Dairy Queen

Dairy Queen, a Berkshire Hathaway franchise, has been franchising since 1944 — 4 years after the concept was founded in 1940 , currently with 6,800 total locations (6,600 franchised, 200 company-owned — a 97% franchise-to-corporate ratio that signals the operator's reliance on independent owners) in the food & beverage sector, headquartered in MN. According to the 2024 FDD, the total initial investment ranges from $1.1M to $1.8M — a 67% spread between the low and high end that reflects how site size, market, and buildout scope change the capital requirement. This figure includes the franchise fee of $45K, equipment, leasehold improvements, and initial working capital through the ramp-up period.

Ongoing royalties run 4.0% of gross sales with an additional 5.0% national advertising fund contribution, bringing the combined ongoing cost to 9.0% of every dollar in sales. Critically, Dairy Queen does disclose financial performance data in Item 19, a voluntary disclosure that only about a third of U.S. franchisors make. The reported average gross revenue per location is $1.1M, meaning the typical unit pays roughly $44K per year in royalty alone. Revenue is not profit — actual franchisee take-home depends on rent, labor, cost of goods, and local demand.

Network momentum is currently positive: Dairy Queen added units at a 0.3% net rate year-over-year (100 openings, 80 closures). Sustained positive growth is a signal that the unit-economics are working well enough to attract new operators, though late-stage growth can also reflect aggressive sales push rather than operational health. Before committing capital, triangulate this summary against the full FDD, a franchise attorney's review, and direct conversations with five or more current and former franchisees from Item 20.