. Mr Blomfield, a Hell Pizza franchisee, is so fed up with the New Zealand owner TPF Group’s handling of the business that he’s willing to take a loss selling up his five stores. “I just want to get the business sold, pay all the bills and move on with my life.” Why is this business model not making money? Here are potential reasons from the article: The Herald has also sighted emails from franchisees complaining of the lack of support from TPF, the high cost of ingredients – which they can only purchase from TPF’s own supply and distribution operation – and what they say is unsatisfactory marketing.

So, you bought a franchise and it’s been successful for a few years and now you want to sell it.  The franchisor reserves some influence and financial discouragement.  The two biggest considerations given to the franchisor are: Right of first refusal – the franchisor can match your highest legitimate offer and buy your franchise Transfer fee – a fee you must pay to the franchisor for the privilege of transferring your licensing rights and obligations to another party Sample Transfer fees: FOOD: Pizza Factory: $12,000 Quizno’s: $5,000 Dominic’s of New York: $1,000 + 6% of sales price Submarina: $1,000 Cheeburger Cheeburger: $12,250 Pizza Patron: $5,000 The Dugout: $5,000 Arby’s: $13,500 Doc Green’s Gourmet Salad: negotiated at time of sale Jerq’zine:  $10,000 Original Hamburger Stand: $250 Sub Station II: $5,000 Steak-Out: $18,750 Fazoli’s: Reaonable attorney, accounting, training and other related costs OTHER: Bartercard: 10% of sales price Herman’s World of Sports: $12,500 Sears Carpet and Upholstery: $3,000 – $6,000 (depends on market size) Stone Mountain Carpet Mill Outlet: $2,500 Screenz:  $5,000 Tax Centers of America: $1,000 Sports Clips: $25,000 Fantastic Sams: $20,000 or 10% of sales price (whichever is greater) Hair Cuttery: $5,000 ($0 if franchisee for 5+ years) Fastframe: 5-10% of purchase price  

VERY OUT OF DATE.  Do a search instead.  This was manually updated March 21, 2006 Companies Mentioned in Posts (likely incomplete):Automotive 1-800 RADIATORS Oil Butler Lube N’ Go On-Site-Lube Business & Home Services 1-800-WATER-DAMAGE Bartercard Garagetek Help-U-Sell Home Instead Homewatch Caregivers My Girl Friday PropertyGuys.com Sears Carpet & Upholstery Tax Centers of America Cleaning & Maintenance none Computer & Internet (some are listed in “Retail”) Screenz Food and Restaurant Arby’s Auntie Anne’s Blimpies Cheeburger Cheeburger Chipotle Dippin’ Dots Dream Dinners Doc Green’s Gourmet Salad Dominic’s of New York The Dugout Durango Grill Fazoli’s Fire of Brazil Fogo de Chao Goldstar Chili Jamba Juice Jerq’zine Krispy Kream Lenny’s Sub Shops Mauwi Wauwi Original Hamburger Stand Panaderia Taza Papa John’s Pizza Factory Pizza Patron Pretzel Time Quiznos Red Rock Chili San Francisco Soup Co Shane’s Rib Shack Skyline Chili Smoothie King Smotthie Planet Soup Nazi Steak-out Subway Submarina Sub Station II Super Suppers The Soup Box Supercuts Suzanne’s Kitchen We’re Rolling Pretzel Company Wetzel’s Pretzels Z Pizza Zoup! Fresh Soup Co (List all sub franchises) Health & Fitness Curves Liberty Fitness Home Building & Repair Services See “Business and Home Services” above Personnel & Staffing none Pet Retail and Services Camp Bow Wow Doody Calls The Pet Pantry Wag My Tail Interquest Detection Canines Pets Are Inn Retail Franchises Ace Hardware AuctionDrop Battery Plus Best Cuts GNC Educational Outfitters Fantastic Sams Fastframe Foot Solutions Friendly Computers Geeks on Call GNC Hair Cuttery Herman’s World of Sports Imagine This Sold Orbit Drop Play It Again Sports QuikDrop Roosters Men’s Grooming Centers Screenz Snips Its Sports Clips Stone Mountain Carpet Mill Tom’s Foods We the People Categories: eBay drop offs (generally) Hair Travel & Hotel none Industry Lists & Research 2004 Same Store Sales Growth of QSRs (quick service restaurants) Royalty and Advertising …

last edited: December 7, 2011, 9pm [added recommendation on beer & wine]; also edited on December 13, 2010, 1:05am [improved a few poorly worded sentences] I’ve noticed several franchised “Urban Flats Flatbread & Wine Co.” closing this year in the southeast, such as Orlando FL, Winter Park FL, Lawrenceville GA,  and Atlanta GA (pictured to the right).  Something clearly isn’t resonating with potential and repeat customers.   Many franchises suffer from this ‘surprise’ problem leaving execs scratching their heads about what is going wrong.    I’ll put on my pundit hat and give you my opinion and recommendations. HOW RESTAURANTS ARE JUDGED BY CUSTOMERS: People will instinctively judge a restaurant on three elements, and to draw repeat business you need to excel in at least two of these (and be at least average in the third) in the eyes of your local customer base: FOOD:  Is the food memorable and superb all around? PRICING: Is the pricing at or below the competition; does it provide value? AMBIANCE/EXPERIENCE:  Is the customer experience superb with a unique and comfortable interior design? A restaurant could succeed by satisfying only two of three criteria.  For example, you could provide an excellent customer experience and have great food, but prices are too high.   Cheesecake Factory and J. Alexanders are examples of this but both still generate excellent sales. HOW URBAN FLATS RATES: According to most of the reviews I’ve read online, Urban Flats rates as follows: FOOD: Average food, flats are minimalistic…not bad but not excellent either PRICING: A bit high – $10 cheeseburger, $8.50 Loaded Potato appetizer, $10 “flats” pizza AMBIANCE/EXPERIENCE: Average, some described it as trying too hard to be cool.   Music is too loud to talk.  If you have to describe your restaurant as hip in advertising, you probably are not. Other …