Jimmy John's vs Wayback Burgers: Ongoing Fees Nearly Match

This comparison starts somewhere unexpected. The brand with more than 2,600 restaurants publishes no franchise figures at all. The far smaller regional brand publishes fee, royalty, advertising, capital and credit requirements on a single page.

Side by side

	Jimmy John’s	Wayback Burgers
First-unit fee	$35,000	$35,000, may be discounted for multiple units
Total investment	$366,200 to $728,200	Its page says both $550,000 to $650,000 and $256,000 to $859,000
Royalty	6% of gross sales, weekly	6% of gross sales, excluding sales tax
Advertising	4.5% of gross sales, weekly	4% of gross sales, national and local
Combined ongoing	About 10.5%	10%
Liquid capital	$200,000	$250,000
Net worth	$1,000,000	$500,000
Credit score	Not published	700 or above
Term	10 years	20 years
Veteran discount	None found	$5,000 off the fee
Source of figures	Third parties citing the 2025 FDD	The franchisor’s own page

The ongoing rates are close enough to be a wash, which is the opposite of what most people assume when comparing a national brand with a regional one. Both sit near the top of what this site has covered, above Freddy’s at 6 percent and just under Tropical Smoothie’s 11 to 12.

The qualification bars differ in kind, not degree. Jimmy John’s asks less cash and twice the net worth. Wayback asks more cash, half the net worth, and adds a credit-score floor. Those select for genuinely different buyers, and neither is simply the easier one.

The Wayback page disagrees with itself

On one page, Wayback Burgers gives an estimated investment of $550,000 to $650,000 and a detailed breakdown totalling $256,000 to $859,000.

Those are not compatible. The breakdown’s floor is $294,000 below the estimate’s floor, and its ceiling $209,000 above the estimate’s ceiling. A third-party directory reports $256,000 to $850,000, which suggests the wider figure is the one drawn from the disclosure document.

We are not picking one. What the gap tells you is which question to ask: which of these two ranges reflects the current Item 7, and what does the other one describe? Credit where due, though: a brand that publishes a detailed breakdown at all is giving you more to check than one that publishes nothing.

Wayback is the second brand here to publish a credit-score floor

Its page states a credit score of 700 or above, alongside the capital requirements.

That makes it the second brand covered on this site to publish one, after Robeks at 720. Both are worth flagging for the same reason: a credit-score bar is the only qualification you can check for free, today, before contacting anyone or spending anything. If you are materially below it, that is worth resolving before an application rather than during one.

Ownership: one pending, one restructured

Jimmy John’s is owned by Inspire Brands, which is owned by Roark Capital. Inspire filed confidentially with the SEC for a US IPO around May 8, 2026. Roark was reported as still the majority owner, with the filing pending and confidential. A pending IPO is not an ownership change, but it is the kind of event that can precede one, and a new public parent inherits the right to set standards.

Wayback Burgers’ franchisor renamed itself from Jake’s Franchising to Wayback Franchising and launched Hubspoke Brands in July 2025 as a platform for several new concepts. That is a restructure rather than a sale, and the same chief executive remains in charge. Worth asking what a multi-brand platform means for franchisee attention and supply terms.

What we could not establish

• Either brand’s FDD cover risk statements. Neither hosts its disclosure document publicly, so we could not check whether either carries the kind of statement Freshii’s does.
• A reliable Jimmy John’s unit count. Its parent’s own page says “more than 2,600 restaurants in four global markets” without a date. Third-party counts vary above that, and we could not pin one authoritative dated figure, nor a franchised-to-company-owned split.
• Whether Wayback Burgers is accepting applicants. Its own materials say yes; a directory says it is not currently accepting inquiries. Directory status is unreliable in both directions, so call the franchisor.
• Jimmy John’s litigation history. Its FDD is not public, so we could not review Item 3, which is where a franchisor must disclose litigation. Ask for it and read it in full rather than relying on anything found online.

Questions to ask before choosing either

• Which range reflects the current Item 7, and what does the other Wayback figure describe?
• What are Jimmy John’s actual current fee, investment and fee percentages from the FDD, rather than from third parties?
• Is a single unit available in my market from either brand, and on what terms?
• What does Item 20 show for each, especially closures and transfers over three years?
• For Jimmy John’s, what would an Inspire Brands IPO change for franchisees?
• For Wayback, what does the Hubspoke Brands platform mean for support and supply?
• What does renewal cost at the end of a 10-year and a 20-year term respectively?
• Will a franchise attorney and an accountant review the full FDD with me before I commit?