It's no secret that Americans love indulging in Mexican food, but what you might not know
is that America's favorite Mexican restaurant is Taco Bell.
"What?
What?
What?"
That's right, forget about all those lists of "the best Mexican restaurants" that heap
praise on tiny taquerias.
According to a 2018 Harris Poll of more than 77,000 people, Taco Bell has been voted the
top Mexican restaurant in America.
While foodies across the country will be in deep denial, it's undoubtedly good news for
Taco Bell.
And Fox Business reports that Taco Bell is on a quest to open another 2,000 new locations
by 2023.
To put it bluntly, Taco Bell is winning.
"Deal with it"
So for current and future franchisees of Taco Bell, that means some serious profit.
Across the board, fast food franchise owners make a good annual salary and pull in a pre-tax
income average of around $90,000.
That's nearly double the annual income of the average American.
So how do Taco Bell franchise owners stack up?
According to Franchises for Sale, they can expect to earn an annual income of between
$80,000 and $100,000 per restaurant.
That's not bad for a place where everything on the menu seems to use the same four ingredients.
It should also be noted that Taco Bell franchise owners often make that much income right out
of the gate in their first year of business.
A big reason for this is the sheer amount of advertising that Taco Bell churns out.
Obviously, a fast food company that's confident enough to open its own hotel knows what it's
doing when it comes to marketing but they might want to rethink their guests' early
morning health routine.
"Guests could start their day with sunrise yoga and Taco Bell room service."
Owning a Taco Bell can be pretty lucrative.
But if you want to join the party, you'll be expected to show up with a whole lot of
cash.
Aside from the company's $45,000 startup fee, Business Insider estimates that opening a
new location can cost anywhere from $1.2 and $2.6 million.
A large portion of this money is for the real estate and building the actual restaurant.
If you're lucky, you might be able to score an existing Taco Bell location, but that will
still set you back anywhere from $175,000 to $1.4 million.
Obviously, this no small chunk of change, which is why Taco Bell only lets those with
deep pockets take ownership of its restaurants.
Plus, tacos don't just magically appear out of nowhere.
You'll have to purchase plenty of equipment and ingredients to turn your Double Chalupa
fantasies into a reality.
Another thing to keep in mind is that Taco Bell requires potential investors to have
a net worth of at least $1.5 million bucks, and $750,000 of that should be in liquid assets.
They also prefer investors who have some legitimate restaurant-industry experience.
According to The Balance, if a person can manage to meet these demands and secure a
location, they have the luxury of enjoying an absentee ownership.
That means they can just kick back like royalty and watch the profits roll in.
If you don't have $1.5 million laying around and the thought of spending $2 million to
build a Taco Bell makes your head spin, there may be another alternative.
MarketWatch has reported that in early 2020, Taco Bell announced some franchises may begin
paying managers $100,000 a year.
These would be company-owned restaurants rather than franchise-owned.
But still, that's a golden ticket to earning a franchisee salary without putting up your
own money to build a restaurant.
Of course, there are plenty of franchises out there and you might be wondering how owning
a Taco Bell compares to other major brands.
According to The Balance, as of 2018, Taco Bell was leading KFC and Pizza Hut in terms
of sales growth.
And the average yearly sales per store is $1.6 million.
Those numbers are certainly nothing to scoff at but when it comes to some of the other
franchises, Taco Bell has a long way to go if it wants to knock out the competition.
Barron's has reported that in 2018, McDonald's racked up an average of $2.8 million in sales
per store, while Chick-Fil-A easily topped that at a whopping $4.7 million per store.
As far as annual salary goes, McDonald's franchise owners take in an average of $150,000 a year
and Chick-Fil-A operators can pull in around $200,000.
So, you might make less as a Taco Bell franchisee but you'll have the last laugh knowing that
you're serving up America's favorite Mexican food.
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