Compact Food Concepts Offer Aspiring Business Owners a Simpler Way to Enter the Restaurant Industry
Aspiring entrepreneurs often have an idealistic view of restaurant ownership, imagining packed tables, rave reviews and the satisfaction of serving food people love.
Then reality hits. There’s expensive equipment to purchase and maintain, staff to pay and costly leases and buildouts. However, there is a way to have the best of both worlds: “right-sizing,” or prioritizing efficiency over footprint size.
A growing number of food and beverage concepts are thinking smaller. Kiosks, food trucks, takeout-focused restaurants, beverage shops and compact fast-casual concepts can give franchise owners the fun and customer connection of the food business without the overhead costs of a traditional restaurant.
For aspiring owners who would rather spend more time focusing on efficiency than managing a massive restaurant, a small-footprint franchise model could be the right choice.
Small-Footprint Franchise Models
Beverage Franchises
Benefit: From morning coffee and afternoon smoothies to energy drinks, teas and other grab-and-go beverages, drink runs have become part of the daily routine for many busy consumers. Brands can meet this demand with a kiosk or drive-through-only location to save on overhead costs. Smaller footprint models also make it easier for entrepreneurs to open multiple locations in a shorter time frame.
Top Beverage Franchises: Coffee franchises like Ziggi’s Coffee, Dutch Bros Coffee, The Human Bean and 7 Brew offer drive-thru-only options that provide entrepreneurs with an exciting opportunity to meet the growing demand for contactless service.
Coffee is only part of the small-footprint beverage story. Smoothie and boba tea concepts can also lend themselves to compact footprints. For example, Smoothie King can be found at the DFW Airport, and Gong cha stores are typically less than 1,000 square feet and only require two employees per shift.
Dessert Franchises
Benefit: With a small-footprint or mobile dessert franchise, entrepreneurs can set up shop at nontraditional locations, such as stadiums, airports, malls and more.
Top Dessert Franchises: Kilwins, a family-owned premium chocolate and ice cream franchise, recently introduced a small-footprint model. To complement its full-line stores, Kilwins Select features a smaller footprint, simplified build-out and curated product assortment, giving franchise owners the flexibility to expand into high-traffic retail environments and develop multiple locations.
Another example of a dessert franchise with a small footprint is Dippin’ Dots. Many of its locations can be found as a co‑branded kiosk or small stores located in entertainment and retail venues. Other nontraditional locations include amusements, stadiums, zoos, aquariums, museums and more.
Fast-Casual Franchises
Benefit: With a compact fast-casual franchise, entrepreneurs can save on buildout costs and simplify their menus.
Top Fast-Casual Franchises: Jersey Mike’s targets locations ranging from approximately 1,200 to 1,800 square feet, with new builds generally targeted at 1,200–1,400 square feet.
Starting out small worked well for Chiddy’s CheeseSteaks, which became wildly popular since 2014 when it began as a food truck. Now the sandwich brand offers opportunities in retail locations and also operates kiosks at sports venues including Citi Field (above), the New York Mets’ home stadium.
SoBol is another brand making the most of a compact footprint. Specializing in acai bowls, smoothies and superfood offerings, SoBol typically operates in just 700 to 900 square feet.
Takeout-Focused Restaurants
Benefit: Small-footprint concepts can make the most of high-traffic locations, especially in busy urban areas where space comes at a premium. Many also lean heavily on takeout and delivery, creating additional revenue without the need for a large dining room.
Top Takeout-Focused Franchises: Döner Haus, a popular German-style döner kebab franchise, has found a natural fit in urban markets. Its compact, flexible footprint lets franchisees leverage heavy foot traffic from students, professionals and tourists. The brand’s streamlined model focuses on takeout and delivery, meaning there is no need for indoor seating. This allows franchise owners to take advantage of spaces as small as 700 square feet with floor plans that might not be ideal for other uses.
Other concepts that do well with this small-footprint franchise model include pizza brands, wing concepts and other businesses that focus on deliverable foods, like burgers and sub sandwiches.
One brand taking a particularly creative approach is Smalls Sliders. Its roughly 800-square-foot restaurants, affectionately called “Cans,” pair a tiny footprint with an equally streamlined menu centered on cheeseburger sliders.
Buffalo Wild Wings has put its own spin on the smaller-is-better model with BWW GO. The takeout and delivery business serves the same wings and sauces the brand is known for, in a format designed for speed, convenience and a much smaller footprint.
