Franchise opportunities compared
Chicken Guy! vs Hardees Restaurants
Reviewed figures from each brand's Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD), side by side. Each figure carries its FDD year and page. This is not a ranking or recommendation, and the two FDDs may cover different years and location groups.
Before you compare
- Chicken Guy! figures come from its 2025 FDD and Hardees Restaurants figures from its 2026 FDD, so the years differ.
- Chicken Guy! and Hardees Restaurants disclose more than one business format, so the investment range spans formats; the full report breaks them out.
- Only Hardees Restaurants has reviewed Item 19 figures here.
| Disclosure | CGChicken Guy! | HRHardees Restaurants |
|---|---|---|
| Financial commitment | ||
| Estimated initial investment (Item 7) | $734,000 – $3,020,000 2025 FDD · Item 7 | $57,000 – $1,385,000 2026 FDD · Item 7 |
| Standard initial franchise fee (Item 5) | Not available No single standard fee identified | $25,000 2026 FDD · Item 5 · PDF p. 28 |
| Royalty (Item 6) | $6.00 Royalty 2025 FDD · Item 6 · PDF p. 12 | $3.00 i) — 3% ment and Franchised Agreement, we will reduce each of the royalty fee and APO by 2026 FDD · Item 6 · PDF p. 38 |
| Brand / advertising fund (Item 6) | $30,000 Brand Fund max annual contribution 2025 FDD · Item 6 · PDF p. 12 | $4.25 d by the Franchise Agreement. Hardee’s National Advertising Fund — “HNAF”) Currently, — 4.25% 2026 FDD · Item 6 · PDF p. 31 |
| System scale & health | ||
| Total outlets (Item 20) | 22 Outlets at end of 2024 2025 FDD · Item 20 · PDF p. 47 | 396 Outlets at end of 2026 2026 FDD · Item 20 · PDF p. 77 |
| Net outlet change (Item 20) | +10 Calculated: 12 at end of 2022 → 22 at end of 2024 | −12 Calculated: 408 at end of 2024 → 396 at end of 2026 |
| Outlet exits (Item 20) | Not available No complete exit records for a year | Not available No complete exit records for a year |
| Franchising since (Item 1) | Not available Not in reviewed records | Not available Not in reviewed records |
| Franchisor founded (Item 1) | Not available Not in reviewed records | Not available Not in reviewed records |
| Performance (Item 19) | ||
| Financial performance (Item 19), by location group | Not disclosed — no Item 19 financial performance representation | Locations counted not stated in the reviewed record — USfreestandingHardee’s 88 restaurants other Company-owned · 2026 FDD · Item 19 · PDF p. 75 Locations counted not stated in the reviewed record — USfreestandingHardee’s 50.1 percent other Franchised · 2026 FDD · Item 19 · PDF p. 75 |
Item 19 groups are shown separately and never combined. Revenue or sales figures are not profit. Net outlet change and turnover are Franopolis calculations from the disclosed counts; turnover is a count-based rate, not a measure of owner earnings.