Can you own a Starbucks franchise? How much does it cost?

Starbucks has grown to become the largest coffee house chain in the world. You can almost throw a stone in any direction and it will land in front of one in any major city. Today, there are around 35,000 Starbucks worldwide and nearly 16,000 of those are located in the United States. The company plans to continue to expand with plans to open 2,000 more of their coffee houses by 2025.

So, you’re thinking about getting in on the action? You’d like to buy a franchise? Tough luck! The company’s model doesn’t include franchises. However, if you have a proven track record in business, the right location and roughly a million dollars on hand, then you could potentially license a store. Here’s a look.

Can you own a Starbucks franchise? How much does it cost?

Nearly half of the Starbucks that operate today are licensed stores. The concept is similar to a franchise from an operational standpoint. The company will help you with the standard things to represent the brand properly like design, menu, the equipment and training as well as coffee and food of course.

In order to get your foot in the door you’ll need around $315,000 to cover the average cost of a license, plus another $700,000 in liquid assets according to GoBankingRates. But you’ll also need to meet some other requirements in order to be considered. These include already having a thriving business that is located somewhere that the brand can capitalize on.

Places that are deemed ideal for a Starbucks would be in a business, university or hotel and travel related sites as well as facilities for healthcare, government or the military. These types of places generally generate a lot of foot traffic which means more potential customers and thus revenue.