Which Wich Franchises Profits, Costs & Stats (2023)

Another famous sandwich franchise with more than 400 restaurants in the US alone, Which Wich is also very popular for new franchisees as it’s an affordable franchise. Indeed, you would need to invest (only) $330,000 on average to open a new Which Wich restaurant.

But is this a profitable business? Which Wich restaurants make on average $282,000 turnover per year and reach 26% profit margins.

So should you invest in a Which Wich franchise? Are the profits worth the upfront investment? Let’s find out!

Ket stats

Franchise fee	$30,000
Royalty fee	6.00%
Marketing fee	6.00%
Investment (mid-point)	$330,000
Average sales	$282,000
Sales to investment ratio	0.9x
Payback period*	8 years (medicore)
Minimum net worth	$500,000
Minimum liquid capital	$150,000

What is Which Wich?

Which Wich is an American fast-casual restaurant chain with over 400 stores in 36 US states and around the globe.

It was founded by restaurant entrepreneur Jeff Sinelli in 2003 in Downtown Dallas, Texas, where it is headquartered. Which Wich began franchising in 2005 and is owned by Sinelli Concepts Int’l. Inc.

The brand offers sandwiches, salads, cheese, chips, milkshakes, cookies, spreads, and vegetables.

Which Wich franchises: pros and cons

Pros

• Extensive training: The franchisor provides its franchisees with a comprehensive training, which is about 2 weeks of classroom training at their headquarters and 10 days of on-site training
• Real estate support: The brand helps its franchisees with expert real estate support. It guides them on site selection, identifying a viable business location in terms of high traffic and growth potential. It also helps them with lease agreements and negotiations, as well as establishing their restaurants at the lowest cost possible
• Flexible franchise formats: Which Wich has multiple franchise models of different sizes. Franchisees can choose to operate a franchise format that fits the available real estate opportunities in their locations. The different dining options are strategically located in high-traffic locations and offer franchisees multiple income streams. These are dine-in, catering, drive-through, and take-out options
• Exclusive territory protection: The franchisor offers its franchisees an exclusive territory to operate their restaurants. Also, it does not grant any other franchises or operate competing channels in the designated areas

Cons

• No financing: The franchisor does not directly or indirectly finance franchise owners. Franchisees need to approach third-party lenders not affiliated with the franchisor to finance their start-up, inventory, and ongoing costs
• No absentee ownership: A Which Wich franchise is not a passive investment option. It requires franchisees to be fully active in the operations of their restaurants
• Competition: Which Wich franchisees face a lot of competition from established brands such as Firehouse Subs and McAlister’s Deli
• Not a part-time business: The brand does not present a part-time business opportunity. It requires franchisees to be fully open as per the agreement

How much does a Which Wich franchise cost?

On average, you may need to invest around $330,375 to open a Which Wich restaurant.

The required investment ranges between $180,500 to $480,250. Indeed, the exact amount you would need to pay depends on various factors like location, the current market price of required equipment, etc. For example, rent costs vary in different locations, which has an important effect on the total investment (lease deposit, etc.).

The investment amount covers all types of startup costs you would need at the beginning. Namely, in addition to the initial franchise fee of $30,000, the investment covers:

• Formation costs: furniture, fixtures, equipment, signage, initial training costs, pre-opening consultation, opening assistance costs, computer hardware & software, professional services, etc.
• Initial marketing: opening advertising expenses
• Operating costs: initial inventory/supplies, insurance, the first 3 month’s working capital, etc.

Type of cost	Low	High
Initial franchise fee	$30,000	$30,000
Formation costs	$129,250	$385,250
Initial Mmarketing	$3,500	$10,000
Operating costs	$17,750	$55,000
Total	$180,500	$480,250

What’s the average turnover of a Which Wich restaurant?

On average, a Which Wich franchise makes about $427,000 in sales per year. That’s the average turnover for a Which Wich restaurant before Covid.

Indeed, the pandemic affected Which Wich restaurants like any others. Sales numbers took a hit: -7.39% and -34% revenue growth in 2019 and 2020 respectively. Even though we do not have the latest 2021 nor 2022 numbers as the date of writing this article, you can assume Which Wich came back to pre pandemic levels.

	Restaurants	Median Gross Sales	% change
2018	383	$461,203	–
2019	355	$427,123	-7.4%
2020	288	$281,886	-34.0%

How profitable is a Which Wich franchise?

We estimate that an average Which Wich franchise makes $73,290 in profits per year. This represents a 26% profit margin (adjusted EBITDA margin).

The 26% adjusted EBITDA margin is in line compared to similar franchises as per our restaurant franchises benchmark (~25-27% industry average). 

Note that Which Wich doesn’t disclose its franchises’ financial information regarding costs in the FDD. Indeed, we had to use the industry average for COGS (25% sales), labor costs (29%), and rent (8%) instead.

Profit-and-loss	Amount ($)	% sales
Sales	$281,886	100%
COGS	$(70,472)	25.0%*
Labor	$(81,747)	29.0%*
Rent	$(22,551)	8.0%*
Royalty + marketing fees	$(33,826)	12.0%
Adjusted EBITDA	$73,290	~26%

Okay, now you know that you would earn approximately 26% profit if you own a Which Wich franchise. But you should be clear on that this adjusted EBITDA margin is not your net profit margin. Indeed you will need to deduct taxes, debt interest expenses, and other costs from the adjusted EBITDA. That’s what we’ll see in the next paragraph below.

Is a Which Wich franchise a good investment?

Unfortunately, the payback period for a Which Wich isn’t excellent: it takes on average 9 years for a franchisee to pay back the initial investment with the future profits when opening a new restaurant.

To get this number, we estimated net profits at 15% of sales, which makes sense given adjusted EBITDA is 26% instead.

Of course, keep in mind this is an average: it’s calculated based on the average performance of a number of restaurants disclosed in the Franchise Disclosure Document. As such, it’s possible that your restaurant performs better than the average. Still, with a payback period of 9 years, Which Wich is far from the best performing franchises under 5 years.

When choosing which franchise you should buy, make sure to consider all the factors and not just financials. For example, consider competition, franchisor’s training and support, territory protection and so on.

If you’re considering buying a Which Wich franchised restaurant, download our business plan below and access your 5-year financial projections and all the metrics investors and banks ask for (breakeven point, pro forma financial statements, etc.).

How does it compare vs. other franchises?