What does the franchise cost?
posted 9th October 2020
How much is a Cook Stars franchise?
We get asked this ALL the time! So let’s get down to the nitty gritty and talk money shall we? It’s important. We are talking about a business opportunity after all, and a good business should of course make you money. Yes running a Cook Stars franchise is very good fun and extremely rewarding - however that doesn’t mean you can’t make a decent living too.
Cook Stars has not been crafted as just a hobby business. If you want to run smaller scale - you go ahead, be our guest! Nobody is ever going to be setting you sales targets or have any expectations of you. Indeed some of our team like to work smaller scale, it fits them and their circumstances. If however you want to make really good income and have fun along the way – that we can also help with.
So firstly, how much is it to invest in a Cook Stars franchise?
£9,000 (+VAT) if you'd like to run services for 2-12 year olds (Minis and Juniors).
£10,000 (+VAT) if you'd like to run all services for 12-17 year olds (Minis, Juniors and Academy sessions).
Is that everything, or are there other costs?
There are some requirements we have not added into the franchise ‘package’ pricing because some people will already have them in place.
We didn’t want to raise the price for everyone because some people won't need these things. You may already have what's needed ie. a DBS, PLI and a food hygiene certificate and safe-guarding certificate (these are free with the insurance). If you do need all these you’re looking at around £350. You'll also want to make sure you have a financial buffer when you first start as it can take a little while to build your business and you don't want to be worrying.
How quickly can I recoup the investment?
This is a tough one to answer because I don’t know you, your work ethic or what your goals and plans are for your franchise. It basically boils down to how hard you want to work, how much time you will devote to it and what your ambitions are.
I want to give you some figures to work with though, and so I can tell you that one of our team made a PROFIT of over £8,000 in her first few month. For a new business that's pretty good going! It's not uncommon that start ups don't make a profit for 2/3 years! Another made £7,500 from one contract alone during summer holidays! This is the beauty of a franchise - you can hit the ground running.
This franchisee had never run a business before (she was a teacher before) so did not have some unattainable level of business acumen – she simply just worked our franchise system and did it well! She that took everything we taught her and executed it all beautifully!
Do I need to pay the initial investment upfront?
Yes. After you’ve made the decision to become a franchisee you will pay a £150 fee for us to prepare the agreement and the area map.
Then at least 4 weeks before you’re due to start training you will pay the remainder. We don’t offer repayment plans. We do however work with 2 providers who love our trusted business model who you can speak to about getting a business loan if you don’t have the investment upfront.
One lender offers a government backed Start Up Loan (impressively low interest rate of 6%) and the other is NatWest. We’ve never had anyone turned away.
Are there ongoing fees?
Yes there are. There is a period of 2 months after your training to get going before you have to pay anything to us. We do this very simply because we want you to be in a good financial position as quickly as possible.
It’s important to us that you are happy with Cook Stars, so it’s a little way to help you out whilst you’re getting to grips with everything. There is a lot to learn at first and we want you to feel relaxed whilst you’re learning the ropes and building your franchise in those important initial months. By the time you come to paying ‘management fees’, you should be well under way to getting established in your area and have services up and running.
After those ‘free’ 2 months, like most franchises there is a fee. This is 10% of monthly income, with a minimum fee in place.
When people join Cook Stars, they know if they put the work in-they will do well. It’s beautifully simple and linear. There is great money to be made if people want to put some work in, and listen to our advice.
On a final note....
The initial fee to buy the franchise should not be viewed as a dead ‘cost’, it is an ‘investment’ and there is an important distinction.
A ‘cost’ is something that simply goes out and doesn’t give back. Whereas an investment is where you pay for something that does give you something back in return. In very simple terms, when you invest in a franchise, the idea is that it then makes you more money than you have spent. Significantly more if you put the work in!