Who could have imagined that a tiny “four-sandwich and printed-menu-less” shop founded by a 19-year-old would turn into a chain of over one thousand restaurants all over the US? Yes, we are talking about Jimmy John’s! Back in 1983, John Liautaud, a 19 years old boy at that time, started a small shop in Illinois offering four types of sandwiches. John initially focused on making simple meat sandwiches for college students. His shop started getting famous because of his great taste and the business started to gain a strong base. He started improving his setup by including tables and printed menus. Responding to the demand of local people, John also started home delivery service from his shop. John’s shop soon turned into a company and it started franchising in 1993.

Jimmy John’s is a one of its kinds in this group of restaurants. They keep their meals simple and maintain their original form always. A special feature of this restaurant is that the bread, used for making sandwiches, is baked everyday at each outlet. Even the names of the original sandwiches have not changed since the beginning of the shop. This tradition makes it a distinct restaurant, which vows to provide the best sandwiches to its customers.

Today, Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches has about 1020 franchises all over the US. Out of these, the company owns 23 units. The company allows people to open its franchises on some conditions that differ from other restaurants. Apart from the usual ones, the company finds in interested people, qualities such as a love for life, kids, music, grandparents and love for sandwiches! This shows a lively and healthy business focus.

If an interested business qualifies to open a franchise, the company provides training for management of staff. This training consists of two types and different durations. The general managers get a training of seven weeks while assistant managers get a 3-week training. This training aims to ensure that the outlet runs at exact standards as defined by the company.

There is a well-defined procedure set by the company for opening a franchise. This includes submission of an application followed by review by the company. After this, a meeting between applicant and office management takes place. Various history credit checks and inspection of sites lead to the opening of a new franchise.

Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches has an initial franchise fee of $35,000. A net worth of $300,000 is also required. If we add a range of other costs like real estate and insurance, the total investment amounts to between $305,000 to $460,500. The royalty charged by the company is 6%. There is also an advertisement fee of 4.5% of the income.

The company defines its approach as simple and honest. The restaurant keeps its menu simple and always delivers the promised sandwiches as described in the menu. The growth of the company from a single tiny shop in Illinois to over one thousand outlets spread across the US is evidence of the restaurant’s high quality standard and honest service.

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