Data collection and analysis methods

Blimpie History

The Blimpie story began in 1964, when two students followed through on the idea of making high quality sandwiches, with the best ingredients used. They derived the name Blimpie from blimp, as the best description of their sandwiches. Nowadays, Blimpie has more than 1700 locations and has its headquarters in Atlanta. The last move on the market was the partnership with Wal-Mart and the opening of several Blimpie locations in the stores. These rank currently as the most successful

Initial Franchise Fees, Networth, Inventory, Liquid Cash Reserves

According to different websites, the initial franchise fee is $18,000, although this may be adjusted according to certain conditions and criteria. To this, one has to add other costs and operating reserves for the first months, until the "business is up and running"

. Overall accosts are estimated at between $114,000 and $340,000 depending on location, equipment, etc.

The networth of a Blimpie franchise is estimated at being over $100,000

and the recommended required liquid cash in the bank ranges between $15,000 and $30,000. The estimated number of employees required for a Blimpie franchise operation is 4 or 5

and the How long before the business can support itself?

It usually takes 3 to 6 months from the time of signing the franchise contract before the business is opened. The period of time before the business can actually support itself ranges a great deal, depending on the location, the demand, the level and quality of service (J.A. Archer, vice president of franchise development at Blimpie, said that anybody "who has a good customer service ethic and a reasonable amount of business savvy can be successful"

). We may estimate that the business can support itself in at most 6 months.

General Remarks and Conclusions

As we can see from the data presented here above, the Blimpie franchise operation provides several initial advantages. First of all, the cost is moderated, including here the initial investment costs required.