Franchise operators in a trading unit

Franchise league table

What a unit costs, and what it gives back.

These are businesses that already work. Someone else spent decades proving the franchise format, refining the supply chain and building the brand — and every system below will sell you a licence to it. The only questions left are which one, at what price, and how long the capital takes to come back.

The table

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19 franchise systems

South African franchise systems with all-in investment per unit, expected break-even and expected term to full return on investment.
Franchise All-in investment
per new unit
Break-even &
full ROI term
Detail
Early RiseEcosystem Education & ECD R2.54m Early Rise Holdings 3–4 yrs Sector benchmark Detail
Xpresso Café Coffee & Café R1.35m Xpresso Café 2 yrs Brand-published Detail
Nando's Quick Service Restaurant R5.47m – R6.69m BusinessTech, 27 January 2025 3–4 yrs Sector benchmark Detail
Chicken Licken Quick Service Restaurant R4.8m – R6.8m BusinessTech, 27 January 2025 3–4 yrs Sector benchmark Detail
Spur Steak Ranches Casual Dining R5.5m BusinessTech, 27 January 2025 3–4 yrs Sector benchmark Detail
Roman's Pizza Quick Service Restaurant R3.39m BusinessTech, 27 January 2025 3–4 yrs Sector benchmark Detail
Debonairs Pizza Quick Service Restaurant R2.05m – R2.38m BusinessTech, 27 January 2025 3–4 yrs Sector benchmark Detail
Steers Quick Service Restaurant R1.97m – R3.75m BusinessTech, 27 January 2025 3–4 yrs Sector benchmark Detail
Mochachos Quick Service Restaurant R1.9m – R2.9m BusinessTech, 27 January 2025 3–4 yrs Sector benchmark Detail
Simply Asia Quick Service Restaurant R1.5m – R1.8m BusinessTech, 27 January 2025 3–4 yrs Sector benchmark Detail
Sorbet Beauty & Wellness R1.4m – R2.2m Franchise Opportunities SA / Entrepreneur Hub SA 3–4 yrs Sector benchmark Detail
Supa Quick Automotive R1.5m – R2m SA Franchise Brands 3–4 yrs Sector benchmark Detail
PostNet Business Services R800k – R1.1m Franchise Insight 3–4 yrs Sector benchmark Detail
Martin's Funerals Funeral Services R1m – R2.4m SME South Africa 3–4 yrs Sector benchmark Detail
Dream Nails Beauty Beauty & Wellness R890k SME South Africa / Dream Nails Beauty 3–4 yrs Sector benchmark Detail
Titan Electrical Trades & Technical Services R671k SME South Africa 3–4 yrs Sector benchmark Detail
Kota Spot Quick Service Restaurant R550k – R950k SME South Africa 3–4 yrs Sector benchmark Detail
InXpress Logistics & Freight R288k – R500k whichfranchise.co.za 3–4 yrs Sector benchmark Detail
Kumon Education & ECD R60k – R100k SME South Africa 3–4 yrs Sector benchmark Detail

Investment figures are as at the date given by each source and are not maintained in real time; confirm current figures with the franchisor before relying on them. Amounts are generally exclusive of VAT, lease deposits and working capital unless the source states otherwise, and most franchisors additionally require a proportion of the total in unencumbered cash.

What we do with this

A good format is necessary. It is not sufficient.

Everything on this table is publicly available to anyone. That is the point: the format is the commodity part of the equation. Any investor can buy a strong franchise licence, and many do, and a material share of them still struggle — because the licence was never the binding constraint.

What is scarce is the rest of it. An operator who has been trained and assessed before they are trusted with capital. A mentor contracted to stay. Financial oversight that reports to the lender. Those are the things UAFIN adds to a franchise format off this table, and they are the reason the platform will not fund a franchise for which the ecosystem cannot supply them.

How the model works