Franchise opportunities compared
Potbelly Sandwich Works vs ProteinHouse
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
- Both sets of figures come from 2026 FDDs.
- ProteinHouse discloses more than one business format, so the investment range spans formats; the full report breaks them out.
- Item 19 figures cover the location groups each FDD names (Potbelly Sandwich Works: 55, ProteinHouse: 2). Different groups are not directly comparable.
| Disclosure |  Potbelly Sandwich Works |  ProteinHouse |
|---|---|---|
| Financial commitment | ||
| Estimated initial investment (Item 7) | $628,938 itional Funds (3 months) (15) $100 $50,000 As Agreed As Incurred Third Parties Total — 628938 2026 FDD · Item 7 · PDF p. 27 | $504,375 – $846,300 2026 FDD · Item 7 |
| Standard initial franchise fee (Item 5) | Not available No single standard fee identified | Not available No single standard fee identified |
| Royalty (Item 6) | $50 000, (2) temporarily reduce the Royalty percentage payable for that Potbelly Shop by — 50% 2026 FDD · Item 6 · PDF p. 17 | $4.00 Royalty 2026 FDD · Item 6 · PDF p. 12 |
| Brand / advertising fund (Item 6) | $3.00 ype of fee 1 Column 2 Amount Column 3 Due Date Column 4 Remarks Brand Fund Currently — 3% 2026 FDD · Item 6 · PDF p. 19 | $1,000 Brand Fund Fee monthly cap 2026 FDD · Item 6 · PDF p. 12 |
| System scale & health | ||
| Total outlets (Item 20) | 940 Outlets at end of 2025 2026 FDD · Item 20 · PDF p. 75 | 15 Outlets at end of 2024 2026 FDD · Item 20 · PDF p. 51 |
| Net outlet change (Item 20) | +90 Calculated: 850 at end of 2023 → 940 at end of 2025 | +4 Calculated: 11 at end of 2022 → 15 at end of 2024 |
| 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) | 2009 From a verified franchisor listing | 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 | Locations counted not stated in the reviewed record — Systemwide franchised+affiliate — Suburban 270 shops other Systemwide franchised+affiliate 2025 Suburban · 2026 FDD · Item 19 · PDF p. 73 Locations counted not stated in the reviewed record — Systemwide franchised+affiliate — Urban 54 shops other Systemwide franchised+affiliate 2025 Urban · 2026 FDD · Item 19 · PDF p. 73 Locations counted not stated in the reviewed record — Systemwide franchised+affiliate — All Shops 415 shops other Systemwide franchised+affiliate 2024 All Shops · 2026 FDD · Item 19 · PDF p. 73 +52 more groups in the full report | Locations counted not stated in the reviewed record — Franchisee-owned Cafés 36 percent other Cost of goods sold · 2026 FDD · Item 19 · PDF p. 49 Locations counted not stated in the reviewed record — Affiliate-owned Cafés $1,945,895 other Gross sales · 2026 FDD · Item 19 · PDF p. 49 |
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.