How to Start Your Own Crepe Franchise

Lily Sweeney, writer

Published at 05/08/2021, Updated on 04/05/2022 , Reading time: 5 min

How to Start Your Own Crepe Franchise — Photo © How-to-Start-Your-Own-Crepe-Franchise.jpg

If you’re interested in starting a cost-effective, profitable franchise business, and you also have a love of all things delicious and sweet, you should consider starting a crepe franchise today. Franchising is a great way to make a career change and start a new professional journey, combining franchisor support with all the freedom and flexibility of business ownership.

Running your own crepe business in the world of franchising could be right up your street, combining all the things you’re looking for in an investment and in your professional life. In this article, you’ll discover exactly which steps you’ll need to cover as you go about starting your own crepe franchise, from building a business plan to getting off the ground.

What does a crepe franchise do?

A crepe franchise is a franchise business that specialises in delicious, thin pancakes. Customers are given plenty of sweet, savoury and nutritional options in a range of formats, including out of restaurants and out of mobile crepe vans. As a popular sub-sector of the dessert industry, crepe franchises see plenty of demand in the UK.

Should you start a crepe franchise?

Crepes are eaten across the world, and have become a staple choice for UK consumers, particularly on Pancake Day. The niche sector is booming, with British households consuming a total of 117 million crepes and pancakes on Pancake Day alone [The Mirror], and plenty more across the rest of the year.

Beyond this evident demand for the tasty treats, there are plenty of advantages to starting a crepe franchise, including the fact that crepes are easy to make and offer franchisees a versatile range of options (as mentioned above, they can be sold in a number of ways and forms). They’re also a nutritious, healthier alternative to many traditional dessert options.

People are becoming more health conscious and choosing their food accordingly, which is why health food businesses are attracting more customers than ever. [...] One such option that is increasingly gaining popularity is crepes. – Crepe Delicious

>> Read more:

How to start a crepe business

Research the market and the opportunities you’re interested in

When you’re thinking about starting any business, you need to do your research. And you need to do it well. Look into the market you’ll be entering (How’s it doing? Is it growing?) and the opportunities available to you, deep diving into factors like franchise reputation and the experiences of existing franchisees.

Also look into available franchise locations and locations in which crepe businesses will be able to thrive. If you do your research well, you’ll know exactly what you’re getting into, and your operation will be less likely to fail later down the line.

Narrow your list down based on investment cost and financial viability

Once you’ve gathered together a list of opportunities in the sector, it’s time to narrow that list down based on financial viability. Starting a crepe franchise is a lower-cost option in the world of franchising, particularly compared to the standard costs of starting a business like a restaurant. But of course, costs will vary depending on brand name, franchise size and franchise location.

Generally speaking, the average cost of starting a franchise in the UK, as of 2018, was £42,200 [British Franchise Association]. In the crepe/dessert sector, this is a sampling of the range of investment costs you might expect to pay:

Crepe Delicious - Crepe Delicious requires a minimum initial investment of £50,000, with franchise fees of £16,000 and a total investment cost of £80,000.
Quick Crepes - To become a Quick Crepes franchisee, you’ll need to make a minimum initial investment of £95,000, with franchise fees of £14,950 and a total investment cost of £135,000.
Wafflemeister - To join the Wafflemeister franchise network, you’ll need to make a minimum initial investment of £100,000, with franchise fees of £15,000 and a total investment cost of £150,000.
Crepeaffaire - Crepeaffaire requires a minimum initial investment of £60,000, with franchise fees of £20,000, and a total investment cost of £120,000.

Analyse your skills and existing professional experience to find the right fit

Which brings us to step three. Now, you have a list of opportunities, and you know they’re financially suited to you. But do your skills match up? Even without experience in the industry, certain transferable skills will help you to succeed as a franchisee with a crepe business, such as:

Customer service
Teamwork
Patience
Sales and negotiation
Community
Time management
Attention to detail

If you possess these skills, you’re in a good position. Also, if you can, use your professional experience to your advantage. Even previous roles that might seem unrelated could help you as a franchisor, as things like technological proficiency and administrative experience can be useful in any job.

>> Read more:

4. Do your due diligence before signing a franchise agreement

Having landed on one opportunity and gotten in contact with the franchisor, you’ll be asked to look over the franchise agreement. As this is a legally binding document, and you’ll be entering into a contract, you must ensure you’ve done a few things, inside and outside of the agreement. Ask yourself, when assessing whether you’ve done your due diligence:

Have I reviewed the Finance Disclosure Document?
Do I know my expected turnover and the timeframe for recouping my investment?
Have I fully analysed the franchise opportunity?
Have I spoken with my franchisor?
Have I met current franchisees?
Have I sought legal advice/had the agreement looked over by a legal professional?

5. Fully invest in the process once your franchise business is off the ground

One of the biggest reasons to become a franchisee over a business owner going it alone is all the training and support that you’ll receive from your franchisor post-investment. In order to start your own crepe franchise right and hopefully begin to build a truly successful and profitable business for yourself, it’s important that you fully invest in the process and seize all the training and support opportunities, initial and ongoing, that are offered to you.

Find out more about the specific training opportunities you’ll be entitled to by reviewing your franchise agreement, asking your franchisor, or speaking with current franchisees. Get your money’s worth on the revenue front and the advice and learning front, too.

Become a franchisee in the food service industry today

Now, you should have a clear idea of how to start your own crepe franchise. A career in food service, running a food franchise of any kind, can be incredibly rewarding, whether it’s a dessert franchise like Baskin Robbins or a restaurant franchise like Las Iguanas. Continue your research journey on Point Franchise, discovering the tech trends innovating the food sector and the state of franchising in the restaurant sector.