Frequently Asked Questions
General Information
- What sets Cousins Subs apart from the competition?
- How do I get started?
- What qualifications must I have to be a Cousins Subs franchisee?
- Can I see some photos of Cousins Subs shops?
Financial
- What does it take to financially qualify?
- What is Cousins Subs franchise fee and grand opening fee?
- What are Cousins Subs royalties (continuing service fees)?
- Can I form a partnership in order to meet the financial criteria?
- Does Cousins Subs provide financing?
- How much money can I make?
- What is a UFOC and when can I review it?
Location
- Do I have to find the store location?
- What kind of location should I look for?
- I have an approved site, what is my next step?
- Who negotiates the lease?
- Can I purchase an existing Cousins Subs store?
Construction
- From start to finish, how long does it take a store to open?
- What can I expect to spend to complete my store to Cousins Subs requirements?
- Where do I buy my restaurant equipment and furnishings?
Inventory
Marketing
- What advertising/marketing support can I expect?
- What are the advertising/marketing costs?
- Am I responsible for any other advertising/marketing costs?
Training
-
Founded in 1972 and franchising since 1989, Cousins Subs has perfected a system that delivers a high quality, submarine sandwich quickly and efficiently.
Cousins Subs offers the following to all franchisees:
- The potential to be sold both within the four walls of your restaurant and throughout your market area via mobile sales units and catering opportunities.
- Innovative, quality product, with subs 25% larger than most of our competitors.
- Comprehensive support systems in operations, marketing, training, construction, accounting, finance and site selection.
- A recession-resistant industry with implicit demand.
- Cash business with few receivables and minimal inventory.
- Ability and encouragement to open multiple units.
- Getting started is easy. Our "Steps to Success" page will show you the first steps in exploring this great franchise opportunity.
-
- Strong people skills
- Sales/marketing skills
- The required amount of capital
- Financial stability
- A strong desire to succeed in your own business
- Yes. We have a page where you may view store photos, both interior and exterior shots.
- For single store development, Cousins requires you to have a net worth of $300,000 and liquid cash of $80,000. (Net worth is defined as total liquid assets, including cash, stocks, homes, cars, businesses, etc. minus total liabilities and debt.) For multi-store development (Area Developers), Cousins requires you to have a net worth of $500,000 and liquid cash of $150,000.
-
- First time agreements: $25,000
- All additional agreements: $25,000
- Multi-unit fee for two store development: $37,500
- Multi-unit fee for three store development: $44,000
- Area developer exclusive territory fee: $40,000
- Up-front grand opening fee (for each new store): $5,000
- Administration fee for lease and floorplan review: $3,000
- 6% of adjusted gross sales
-
Yes. Your franchise may be owned individually, by a partnership or a corporation. You must execute your Cousins Subs franchise agreement personally and later transfer it to a corporation that has been formed for the purpose of ownership. You must own a minimum of 51% of this corporation. The corporation must conduct no business other than Cousins Subs. Personal guarantees are required.
Also, each partner must submit a separate on-line prequalification form. A representative from the Franchise Sales Department will review your prequalification request forms and contact you to discuss. If you meet the initial qualifications, you will each be asked to submit a franchise application.
-
No. However, Cousins Subs does provide assistance in arranging financing through third party sources that have been developed for the benefit of our franchise owners.
- Equipment leasing, SBA and direct loan packaging are available to qualified Cousins Subs franchise candidates.
- Cousins Subs is an approved franchisor per the SBA registry.
- Federal Trade Commission regulations and the various states regulating franchise sales activity restrict our ability to provide you with estimated profit figures. You are welcome to contact any existing franchisee. Once it is determined that you are serious about investing in the Cousins Subs franchise opportunity, our franchisees will usually be willing to discuss such information with you. Sales information and franchise lists are disclosed in our Uniform Franchise Offering Circular (UFOC).
- A UFOC is a Uniform Franchise Offering Circular. This is normally disclosed to you after the first personal meeting. The UFOC contains comprehensive and valuable information for franchisee candidates. You will need to confirm your commitment to the Cousins Subs opportunity by talking to existing franchise owners in the Cousins Subs system.
-
Franchising a Cousins Subs store can occur in a number of ways.
- You may find a location, however, it will need to be approved by Cousins Subs.
- You may acquire an existing corporate location if they are available in your market.
- You may acquire an existing Cousins Subs location from a current franchisee or Area Developer if they are available in your market.
- You may convert an existing non Cousins Subs restaurant to a Cousins Subs, again it would need to be approved by Cousins Subs.
-
Cousins Subs restaurants operate from freestanding, in-line strip mall and non-traditional locations. Each has positive business attributes, so one is not necessarily better than the other; the choice is driven by the type and quality of the real estate available.
- A desireable location will have great visibility, easy accessibility, high traffic count and a strong consumer base.
- The typical square footage for a Cousins Subs in-line location is 1250 to 1600 sq. ft.
- Non-traditional locations can be as small as 600 sq. ft.
- We do have freestanding units with drive-up windows.
- Cousins Subs support systems provide the assistance necessary to help you identify suitable sites in your market area.
See our site selection guidelines for more information.
- The Cousins Subs development department will help you through the entire construction/equipping process. We can recommend architects, contractors, and various other vendors in each market that Cousins Subs does business in, as well as review and approve both the preliminary floor-plan and the final construction documents to ensure consistency within the Cousins Subs system.
- You will initially negotiate with your potential landlord. With our years of experience, Cousins is able to assist you by reviewing and advising favorable lease arrangements. We have found that significant savings can be realized for our franchise owners by doing this. Your attorney should review your lease prior to your signing it. All leases need to be reviewed & approved by Cousins Subs before execution.
- You may, if they are available in your market.
- Each location experiences its own peculiarities and delays, but we have found it takes approximately 4 to 8 months after signing the franchise agreement to open a new Cousins Subs restaurant.
- A new store will range from approximately $198,700 to $284,300 depending type of store, number of square feet and other factors. This is an estimate of the capital needed to open and operate your restaurant during the initial 12 months after you open your business. Many people qualify for SBA loans through local community banks that will help finance up to 80% of the total investment.
- Cousins Subs approved equipment and supplies are available through a national account program with major equipment dealers. The collective buying power of our national accounts program is available to each franchise owner.
- The Cousins Subs product distribution system was developed through a national full-service distributor. Its network of distribution centers provides a minimum of weekly delivery of food, beverage and supply products to Cousins Subs restaurants.
- This will depend on the store's sales volume, the number of deliveries scheduled during the week and the size of your storage area. A reasonable estimate would be in the area of $2,500 to $5,000 per week.
-
Each market area has an assigned Marketing Consultant who works with each franchisee. They will help to develop a local marketing plan for each store location. In certain markets, a Marketing Specialist will assist franchise owners with marketing the Cousins product outside the 4 walls of the store.
The National Advertising Fund will provide the necessary point of sale merchandising materials to help promote sales within the store.
Cousins Subs will also provide professional brand-building execution of television, radio, billboards and coupon tactics. This is administered through participation with advertising co-op groups in our existing market areas.
- The national advertising fees are 2% of adjusted gross sales, paid weekly to Cousins. The fees contributed to the funds are used to meet all costs associated with the creation of advertising media. From time to time Cousins Subs may designate a cooperative local or regional advertising program.
- Yes. As a franchisee, you are required to spend an amount not less than 3% of adjusted gross sales for local advertising.
- You or your designated managers will spend a minimum of 21 days participating in on-the-job and classroom sessions at an approved Cousins Subs training facility. At your store opening, you will receive 10 days of assistance in training your staff by a Cousins Subs certified trainer. In addition, you will receive assistance with conducting on-site training sessions for your hourly staff at least 2 days prior to opening day. See Franchise Training for more detail.
The above FAQs are provided for informational purposes only. This is not to be construed as an offer of a franchise, a commitment, or a binding agreement on either party. We offer franchises only through the Uniform Franchise Offering Circular.