Domino's Pizza

The franchise fee ranges from $0 to $10,000 — Domino's runs development incentive programs that can waive it entirely for franchisees who meet new-build commitments. This is unusual and genuinely attractive as an entry point. The low end of the entire investment ($156,450) is achievable for an operator converting an existing space with minimal buildout.

The typical buildout reality: leasehold improvements run $25,000 to $350,000 depending on the condition of your space. Furniture, fixtures, and equipment (including the proprietary PULSE technology system) add $81,000 to $145,000. Signage runs $5,200 to $35,000. Insurance — notably — costs $25,000 to $75,000 annually for a traditional store, which is one of the highest insurance line items in this franchise category.

Other significant costs: 3 months rent ($3,000–$25,000), security deposit ($1,000–$10,000), working capital ($10,000–$73,000). Total: $156,450 to $743,500.

Ongoing fees: 5.5% royalty on weekly Royalty Sales (competitive — Subway charges 8%, Pizza Hut 6%). The advertising fund takes 4% of Royalty Sales. Combined: 9.5% before local/regional cooperative contributions, which can add another 1–4%. Domino's tech fee stack is complex — PULSE license ($4,200 one-time), annual software enhancement fee ($780.26/year, capped at 5% annual increase), help desk ($44/call), Technology Transaction Fee ($0.375 per digital order), SmartRecruiters ($432/year). Total tech overhead runs roughly $5,000–$7,000 annually per the FDD. You're also buying bread products weekly from Five Guys's bakery affiliate — wait, that's the wrong brand. Domino's requires proprietary technology but the supply chain is through approved suppliers.

Domino's Item 19 is one of the more data-rich FDD disclosures in the pizza category, covering 6,518 franchised traditional stores from 2020 to 2024. The 2024 average weekly unit sales (AWUS) was $26,467 for franchised stores and $26,120 for company-owned — implying annual revenue of approximately $1.38M and $1.36M respectively. The franchise system AWUS has grown steadily: from $25,264 in 2020 to $26,467 in 2024.

The EBITDA tiered data is where the real story lives. At the median AWUS (~$25,000/week, or $1.3M annually), EBITDA is about 12.1% of sales. At the highest tier ($30,001+/week), EBITDA reaches 14.7%. At the lowest tier ($15,000/week and below), EBITDA is just 1.7% — these stores are barely profitable.

The P&L data from 665 stores that submitted financials shows: average sales $1,007,628, COGS 30.7%, labor 27.4%, occupancy 7.6%, other costs 25.3% — EBITDA $90,821 (9.0%). The median store generated $83,117 in EBITDA. This is before debt service, depreciation, or above-restaurant expenses (regional managers, etc.).

A $90K EBITDA on a $156K–$744K investment gives varying payback periods depending on your buildout costs. For a low-cost conversion, this pencils reasonably. For a full buildout at $744K, you're looking at 8+ years to payback on EBITDA alone.

Domino's is the largest pizza franchise in the world. The US franchised system reached 6,776 stores in 2024, growing steadily: 6,243 stores in 2022 to 6,458 in 2022 year-end, 6,585 in 2023, and 6,776 at end of 2024. The company-owned portfolio (292 stores) functions as an R&D lab and benchmark for franchisee operations.

Yearly franchised openings have been consistent at 250+ new stores against minimal closures (typically 5 or fewer per year). The scale of the system provides supply chain leverage, national advertising ($1B+ in system-wide ad spend), and technology investment that individual operators couldn't replicate independently.

The brand has navigated the delivery wars (DoorDash, Uber Eats) by investing in its own delivery infrastructure and carryout tracker technology. AWUS growth from $25,264 in 2020 to $26,467 in 2024 (+4.8% over 4 years) is modest but positive in an inflationary environment.

The insurance requirement — $25,000 to $75,000 annually for a traditional store — is one of the highest absolute insurance costs in franchise food, reflecting the delivery operation's liability exposure. Model this carefully before projecting profitability.

The technology fee stack has many line items that can add up: PULSE license, annual enhancement fee, help desk charges ($44/call — every call to tech support costs money), network security, payment processing, and SmartRecruiters. The FDD notes annual tech overhead should average no more than $7,000, but the per-call and per-transaction fees make this variable.

Domino's advertising cooperative can require up to 4% of Royalty Sales from individual markets, pushing combined advertising from 4% to as high as 8%. The FDD caps the combined national fund + local advertising at 9% of weekly Royalty Sales — but that's an effective cap, not a promise.

Domino's corporate has been aggressive about converting franchisee territories back to corporate ownership. In 2022, corporate reacquired 106 franchised locations — 12% of the franchised system at the time. This isn't a termination program, but it means your territory could be acquired by the franchisor under certain circumstances.