Al's Pizza vs Cottage Inn Pizza Franchise Comparison

Below is an in-depth analysis and side-by-side comparison of Al's Pizza vs Cottage Inn Pizza including start-up costs and fees, business experience requirements, training & support and financing options.

Start-Up Costs and Fees

 
Al's Pizza Franchise
Cottage Inn Pizza Franchise
Investment $729,900 - $1,157,200$200,000 - $350,000
Franchise Fee $40,000$15,000
Royalty Fee -5%
Advertising Fee -3%
Year Founded -1948
Year Franchised -1986
Term Of Agreement --
Term Of Agreement --
Renewal Fee --


Business Experience Requirements

 
Al's Pizza Franchise
Cottage Inn Pizza Franchise
Experience -

A minimum net worth of $100,000 A minimum of $60,000 in liquid assets or financing or a combination thereof Five Star Customer Service for staff and customers alike Product Quality — using only approved ingredients and the amounts set forth by the Cottage Inn Standard Operating Procedures Professional Image — uniforms should be clean and pressed, and employees should be well-groomed at all times. The Right Personality As a member of the food service industry, our franchisees must have the right personality, too. We look for clean-cut professionals who will take pride in being a Cottage Inn franchisee. We also look for candidates who are strong leaders, can motivate a staff, and treat customers with the utmost care and respect. In the food service industry, it’s important that your store pass the white glove test every day. Safety is always a concern when it comes to proper food handling. To be a successful Cottage Inn franchisee you must also understand profit and loss statements. You need to input tools to measure your expenses on an on-going basis. We lay out what has been successful for Cottage Inn throughout our corporate stores and we want to make sure each franchisee who joins the Cottage Inn family follows the same equation to success.


Financing Options

 
Al's Pizza Franchise
Cottage Inn Pizza Franchise
  In-House/3rd PartyIn-House/3rd Party
Franchise Fees -/--/-
Start-up Costs -/--/-
Equipment -/--/-
Inventory -/--/-
Receivables -/--/-
Payroll -/--/-

Training & Support

 
Al's Pizza Franchise
Cottage Inn Pizza Franchise
Training Training for you and your employees will be provided in existing Al's Pizza restaurants. Our support staff will train you in the many aspects of owning and operating an Al's Pizza franchise. These include staffing, recruiting, advertising, financial controls, employee accountability, facility management, food cost controls, and labor controls.

Cottage Inn offers a world-class training program

On-The-Job Training: 240 hours Classroom Training: 6 hours

Support As the owner of an Al's Pizza franchise, you gain a team of experts committed to your success. Your team works with you, your staff, your vendors, and most of all your customers to ensure a quality environment and experience. At Al's Pizza, we understand how critical it is to support your efforts, foster our relationship with you, and provide the tools necessary for your success. Our philosophy is based on a side-by-side commitment to helping you prosper, as this leads not only to your growth, but to the overall success of the entire Al's Pizza family.

On-going support to keep your store running successfully and smoothly. We want you to succeed, which is why we offer our support and advice gained from years of experience in the pizza industry. We’ve been in the business since 1948 and operate 40 locations in two states, so it’s safe to say we know how to run a business. Purchasing Co-ops Newsletter Meetings/Conventions Toll-Free Line Grand Opening Online Support Security/Safety Procedures Field Operations Site Selection Proprietary Software Franchisee Intranet Platform

Marketing -

We collaborate with a digital marketing agency to help make Cottage Inn the top-ranked pizza company in relevant markets across Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. Cottage Inn employs an in-house creative team and offsite agency to produce a myriad of digital marketing vehicles, including e-blasts, mobile CRM, social media (Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, FourSquare, Instagram). We also leverage traditional print solutions such as bulk mail menus, EDDM (every day direct mail) cards, magnets, box toppers and door hangers. We also invest in branding the Cottage Inn name, making us more desirable across all relevant markets. Cottage Inn is the Preferred Pizza Provider at MIS (Michigan International Speedway) where we serve over 100,000 guests at NASCAR events and the Country Music Festival. Cottage Inn engages franchisees in strategic marketing meetings to receive their input on marketing campaigns and new product development. We also help franchisees market their specific stores via community fairs, business expos, entertainment venues and more. We are family first at Cottage Inn, having been owned by the same family for over 65 years! How we market each of our franchises: Dynamic corporate website with pages dedicated to each franchise location Convenient online ordering A loyalty program to attract and retain customers Mobile marketing to engage with the on-the-go world E-marketing to offer the best deals to our dedicated customers Traditional print marketing menus, direct mail, door hangers, box toppers, magnets and specialty pieces Social media to engage our most dedicated consumers. Branding by way of special event sponsorships

Operations -

Cottage Inn maintains control of its product and distribution by operating a 22,000 square foot commissary in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Fresh products are delivered weekly and our warehouse staff is always on call in case of emergency. Cottage Inn produces fresh dough daily. For locations more than 200 miles away from Ann Arbor, we encourage and assist franchisees with setting up their own dough production. This assures a fresh, high-quality product and will help you secure a customer for life.

Absentee Ownership Allowed

Number of Employees Required to Run: 15


Expansion Plans

 
Al's Pizza Franchise
Cottage Inn Pizza Franchise
US Expansion -Yes
Canada Expansion -Yes
International Expansion --

Company Overviews

About Al's Pizza

The Al's Pizza business model is based on an overall theme of quality. The fundamentals include: * Award-winning pizza * An impressive, competitive facility * The latest inventory and labor control tools * A passion for excellence Franchisees are provided with a development process that results in an impressive, high-quality facility. As a franchisee, you can depend upon the Al's Pizza team to manage the development. Costs associated with the design, architectural, and purchasing consulting fees are covered using the franchise fee and architectural fee.Al's Pizza franchisees enter into an 80 day working day training program with a custom schedule tailor made for each franchisee. Al's understands that most franchisees are transitioning from another career and need flexibility during such a complicated time. The program is a combination of training classes and training within an Al's Pizza training restaurant. Representatives from Al's Pizza will work side by side as part of your team during a new opening. Franchisee support also includes Field Consultants who work alongside franchisees, assisting with all aspects of the operations. The support sets Al's Pizza apart from many companies. Even financial information is shared and compared during monthly webinars so every franchisee can measure their own success next to the company owned restaurants. As a former franchisee himself, Bill Kratsas is committed to providing support to franchisees both operationally and financially. As the owner of an Al's Pizza franchise, your efforts are supported every step of the way. By providing you the quality guidance you need, you are able to provide your customers the quality experience they seek, and everyone benefits.
 
Founded in 1988, Al's Pizza combines old world quality, values and work ethic with new world appeal, to provide a unique dining experience for patrons, families and friends.

About Cottage Inn Pizza

At Cottage Inn we believe that if you're going to craft a pizza, it should be to a certain degree of perfection and that you should never skimp on the quality of your ingredients. It's these two simple statements that drive our process for constructing truly gourmet pizzas.

Veteran Incentives  10% off franchise fee