Sonic Drive In vs All American Hot Dog Carts Franchise Comparison

Below is an in-depth analysis and side-by-side comparison of Sonic Drive In vs All American Hot Dog Carts including start-up costs and fees, business experience requirements, training & support and financing options.

Start-Up Costs and Fees
	Sonic Drive In Franchise	All American Hot Dog Carts Franchise
Investment	$1,242,000 - $3,523,300	$1,700 - $5,999
Franchise Fee	$45,000	N/A
Royalty Fee	2.45-5%	-
Advertising Fee	3%	-
Year Founded	1954	-
Year Franchised	1959	-
Term Of Agreement	20 years	-
Term Of Agreement	20 years	-
Renewal Fee	10 years for $6K	-
Business Experience Requirements
	Sonic Drive In Franchise	All American Hot Dog Carts Franchise
Experience	Industry experience General business experience If no industry experience, must have an operating equity partner	-
Financing Options
	Sonic Drive In Franchise	All American Hot Dog Carts Franchise
	In-House/3rd Party	In-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
	Sonic Drive In Franchise	All American Hot Dog Carts Franchise
Training	On-The-Job Training: 400 hours Classroom Training: 24 hours Additional Training: At existing franchise location	-
Support	Purchasing Co-ops Newsletter Meetings/Conventions Toll-Free Line Grand Opening Online Support Security/Safety Procedures Field Operations Franchisee Intranet Platform	-
Marketing	Co-op Advertising Ad Templates National Media Regional Advertising Social media SEO Email marketing Loyalty program/app	-
Operations	International franchisees required to buy multiple units/master licenses; 60% of all franchisees own more than one unit Number of employees needed to run franchised unit: 25 Absentee ownership of franchise is NOT allowed.	-
Expansion Plans
	Sonic Drive In Franchise	All American Hot Dog Carts Franchise
US Expansion	Yes	-
Canada Expansion	No	-
International Expansion	No	-

Company Overviews

About Sonic Drive In

Sonic Industries Inc. was founded in 1973. In 1974, Sonic acquired the name 'Sonic Drive-In' from Troy Smith, Sr., and began franchising. Smith used his more than 15 years of experience in the restaurant business to develop and operate the Sonic franchise program. A wholly owned subsidiary of Sonic Corp., the company is based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and has locations throughout the United States. The company's storefronts recently got a facelift to give them a 'retro-futuristic' look.

Your estimated initial investment necessary to begin operation of a Traditional Sonic Drive-In franchise ranges from approximately $1,242,200 to $3,537,700 plus land costs and includes the $45,000 franchise fee that must be paid to Sonic.

Your estimated initial investment necessary to begin operation of a Non-Traditional Sonic franchise ranges from approximately $361,900 to $978,700 and includes the $22,500 franchise fee that must be paid to Sonic.

#91 on Franchise Rankings.com

#4 in Franchise 500 for 2020.

#28 in Franchise 500 for 2021.

About All American Hot Dog Carts

We can make you feel like a king.

Louis DiRaimondo started All American Hot Dog in 1972 after working for several years as a Hot Dog Vendor in South Florida. Mr. DiRaimondo began to realize that increasing equipment costs were beginning to make it impossible for newcomers to break into the vending business. He was determined that you could sell a quality cart at an affordable price that would allow his customers to realize their earning potential in the vending cart business. To this day, Mr. DiRaimondo still believes in the dream most of us have of owning our own business and making a good living. He wants to make it possible for anyone to be able to afford that dream and become their own boss today!

ALL AMERICAN was founded on the premise that the customer is always king. We recognized that the need to supply people with their own low-cost, fairly easy to run profitable business was real. With this in mind we created a very durable hot dog cart, the ORIGINAL ALL AMERICAN. It was meant to be a virtually indestructible workhorse. It is, 42 years later. It is virtually unchanged. It is the most copied hot dog cart ever built. We started it.
Since 1972 we have added 5 more equally durable carts to our lineup and we continue to provide great customer service & follow-through. We even do your licensing paperwork for you and we provide a free detailed business plan. We are the oldest cart-manufacturing specialists in North America. We are as happy to serve you now as we were in 1972.