Why Franchising Can Beat Going it Alone

Part of being an entrepreneur is having to make well thought out decisions, and one can be whether to open your own business from scratch or invest in a franchise. Building a business from the ground up is a significant accomplishment, but it doesn’t happen without first overcoming numerous obstacles, many of which can be hard to see until they’re right in front of you. Establishing a foothold in a competitive industry without a proven brand and overcoming hurdles without a support infrastructure in place to help guide you, can often be a hindrance to a new business. Franchising, however, is a more straightforward process. When you invest in a Baja Fresh® franchise, you’re also investing in a support system complete with clear financial expectations, a proven brand name, and a suite of resources that will help you create a solid business you can be proud of. When you decide to open a Baja Fresh franchise instead of going it alone, here’s what you can expect.

BAJA FRESH | 2

BAJA FRESH | 3

Why Franchising Can Beat

Going it Alone

The Fast-Casual Food IndustryInvesting in a franchise can be a great way to break into a new industry. There are many franchise options out there and doing research prior to investing in a fast-casual restaurant is the first step to opening your own location. Fortunately, fast-casual restaurants like Baja Fresh have gotten more popular in recent years1. Despite rising competition, there’s plenty of room for new franchisees to grow their portfolio.

What’s Fueling Our Industry’s Popularity?First of all: what is fast casual, exactly? Simply put, it’s food that you can order and enjoy quickly. Unlike traditional fast food, fast-casual restaurants often feature a higher-quality menu with food being served quickly, and dining areas meant for comfort and a longer stay if preferred. Restaurants like ours are growing in popularity because diners are able to enjoy high-quality food on-the-go. With a variety of location types, we make it easy for diners to stop in to enjoy a quick meal, or stay a while. Plus our dedication to freshness allows us to stand out from the competition.

How We Stand OutIndeed, it’s one thing for your business to exist in a robust industry, but you must also be running a franchise poised to take advantage of that industry. That means a business model that stands apart from the competition and gives guests a unique reason to keep coming back. Our Baja-inspired cuisine truly stands out from the traditional Mexican offerings in our industry. We put freshness first with our salsa made fresh daily, line-caught fish, and proprietary menu items like Baja Bowls. Fast-casual food like ours is simply

BAJA FRESH | 4

Why Franchising Can Beat

Going it Alone

higher-quality than traditional fast food, and people recognize and appreciate this difference. Since we don’t rely on reheated, canned, or greasy ingredients, our customers can taste what makes us unique, and that goes a long way toward giving us a distinct identity that stands out from the crowd.

BAJA FRESH | 5

Why Franchising Can Beat

Going it Alone

A Proven BrandOne of the main reasons franchising is attractive is because you’re essentially buying a brand name that is trusted. Creating a brand from scratch is incredibly difficult. Many entrepreneurs who start from scratch fail to ever create that kind of brand loyalty. When you invest in a Baja Fresh franchise, however, you’ll have a recognizable and familiar brand name behind you, along with operations, research and development, marketing and advertising at your fingertips. Investing in a recognizable brand might sound like a small perk, but it’s huge when it comes to building a strong foundation for your business, and generating awareness in your community.

BAJA FRESH | 6

Why Franchising Can Beat

Going it Alone

SupportBaja Fresh franchisees often find themselves thankful for our extensive support infrastructure. Our comprehensive training program is designed to get our franchisees up-to-speed on how to run our fast-casual restaurants. Your training will take place in two stages: initial training and ongoing training and will take up to eight weeks depending on the type of location you plan to open. Here’s what you can expect.

Initial TrainingYour initial training is where you’ll learn the basic information on operating a Baja Fresh fast-casual restaurant. You’ll visit our headquarters at the Kahala Training and Education Center and partake in a series of classroom and hands-on programs. You’ll undergo five to eight weeks of training in an approved Baja Fresh restaurant working with a certified trainer, giving you the opportunity to learn while applying your new skills. Your initial training will largely consist of learning how to manage tasks like conducting inventory, employee schedules, food preparation, and more.

We will also work with you right in your own location to help you and your staff apply what you learned to your individual restaurant. After all, owning your own restaurant can feel overwhelming and we want you to open your doors with confidence.

Ongoing TrainingOngoing training and professional development is the second step of our franchise support. As with any business, it’s important to stay abreast of the developing industry trends, and consistently think about how you can

BAJA FRESH | 7

Why Franchising Can Beat

Going it Alone

become a better restaurant. But you don’t have to shoulder that responsibility alone. We help you stay on top of the latest developments in our industry, while providing you with regular feedback. We’ll also check in at least every month as you get your restaurant off the ground, and make ourselves available by phone or email, so you can easily get in touch with us when necessary.

Franchisee Support ProgramAnother key aspect of the resources we provide is our franchisee support program. Different from training, this is one of our most important supplemental resources ensuring that all of our training stays with you throughout the lifespan of your business. For example, local marketing can be hard to apply once you’re on your own if you’ve never done it before. As a Baja Fresh franchisee, you can simply pick up the phone and ask for help, ideas, samples, or a history of similar situations and what strategies franchisees used to succeed in the past.

Indeed, we encourage our franchisees to lean on each other as much as possible. Use fellow franchisees as resources. Everyone has a different perspective, and who better to ask for advice than someone who also been in your shoes? Call this peer mentoring, and we’ve found that Baja Fresh is a family of like-minded people who are truly invested in each other’s success.

Marketing Every entrepreneur knows that marketing is one of the most crucial elements of promoting your new restaurant. Your success spreading the word about your new Baja Fresh restaurant to the local community will oftentimes mean the difference between sinking or swimming. It can be challenging for independent business owners to create and deploy marketing campaigns. They must work with many third parties, which costs a lot of time and money. Fortunately for our franchisees, Baja Fresh has established relationships with key players in the marketing business and created a suite of marketing materials franchisees can use across a wide range of channels. This helps take much of the stress out of marketing your business, so you can focus on day-to-day operations.

BAJA FRESH | 8

Why Franchising Can Beat

Going it Alone

Flexibility: The Franchise WayMany people want to start a business from scratch because they think it offers them the most independence, but actually, operating a franchise comes with more flexibility than you might think. Of course, you must operate within the business model set by the franchisor, but you won’t be relinquishing control of the day-to-day operations. You are your own boss with control over your business’ staffing, and perhaps most importantly, you have full autonomy over your work schedule. As long as your franchise commitments are being addressed first, you can tailor your workday to be conducive to the lifestyle you’ve always wanted.

A Clear InvestmentEvery franchise has a franchise fee, which buys the rights to use the franchisor’s brand name and systems for their business. Your franchise fee also allows us to provide you with the resources you need to run your business as efficiently as possible. The franchise fee differs depending upon your choice of restaurant model, but estimates of your total investment include everything you will need to operate the franchise. Also, keep in mind that we require a 3% advertising fee to help you market your business effectively, and a 5% royalty fee to cover the extensive ongoing support you receive.

Your franchise fee and total investment will ultimately depend on which of our two restaurant concepts you decide to open. At Baja Fresh, we give you two options: a single, traditional restaurant or an Express restaurant.

BAJA FRESH | 9

Why Franchising Can Beat

Going it Alone

Single RestaurantOur single restaurant option allows you to purchase and build your own full-sized Baja Fresh franchise. These restaurants are larger, offering comfortable seating for many guests and plenty of space. You’ll start your restaurant from scratch, but we will be there to provide location selection assistance, marketing advice, and more. Our estimate for the total cost to open a single restaurant is between $348,310 - $994,290. This includes just about everything you’ll need to get your new restaurant started, including a lease agreement, inventory, employee salaries, and more.

Express RestaurantOur Express restaurant concept is the second way you can choose to become a Baja Fresh franchise owner, and it’s a great way to start your own business in the Mexican food industry. Since express locations are smaller than our full-sized single restaurant locations, they cost significantly less to get started. The cost to open a Baja Fresh Express location usually falls between $229,200 and $630,200 and as with our other location options, this covers just about everything you’ll need to get your restaurant up and running, including our franchise support, training, marketing, and more.

As you can see, there are many great reasons to open a Baja Fresh franchise rather than start a restaurant on your own. Contact us today to learn more about this exciting opportunity.

Total Cost Single Restaurant: $348,310 – $994,290

Total Cost Express Restaurant: $229,200 – $630,200

bajafreshfranchise.com877-251-8117

External Sources

1. Maze, Jonathan. "Technomic: Fast Casual Will Continue to Lead Industry Growth." Restaurant Business Online. April 17, 2018. Accessed August 14, 2019. https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/financing/technomic-fast-casual-will-continue-lead-industry-growth.