My first inclination was to respond on the cherry-picked excerpt but after reading the full article, I came away with a different opinion that what I would have said otherwise.
This is a very well-run franchise and yes, it is more accurate to call the franchisees "operators" as opposed to "owners."
However that may be the key to success. By "marrying" the operators to the stores, the stores are going to be much better run. Contrast that to other franchises that allow absentee owners to hire their own operators while they sit on a beach in the Caribbean, allowing the store to go to seed.
The 5-7% of gross sales is a pretty sweet deal for the operator considering the average annual gross at a Chick-Fil-A is $5.3 million. This translates to an average annual income to the operator of around $318,000 a year. Not a bad deal for the operator who only has to pony up $10,000 upfront - with Chick-Fil-A assuming the rest of the up-front costs (well over $2 million).
Chances are however you will never get one. Apparently there are thousands of people in line ahead of you waiting for a franchise.
I'm not a fast food guy - my low-carb keto-style diet pretty much prohibits it. But the few times I've been in a Chick-Fil-A, they were clean, the employees were happy and friendly and I got a real positive vibe. Sort of like how McDonalds used to be when Ray Kroc was still alive.
I looked into franchising many years ago including Dunkin Donuts, Mailboxes Etc (now UPS Store), and Subway. The biggest hangup for me was the massive turnover of the employees and the overall unreliability of the ones you had. That was the biggest complaint that other franchisees had about their businesses. Also, an involved franchisee puts over 100 hours a week into it. It really does become your life unless you have the big bucks to hire people to run it for you.
Glad I never got into it.
I have a friend that is a UPS Store franchisee. He says that he bought a job.
Thank you for your excellent thoughts! I had a tough time excepting the article. Glad for what you said. 300 word limit for excerpts, I tried to stir you up you know?