Why do you really want this?

Another massive deep-dive, this time on who gets a Chick-fil-A.

If you've ever thought about owning a franchise—or know someone who has—then you've probably heard about Chick-fil-A. In the franchise world, it's the holy grail: the one opportunity that practically everyone considers, even if they ultimately decide it's not for them.

Getting a Chick-fil-A is statistically harder than getting into Harvard, becoming a Navy SEAL, or landing most other major franchises. With thousands of applications for just a handful of spots each year, what separates the winners from everyone else?

I analyzed over 100 recent Chick-fil-A opening announcements to find out—and the results might surprise you.

Why Everyone Wants In

First, let's talk about why the competition is so fierce:

• The buy-in is ridiculously low: Just $10,000 to get started. Compare that to McDonald's (around $45,000 franchise fee plus $1-2 million total investment) or most other major chains that require six or seven figures upfront.

• The payoff is massive: Reports suggest the average Chick-fil-A owner brings home around $300,000 annually—and that's probably a conservative estimate from a few years ago. For context, that's roughly six times the median American household income.

• The process is brutal: Applications can take years to process. One successful candidate I found went through a "four-year journey" from initial application to opening day.

Think about it: you're essentially asking to invest $10,000 for a shot at a $300,000-per-year business. Of course everyone applies.

What I Discovered

I looked at every new Chick-fil-A that opened between October 2024 and late June, examining the backgrounds of 105 people who actually got franchises (86 men, 19 women). Here's what nearly all of them had in common:

They Already Worked for Chick-fil-A

This is the big one: 93% of successful applicants were current or former Chick-fil-A employees.

We're talking about everyone from teenagers who worked there part-time in high school to restaurant managers to corporate executives at their Atlanta headquarters. Some clearly took jobs at Chick-fil-A specifically hoping it would lead to franchise opportunities. Others had family members who were already franchise owners.

Bottom line: If you haven't worked for Chick-fil-A, your odds are essentially zero.

Many Had Multiple Locations

Here's something that surprised me: 17% of new franchise owners already operated at least one other Chick-fil-A restaurant. I used to think they limited people to just one location, but apparently not anymore.

The Leadership Pipeline is Real

About one-third of successful applicants had gone through Chick-fil-A's Leadership Development Program—basically a 2-3 year intensive training where promising employees travel around solving real business problems. It's like an MBA program, but for chicken.

The Rare Exceptions

Only seven people out of 105 got franchises without having worked for Chick-fil-A first. These outliers typically had one of two things:

• Deep local connections in areas where Chick-fil-A was expanding for the first time (think New York City, Puerto Rico, or Canada)

• Serious leadership experience, usually military service or high-level corporate careers

Geographic Flexibility Helps

About 20% of new owners were willing to relocate for their franchise. A Boston native opened a restaurant in Texas. Someone from Alabama took one in Indiana. Flexibility apparently pays.

What This Really Means

Let me be clear: I would be absolutely terrible at owning and operating a Chick-fil-A.

My interest here is purely academic—though I suppose spending this much time analyzing chicken restaurant announcements officially makes me some kind of poultry masochist.

But that's exactly why this is fascinating. Chick-fil-A isn't really in the franchise business—they're in the restaurant business.

They're not looking for investors who can write checks; they're looking for people who can run excellent restaurants according to their very specific standards.

Their strategy: identify talented people early, train them extensively, test them repeatedly, and then give the best ones restaurants to run. It's less like buying a franchise and more like earning a promotion after years of proving yourself.

For most of us, this means owning a Chick-fil-A isn't a realistic goal unless we're willing to spend several years working our way up through their system first. But there's a broader lesson here that applies to any career or business decision:

Companies with the best opportunities are incredibly selective about who they choose—and they usually know exactly what type of person succeeds.

The next time you're facing a major career decision or evaluating a business opportunity, ask yourself the question Chick-fil-A apparently asks every applicant over and over: "Why do you really want this?"

If you can't give a compelling answer that goes beyond just wanting the money, maybe it's not the right opportunity for you.

And if you really do want to own a Chick-fil-A someday? Well, now you know where you need to start: fill out that job application first.

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7 other things worth knowing

• A shooter opened fire on a morning mass at a Minneapolis church on Wednesday. Two children were killed and 17 people were injured. Sources have confirmed to KSTP that the shooter at Annunciation Church is 23-year-old Robin Westman. FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed his agency is investigating the shooting as “an act of domestic terrorism and hate crime targeting Catholics.” (KTSP)

• Expect your health insurance costs to rise next year, brokers and experts say. (AP)

• Federal prosecutors have been unable to persuade a grand jury to approve a felony indictment against a man who threw a sandwich at a federal agent on the streets of Washington this month. The grand jury’s rejection amounted to a sharp rebuke by a panel of ordinary citizens against the prosecutors assigned to bring charges against people arrested after President Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops and federal agents to fight crime and patrol the city’s streets. (The New York Times)

• At a time when grocery bills keep climbing, a few brands are clinging to nostalgia-priced staples — like Costco's $1.50 hot dog combo and AriZona's 99-cent iced tea cans. By holding the line on price, companies trade margin for loyalty, signaling to customers that "value" is part of their DNA. (Axios)

• Plus-size passengers on Southwest Airlines may soon find it harder to get reimbursed for their extra space. The airline long had a policy encouraging "customers of size" to purchase two seats when they book a ticket, and then apply for a refund for the second fare after they travel. Southwest will still allow customers to apply for the refund, but is restricting the conditions under which it will actually provide the reimbursements. (USA Today)

• Your next real estate agent may be a teenager: The share of Realtors younger than 30 grew from 1% to 4% in 2024, according to NAR's member profile, and sits at 3% in 2025. Several Gen Zers I spoke to for this story told me they find appeal in working in real estate because there's no ceiling on what they can earn. Rather than invest tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in a four-year degree, they can spend a few weeks or months training to receive licenses and start working in fields where their hustle correlates to their payday. (Business Insider)

• New York City's crackdown on Airbnb has been a jackpot for hotels. After the city effectively banned most short-term rentals in 2023, hotel prices jumped by up to $19 per night, netting the industry an extra $2.9 billion in just 18 months. The study, published in the European Journal of Political Economy, reveals how the hotel industry flexed its political muscle to shape the new rules. In 2023, hotels outspent Airbnb on lobbying by a staggering 20-to-1 margin. (Boing Boing)

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Thanks for reading. Photo by Brad on Unsplash. I wrote about some of this before at Inc.com. See you in the comments.