Church’s Chicken Franchise Startup Cost, Profit & Opportunities

The Church’s Chicken concept started as an idea to establish a fast-food restaurant in San Antonio, Texas by its founder George W. Church Sr.

The doors of Church’s Chicken were first opened for business in 1952 with its franchising arm opened in 1962.

This Chicken fast-food restaurant has since blossomed into a major brand with outlets spread across the United States and beyond. As of 2020, Church’s Chicken franchise had over 1,564 units in operation.

There are ongoing plans to expand its presence across more locations through the sale of franchise units

Menu Offerings

As a prospective franchisee, one of the things you should find out about chicken franchise opportunities is their menu offerings.

Church’s Chicken offers a wide variety ranging from chicken sandwich combo, bourbon black pepper smokehouse half chicken combo, and 2 pieces mixed original or spicy.

Its other menu offerings include its signature 5 pieces Texas tenders, 3-piece mixed, and 2-piece mixed chicken.

Other categories include family meals, sides & sweets as well as drinks.

About the Church’s Brand

Church’s Chicken has a set of values by which its operations are guided. These include working together as a team, doing the right thing, showing it cares, and stepping up where there’s a need to.

Others include celebrating differences and promoting equality.

Financial Requirements

As expected, owning a Church’s Chicken franchise comes with financial obligations.

This includes the estimated initial investment in addition to other fees. The estimated initial investment is around $681,500 to $1,603,300. What does this investment sum cover? Several things!

First, there’s an initial franchise fee starting from $15,000 as well as a development fee of $10,000. The real estate amount, whether leased or purchased varies.

The cost for site work is around $17,650 to $350,000 while building and improvements take up about $230,200 to $620,000.

Other aspects of the estimated initial investment include equipment and sign fees ranging from $324,500 to $377,000. Initial training could be free or a fee of $23,000 could be charged depending on who is being trained.

Opening supplies cost around $6,350 to $12,700 with insurance between $7,500 and $10,000.

Further details of the estimated initial investment include utility deposits of between $10,000 and $15,000. Business licenses take up around $300 to $600.

To manage your Church’s Chicken franchise, you’ll need additional funds covering a 3-month period. This amounts to about $10,000 to $20,000.

Other fees and miscellaneous expenses range from $50,000 to $150,000. When summed up, this makes up a total of $681,500 to $1,603,300 mentioned earlier.

  • Other Fee Types

The franchisor will require other additional fees such as the development schedule extension fee, royalty fee (about 5% of gross sales), tax reimbursements, and advertising fund contributions.

Other details include the regional advertising cooperative contribution, transfer, renewal, unauthorized transfer fee, new supplier inspection, and product testing, as well as the audit fee.

You’ll be required to pay for liquidated damages, manager training, purchasing division surcharge, cost and attorney’s fees, cure, follow-up inspection, customer satisfaction, and franchise compliance programs among others.

Areas of Support

As its franchisee, Church’s Chicken franchise offers support covering several vital operational areas. These include development, training, operations, and marketing.

All of these are essential for the success of every aspect of its business operations.

Let’s briefly discuss each of them.

  • Development

Under this area of its support, the main aim is to build brand loyalty and consistency among its customers. This has been the secret to its consistent customer loyalty.

As part of the process, prospective franchisees are guided through the site selection process.

Key aspects of the site selection procedure include real estate selection, quality trade area, as well as the eventual layout and construction of your first Church’s Chicken restaurant.

  • Training

Having been offered a franchise opportunity, you’ll undergo initial training that is split into on-the-job training and classroom training.

On-the-job training lasts between 116 to 154 hours, while classroom training lasts between 13 to 17 hours.

Asides from initial training, existing Church’s Chicken franchisees benefit from ongoing comprehensive training courses that help bring them up to speed with new developments.

These training programs are compulsory for both operators and management.

  • Operational Support

Operational support is provided before, during, and after your opening. This support is coordinated by the senior regional franchise director from Church’s Chicken.

The wealth of knowledge shared by this franchise representative helps with food cost management in addition to other key areas.

  • Marketing

Marketing is a critical area of its operations. As such, all new and existing partners or franchisees get to benefit from Church’s Chicken’s profitable promotions at both the restaurant and market levels.

A wide range of marketing strategies is developed to drive sales. These range from limited-time offers and menu enhancements.

The result obtained includes happy customers and brand dedication.

Franchise Term and Renewal

Church’s Chicken franchise offers franchisees an initial franchise term of 20 years. This starts from the day you first open your doors for business.

In the case of renewal, you’ll need to have met certain contractual requirements given by the franchisor. When qualified, you get a renewal term of 10 years.

How to Apply

If you’re convinced that this is the right franchise opportunity for you, you can proceed to its “getting started page.” Here, you’ll find a form which you’re expected to fill stating your country, state, and city.

This takes you to the other stages where you supply relevant data.

After submission, a franchise representative from Church’s Chick contacts you for further discussion.

During such discussions, questions are asked to ascertain your level of preparedness as well as qualification for the franchise opportunity. Also, you get to ask any questions you have.

All the questions are supplied. Based on findings, the representative may decide to guide you through the next stages of application if you qualify.

From here on, you shouldn’t have any problem as you’re guided every step of the way to when your outlet is eventually opened.

These are the basics for joining the Church’s Chicken franchise. It’s important to note that the franchisor may decide to alter some aspects of its requirements at any time.

Under such circumstances, updates will be available during application.