The pizza business is a billion dollar industry: $46.24 billion in 2020 to be exact. In fact, a survey conducted by CiCi’s Pizza found 33% of respondants eat pizza at least once per week.

If you’re looking for a pizza chain to franchise and if you’re eyeing something different than the usual suspects, check out Jet’s Pizza. For 40 years, they’ve been known for their unique square-sized Detroit-style pizzas that customer come to for deep dish goodness.

How much does it cost to open Jet’s Pizza Franchise? You can expect the investment to be around $600,000 to $750,000 with a franchise fee of $25,000. To franchise this pizza chain, you’ll need a minimum liquid capital of $500,000 and a minimum net worth of $500,000.

Are you ready to dive into this deep dish pizza chain and learn more about Jet’s Pizza? Read through this franchise review to understand what it takes to franchise this pizza chain. Take our 7-minute franchise quiz to get matched with a business opportunity that’s right for you. 

Financial Requirements and Fees

These are the financial requirements that Jet’s Pizza requires for potential franchisees.

Fees / Expenses Financial Amount
Liquid Capital $200,000
Net Worth $500,000
Total Investment $350,000 to $1,500,000
Franchise Fee $39,500

In addition to startup costs listed above, Jet’s Pizza requires 10% in royalty fees. These royalty fees match-up with other pizza chains like CiCi’s that have royalty and ad fees that add up to 11%. The term of agreement to sign up with the pizza chain 10 years. Jet’s Pizza provides 50% off the franchise fee for veterans, specifically US Military veterans who have valid IDs.

Average Sales / Revenue per Year

Jet’s Pizza revenue has reached millions. The company generated revenues $343 million in 2021. This was an increase in sales by 3.5% from the previous year.

While the total revenue of a Jet’s Pizza is far behind larger chains like Pizza Hut this is to be expected since the company has far fewer units. The average revenue per units of a Jet’s Pizza was $895,561 annually based on 2020 estimates.

Jet’s Pizza Franchise Facts

Total Units 383
Incorporated Name Jet’s Pizza
Franchising Since 1990
Industry Quick Service
Subsector Food and Beverage

Jet’s Pizza’s origins can be traced back to 1978 where brothers Eugene and John Jetts opened their first pizzeria in Sterling Heights, Michigan. They called it Jetts Party Shoppe and Pizzeria where they started selling deep dish pizzas, beer, wine, chicken, and seafood. The popularity of their pizzeria has made them decide to franchise in 1990 and took one ‘t’ down from the name to turn it into Jet’s instead. This then grew into 390 locations all around the United States.

The current menu that Jet’s Pizza has includes pizza, chicken wings, salads, classic sub sandwiches, and desserts that include cinnamon sticks, chocolate chip cookie pizza as well as their brownie pizza.

Customers come for the unique pizza crusts that the company offers. They have their classic square cut Detroit-style deep dish pizzas, round hand tossed ones, wafer-thin crusts, and New York style. For those with dietary restrictions, Jet’s Pizza also offers cauliflower crust pizzas and gluten-free ones. There’s literally something for everyone here.

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Jet’s Pizza uses Mama Jett’s pizza sauce to this day which they claim is a secret recipe. The chain also uses the freshest, premium ingredients on their pizza. Their dough is hand pressed and made every day and they bake their pizzas in steel pans to achieve the signature crispy edge.

To franchise Jet’s Pizza, make sure you have the financial requirements that the pizza chain has provided in their website or in this case, the ones that we mentioned above. The next step is to fill in the franchise application form here. This serves as the pre-qualification questionnaire.

Upon submitting, an auto-generated email is sent back with an invite to contact Jet’s Pizza’s franchising representative. You will then be interviewed if you pass the initial criteria to become a franchisee.

Once you pass this, you’ll be given the following documents to review and sign:

  • Completed Franchise Application and Personal Finance Statement (PFS)
  • CPA Opinion Letter to validate PFS
  • Review Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) and submit signed receipt
  • Updated Resume
  • No Application Fee

After this step, another interview will commence regarding site development, business plan, and training requirements. When that’s all done, you’ll wait for your transaction to be approved and be presented with your capitalization plan and financial review. The final approval will then be given to you if you’d like to become part fo the Jet’s Pizza family.

The time it takes to open your Jet’s Pizza location depends on the city permits and local health department. But when the lease is signed, it usually takes 90 to 120 days to prepare the store for a grand opening.

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As for training, Jet’s Pizza makes sure you will be trained in the daily operations of running the pizzeria. This includes learning the standard business procedures, how to use and maintain their equipment, and what measures of quality control they take. Franchisees will also learn how to make Jet’s Pizza and most of their products to make sure they are up to quality standards. A minimum of 200 hours in training are required per person.

Jet’s Pizza is still being run by the Jetts and is headquartered in Sterling Heights, Michigan.

How Much Does Jet’s Pizza Make in Profit?

There is not much official information on how much profit does Jet’s Pizza makes. The closest estimate I can give you is to look at the pizza industry averages. On average, a profitable pizza shop operates at a 20% margin.

Based on the average unit revenue of Jet’s Pizza, I project the average revenue being $179,112 per unit. Obviously there are all sorts of factors that go into average unit revenue including operations, food waste, and location.

Advantages of a Jet’s Pizza Franchise

There are a lot of advantages you can expect when franchising Jet’s Pizza in your area. Here are a few of them.

Crust Varieties

The menu at Jet’s Pizza offers customers a wide variety of items to choose from. As mentioned above, they already have options for customers to choose their crusts. But they can also “flavorize” their crust which not many pizza places do. Crust flavors vary from butter, Cajun, garlic, parmesan, poppy seed, romano, and sesame seed.

One might just think this is a small thing but this option can capture customers who find crusts boring and wish to turn them into something flavorful. A unique crust is one way that you can stand out.

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The Classic Vibe

Jet’s Pizza has been around for more than 40 years and being in the industry this long means that they have a business model that works. Not to mention, they still use the same secret recipe they’ve used through the years and still continue making pizzas with fresh ingredients. This restaurant has proven profitability in economic booms and recessionary cycles alike.

Flexibility

Did you know you can convert an existing pizzeria into a Jet’s Pizza location? According to one of their answers in their FAQ’s page, you will be able to do so. This is a unique advantage because it allows you to take over an existing business location with an established customer base and transform it into a Jet’s Pizza. Reach out to the company see if the location you are eyeing has potential. The equipment and the look will need to change so be prepared for renovations before reaching out.

This pizza chain also allow partnerships if you wish to run a Jet’s Pizza with a friend or family member.

Rewards Program

Jet’s Pizza unveiled their loyalty program last September 2020 where upon signing up and ordering more than $10 will get customers points in which they could use to claim complimentary features such as Free Delivery or an item. A loyalty program can greatly help businesses get their customers to keep coming back for more.

Challenges of a Jet’s Pizza Franchise

All businesses will have their set of challenges. These are the ones you can expect from Jet’s Pizza.

No Global Presence

We’re not sure why Jet’s Pizza hasn’t branched out worldwide yet despite being in business for over 40 years. But whatever the reason, we hope that they would consider it soon since Jet’s Pizza seems like they have the potential to be enjoyed by people around the world. But the fact is this company does not have the brand awareness or penetration of other global pizza businesses. Depending on where you open the store, many people will have never heard of you.

Does Not Offer Financing

Jet’s Pizza does not offer financing but they do have connections with a Network of Lenders which they can hook you up with to help you in acquiring the loan you need to get your franchise. If you have a strong credit history and meet the financial qualifications, you should have good chances of securing financing.

Employee Reviews

Jet’s Pizza has fairly good reviews from customers and franchisees but employee reviews from Glassdoor says that that some of the cons of working for Jet’s is that they offer “low pay for such a demanding position” and that the base pay is minimum wage. This is not an uncommon complain from employees in the restaurant industry. Additionally, if the company can’t pay employees above minimum wage, it may be challenging to find talent given the labor shortage.

Is the Jet’s Pizza Franchise Right For You?

Pizza is always a good business. It’s the kind of pizza brand you want to franchise that’s the important thing to think about. If you have the financial means to franchise Jet’s Pizza and you love Detroit-style pizza this could be the right business opportunity for you. With over 383 stores and counting, Jet’s Pizza does not seem to be stopping now.

What is an alternative Jet’s Pizza franchise?

A pizzeria that sells authentic and fresh pizzas is Marco’s Pizza. They’ve been around for 40 years and are one of the pizza places in America that’s best known for being founded by an Italian.

The total investment to franchise Marco’s Pizza is $ 183,408 to $ 552,713 and the franchise fee is $ 25,000. Read more on Marco’s Pizza with our full franchise guide here. With this guide, I hope you’ll be be able to make a more informed decision about this franchise.