When entrepreneurs like yourself have decided to venture into the ever-growing food business and are confused about which franchise to start with, this article can certainly prove handy.
There are thousands of brands available in the market, and based on their size, experience, customer base, and marketing strategy, some have already marked their position as prominent players, while others are pushing themselves harder to attain that.
With every penny invested in any franchise brand, the franchisee seeks humble training and support, better brand recognition, and an income stream for a longer period of time.
On the other day, we covered a detailed article on Blaze Pizza Franchise, but we could still see a few unanswered questions on Google, like Is Blaze Pizza a Franchise and many more, and we believe owning a Blaze Pizza may prove to be your exciting start in the food business.
In this extensive article, we’ll discuss whether Blaze Pizza is a franchise, the training and support they offer, growth prospects, owner salary, and revenue figures.
Table of Contents
Is Blaze Pizza a franchise?
Blaze Pizza was founded in 2011 by Rick Wetzel and Elise Wetzel at a high-street location in California. The chain has gained immense popularity for its “fast-fire’d” made-to-order pizzas and other range of beverages.
With nearly 340 locations spanned across 38 states and six countries, Blaze Pizza has revolutionized the overall fast-casual industry.
Since day one of their operation, the chain has grown from a single restaurant to over 340 fast-casual restaurants and is aspiring to grow beyond 500 stores in the upcoming years.
In conclusion, Blaze Pizza is one of the leading and rapidly growing fast-casual restaurant franchises, and it is open to partner with aspiring entrepreneurs who aspire to own more than one outlet and expand its presence in other territories.
However, to become one of their approved outlet owners, the franchisees are expected to invest a minimum capital of $565K, potentially reaching up to $1.1 million.
In addition to this, the franchise prospect also receive an extensive training and support, which we’ll discuss in the next section.
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How was Blaze Pizza born?
It all started in 2011, when the founder duo, Rick and Elise, who already possessed extensive experience in the restaurant industry, decided to foray into the pizza business.
They were sitting at one of the Chipotle restaurant, a leading American fast-food restaurant, and were inspired to watch the lunchtime rush navigate through Chipotle’s assembly line.
Immediately, their minds clicked, and there they sketched the business plan. At that stage, the burger, chicken, sandwich, and Mexican categories were already at an unprecedented level, and pizza was the only one eventually left out.
Shortly after the model was prepared and following in-depth discussions, the founder duo, along with Chef Bradford Kent, worked on perfecting the ideal pizza recipe and developed a proprietary oven that allowed them to cook their pizzas in just a few minutes.
With their proprietary oven and delicious pizza dough recipe prepared using high-quality ingredients, The Wetzels inaugurated their first store in California, and now they operate over 340 restaurants nationwide.
Why invest in the Blaze Pizza franchise?
Despite its current presence of over 300 locations and dozens of new Blaze locations in the pipeline, the chain is certainly on track for aggressive expansion.
According to its official website, Blaze Pizza has identified another 45 mid-sized areas for franchise development and is seeking to partner with experienced, multi-unit operators who envision providing the same experience and taking their concept to the next level.
It is no surprise that the competition in the food industry is quite fierce, and with the presence of prominent brands like MOD Pizza, Pizza Hut, and Little Caesars, Blaze Pizza will definitely face tough competition and will have to maintain the same dining experience across their stores.
Nevertheless, Blaze Pizza has been continuously innovating new technology and digital platforms, including its user-friendly website and mobile app, which enable their customers to perform hassle-free digital ordering.
We have also covered Blaze Pizza Alternatives and key advantages over its competitors. Please check out the link.
Does LeBron James own a pizza franchise?
LeBron James, a popular basketball player and the all-time leading scorer in NBA history. James was one of the early investors in Blaze Pizza who invested $1 million in the franchise in 2012, which generated massive wealth for him.
With nearly 10% stake in Blaze Pizza, LeBron James is often considered as a part owner, endorser, and investor, which helped the firm in opening a Blaze Pizza restaurant in Chicago and Miami.
James was also seen in several Blaze Pizza’s promotional videos, pranking customers by pretending to be a normal worker in the restaurant.
It is also evident from Blaze Pizza’s growth that with an initial capital of $1 million, the chain managed to flourish its outlets in other territories, which has currently grown into a chain of 340 locations and achieved an Average Unit Volume (AUV) of $1.1 million.
How does Blaze Pizza support its franchisees?
As an approved Blaze Pizza partner, you’ll have access to its tried-and-tested business model that allowed them to spread its arm across the nation.
In order to delve into and understand the overall Blaze Pizza business and become an approved BLAZER, the chain provides an extensive training program of up to 100 hours to the selected franchisee and their management team.
During this process, one would receive complete details on:
- Blaze standards and guidelines
- Recipe preparation and ordering
- Training tools, materials and customer service
- Managing cost, utilizing equipment, and preparing the flagship dough
- Employee training, restaurant launching, and POS Review
- Marketing overview and Inventory control
That’s not all—once the store is launched, the chain sends a team that trains for up to 75 hours to newly hired employees, making the store launch exemplary and massive.
Moreover, there is also a ton of on-going support offered by the franchise, which includes national marketing campaigns, robust social media engagement, new vendor relationships and social media campaigns, menu additions, store designs, and much more.
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How much do blaze pizza franchise owners make?
Blaze Pizza is predominantly known for its ‘fast-fire’d’ pizza, which entered the food and beverage industry after drawing inspiration from observing the lunchtime crowds at Chipotle restaurants.”
From the beginning, the chain has been quite transparent about its goals. With nearly 10 years of extensive experience and brand promotion by several celebrities, including LeBron James, Blaze Pizza now operates over 340 restaurants and competes with brands like MOD Pizza and Little Caesars.
To analyze about the franchise earning, we need to check out these details:
According to its official source, the initial investment required to franchise a Blaze Pizza location could be approximately $800,000.
Based on the initial investment and annual revenue of $1.23 million in fiscal 2022, one can anticipate the given return:
Based on the above estimate, even a minimum margin of 10% in the Blaze Pizza business would make franchisees recoup their investment in 6.5 years. Over 20% is an exceptional case.
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What’s the Blaze Pizza Franchise Growth Plan?
With a dozen projects in pipeline and more than 45 mid-sized areas marked for store development, Blaze Pizza has already laid out its future expansion strategy.
However, with 340 outlets in operation, the chain is still behind its competitor, MOD Pizza, which operates over 500 fast-casual restaurants.
Despite the highly competitive industry, Blaze Pizza continues to draw the attention of franchise enthusiasts across the globe, thanks to its moderate investment cost, competitive royalty, and marketing fee.
Blaze Pizza has also announced its plan to open two new Blaze Pizza restaurants in Bahrain’s capital, Manama. It was a multi-unit development agreement, marking their continuous growth in the international market as well.
According to the PRNewswire, the chain operates over 25 international restaurants across Canada, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and now Bahrain is added to their list.
The Editor’s Thought
Undoubtedly, Blaze Pizza is one of America’s most popular fast-casual restaurants, with over 340 locations nationwide.
And yes, Blaze Pizza does sell its franchises and is seeking partners with experienced, multi-unit operators who dreamed of owning and operating a popular pizza restaurant and wanted to take their passion to the next level.
For the investment and RoI point of view, the chain demands an initial investment of $800,000, which includes a franchise fee of $30,000.
Based on information accumulated from latest FDD, the chain posted an annual gross revenue of $1.23 million, and given this range, franchisees can anticipate recouping their investment in at least 6.5-7 years.
You can check out the other listings here as well.
Good Luck!! Happy Franchising!!
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Food & Beverages Franchise, Bakery Franchise, Home Improvement, Car wash, Real Estate, and Tea & Café Franchise
FAQ
Who owns Blaze Pizza?
Blaze Pizza, an American’s food and beverages pioneer franchise, was launched in 2011 by Rick Wetzel and Elise Wetzel of Wetzel’s Pretzel’s fame.
How much is Blaze Pizza Franchise owner salary?
On an average, a Blaze Pizza Franchise owner can anticipate an annual earning of $90,000 to 100K, potential reaching up to $246K.
