You Can't Own A Culver's Without Following This Strict Rule

At Midwest-based burger chain Culver's, there are a lot of rules that its employees have to follow. Uniform guidelines and adhering to health codes are typical expectations in food service, but one rule that does stand out applies to Culver's franchise owners. "Culver's expects nothing less than full-time, hands-on engagement from our owner-operators," reads the franchisee FAQs listed on Culver's website. To ensure the high level of customer service that Culver's prides itself on, franchisees are required to work alongside their employees.

What you may not know about Culver's founders, Craig, Lea, George, and Ruth Culver, is that the family placed an emphasis on quality and hospitality from the very beginning. These principles helped Culver's grow from a single location in 1984 to a franchised fast food empire with over 1,000 locations. Expanding beyond its Wisconsin family-owned and operated roots was one of many big changes Culver's has gone through, but compromising the core values of the business wasn't something its founders would allow. Daily owner involvement was one of Culver's franchisee requirements since shifting to the franchise model in 1990.

Culver's promises to support all franchise owner-operators. Once a franchisee has paid the $65,000 for a 15-year agreement, they are enrolled in a training program that teaches them every aspect of running a Culver's location, including every role employees serve in the restaurant. This requires traveling to Wisconsin to attend Culver's ButterBurger University. The training program is mandatory for first-time Culver's franchisees, and while the fee is included in the upfront costs, training-related expenses such as transportation, accommodations, and meals are not. 

Franchisees are not only obligated to manage their own Culver's locations, but they're also responsible for obtaining their own restaurant equipment. Culver's doesn't leave franchisees on their own to make this happen. The company assures new owner-operators that members of its support team will "literally sit down with you and guide you through your ordering process." Every franchised location is also required to have a minimum of six employees before it can open. If the franchisee is a partnership or corporate business rather than an individual, it must assign a member with at least 50% equity in the business to act as the owner-operator of its franchised Culver's location.