McDonald’s and 19 Other Franchises That Could Make You Rich

Starting a business can be an exciting prospect, but also daunting, particularly if you’re starting from scratch with a good idea but no guarantee that your business will survive. One way to approach a business is to consider a model that has a track record of success-barring being able to purchase an existing business, the best way to do that may be opening a franchise.

A franchise is an existing business model, often with multiple locations around the country, where things are done in a standard and consistent way, providing you with a template. Most of the time you just need to provide the start-up capital and the staff, and you might be able to earn money relatively quickly compared to starting a brand-new business.

If you do start one, you can join a small but mighty force of business owners going this route. Almost 5% of U.S. businesses with employees are franchises, according to Lending Tree. That adds up to around 130,492 businesses that are partially or wholly owned as a franchise.

Given the failure rate of new businesses, it’s not surprising that many aspiring business owners opt to become a franchisee rather than launch their own operation. If you buy a franchise, you get the benefit of operating an established brand with a proven system. But – as the Federal Trade Commission cautions – buying a franchise is no guarantee of success.

That’s why it’s important to consider franchise options carefully before investing in one. With costs varying widely, you want to ensure you get the most bang for your buck. To help, GOBankingRates analyzed Franchise Direct’s top 100 franchises of 2023 to identify those most likely to be lucrative based on their track records, startup costs and ongoing fees. They’re ranked from most to least likely to be financially successful.

If you’re thinking about buying a franchise, find out which ones are more likely to make you rich.

• Average franchise deposit fee: $19,950
• Average initial investment minus franchise fee: $311,659
• Royalty fee: 5.00% 
• Advertising fee: 3.50%

• Average franchise deposit fee: $17,500 
• Average initial investment minus franchise fee: $319,825
• Royalty fee: 4.00% 
• Advertising fee: 4.00%  

• Average franchise deposit fee: $10,000 
• Average initial investment minus franchise fee: $541,250 
• Royalty fee: 1.50% 
• Advertising fee: 1.00%

• Average franchise deposit fee: $46,800 
• Average initial investment minus franchise fee: $59,900 
• Royalty fee: 5.40% 
• Advertising fee: 2.00%

• Average franchise deposit fee: $25,000 
• Average initial investment minus franchise fee: $412,626
• Royalty fee: 8.00% 
• Advertising fee: 1.00%

• Average franchise deposit fee: $59,000  
• Average initial investment minus franchise fee: $57,500 
• Royalty fee: 5.00% 
• Advertising fee: 2.00%

• Average franchise deposit fee: $35,000 
• Average initial investment minus franchise fee: $224,064 
• Royalty fee: 6.00% 
• Advertising fee: 0.50%

• Average franchise deposit fee: $29,750 
• Average initial investment minus franchise fee: $296,626 
• Royalty fee: 5.00% 
• Advertising fee: 4.00%

• Average franchise fee: $70,000
• Average initial investment minus franchise fee: $148,763
• Royalty fee: 6.50%
• Advertising fee: 3.00%

• Average franchise deposit fee: $50,000 
• Average initial investment minus franchise fee: $1,961,250 
• Royalty fee: 4.00% 
• Advertising fee: 0.50%

• Average franchise deposit fee: $14,900 
• Average initial investment minus franchise fee: $140,925
• Royalty fee: 4.75% 
• Advertising fee: 3.00%

• Average franchise deposit fee: $22,500 
• Average initial investment minus franchise fee: $1,443,000 
• Royalty fee: 4.00% 
• Advertising fee: 4.00%

• Average franchise deposit fee: $32,500 
• Average initial investment minus franchise fee: $211,453 
• Royalty fee: $211,453 
• Advertising fee: 0.00%

• Average franchise deposit fee: $30,500 
• Average initial investment minus franchise fee: $359,750 
• Royalty fee: 6.00% 
• Advertising fee: 3.00%

• Average franchise deposit fee: $18,500 
• Average initial investment minus franchise fee: $555,823 
• Royalty fee: 6.50% 
• Advertising fee: 5.00% 

• Average franchise deposit fee: $10,000 
• Average initial investment minus franchise fee: $1,555,876 
• Royalty fee: 15.00% 
• Advertising fee: 1.63%

• Average franchise deposit fee: $30,000 
• Average initial investment minus franchise fee: $304,350 
• Royalty fee: 3.00% 
• Advertising fee: 1.00%

• Average franchise deposit fee: $50,000 
• Average initial investment minus franchise fee: $68,063 
• Royalty fee: 5.00% 
• Advertising fee: 4.00%

• Average franchise deposit fee: $5,000 
• Average initial investment minus franchise fee: $389,975 
• Royalty fee: 5.50% 
• Advertising fee: 6.50%

• Average franchise deposit fee: $22,500 
• Average initial investment minus franchise fee: $408,000 
• Royalty fee: 5.00% 
• Advertising fee: 5.00%

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Methodology: GOBankingRates looked at Franchise Direct’s Top 100 Franchises of 2023 across five factors to determine the top 20 franchises that could make you rich. The factors were as follows and all sourced from Franchise Direct: (1) Overall rank; (2) average of the low and high end initial franchise fees; (3) average of the low and high total initial investment minus the average franchise fee; (4) the percent of gross sales that will be deducted for royalty or service fees; and (5) the percent of gross sales that will be deducted for advertising or marketing fees. To be considered for this list the company offering the franchise had to be headquartered in the United States and have all the data for the factors above readily available. All factors were scored and combined, with the lowest score being best. In the final scoring, factor (1) was weighted 0.75 times as heavily as the other factors. All data was compiled on and up to date as of March 27, 2023.

Photo note: Some of the images in this article are representational and may not depict the company named.