How to buy a Sonic Drive In Restaurant and Succeed
Sonic is one of America's top rated fast food restaurants. It has a system that works where car hops deliver food to customers who drive up to order from its popular menu. Is a Sonic franchise for you?
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Instructions
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Consider whether A Sonic Drive In Restaurant is for you. You will need strong restaurant or entreprenurial skills or have a partner who has these skills. Absentee ownership is not permitted.
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Research Sonic. Review its whole franchise website. (See link at end of this article.) Note areas where Sonic is seeking franchises to see whether there area areas that interest you. Note that Sonic also offers some "non-traditional" locations such as kiosks in airports and food courts.
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Contact Sonic through its website or at 1-800-569-6656. You will be sent forms and franchise brochures.
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Decide whether you want to establish a new Sonic or buy an existing franchise. An existing franchise will have a sales track record but will command a good will fee to the current owner. Ask to see financial records going back several years if you are considering an exisiting Sonic. Beware if the fees for an existing restaurant seems too low -- the owner may know something about the area such as another restaurant being planned nearby and is trying to bail out.
Your franchise fees will help establish a new franchise if you go this route.
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Carefully review the Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD). Under Federal law, you must be given 10 days to review the FDD before you sign anything or pay any money. The FDD must include names of current and former franchise owners. Contact some of them to discuss their experiences with the company. See if a current franchisee will let you observe the operations of his business.
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Carefully research available Sonic locations. Will there be adequate customer traffic? Does the location have easy and safe road access? Is any road construction planned in front of or near the site? Are there other restaurants located or planned near the site? How close is the nearest Sonic?
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Prepare a business plan for your Sonic.
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Sign the FDD and pay your fees. There is a one-week training course at Sonic headquarters and an 11-week training program in your new restaurant.
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Manage for success. Next to quality control and cleanliness, finding, motivating, and retaining good employees will be the key to your success.
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Can't afford a Sonic? There's lots of other possibilities, such as Subway, Quiznos, 7 Eleven, and cleaning franchises. See below links for details.
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