Shake's Frozen Custard vs Emerald City Smoothie Franchise Comparison

Below is an in-depth analysis and side-by-side comparison of Shake's Frozen Custard vs Emerald City Smoothie including start-up costs and fees, business experience requirements, training & support and financing options.

Start-Up Costs and Fees
 
Shake's Frozen Custard Franchise
Emerald City Smoothie Franchise
Investment $162,000 - $287,000$75,250 - $286,900
Franchise Fee $30,000$15,000 - $25,000
Royalty Fee 5%6%
Advertising Fee 3%2%
Year Founded 19912005
Year Franchised 19982005
Term Of Agreement 10 years-
Term Of Agreement 10 years-
Renewal Fee 50% of initial franchise fee-


Business Experience Requirements
 
Shake's Frozen Custard Franchise
Emerald City Smoothie Franchise
Experience
  • General business experience
    		• -

    Financing Options
     
    Shake's Frozen Custard Franchise
    Emerald City Smoothie Franchise
      In-House/3rd PartyIn-House/3rd Party
    Franchise Fees No/No-/-
    Start-up Costs No/Yes-/-
    Equipment No/Yes-/-
    Inventory No/No-/-
    Receivables No/No-/-
    Payroll No/No-/-

    Training & Support
     
    Shake's Frozen Custard Franchise
    Emerald City Smoothie Franchise
    Training As necessary-
    Support Newsletter, Meetings, Toll-free phone line, Grand opening, Internet, Security/safety procedures, Field operations/evaluations* Use of the Emerald City Smoothie brand and all existing and new marketing materials * Assistance with real estate brokers, site selection, lease negotiation and construction based on best practices learned from over 30 store openings * A turn-key system that includes all architectural design, equipment, shelving, graphics, and signage at a reasonable cost * Extensive ECS Experience training for you and one staff member on drink making, developing a customer community, business management and marketing * Grand opening planning and support * "It's my store" customer involvement program * Peer-to-peer problem and solution sharing with other franchise owners * New drink introductions based on successful pilot programs at other franchises * Web presence for easy store location and product and service pre-selection * Periodic, high-return marketing strategies for pilot testing and implementation * Greater buying power for smoothie and health products as a member of our buying cooperative * Periodic visits to assist with general operations, employee training and to help you fine-tune the ECS experience * Analysis of store sales and performance versus system- wide benchmarks
    Marketing Co-op advertising, Ad slicks-
    Operations 25% of all franchisees own more than one unit

    Number of employees needed to run franchised unit: 20

    Absentee ownership of franchise is allowed. (75% of current franchisees are owner/operators)

    		-

    Expansion Plans
     
    Shake's Frozen Custard Franchise
    Emerald City Smoothie Franchise
    US Expansion Yes-
    Canada Expansion No-
    International Expansion No-

    Company Overviews

    About Shake's Frozen Custard

    Shake's Frozen Custard was established on three principles: Quality, Service, and Cleanliness. Today, these simple principles serve as the foundation from which Shake's, the Brand, continues to evolve. Our uncompromising dedication to the highest level of quality standards and our deep passion for service are, and will forever remain, the heart and soul of Shake's Frozen Custard. At Shake's Frozen Custard, we have an unrelenting focus on the future but we build our dreams on experience. Don and Debbie Osborne, founders of Shake's Frozen Custard, take great pride in having created a friendly, family oriented business. We realize that business success is fueled by individual customer experiences. Shake's Frozen Custard has an incredible ability to knock down the barriers of time and space in transporting us to those moments in our memory in which we experienced excitement, contentment, satisfaction, fun or any number of the seemingly infinite descriptors of human emotion. Shake's Frozen Custard offers the highest quality, premium ice cream today with the fast, friendly "service with a smile" of days gone by.Shake's Frozen Custard is a vibrant, one of a kind experience driven by a variety of interactive zones and viewing stations all leading to the presentation of the "World's best frozen dessert!" Shake's is much, much more than a simple restaurant. Shake's is a multi-sensory experience in which friends, families and loved ones build long lasting memories of quality, fun, and excitement. Every component of the facility generates a symphonic atmosphere that lends itself to the creation of wholesome, multi-generational, electrifying experiences. Customers of all ages enjoy reliving memories of "homemade" ice cream outings of days gone by with those special people in their lives.
    Shake's Frozen Custard provides our customers with a timeless and exciting experience - creating Memories of pure, powerful joy through a steadfast commitment to uncompromising quality, service, and cleanliness.

    About Emerald City Smoothie

    If you are looking for a significant franchise opportunity with a low cost of entry and a high upside potential, you may be a great candidate to be an Emerald City Smoothie franchise owner. We've also built our uniqueness beyond the product. We build customer loyalty everyday through: * A personal service philosophy that turns our employees into part of our customer's fitness-support team, which keeps customers coming back, according to the Parker LePla Emerald City Smoothie Customer Study * Supplements for any health goal from weight loss to bulking up * Smoothie recipes that won the "best of" smoothie category in a Seattle poll, featuring a unique blending process that creates a smooth, refreshing, but never-watery, taste * Branding and design that helps draw customers into your stores and makes selection of high-margin add-on products easy. Click here for a virtual tour of one of our world-class locations. * Marketing, training, site selection, and quality control services. Emerald City Smoothie also features all the benefits of franchising including our formula for operating to help avoid many mistakes commonly made by new business owners. Today, one out of every seven dollars spent by Americans for retail goods and services is spent in a franchised or independent product distribution business (source: IFA Franchise Opportunity Guide, p. 31, Fall/Winter 2004). Franchising generates an estimated $1.5 trillion in the U.S. economy annually (source: www.franchise.org/opportunities). The combination of the franchisor's expertise and your hard work create the potential for a strong business. With a franchise, you are in business for yourself, not by yourself!