For many aspiring entrepreneurs, the most significant barrier to franchise ownership isn't ambition, work ethic or even finding the right brand — it's access to capital. Firehouse Subs , the Jacksonville-based sandwich chain founded by two firefighter brothers (and ranked #120 on the 2025 Franchise 500 ), is tackling that hurdle head-on with a new set of financial incentives designed to lower the entry cost for franchisees and accelerate growth nationwide.

"It's all driven around how do we drive return on investment for our franchisees ," says Kelly Crummer, senior director of franchising at Firehouse Subs. "We wanted to do something that would motivate franchisees to build. For a long time, people had been coming into the system via acquisition and then not building anything new.

See Full Page