Hunt Brothers Pizza vs Cottage Inn Pizza Franchise Comparison

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

Start-Up Costs and Fees

 
Hunt Brothers Pizza Franchise
Cottage Inn Pizza Franchise
Investment $500,000 - And Up$200,000 - $350,000
Franchise Fee N/A$15,000
Royalty Fee 05%
Advertising Fee 03%
Year Founded -1948
Year Franchised -1986
Term Of Agreement 0-
Term Of Agreement 0-
Renewal Fee 0-


Business Experience Requirements

 
Hunt Brothers 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

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

Training & Support

 
Hunt Brothers Pizza Franchise
Cottage Inn Pizza Franchise
Training -

Cottage Inn offers a world-class training program

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

Support -

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 Hunt Brothers Pizza provides every customer with an Account Manager to help lower inventory costs and increase profits. In addition to keeping your store stocked and ready every week, the Account Manager delivers free sales-boosting materials such as special limited time offers, eye-catching point-of-purchase items and promotions. Account Managers can also show your employees how to pair these materials with suggestive selling techniques and local store marketing programs to help keep Hunt Brothers Pizza top-of-mind for consumers and increase business.

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

 
Hunt Brothers Pizza Franchise
Cottage Inn Pizza Franchise
US Expansion YesYes
Canada Expansion -Yes
International Expansion --

Company Overviews

About Hunt Brothers Pizza

Hunt Brothers Pizza has over 30 years of experience in the convenience store industry, and in that time we have learned what works for our store partners and what does not. We continue to put all of those lessons to work, bringing you a nationally branded program designed specifically for convenience stores and businesses like yours.  Our goal is to provide you with a new profit source within your store and help your sales grow with free marketing and advice from our trusted pizza professionals.  Every day we strive to be a blessing to our network of 8,000 stores across 30 states by helping them profit from Hunt Brothers Pizza.
Hunt Brothers Pizza is the nation's largest brand of made-to-order pizza in the convenience store industry. Family owned and operated for over 40 years and headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, the company provides all of the food products, marketing programs, equipment and training for convenience stores like yours to operate their own turnkey pizza program. From a single "mom-and-pop" to a chain of c-stores, our partners make money selling our pizza. *No franchise fees, royalty fees or advertising fees *The best pizza deal for the consumer: All Toppings No Extra Charge *Exceptional weekly service from our own trucks, driven by our own pizza professionals *Over 40 years of experience working for c-store owners like you Our pizza program has real advantages! *High profit margins *Pizza that's simple to prepare *Great value for your consumers *Pizza that consistently tastes great *Menu options for breakfast, lunch and dinner We offer a reliable ROI Space requirement in your store: 59 square feet Your potential gross margin per square foot: $429 Recover your initial investment within 1-6 months Start-up costs vary by store and market need.
A Hunt Brothers Pizza professional will come to your store area, do a criteria survey of your market, and give you a recommendation on how you can best serve your community. Our start-up cost is very reasonable, and we have several financing options to help you get started immediately. Send us your store information and we'll get back to you. http://www.huntbrotherspizza.com/contact_us/business_contact/

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