WE'VE MOVED!

We are proud to announce our NEW community destination. Engage with resident experts and fellow entrepreneurs, and learn everything you need to start your business. Check out the new home of StartupNation Community at startupnation.mn.co

Whats the average income of a subway restaurant owner?

tr1ckownztr1ckownz subscriber Posts: 2
I am curious to know what is the average profit a subway restaurant owner would make monthly? Or if you know anyone who owns a subway, how much do they make monthly? Or if you know anyone who owns a subway, how much do they make monthly? Remeber I am not asking for the exact price.. so please don`t say depends on location. I just want a rough estimate.
Tagged:
«134567

Comments

  • RichRich administrator Posts: 582 Site Admin
    just checked with a very smart friend of mine whose sister is a major subway franchisee in the southeast.
    here`s what he said:
    average cost to open a store is $150k - $180k depending on the geography and the ROI is 3-5 yrs, but having one store is like buying yourself a job...you need 4+ good stores to have a nice income and spread the people and risk around.
  • iouone2iouone2 subscriber Posts: 14
    Take a look at Starbucks... There`s one on every corner. I don`t own one, but they all seem to be making money...ScrapBizKim... I agree with you. I was just being facetious.
  • HondoTechHondoTech subscriber Posts: 3
    There was an article in Entrepenuer magazine a few issues ago talking about the different franchise options, Subway was rated one of the worst.
    Subway has "regional managers" whose sole mission in life is to open new stores, in fact they get penalized on their checks for failing to open X # of stores every year.  There seemed to be no loyalty base whatsoever in keeping or protecting any kind of territory.
    I remember reading that as a franchise owner, you are required to buy all your supplies and food products through the parent company at their inflated prices.
    Chris
  • jdwilliams19jdwilliams19 subscriber Posts: 0
    I was mildly involved with Subways for a while and learned a lot about operating these stores.  The general rule of thumb is that if you really push it (work in the store yourself, keep food and labor costs as low as possible, and stay on top of loss prevention) you can reach a profit margin of about 25%.  So, if you have a store averaging 10,000 a week in sales, you`ll make about 10,000 a month profit.  Keep in mind, this is not easy and most Subway owners don`t do this well.  The real key is to not rely on Subways internal marketing and do some local advertising/marketing of your own.Secondly, everyone who has posted here is correct.  Subway is not a great franchise to be involved in right now.  There are way too many of them and internal competition is a major problem.  All the development agents care about is getting more stores built, not whether or not those new stores will be detremental to existing stores... and I don`t blame them because Subway has made them multi-millionares.  There are some great franchises that are based on the "Subway" model that I think would be better investments.  You might look into some of those...
  • zigilzigil subscriber Posts: 0
    Take a look at Starbucks... There`s one on every corner. I don`t own one, but they all seem to be making money...
    You don`t own one because they are not a franchise operation.  Well, technically there are franchisees in places where Starbucks is unable to lease space, like inside a grocery store; but all the stores on all the corners you`re talking about are owned and operated by Starbucks.
  • BKBK subscriber Posts: 0
    Good thought, but Starbucks does not Franchise.  All of those Starbucks that you see everywhere, believe it or not, is one company.
  • iouone2iouone2 subscriber Posts: 14
    I was just trying to illustrate that the each make money even though they are on top of each other... Also, I did mention I was being facetious... with a big old smiley too. 
  • SubwayOwnerSubwayOwner subscriber Posts: 0 Member
    I own three Subway restaurants.  I don`t want to make anyone mad, but some things posted here are either wrong or misleading.  First off, I have been involved with Subway for 17 years, since 1989, and it is a good company. 
    The average store in the US does a little shy of $8,000/week.  So for easy round numbers lets say the average store does $400k/year.  It is relatively easy to pull 20% profit if you keep an eye on the business.  I averaged 22.63% for the first quarter this year and I was in my stores an average of 10 hours or less per week so 20% is not that hard.  But for the following estimate, lets use 20% average profit.
    If you have a store that is merely average you should profit in the ballpark of $80k/yr.
    Now lets say you were lucky enough to get a great location and you store does $15k/week (the area I am in has several stores that do this and much more in sales so it is very possible), well you should be making in excess of $150k per year.
    Now, one or two stores are not going to make you a multi-millionaire, but you can make a comfortable living without much of a time investment.
    Now lets switch gears.  I`m not sure what article in Entrepeneur Magazine said Subway was rated one of the worst franchises?  I would love to see a link to this article?  Entrepeneur Magazine rated Subway the #1 franchise in their Franchise 500 for 2006.  This was the 14th year Subway was rated #1.
    Yes, Subway franchisees must purchase the food from one distributor, not from "the parent company".  These prices are not "inflated".  Infact, it`s just the opposite.  IPC (Independent Purchasing Cooperative) was formed to negotiate prices and ensures all foods/supplies meet "Gold Standard" qualities.  Some food distributors don`t want Subway`s business because the pricing leaves so little room for distributor profits.  With over 26,000 stores we have tremendous buying power.
    If you purchase a subway you do not have the rights to a certain territory.  Subway does not have "regional managers", but does have "development agents" a.k.a. "DA".  Development agents` "sole mission in life" is not just to open new stores.  Yes, as their company given titles suggest they do focus on developing their given markets/territories.  There have been some unhappy franchisees when stores were opened close to their existing store and sales were negatively impacted.  However, this is not the norm.  It depends on the DA.  Most DAs are very conscious of their existing franchisees.  DAs have contracts with Subway`s parent company, Doctor`s Associates Incorporated.  Per their contracts, they must maintain a certain level of sales average in the market.  Therefore, they can`t just go putting Subways on every corner to meet the development numbers they need.  They have to be smart in their development.
    If you are considering Subway, talk to existing franchisees in the area  and ask about their satisfaction with the DA of that area.  Development Agents are also expected to ensure franchisees are operating within company guidelines by having field reps that inspect stores monthly.  They do much more than just open stores.
    Again, I`m not writing this to offend anyone who posted above.  I just want to make sure that anyone considering Subway has accurate information.  I hope this helps. 
  • RichRich administrator Posts: 582 Site Admin

    I own three Subway restaurants... 
    what an AWESOME post.
    thanks so much, subwayowner! popped you a "5" rating right away!
    rich 
  • tr1ckownztr1ckownz subscriber Posts: 2
    Subway owner.. thanks for your reply you were very helpful. You have gave me more information than all my research and questions I posted on various forums put together.Do you have an email or screen name I can contact you on if you have time to give me more advice..thanks
  • ripsterripster subscriber Posts: 0
    if you have a subway franchise can you own a quiznos also or visaversa
  • ripsterripster subscriber Posts: 0
    cant anyone answer the question about owning a subway and then buying a quiznos
  • uaniluanil subscriber Posts: 1
    I own a franchised pizza restaruant and I would suggest that since quizno`s is a large corporation, there are many quiznos` opening practically next to each other.  There may be many quiznos` they can go to.  I would like the same help if possible.  The main question is what is the customer expecting  Good Food, and service that is descent.  I have been to restaruants where the food is good but the staff was okay do I go back of course.. why the food.  Please make sure the quality is there.
     
    In food there are 2 major issues food/paper costs and labor.  Myself also being new to the restarant industry, am learnging these items as I go.  Always only order what you need.   Once that occurs, I can only say is that team up with other quizno`s around or businesiness in the plaza and try something.
     
     
  • camino2camino2 subscriber Posts: 0 Member
    There was a survey of several hundred owners performed by a Subway owners association that showed the average store profit is in the $28,000 per year range.  Any loans taken to purchase the store (ave. store cost to build is in the $200K range) needs to be subtracted from this number. I own 6 stores and these numbers seems to bear out.  There is tremendous freedom and variation among areas with some local "development agents" being helpful, and some are downright terrible.  These regional agents are under contract with Subway and they purchase the territory to develop.  Subway pushes them hard for increased store density, causing the average revenue in many areas to fall.  Subway and the agents work on a straight percentage of revenue, not profit, so they would rather get more money from 2 side by side stores performing poorly than from one doing well store.
  • wannabeentrep74wannabeentrep74 subscriber Posts: 0 Member
    Greetings subway owner.
    You mentioned 10 hours per week in your stores. Was that 10 hours per store or 10 hours total. I had read that Subway requires all owners to be operators. I was just wondering what the minimum time is per location. My brother-in-law knows a guy who just bought a franchise from a guy that owns 5. This location earns about 15K a month profit. When asked why he was selling this location he said it was the most removed location of the 5. We were speculating that he might not have been able to meet the minimum time required to be at each location to satisify this Franchise agreement. Would this be an accurate assumption?
    Thanks for you`re knowledgable insight.
Sign In or Register to comment.