Your Own Brand or a Franchise? Choosing Your Path to Restaurant Ownership
If you want to own a restaurant, do you have to create the brand yourself? This workshop looks at two paths to ownership. One is building your own concept from scratch. The other is buying into a franchise, where you run your own restaurant under an established brand and follow its business system. We’ll cover how franchising works: who does what, where the money goes, and what kind of support franchisees can expect in return.
This session is for current and aspiring restaurant owners and anyone curious about franchising as a way to start or grow a business. You don’t need any background in franchising to attend. We’ll explain the basics in plain language. The franchisor is the company that owns the brand. The franchisee is the independent owner who runs the restaurant. Royalties are the ongoing fees a franchisee pays the franchisor, usually a percentage of sales.
You’ll learn what a franchise fee actually covers, including the brand, training, supplier relationships, technology, and marketing support. You’ll also learn what you give up in exchange: fees, contract obligations, required standards, and less flexibility than an independent owner has. We’ll walk through how to evaluate a franchise opportunity. That includes reviewing the Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD), a document franchisors must give you before you sign or pay anything, which lists fees, startup costs, and other key terms. You’ll practice with a hands-on budgeting exercise and leave with a simple framework for deciding which path fits your goals, resources, and preferred level of independence.
Presenter: Kellen Eggert, Big Town Hero
Date: Tuesday, October 27, 2026
Time: 5:30–7:00 p.m.
Location: Fourth Plain Community Commons, 3101 E 4th Plain Blvd, Ste. 101, Vancouver, WA 98661
Enjoy complimentary sandwiches courtesy of Big Town Hero.
Spanish interpretation available
Questions?
BusinessAssist@FourthPlainForward.org
Small businesses. Stronger communities.
Seats are limited, so save your spot today.
