How would you research how well a typical type of business can do? How do go about owning one? IE. Subway?

Just going from restaurant to restaurant especiallly the ones that I like and know are popular to everyone I wonder how much money its pulling in. Also like to think about how the owner got about buying his business and how long it took him to start seeing profits. I know location is important, so lets say its a good location. What would be the income a typical McDonalds/StarBucks/Any popular franchise/ owner is pulling in...Are most businesses first financed by a group of people who split the overhead fees and than later on split the profits because it seems a down payment could be very expensive. McDonalds would be expensive because its really big, how much would you have to save up if you wanted to start a subway for example? Probably look at having enough money saved up so that the first 8 months are so of property rent/paying employees/product cost are taken care of.. Thanks for the information So if you were to start a unfranchised business, one that you came up with yourself... ie (custom computers building/Fitness Gym/Daycare).. besides payroll/products just the renting of the location at for instance a shopping mall or a shopping center how much would you need a month typically. I heard that its harder if you try to get a bank to finance something that is not a franchise, or you have to have a really good business plan laid out.

Public Comments

1. You need to look into the rules and regs for each different chain. Franchising a chain is pretty expensive. A friend and I looked into franchising a Steak N Shake™ about four years ago and found out we needed a net worth of at least $1.5 million first. Subway™ is much less, but you gotta check with them.. You can do it. It takes a lot of research though
2. A franchised store costs big money to upfit and open, plus the franchise fee, a quarter of a mil for each store is a good ball park number. Subway for an example, charges an on-going fee of 10% of the gross, life of the store, plus it is easier to open a non franchise store. Beef O'Brady's is a new franchise worth investigation. McDonalds store for example, really big money plus huge restrictions.
3. The amount of money you need varies widely depending upon the franchise. My college class just finished a business plan for buying an existing Subway location. You will need about $190,000 to $250,000 depending on the size of the Subway to buy an established franchise. You won't get rich on most franchises like subway, but if you and a spouse are both working there (to cut payroll costs), you might pull in $40,000 or so with a good location.