My job as a Quiznos Sub Franchise owner involves a great deal of customer service, operational organization, and employee management.

EDUCATION | I was a business major at Villanova University

HOW TO GET STARTED | I think my advice to someone thinking about starting a franchise is that you need to be prepared for a long day. You need to be there. These franchises don't run themselves. I think you need to understand your numbers. It's important to do your research, read up on franchises, and having some sort of business sense.

MUST HAVE TRAITS | Energetic, Analytical, Organized. Fun!

how I got started | Basically, I started calling around franchises, looking for something to do on my own. Here's how it works; you pay them an initial franchise fee to become a Quiznos owner, at the time, it cost 25,000 dollars to buy the initial franchise fee. After that, the new franchise owner works with Quiznos Sub's dedicated real estate agents to help find you a location. Then, you work with architects that Quiznos Sub's (corporate) refers you to, to get the store set up. In addition, you go through a training period, one month working at Quiznos Sub store and then to Quiznos headquarters in Denver, Colorado. The training portion is called Quiznos University. The hardest part was figuring out what franchise to go with and then, the waiting. For me there was a lot of waiting, it takes about a year and half, full cycle to open a store. Also you have to buy all the food from Quiznos Sub you can't go out on your own and create a special or something, that's the hard part of being a franchise owner. You have to tow the company line. Also, every week I pay a 7 percent franchise royalty fee and 4 percent national advertising fee, so it's important to do the accounting on a daily basis so that I can manage the store and the inventory.

why this job?| I wanted to work for myself. I wake up everyday and it's a totally different feeling than working for a corporation, you feel an enormous amount of energy because you are doing something you are proud of and something you enjoy. I now have control over my work and get something out of it everyday, whether it is making an employee or customer happy. I don't feel like there is a Sunday night anymore, and that's great! You work a lot but it doesn't feel like work.

why I love this job!| I love customer service. I love having control over my day. I love having the ability not to ask permission every second of your day, I can come and go as I please.

my typical day| I get there at 9 am, and go over the paperwork from the night before. I create employee schedules, make bank deposits, prepare reports, and order the food. And during the busy lunch hour, I jump behind the counter and make sandwiches too.

what they are | The challenges, well, you are the only one that really cares about the store. The employees care somewhat, but it's a high turnover rate. You have employees that come and go. Also, once you are in the franchise, keeping up with the franchise is hard, they make a lot of changes and have new promotions that I don't always agree with but you don't carry a lot of weight, you're locked in a national decision. You can't just create your own specials. You have to buy their food, and their products, you get locked in to this strange world. They have a lot of control over general stuff.

all about growth | I wouldn't say there is a ladder to climb although I have noticed that some former Quiznos Sub franchise owners now work at corporate. I think you would have to open multiple stores to make really good money, but I make a decent living here. Hopefully next year, my sales will increase another 5 or 10 percent. Location is important, my rent is higher than if I were somewhere else, but it's worth the rent because I get a lot of foot traffic into my store.

my website|