Franchise Ideas

Ok, I am interested in investing in a new franchise in the Cedar Falls area and possibly Ames or Iowa City. I am looking for input on smaller franchises that are not established in these cities (mainly restaurants, not the major chains like Buffalo Wild Wings, but something like the size of a Jimmy Johns or Pancheros). So, are there franchises you have frequented that you think would be a good fit? Also, are there mid size towns (20,000+) that would be good for a franchise like Pancheros?

unless you have a Million dollars in assets and the town is atleast 20,000, and atleast so many thousand cars drive by the location....then they wont bother. i looked into it and the stipulations to start one are rediculous. The #1 franchise in America is Subway. Cheap start-up and overhead is low.
 
I don't eat fast food, but if there was an IN-N-OUT Burger in Des Moines I would probably be pushing up the percentage of obese Iowan's.
 
How about a cold stone creamery by bass pro in Altoona?! Altoona only has a DQ on the other side of town...
 
I would try and talk to the family that owns Tasty Tacos to see if you could help them expand into Cedar Falls, Ames and Iowa City. Something that I have always wanted to do, but I don't have the time to take it on. Tasty Tacos in those towns would do very well.

Yes please, in Ames.
 
Many of the chain restaurants being mentioned require a TON of capital and/or net worth...in the millions of dollars.

I love the Tasty Tacos idea. That would kill in campustown.
 
Ok, I am interested in investing in a new franchise in the Cedar Falls area and possibly Ames or Iowa City. I am looking for input on smaller franchises that are not established in these cities (mainly restaurants, not the major chains like Buffalo Wild Wings, but something like the size of a Jimmy Johns or Pancheros). So, are there franchises you have frequented that you think would be a good fit? Also, are there mid size towns (20,000+) that would be good for a franchise like Pancheros?


id go with chipotle, but they may not franchise.. if not then pancheros...
 
No dice, Pepperjax not interested in franchising at this time.

Damn! That place is unreal good. Best hangover food ever.

The other place I'd look at is Jersey Mike's Subs. May not run Jimmy John's out of business, but it would put the hurting on Subway and Quiznos.

Jersey Mike's Subs - Authentic Sub Sandwiches Since 1956

That place would probably fit more on Duff, though. IMO Campustown would need a place that would be able to stay open late and serve a lot of drunks quickly. Burritos, gyros, subs, pizza by the slice. The one exception would be a sportsbar type place that serves food AND beer (BWW). It sounds like there should be some strip mall type places being built on Duff (in front of Target) that would be perfect fits for places like Noodles Etc, Jersey Mike's, Five Guys...fast casual.
 
Thanks for all of the ideas, there are definitely new ones to look at!

I really wanted to open a Noodles And Company, but they do not franchise anymore; all corporate stores only now. BWW and other large chains are out of my league right now.

Having lived in Nebraska for 2 years, I will NEVER buy into a Runza!!!

Please keep the ideas coming.
 
I'm looking at franchises too, but I'm avoiding restaurants like the plague. Too many of them fail and the ones that do survive do so just barely.
 
Iowa City has one of these but I bet it would go over well in Ames or Des Moines: Steak 'n Shake
I'm not sure how well that would do in Ames. I'm not saying it wouldn't work at all, but it would do better in other cities besides Ames. The one in IC has a great location, just off of I-80 and IC is larger than Ames. I can't think of many good locations in Ames for this, especially when trying to pull from I-35 traffic.
Those types of places seem to do well along Interstates and Ames isn't really a prime stopping point for travelers, when they have DM and Ankeny just 15 mins down the road.