Cold Stone Creamery vs Planet Smoothie Franchise Comparison

Below is an in-depth analysis and side-by-side comparison of Cold Stone Creamery vs Planet Smoothie including start-up costs and fees, business experience requirements, training & support and financing options.

Start-Up Costs and Fees

 
Cold Stone Creamery Franchise
Planet Smoothie Franchise
Investment $50,200 - $467,525$190,150 - $358,500
Franchise Fee $15,000 - $27,000$12,000 - $25,000
Royalty Fee 6%5%
Advertising Fee 3%2%
Year Founded 19881995
Year Franchised 19941995
Term Of Agreement 10 years-
Term Of Agreement 10 years-
Renewal Fee --


Business Experience Requirements

 
Cold Stone Creamery Franchise
Planet Smoothie Franchise
Experience -

A Planet Smoothie franchisee should have an outgoing personality and a desire to provide customers a healthier option. You should also enjoy going out into the community to meet new people and let them know about your store. Building partnerships in the community is key to growing revenue for your store. We provide a detailed game plan to help you build awareness, and executing the game plan can be half the fun of owning a store: You get to be the person who makes the community a little bit better and a little bit healthier, and communities love that! To open a store, you need at least $100,000 in liquid capital and a net worth of $400,000.


Financing Options

 
Cold Stone Creamery Franchise
Planet Smoothie Franchise
  In-House/3rd PartyIn-House/3rd Party
Franchise Fees No/Yes-/-
Start-up Costs No/Yes-/-
Equipment No/Yes-/-
Inventory No/Yes-/-
Receivables No/Yes-/-
Payroll No/Yes-/-

Training & Support

 
Cold Stone Creamery Franchise
Planet Smoothie Franchise
Training Franchising with Cold Stone Creamery® means you’ll never be alone in your business. As one of the world’s premier ice cream franchises, Cold Stone Creamery’s support network has launched hundreds of entrepreneurs without any experience in either the service industry or the restaurant industry into growing businesses in communities across the country and around the world. “Cold Stone Creamery has one of the most robust training platforms in the entire franchise industry,” says John Wuycheck, SVP of Franchise Development. “Our franchisees make real investments of both time and money to franchise with Cold Stone Creamery, and we honor that by going above and beyond in providing an exceptional initial and ongoing training platform. We’ve been helping entrepreneurs establish new Cold Stone Creamery businesses for a long time, and we’ve built an iconic business model that requires no previous experience to become a top performer. As a franchisor, we’re honored to report that franchisee satisfaction is at an all-time high.” Initial New franchisees attend KTEC (Kahala Training and Education Center). In addition, new franchisees spend two weeks in a store where we cover every aspect of their new business, including making the ice cream, preparing and serving Cold Stone Creamery products, managing inventory and supporting their business through savvy marketing. On-The-Job New franchisees spend 80 hours in a store to learn the ins and outs of the business, including how to correctly prepare and serve the brand’s products. Cold Stone Creamery also hosts monthly check-ins to help you meet your goals, to offer assistance and to ensure you have all the tools necessary to improve your business every day.

Hands-on experience in operating a Planet Smoothie restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia. This covers all facets of operating the Planet Smoothie business. A Planet Smoothie representative will then assist you at the opening of your first restaurant.

Support Cold Stone Creamery will meet with you regularly to help you and answer any of your questions. Every new franchisee receives monthly check-in calls from a Regional Director of Operations or Area Developer.-
Marketing Cold Stone Creamery franchisees have access to in-house marketing and public relations teams, which significantly reduces expenses. These teams help with national, regional and local marketing, along with public relations from the grand opening through the life of the business. We train franchisees to manage their stores’ social media accounts, including Facebook®, Twitter® and Instagram® -" and newer platforms such as Snapchat®-
Operations 35% of all franchisees own more than one unit

Number of employees needed to run franchised unit: 15

Absentee ownership of franchise is NOT allowed. (100% of current franchisees are owner/operators)

-

Expansion Plans

 
Cold Stone Creamery Franchise
Planet Smoothie Franchise
US Expansion Yes-
Canada Expansion No-
International Expansion Yes-

Company Overviews

About Cold Stone Creamery

Founders, Donald and Susan Sutherland, have an energy for frozen yogurt! They scanned wherever for frozen yogurt that was "smooth and rich", instead of the customary hard-pressed or delicate serve assortments. In 1988, in the wake of coming up purge in their hunt, they opened the primary Cold Stone Creamery in Tempe, Arizona. Utilizing just the finest fixings, the Sutherlands delivered the most elevated quality frozen yogurt accessible - making it crisp every day in their store. Each dessert creation was then made to arrange for every client by mixing in blend ins on a solidified rock stone (the Cold Stone!), and served in a crisp prepared waffle cone. Word soon spread far and wide among frozen yogurt significant others that Cold Stone Creamery's dessert was the best, and the upheaval started! In 1995, the main establishment store opened in Tucson, Arizona, trailed by the first out-of-state store in Camarillo, California.

The establishing store of Cold Stone Creamery opened in 1988
We've been granting establishments since 1994
About 1,000 stores working in the U.S. also, almost 300 stores around the world
U.S. Domains Currently Open
Single and Multi-Unit Deals Available
Normal time to open is 6-12 months
Co-marking Opportunities Available

The Numbers You Need to Know

$27,000 establishment fee*
$250,000 total assets
$100,000 fluid, non-financed stores
Add up to beginning speculation - $50,200 - $467,525 *
Sovereignty expense - 6% of gross deals
Publicizing expense - 3% of gross deals

*This charge is for a customary area and does exclude any rebates that might be appropriate. Distinctive expenses may apply for different sorts of areas. More nitty gritty venture data is accessible in the Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).

The Buzz About Our Brand

#53 on the 2013 "Establishment 500®" rundown in Entrepreneur® magazine
#19 on the 2013 "Worldwide 30" list in QSR® magazine
#46 on the 2012 "Top Global Franchises" list in Entrepreneur magazine
#49 on QSR magazine's 2011 "QSR Top 50" positioning
#54 on the 2011 "Establishment 500" rundown in Entrepreneur magazine
#49 on Franchise Direct's® "Best 100 Global Franchises" list for 2011

#123 on the 2010 Franchise Times® "Beat 200 Franchise Systems"
"franchiserankingscom"
#79 on Franchise Rankings.com





About Planet Smoothie

For almost two decades, Planet Smoothie has been a standout amongst the most imaginative smoothie establishments on the planet. We got our begin in Atlanta in 1995, immediately extended all through the Southeast and now have more than 100 stores all through the United States.

We are known for our solid fixings, sweeteners and supplements - and that has helped our image build up a colossal after. Sound disapproved of customers run to Planet Smoothie and regularly make us a player in their every day schedule. That is on account of we're as advantageous as we are solid. It just takes two or three minutes to stop by a Planet Smoothie, put in a request and be en route. Simply take a gander at our area in New York City's Penn Station, where blenders are humming always to stay aware of workers anxious to get a solid dinner substitution or nibble.

In 2015, Kahala Brands obtained Planet Smoothie, and our administration group - which comprises of establishment administrators who have effectively propelled more than 2,000 establishment stores for brands including Cold Stone Creamery, Yogen Früz, and Blimpie - had a prompt positive effect on the brand.

Representative at the best smoothie establishment around!"Since Kahala Brands assumed control, we now have the best advertising materials and support," says Shannon Lelli, who claims a store in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. "On the off chance that I request anything, they are on it. For educator thankfulness week, I needed to convey a postcard that said 'On the grounds that you do what you do, here's a free smoothie for you.' I called corporate with the thought, and inside a few hours they sent me an astounding plan that was prepared for the printer. Also, it was a colossal achievement. The corporate office is on it. They are astounding."

On the off chance that franchisees are eager to work with us, we're considerably more eager to work with them. Our image is developing in strip mall areas, in stands and in double marked areas with reciprocal eatery ideas.