franchise businesses

If you’re interested in starting a business, a franchise is a great low-risk option, that allows you the freedom to be your own boss. If you have a sweet tooth and you find yourself regularly joking that you’re keeping your local sweet shop in business, and you’re on a first-name basis with all of their staff… It’s a good sign that you should think about opening a franchise.

So now that you’re thinking about it, there are several good options for franchises out there for people who love sweets just as much as you do, from artisanal ice cream to edible cookie dough and everywhere in between.

For those of us with a sweet tooth, edible cookie dough was a brilliant innovation. In recent years there have been edible cookie dough bars opening up in major cities everywhere. It’s even showing up on grocery store shelves. Franchising is an excellent opportunity to be the first in your area to bring a huge and profitable trend to the community.

There are so many options for franchise businesses open to you, in a wide range of markets. If you’ve narrowed your niche down to sweets, these picks are some of the best available.

Chill’n Nitrogen Ice Cream

Chill’n Ice Cream is unique because it’s made with liquid nitrogen which creates a fun smoky effect, This Miami-based shop was one of the first of its kind in the county. Nitrogen ice cream is a fresh, made on the spot alternative to traditional ice cream that is pre-packaged and shipped all over.

They offer a significant amount of support to their franchises including financing through their partners.

Additionally, there is a fast track option that can get you from application to franchisee in 90 days.

One downside to the Chill’n option is the ice cream franchise’s cost, which is higher than the other options listed here.

Cold Stone Creamery

Cold Stone Creamery is an excellent option for an ice cream franchise because it is an already well-established brand that has over 900 locations nationwide, and has been ranked in the top 50 best franchises in the nation. That coupled with a relatively low upfront cost makes it a lower risk investment than some of the other options.

Additionally, Cold Stone Creamery has a high success rate and proven business plan that has stood strong for more than 30 years. It is a perfect combination of traditional ice cream with artisanal options that have become increasingly popular in recent years allowing them to stay competitive in a market that is moving away from simple ice cream.

Signature options like freshly-made waffle cones and top-rated ice cream flavors ensure long term success.

While it is surely a good option amongst franchise businesses, there is a pitfall in that the contract lengths start at 10 years.

NoBaked Cookie Dough

This Nashville based shop brings together the edible cookie dough trend with the customizable experience of Cold Stone Creamery. With tons of options for mix-ins and add-ons, NoBaked offers a unique experience amongst cookie dough franchises.

Due to their small size,  they don’t offer the same level of support as some of the other options. However, the startup costs are significantly lower than the two previously mentioned, for the same reason.

Even without the extra support, NoBaked still offers marketing materials, exclusive store design, a landing page for your website, and access to proprietary recipes.

Some of their unique flavor offerings include Red Velvet and Cookie Monster and they even have an option to eat your cookie dough out of a freshly baked waffle cone.

DoDo Edible Cookie Dough & Ice cream

DoDo is a unique franchise opportunity in that it combines two favorites to make the ultimate sweet treat. With sixteen daily flavors of ice cream and at least 9 selections for cookie dough, the options for combinations are endless.

This Maryland-based brand is well established in the area and specializes in their variety of fresh and fun cookie dough flavors made in house daily.

Additionally, the simple and streamlined menu is easily manageable and also customizable to guarantee your franchise has room to be unique. The franchise opportunity that DoDo offers is the best option for creativity and growth.

DoDo Edible Cookie Dough & Ice Cream offers a low buy-in and a proven effective, easy to follow business plan that allows you to get your shop up and running relatively quickly.

The limitless possibilities make it one of the best ice cream franchises to own. With the increasingly competitive dessert shop market, staying fresh and exciting can mean the difference between success and failure.

If you open a DoDo in your neighborhood, it is almost guaranteed to be the first of its kind which will make your business memorable in the community, and offer a low-cost marketing opportunity that is hard to find anywhere else. This is an excellent chance to build partnerships with neighboring businesses that can prove invaluable to your success.

If you’re passionate about sweets and thinking about opening your own business, a franchise is an excellent and low-risk option, as long as you have the capital to get started. It can seem like all sweets are created equal, but in terms of business opportunities, they aren’t and neither are all franchise businesses.

There are pros and cons to every option, but thanks to the hot trend of specialty desserts, simple ice cream shops are quickly becoming the way of the past. New and innovative options are taking over the dessert shop industry, and new businesses are having to be increasingly creative to break into the market successfully.

The thing all of the above options have in common, is a requirement of access to large amounts of liquid capital. This can be a deterrent for some and will take careful planning for all, but with the right techniques for saving, you too can fulfill your dream of owning your own sweet shop.

Another thing they all have in common is a passion for bringing communities together and sharing a love of all things sweet.

Cookie Dough Franchising

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