The Flying Biscuit Café franchise: cost, fees & unit track record
Opening The Flying Biscuit Café franchise takes $766,750 – $1,171,350 all-in, per its franchise disclosure filings (data as of 2026-05). The initial franchise fee is $45,000. Ongoing, franchisees pay a royalty of 5% on sales plus an ad-fund contribution of up to 2%. To qualify, The Flying Biscuit Café asks for $150,000 in liquid cash and a $500,000 net worth. Anything the filings do not state is marked "Not disclosed" below — never estimated.
The Flying Biscuit Café franchise costs and fees
| Verification mark | Cost item | Low | High | Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise feeOne-time, paid to the franchisor at signing | $45,000 | $45,000 | $45,000 | |
| Initial investment (all-in)FDD Item 7-derived range: build-out, equipment, opening costs | $766,750 | $1,171,350 | $766,750 to $1,171,350 | |
| Net worth requiredFranchisor's stated qualification minimum | $500,000 | $500,000 | $500,000 | |
| Liquid cash requiredFranchisor's stated qualification minimum | $150,000 | $150,000 | $150,000 | |
| Cash to open (all-in range) | $766,750 | $1,171,350 | $766,750 to $1,171,350 |
| RoyaltyOngoing, % of sales | 5% |
|---|---|
| Ad fundOngoing, % of sales | Up to 2% |
| Initial termLength of the first franchise agreement | 10 years |
See the full The Flying Biscuit Café cost breakdown — what's in that number and what isn't
How The Flying Biscuit Café's cost compares
A dollar figure means more with a yardstick. Here is where The Flying Biscuit Café's disclosed cost sits against the Food & Beverage category:
- Minimum startup cost of $766,750 — about 2.7× the Food & Beverage median of $282,500.
- Initial franchise fee of $45,000 — about 1.3× the Food & Beverage median of $35,000.
Category medians are computed from the Food & Beverage brands in our data that disclosed each figure — a benchmark for scale, not a quality judgment. See all Food & Beverage franchises
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How The Flying Biscuit Café's units have held up
Openings and closures from FDD Item 20-style unit history, 2012–2017: began the window at 11 units; 5 units opened, 2 closed, ending at 14 units.
What about earnings?
We don't publish per-brand earnings figures — for The Flying Biscuit Café or anyone else. The only primary source is Item 19 of the brand's own franchise disclosure document (FDD), and no law requires a franchisor to publish one, so the "average owner income" numbers circulating elsewhere are usually unsourced or survivorship-biased. Ask The Flying Biscuit Café for its current FDD and read Item 19 yourself — and if there is no Item 19, that silence is information too.
What this data can't tell you
Everything on this page comes from disclosure filings — fees, ranges, and unit counts. Four questions that matter just as much are not in any filing we can source, so we say so instead of guessing:
- The hours and the labor
- No dataset field says whether The Flying Biscuit Café is a manage-from-a-laptop business or a 60-hour week in disguise. Item 15 of the FDD states whether you're obligated to run the business personally, and Item 11 lists what the franchisor actually does for you — then ask current owners what their week looks like (validation calls), not the sales team.
- How hands-on the ownership really is
- "Semi-absentee" is a pitch, not a filing field. Treat any hands-off claim as unverified until it's consistent with Item 15 and with what multiple current franchisees tell you — what absentee ownership actually means.
- Your territory — whether it's protected, and whether it's open
- Two territory questions sit outside our data. Whether The Flying Biscuit Café grants a protected or exclusive area is set in Item 12 of the FDD and varies brand to brand — some grant none, and the carve-outs (online sales, national accounts) matter as much as the map. And filing data can't say what's open in your market this month; only The Flying Biscuit Café can confirm current availability. Ask both before you inquire, and get the answer in writing.
- What owners earn
- Covered honestly above: our dataset has no earnings fields, the only primary source is the brand's own Item 19, and here is how to read that evidence.
About The Flying Biscuit Café franchise
The Flying Biscuit Café is a food & beverage franchisor with 14 units at the end of 2017 (FDD Item 20-style unit history). Between 2012 and 2017, it began the window at 11 units; its filings record 5 unit openings and 2 closures, ending at 14 units. Its parent company is Big Game Brands LLC.
Disclosure filings report 2 franchise-related lawsuits. Review Item 3 of the FDD. (as of 2026-05)
From the franchisor's materials
We offer franchises for the operation of a business that provides locksmith and security services and products, including doors, video cameras, and access control, for commercial, residential, and automotive customers under the name of The Flying Locksmiths.
The Flying Biscuit Café franchise: quick answers
- How much does The Flying Biscuit Café franchise cost?
- $766,750 – $1,171,350 all-in to open, per The Flying Biscuit Café's franchise disclosure filings (data as of 2026-05).
- How many The Flying Biscuit Café units are there?
- 14 units at the end of 2017 (FDD Item 20-style unit history).
- How have The Flying Biscuit Café's units held up?
- 87.5% of units at risk between 2015 and 2017 did not close, per our metric recomputed from FDD Item 20-style unit history (methodology published on our verification page).
- Is The Flying Biscuit Café SBA-eligible?
- The Flying Biscuit Café is flagged SBA-eligible in our dataset (as of 2026-05). Confirm current status on the SBA Franchise Directory before relying on it for financing.