Crispy Success: A Step-by-Step Guide on How to Start a Fried Chicken Business

Content:

1 1. Starting a Fried Chicken Business Begins with a Plan
- 1.1 Financial Analysis
- 1.2 Your Roadmap to Starting a Fried Chicken Business
2 2. Establish a Corporate Entity
3 3. Real Estate, Equipment, Capital, Permits, and More
4 4. Designing Your Menu
- 4.1 How to Start a Fried Chicken Restaurant Without Any Headaches?

Do you want to know how to start a fried chicken business? There are two great reasons to consider launching one.

First, chicken is way more popular than beef, so people in the United States are clamoring for chicken – be it legs, wings, crispy golden tenders, and more – so a fried chicken business will easily attract a hungry audience.
Second, starting a fried chicken business has comparatively low start up costs. Combine that with a growing demand, and there is a potential for substantial success.

If you want to know how to start a fried chicken business, there are some basic steps to follow, as well as some choices that entrepreneurs need to make in order to ensure success.

1. Starting a Fried Chicken Business Begins with a Plan

Starting a fried chicken business – or any business for that matter – begins with a plan. Crafting a detailed business plan served two functions.

Financial Analysis

One, a business plan shows investors, financing firms, and banks that you are serious about bringing your idea to life. From the sales pitch to the breakdown of costs to financial projections showing when your fried chicken business will become profitable – the more details you can include, the better. Everything from market conditions to competition, equipment, real estate, marketing, and more should be laid out with as many specifics as possible. A thorough business plan shows people that you know how to start a fried chicken business, and will be more apt to get excited and help you get the funding and equipment you need.

Your Roadmap to Starting a Fried Chicken Business

Your business plan is more than just proof to lenders that you know how to start a fried chicken business. A business plan also details milestones and contingencies. It is your reference guide to success, making sure you are meeting specific goals, and what you need to do to stay ahead of the curve. Keep in mind that a business plan is not set in stone, and should be reviewed periodically and updated as your fried chicken business grows.

2. Establish a Corporate Entity

Filing the paperwork for your enterprise is a crucial step in starting a fried chicken business. Look over the following options when you consider how to start a fried chicken business and the tax implications:

Sole Proprietorship: A sole proprietorship is a business owned by one person. This business is unincorporated, and responsible for all tax liabilities, from personal to unemployment taxes, and filing information for payment to non-employees and other businesses.
Partnerships: In a partnership, each member who owns a fried chicken business is required to file taxes annually, and profits and losses are passed through from the business to its partners.
Corporations: Registering as a corporation allows business owners and investors to exchange money and assets for stock. If your fried chicken business is a corporation, then the business itself becomes liable for taxes, and net losses or gains are distributed to shareholders.
S-Corporation: S-corporations are good for very small operations that do not plan on growing. In this case, the fried chicken business would be responsible for taxes, but all operations must be domestic and have no more than 100 shareholders involved in the business.
LLC: A Limited Liability Company (LLC) is what most people register as when they are figuring out the tax aspect of how to start a fried chicken business. LLCs are not restricted in ownership, foreign or domestic shareholders, or parent company, and there is typically more flexibility in taxes and deductions.

3. Real Estate, Equipment, Capital, Permits, and More

Once the high-level aspects of how to start a fried chicken business are ironed out, it’s time to dive into the details.

Starting a fried chicken business takes a lot of detailed work. Purchasing or leasing commercial space for a fried chicken business takes capital. Then there is the decision of whether to purchase or lease equipment for the fried chicken restaurant. Add to that permits, licensing, insurance, branding, marketing, payroll – everything requires starting capital, which means turning to SBA loans, taking out a HELOC, taking on partners, and more.

4. Designing Your Menu

Beyond the paperwork, if you want to know how to start a fried chicken business, you need to think about the menu:

What do people want to eat?
Fried chicken legs?
Golden chicken tenders?
Are you going to offer sides?
Do you have special recipes that set your fried chicken business apart from the competition?
Are your recipes and procedures easy enough to follow so that your staff can make dishes to order when you’re not there?
Are you going to use fresh ingredients or pre-packaged frozen ones?

Once you’ve sorted through what is and isn’t going to be on your menu, there’s one big question to be asked: Where are you getting all of your ingredients and food from so you can make the items on your menu?

Finding a supplier and making sure your inventory doesn’t eat into your overhead costs requires strategic and logistical planning for even small fried chicken restaurants.

How to Start a Fried Chicken Restaurant Without Any Headaches?

Starting a fried chicken business can seem daunting if you are starting from square one. However, if you want to know how to start a fried chicken business without navigating most of the steps listed above, the secret is to invest in a fried chicken franchise. There are many advantages to investing in a fried chicken franchise, such as:

The franchise business model can be implemented in most locations.
Franchises are mostly turn-key by design.
There is already built-in branding and marketing.
A streamlined training model for franchise owners and staff.
An existing audience ready to buy fried chicken.
Ongoing support to help franchise owners.

If you want to talk to the people who know how to start a fried chicken business, talk to the franchise team at Bojangles. Since 1977, we have been growing our operations by serving the best Southern food with our golden tenders and best-in-class breakfast and chicken menu selections.

Our boneless menu brings in all of our dedicated fans. We train successful entrepreneurs and provide all the tools and ongoing support needed to launch their fried chicken restaurants and generate the revenue they want to fulfill their dreams.

If you want to learn how to start a fried chicken business, or want to invest in one or multiple Bojangles locations, contact our team today!

When it’s time to know how to start a fried chicken business – It’s Bo* Time!