How store owners talk about it

If you own or run a quick-service franchise store, you have heard most of these. If you are thinking about buying one, this is what you will hear soon enough. Each is explained in plain words.

These are common phrases, and how people use them varies. They describe how owners feel about their stores, not any one brand.

Money

Bought myself a job: I meant to make an investment, but the store needs me so much that it works like a job, and a hard one.
Getting killed on labor: Wages and hours eat so much of every sales dollar that very little is left for the owner.
Off the top: Money the brand takes before the owner sees anything. Royalties and ad fund contributions are usually a percent of sales, not of profit, so they are owed even in a month the store loses money.
Junk fees: What some owners call small recurring charges, such as card, software and technology fees, that add up and were not clear when they signed.
Where does the ad fund go?: Owners pay into the brand's advertising fund and often wonder what it buys for their own store.
Thin margins: A small gap between what comes in and what goes out, so one bad month can erase the profit.
Keeping the lights on: The store earns just enough to pay its bills and the owner gets little or nothing.
Prime cost: Labor plus food and paper, as a percent of sales. Many owners watch it first because it moves fast and it is where most of the money goes.

People and the daily grind

Crew churn: People quit about as fast as they are hired, so the owner is always hiring and training.
No-call, no-show: A crew member who simply does not come in and does not say why.
In the weeds: Falling behind in the middle of a rush, with orders piling up.
Slammed: Far busier than the crew on the schedule can handle.
Dead shift: Slow hours that still have to be staffed and paid for.
Scheduling to sales: Putting the right number of people on each shift to match the sales you expect. Too many on a slow shift wastes money, and too few on a busy one costs sales.
Clopen: Closing late at night and opening early the next morning, usually with the same person.
Living in the store: The owner or manager is there almost all the time because nobody else will hold it together.

The brand

Corporate changed the rules again: The brand changes its operating manual or requirements during the term of the agreement, and the owner pays to keep up.
Forced remodel: The brand requires an expensive update to the building or equipment, usually on its schedule, not the owner's.
Another limited-time offer: A promotion the brand requires, which costs the store new ingredients, training and prep, whether or not it sells.
Approved vendor: A supplier the brand requires the owner to buy from, sometimes at higher prices than the owner could find elsewhere.
Getting scored: A brand inspection, audit or mystery shopper visit. Owners can feel a bad score outweighs a good month.
Clustering: Another store of the same brand opens nearby and takes sales from yours.
Take it or leave it: The agreement was handed over as is, with little room to negotiate.
Hostage to the business: The owner wants out, but transfer approval, exit fees and the lease make it hard to leave or sell.

Rules and regulations

Wage bump: A minimum wage increase that lifts every pay rate, often including people paid above the minimum.
Scheduling rules: Local laws that require notice before a shift changes, or extra pay when it does.
Compliance: Everything an owner must do to follow wage, hour, safety and food rules. It takes time, and mistakes can be costly.
Transfer approval: The brand's permission needed before someone else can take over management or ownership of a store.

Hearing yourself in this list? That is the problem QSR Operations was built for. Post your store and let an operator who loves this work bid to earn your return.