Smoothie King

Smoothie King Franchise

There are few things better than smoothies when it comes to tasty desserts. If you’ve always loved these delicious icy beverages, you might consider combining your business aspirations with your cravings. How? Starting a Smoothie King franchise.

While starting a Smoothie King franchise could be a good idea, you must know what to expect and what it takes. Read on for more information.

Why should you start a Smoothie King franchise?

There are many significant benefits to starting a Smoothie King franchise at your earliest opportunity. Smoothie King Franchises, Inc. is the original US-based smoothie brand, now led by CEO Wan Kim. 

It's based in Dallas and was founded in 1973 in Kenner, Louisiana. Since the chain sold its first smoothie, it has become one of the most popular smoothie businesses overall. 

The significant benefits of franchising with this company include the following:

• Brand recognition. When you start a franchise with Smoothie King, you’ll immediately get access to a loyal customer base.
• Most sales growth for Smoothie King locations is consistent. Smoothie King’s corporate team will support you both at the beginning of your business's lifespan and throughout to ensure you see this constant growth. For this reason, the franchise company is on the Franchise 500 list, marking it as an excellent opportunity for those with enough liquid capital to open a Smoothie King store.
• Smoothie King offers a smooth, easy-to-understand operating system with a relatively low cost of entry. It simplifies different business management processes, so it's potentially a good franchise opportunity for new business owners or entrepreneurs.
• There are over 1200 Smoothie King units right now, which indicates lots of growth potential and popularity across the broader market.
• Smoothie King provides tons of support and training resources for each new franchisee. So if you don’t have a lot of experience in business, you might consider applying for a franchise with this franchisor, as they will show you the ropes and give you the educational tools you need to thrive.

You also might find Smoothie King personally appealing when you’re a Smoothie King franchisee. You'll sell premium, nutritious, handcrafted smoothies when you operate a Smoothie King franchise business opportunity. 

Every smoothie product is made with real whole fruit, supplements and organic vegetables, so you can rest assured that you are providing healthy, good products to your customers, not selling bad things.

Every unit also offers consumers benefits like retail merchandise such as vitamins, herbs and minerals. 

In other words, you don't just sell smoothies; you also sell a variety of health-related blends and products that can help people get the bodies and lifestyles they want. That appeals to wellness fans and folks looking to maintain active lifestyles.

This could be a great franchise opportunity if this is important to you.

Does Smoothie King offer territory exclusivity?

Sometimes. Depending on the state of your local market, Smoothie King might designate a specific geographic area where you can sell your products, limiting your competition.

However, remember that your protected territory isn’t locked down until you have secured a lease for your location, so you must know the financial requirements for this business model. 

Fortunately, Smoothie King will help you find the right site for your unit and store, plus help you with lease negotiations if needed. Different types of Smoothie King locations include free-standing drive-thru locations, in-line locations or non-traditional locations.

Should you establish it, your protected territory will include identifiable boundaries plus a residential population count of about 15,000 people. That’s a lot of potential customers to draw to your brand. 

If you operate your Smoothie King location from a nontraditional spot, you won’t receive a protected territory and don’t have any protected rights.

Related: Opening Day Delay

What support resources does Smoothie King offer new franchisees? 

You may additionally consider signing up for a Smoothie King franchise opportunity because of the support resources corporate will provide you with.

For example, Smoothie King will help you choose a site for your unit, plus help you with lease negotiation. 

Once your site is up and running, you’ll get access to additional support resources, like newsletters, field operations tech support and proprietary software to help you run your Smoothie King business smoothly from the start.

But you’ll need to market your location to succeed. Fortunately, Smoothie King will help you with this, as well. National and regional advertising resources, such as ad templates, will be available to you. 

You'll use the ad templates to make marketing materials that both stick with the broader Smoothie King brand and resonate with your target audience: smoothie lovers.

Once your Smoothie King unit is ready, you can use the proprietary loyalty program or app to drive engagement among your drink-sippers. That way, they’ll be more likely to return to your location for discounts and other perks.

Need to ramp up your marketing efforts? Smoothie King’s support will help you do just that, offering social media advertising support, email marketing help and SEO for your unit website. 

Armed with all of these resources and opportunities, you should be able to reach out to your target audience members in your local area effortlessly.

Related: Smooth Operators: How These Franchisees Found Success with Smoothie King

How much does opening a new Smoothie King franchise cost?

Before signing up for a Smoothie King franchise, it’s essential to understand what it will fully cost.

For starters, you’ll need to pay an initial franchise fee of between $15,000 and $30,000, depending on your location. You’ll also need a net worth of $300,000, $100,000 of which needs to be in liquid cash. You should expect to make an initial investment of between $260,000 and $1.2 million.

Royalty fees are 6%, and ad royalty fees are 3%, far from the most exorbitant fees in the franchising industry. 

Each term of agreement is 10 years and can be renewed. Consider the total investment requirements and whether you need additional funds before pursuing this juice bar franchise.

Since Smoothie King locations can vary so heavily in terms of cost, it may be wise to contact this franchisor and ask what the likely costs are for a unit in your location. 

Once you get your answer, you can decide whether to continue this franchise opportunity or seek out different entrepreneurial enterprises. 

Does Smoothie King provide financial aid? 

If you are having trouble meeting the above initial costs, remember that veterans get 20% off the franchise fee, which is a big incentive. 

Furthermore, Smoothie King maintains relationships with third-party lending and financing organizations. You can use these relationships to cover your franchise fee, equipment and other startup costs, plus long-term expenses like payroll.

With these avenues of financial assistance, Smoothie King franchises are relatively accessible, even for those who don’t have a lot of startup capital.

Related: The King of Smoothie King: How an Unlikely Franchise from Korea Bought the Company and Doubled its Size

What training is required for your new Smoothie King franchise? 

As a Smoothie King franchise owner, you’ll have access to comprehensive training resources to ensure you know how to run your business correctly. 

After signing the franchise agreement, all franchisees must attend a dedicated orientation and preopening training program as quickly as possible. This usually takes place before choosing your store site, as well.

The training is held at the Smoothie King corporate home office in Coppell, Texas, or another location designated by the franchisor. Regardless, your initial management training course will be up to 20 days, usually around eight hours per day, plus some homework assignments.

After that, Smoothie King will send a Smoothie King representative to your unit location at no cost to you, the franchisee. There, you’ll participate in on-site training and assistance throughout the opening weeks of your business. 

Generally, you can expect the representative to stick around for up to five days, showing you the ropes and answering any questions.

From time to time, you might need to complete additional training modules, but this is up to the franchisor’s discretion and only if you need advanced training for operating your unit (typically if you have a lot of business or operate in a competitive area).

Related: If at First You Don’t Succeed…

Start a Smoothie King franchise today

With this information, you’ll be well-equipped and ready to apply for a Smoothie King franchise of your very own.

Check out Entrepreneur’s other articles for more information about Smoothie King and other franchise opportunities.