Hard Times Cafe vs Applejack's Franchise Comparison

Below is an in-depth analysis and side-by-side comparison of Hard Times Cafe vs Applejack's including start-up costs and fees, business experience requirements, training & support and financing options.

Start-Up Costs and Fees

 
Hard Times Cafe Franchise
Applejack's Franchise
Investment $449,000 - $1,000,000$250,000 - $275,000
Franchise Fee $30,000$25,000
Royalty Fee -4%
Advertising Fee -2%
Year Founded -1999
Year Franchised -2004
Term Of Agreement -10 years
Term Of Agreement -10 years
Renewal Fee --


Business Experience Requirements

 
Hard Times Cafe Franchise
Applejack's Franchise
Experience --

Financing Options

 
Hard Times Cafe Franchise
Applejack's Franchise
  In-House/3rd PartyIn-House/3rd Party
Franchise Fees -/--/-
Start-up Costs -/--/-
Equipment -/--/-
Inventory -/--/-
Receivables -/--/-
Payroll -/--/-

Training & Support

 
Hard Times Cafe Franchise
Applejack's Franchise
Training --
Support --
Marketing --
Operations --

Expansion Plans

 
Hard Times Cafe Franchise
Applejack's Franchise
US Expansion --
Canada Expansion --
International Expansion --

Company Overviews

About Hard Times Cafe

Hard Times Cafe and Hard Times Cafe & Cue is an American Chili Parlor with a 26 year history in the Washington DC area. World Famous for it's Chili recipes, Hard Times serves Chili, Chili Macs, Wings, Onion Rings, Nachos, Chili Dogs, Char-Grilled Burgers and more. To be considered as a Franchisee you must have 5 years restaurant operational experience with a minimum cash investment ability of $200,000 and sufficient net worth to secure financing for the development of a Hard Times Cafe.

About Applejack's

As an effective business operator, you wish to minimize risk and maximize profit. That is exactly what successful franchising is all about. Franchised businesses have a higher success rate than independent businesses. This is a fact. It is generally accepted that an estimated 40% of all non-franchised businesses do not make it to the end of their first year of operation, and 80% will fail within their first five years of operation. And even the 20% that do manage to survive are not safe, as 90% of them will fail within the next five years. In most cases this is not due to lack of revenues and its mostly based on lack of experience, support and management skills. By joining a Franchise, franchisees can benefit from the Brand marketing, purchasing power and management expertise offered by well-established franchisors. This is particularly attractive to those persons entering the highly competitive food service industry for the first time. As a result of the positive interaction between franchisee and franchisor, our restaurant owner/operators are much more likely to be financially successful than were they to enter the industry as independent restaurateurs.