Step-by-Step Process

1. Apply for a Franchise

Submit the online Application Form

2. Application Review and Phone Interview

After we receive the completed application, our franchise development representative will contact you by phone to discuss preliminary questions and review the feasibility of a long-term business partnership. A personal meeting may be scheduled at this time.

3. First Personal Meeting, Receive Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD)

Prior to this meeting we will conduct background and credit checks to verify all submitted information on your application. At this meeting, you will learn about our franchise program and the support we offer (such as site selection assistance, training, marketing, etc.). We will discuss your responsibilities to the franchise system, your personal qualifications, and business objectives. You will also be invited to contact any of our current franchisees to learn more about owning and operating a Culver’s franchise.

In addition, you will receive Culver’s Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD). The FDD is a disclosure document describing important franchise information and the franchise agreement. Take some time to thoroughly review the FDD and the Culver’s system. We recommend you consult an attorney or business advisor.

4. Preliminary Agreement and Discovery Week

After you review the FDD and had the opportunity to discuss our system with existing Culver’s franchisees, and you wish to move ahead, you will be asked to participate in a Discovery Week, which is conducted over six consecutive days. You will first sign a Preliminary Agreement and pay an application fee of $5,000. This $5,000 application fee will be applied to your initial franchise fee if a franchise agreement is signed. If a franchise agreement is not signed, your application fee will be refunded. Discovery Week is scheduled at one of our family-owned restaurants in Wisconsin. The purpose of Discovery Week is to provide our applicants with hands-on experience and to evaluate all the resources that CfSi has to offer. This week is an excellent opportunity for you to review our operation first-hand.

5. Identify a Site for Your Culver's Restaurant

Next (if you have been approved to continue the process based on Discovery Week) you will select a site in which you would like to build your restaurant. We will assist you in finding an approved location suitable for a Culver's restaurant.

6. Enter into a Franchise Agreement

Once a site is selected, the terms have been negotiated, and all appropriate paperwork has been submitted, you will then enter into a Culver’s Franchise Agreement and pay the $55,000 franchise fee. It is only after you have signed a Culver’s Franchise Agreement that you become a Culver’s franchisee.

7. Attend Training

As the operating partner, you will attend our 16-week training program, which involves 12 weeks of intermittent classroom and on-the-job training at a family-owned Culver's in Wisconsin.  An additional four weeks of training is spent assisting with new restaurant openings at two different locations determined by us.

8. Complete Construction and Open for Business

After you have successfully completed your training, you will begin working directly with your franchise business partner on the final countdown to opening your Culver's restaurant.