The Domino’s pizza franchise has been on a tear over the past decade. The company was a first mover in creating an online app where customers could track the progress of their pizza delivery. More recently Domino’s has added profitable menu items like oven-baked sandwiches to the menu along with chicken wings to create a more diverse offering.  

How much will it really cost to open a Domino’s? At the moment, franchising for Domino’s is only open to internal franchisee candidates. This means that if you want to be a franchisee in the United States, you should  have at least one year of experience working as a Domino’s supervisor or general manager. Expect to invest $156,450 – $682,500 to open this pizza franchise. Take our franchise quiz to find out if Domino’s is the right choice for you. 

Now that we’ve covered the basics on what to expect, here’s a detailed rundown of the financial considerations for this franchise. 

Financial Requirements and Fees

In addition to the initial total investment of $156,450 – $682,500, you’ll also be paying initial fees amounting to $10,000 before opening a Domino’s. 

The initial total investment varies because there are a number of factors to take into account when opening a new location.

We broke down the requirements first for a traditional store in the spreadsheet below. Always note that these numbers do not always reflect the total cost, since there can be additional fees that are not included. 

As you probably noticed, there are huge variations in some of the expenses like the rent or security deposit. Dominos has rigid requirements when it comes to the building and location of their stores. The real estate prices in your region are a major factor influencing startup costs. 

Store criteria includes:

• Land 0.3-0.78 acre
• High visibility
• Traffic count: 20,000 ADT (variable by market)
• Households: 3,000-15,000 in three-mile radius
• Parking: minimum 15 spaces (for customer and delivery vehicles)
• Pole sign or dedicated pylon sign allotment

There are also building requirements to consider below:

• 1,200 to 3,000 square feet
• Electric: 3 phase, 400 amp service to main panel delivered (as required by code)
• HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning): 1 ton per 150 square feet
• Gas: 2″ line/ 1.1 million BTUs (British thermal unit)
• Water: 1” line (minimum)
• High, open ceilings (preferred)
• Large sign and illuminated awning (desirable)
• Dedicated trash enclosure (desirable)

Lease terms:

• 10-year base term with two 5-year options
• No percentage rent agreements

There are two types of stores you can own with Domino’s. The first is their traditional store, usually found in shopping centers and other plazas. These retail spaces require appropriate parking for customers.

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Then there are non-traditional stores, which can be found in places like airports, stadiums, zoos, etc. Because of the flexibility of this pizza joint, store location is more flexible than other concepts.

Lastly, there are a number of expenses to consider once the store is opened and fully operational. Here are some of the on-going fees to consider before opening a franchise.

This may look like a lot of fees, but this is pretty standard agreement when owning any franchise. Again, these numbers are not part of the initial total investment. These are monthly costs of doing business. 

At this point, you’re probably wondering now how much profit is going to be leftover after all the expenses. Next, we’ll evaluate total revenue, average sales of per unit, and how much a franchisee owner can expect to make.

Average Sales/ Revenue per Year

Systemwide Annual Sales/ Revenue

The systemwide annual sales/ revenue of Domino’s in 2022 was estimated to be about $17.5 billion with $8.7 billion from just the US sales. This is an increase from their 2021 U.S. sales of $8.6 billion. 

Average Annual Sales per Unit

Domino’s Average Unit Volume (AUV) is $1,304,012 in 2021. An unofficial estimate reports that the profit margin to franchise an average Domino’s is 15% which means it could take 4.5 years to get a return from your investment.

Average Franchisee Profit 

The average franchise owner reports a salary or profit between $107,000 to $116,000. This is a difficult average to calculate because the numbers vary drastically.

There are too many factors to account for, one big factor being location. This is not the best number to use to determine whether or not the store is profitable. Rather, you can compare the franchise to other Domino’s that serve areas to your prospective region. Is your future store going to be operated in a big city? University town? Is it in a traditional or non-traditional site? All of these are major profitability factors. 

Other franchisees carry and operate their businesses much differently, so where they may be able to cut costs for profit, you will not be able to and vice versa. The cost of labor will also vary from state to state.

As a prospective franchisee, the better question to ask is “How much profit does a Domino’s franchise make?” Understanding this will allow you to better access the profits you might retain at the end of the year. 

Franchise Facts

1. Dominos was founded in 1963
2. Dominos began franchising in 1967 
3. There is an estimated number of 19,880 units 
4. Menu items consist of pizza, pasta, salads, chicken wings, and sandwiches
5. They are part of the quick-service restaurant industry 
6. Their headquarters is located in Ann Arbor, Michigan

How Much Profit Does a Domino’s Franchise Make Per Year?

The average Domino’s franchise owner reports a salary or profit of an estimated $107,00 to $116,00. These are pretty awesome numbers and many franchise owners end up being able to pay down loans and operate multiple franchises.

More than half of the franchise owners own more than one store. This means more money in your pocket that can eventually get you to a seven-figure income depending on how you manage your finances. If you are enthusiastic about these numbers then you should know that there are also many other advantages to being a franchise owner. Of course with the benefits, there are always challenges. Let’s talk about the advantages first.

Advantages of Domino’s

Besides the comfortable salary, franchise owners get benefits like a 401k and insurance, which is a great added benefit. They also get a 50% discount off the food from their own store. This way you can get your favorite pizza or wings at a fraction of the cost.

As for financing, taking a loan from a bank is easier as well with a franchise than opposed to starting your own business because there’s less risk with owning a franchise. The business model and operation plan has already been proven.

A comfortable salary with less risk than other franchise concepts is a big advantage. Specifically, when it comes to Dominos, you have the benefit of owning a popular and established brand. Because of this, marketing should be relatively easier and people will notice that a new Dominos just came into town. Without having to do much work, your Domino’s franchise is still set t do well since it has a good reputation among pizza lovers. 

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The company also trains its new franchise owners and that training can range from a couple of weeks to around two months. They offer these training services via online or in-person depending on the circumstances. This support can be offered to anyone not familiar with owning or operating a Domino’s, making it accessible to outsiders, though many owners do have prior management experience. This is great for first-time owners who may struggle transitioning from employee to the owner of a pizza franchise.

Domino’s has also shown an ability to adapt and be innovative from a technology perspective over the past 10 years. They created an advanced pizza ordering app that allowed customers to track the progress of each delivery. Today, the company is testing self-driving pizza delivery cars. These are forward thinking projects you can’t get with other opportunities.

They also dominated the delivery scene during the pandemic. And though this came with challenges such as rising costs and labor costs, they’re continuing to pull through by partnering with Uber Eats.

Of course, with every advantage/ benefits of running a  popular franchise, there are challenges that come with it. We talked about some of the strengths, so let’s talk about some of the challenges you may face.

Challenges of Domino’s 

Despite this being a well-known franchise, there are some challenges that come with its popularity. For starters, there is internal competition with the neighboring franchise owners. You have to find a way to stand out and either attract new customers, or impress the customers closest to the vicinity. In some highly-populated cities, there may be many Domino’s locations that you may need to compete with.

On top of that, there are also many other pizza chains that are growing and opening more locations. Along with fast-food options, more traditional pizza stores such as Italian-style pizza or deep-dish Chicago-style pizza are also growing in popularity. On top of that, if people don’t like the pizza or heard negative reviews, it may be difficult to stand out from the crowd or stay afloat when there are so many others around you.

Related Reading: How Much Will It Cost to Open a Pizza Hut?

Another challenge depends on whether you decide to open a traditional or nontraditional store. If you open in a nontraditional location like a concert arena or zoo, your franchise will be packed with people. Typically, Dominos handles their business through carry-out services, but in these nontraditional settings, they are operated in an in-person setting. Though this is relatively normal as other stores do in-person ordering often, Dominos is the opposite. Training an efficient staff and being comfortable in a fast-paced environment is essential. It is also important to note that in high-traffic areas, you may need to hire additional staff, which requires more wages as well as additional training. 

In addition to all of these, Domino’s is also facing closures despite being such a big company. Last June, Domino’s announced that they would be closing 70 stores worldwide in an effort to help streamline their operations and improve their next fiscal year. The closure would help them save $16 million to $20 million from the restructuring. In August, they also closed all their stores in Russia due to the challenges they faced with the war in Russia and Ukraine.

As you can see, there are a number of advantages and challenges, some are out of your control and some you can still solve. So it is ultimately up to you to measure your capabilities and understand if this is the type of franchise you want to own.

Is the Domino’s Franchise Right for You?

Those who wish to open a franchise need to complete a training course at their headquarters and training at a store. Many of their internal employees go on to become owners with such a streamlined process. With that said, the Domino’s franchise stresses experience and understanding of the operations of the store. This is a really good investment as the initial cost is relatively low when compared to other brands, though this is depending on certain circumstances. Ultimately, someone who wants to run this franchise should:

• Be willing to work at a Dominos for experience or already have prior management experience 
• Complete the training required from Dominos. This could be done online or in person depending on the situation. You may also be required to attend other training opportunities 
• Be prepared to work in an environment whose services rely heavily on carryout orders as opposed to in-person sales
• Be prepared for the high traffic and high volume of orders

Dominos is not like other stores where they operate mostly in person, but they receive many of their orders either through phone or online. This may require additional training, but is enticing to customers.

Though Domino’s is highly profitable and they offer many training opportunities to their franchise owners, this is best for someone who is comfortable working in an unconventional setting and has prior experience.

Fast food pizza is also extremely fast-paced, so you and your team need to work efficiently and well together. If you are willing to put in the work of gaining that experience and feel passionate about delivering excellent pizza and service, this franchise could be a good fit for you. 

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