Is Jeremy Wariner's investment in Jimmy John's smart?

I live a quarter mile from his store. I have never got my sub in under 45 seconds.

Genius. Very cheap, and will weather an economic downturn with ease.

And, it's Freaky Fast...

Disappointed customer.... wrote:

I live a quarter mile from his store. I have never got my sub in under 45 seconds.

Where is the store? I may drive over and go.

Their club tuna is pretty good.

I stopped eating at Jimmy Johns when I found out the founder is a big game trophy hunter. Luckily Potbelly's is around which is way better anyway.

wejo wrote:

Disappointed customer.... wrote:

I live a quarter mile from his store. I have never got my sub in under 45 seconds.

Where is the store? I may drive over and go.

!3m6!1e1!3m4!1ssHnp4g9M4bgxrMcgdwBEIg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1

True Story.. wrote:

I stopped eating at Jimmy Johns when I found out the founder is a big game trophy hunter. Luckily Potbelly's is around which is way better anyway.

I stopped eating at Jimmy Johns when I found out that their employees do a non-compete clause. A guy working for JJ can't quit and work for X sandwich shop for however many years (1-2). The owner sounds like a jerk.

Is it the one on Gaston Ave. near the Baylor Medical Center at Dallas? I'd be happy to one of JW's customers and possibly get the chance to congratulate him on his awesome career.

Any menu recommendations?

Not on your map. Nice one.

Props to the guy for recognizing that he has to get in and work at the business for it to have a chance to succeed. Jimmy John's ranks #6 on the top franchises to own. You have to have a solid net worth and a decent initial investment. I'd assume you are rewarded if you are willing to work hard (imagine that!) and have multiple locations.

Which Subway Wich wrote:

Okay, I know nothing about the location, but the sandwich market is so fickle - Subway, Quiznos, Which Wich, Potbelly, Firehouse, Panera, Jimmy John's, Erbert & Gerbert...

And the labor issues, that he already has hit on...

Restaurant franchises are a pretty good bet and JJs is one of the best ones. However, the low entry cost franchises like JJs, net of expenses, you can make the same type of money as an entry level corporate jock; to make a 6-figure salary, you usually need to own 2-3.

TrackCoach wrote:

Which Subway Wich wrote:

Okay, I know nothing about the location, but the sandwich market is so fickle - Subway, Quiznos, Which Wich, Potbelly, Firehouse, Panera, Jimmy John's, Erbert & Gerbert...

And the labor issues, that he already has hit on...

Restaurant franchises are a pretty good bet and JJs is one of the best ones. However, the low entry cost franchises like JJs, net of expenses, you can make the same type of money as an entry level corporate jock; to make a 6-figure salary, you usually need to own 2-3.

They key to making real money in franchising is growth. If you cannot grow, you will not make good money. Growth is very tricky due to sales territory issues with the franchisor. Growth opportunities get more difficult and more limited the more a franchise saturates a market. JJ is all over the Dallas market. Growth opportunities are probably pretty limited. But Dallas is still sprawling out like crazy in the burbs. So, if Dallas keeps growing, it won't be that bad. But it is better to own one of the first few to enter a market rather than be on the back end. Wariner will make money. But I do not see him sitting next to Mark Cuban at Mavs games anytime soon.

IDK anything about Jimmy John's or Jeremy Wariner in particular, but there are thousands of franchise horror stories. Plenty of new franchises make money for the franchisor, drain franchisees of their investments, and then go under. The franchise may tie a franchisee to an unsustainable cost structure and put the franchisee's future success at the mercy of a larger business the franchisee has no control over.

That's not necessarily true of all franchises, but I would look very, very, very closely at an opportunity before investing in a franchise.

For some sobering reading of franchisee complaints-

http://www.unhappyfranchisee.com/

He's only got the one, not spread thin, plenty of energy and time. Didn't get too far over his head. Probably liked the food so he decided on it. Hopefully he got a good location. He'd be smart to get his name out there and invite school track teams to eat there after meets. He won't get rich, but he could have done a lot worse with his money. He's seems willing to work there, so I'm going to say it's a good move. He really should be way more famous than he is and should be hired as a lifetime global representative for Adidas or something that honors his huge sporting success. It's good that he has a backup plan to support himself and family.

break out of shell wrote:

True Story.. wrote:

I stopped eating at Jimmy Johns when I found out the founder is a big game trophy hunter. Luckily Potbelly's is around which is way better anyway.

I stopped eating at Jimmy Johns when I found out that their employees do a non-compete clause. A guy working for JJ can't quit and work for X sandwich shop for however many years (1-2). The owner sounds like a jerk.

I thought for sure this was BS, but it is not. Very strange for a barely above minimum wage job.

If they market the "freaky fast" thing with a world class runner it could be good for both parties.

Beware of the horror stories wrote:

IDK anything about Jimmy John's or Jeremy Wariner in particular, but there are thousands of franchise horror stories. Plenty of new franchises make money for the franchisor, drain franchisees of their investments, and then go under. The franchise may tie a franchisee to an unsustainable cost structure and put the franchisee's future success at the mercy of a larger business the franchisee has no control over.

That's not necessarily true of all franchises, but I would look very, very, very closely at an opportunity before investing in a franchise.

For some sobering reading of franchisee complaints-

http://www.unhappyfranchisee.com/

You talkin bout Boston Market? That was basically like a legalized Ponzi scheme.

Beware of the horror stories wrote:

IDK anything about Jimmy John's or Jeremy Wariner in particular, but there are thousands of franchise horror stories. Plenty of new franchises make money for the franchisor, drain franchisees of their investments, and then go under. The franchise may tie a franchisee to an unsustainable cost structure and put the franchisee's future success at the mercy of a larger business the franchisee has no control over.

That's not necessarily true of all franchises, but I would look very, very, very closely at an opportunity before investing in a franchise.

For some sobering reading of franchisee complaints-

http://www.unhappyfranchisee.com/

A guy I went to high school with opened a few Quiznos or Jimmy Johns (can't remember which) in a big city. He hated it. The stress just radiated off him. He was putting in huge hours for years and the stores weren't barely breaking even. He said that managing the minimum wage staff was a total nightmare. It was mostly high schoolers who DGAF (and you can't really blame them) and assorted dregs of the working pool. They would quit to earn $0.05 more at another job and not tell him, not show up for work without warning, make themselves free lunch, etc.

luv2run wrote:

break out of shell wrote:

I stopped eating at Jimmy Johns when I found out that their employees do a non-compete clause. A guy working for JJ can't quit and work for X sandwich shop for however many years (1-2). The owner sounds like a jerk.

I thought for sure this was BS, but it is not. Very strange for a barely above minimum wage job.

http://fortune.com/2015/06/03/non-compete-ban-bill-jimmy-johns/

That's disgusting.