According to the franchise information group, Franchise City, a Chick-fil-A operator today can expect to earn an average of around $200,000 a year. This calculation is based on the average restaurant's earnings and the percent gross that operators take (via Washington Post).

The company, however, is pretty picky about the franchise applicants, selecting only 75 and 80 out of 2,000 applicants. "The barrier to entry for being a franchisee is never going to be money," Chick-fil-A spokesperson Amanda Hannah told Business Insider.

As for starting the franchise, Chick-fil-A's startup fee is $10,000 as per The Chicken Wire, which is very low compared to the $30,00 average fast-food franchise startup fee, as per The Hustle. The next cheapest is Subway and Church's chicken at around $15,000 each.

Although Chick-fil-A has the lowest startup fee, it doesn't necessarily make them the best deal for investors. Whereas most fast-food restaurants take a royalty fee of between 4 to 8 percent of monthly sales, Chick-fil-A takes 15 percent.

While other fast-food chain investors shell out their own money for the building, Chick-fil-A, on the other hand, covers the building cost. Depending on where the new Chick-fil-A restaurant is located, those costs can soar to $2 million, hence, the high royalty fee.