Chapter 59: Back to School

"Regional exclusive rights? What's that all about, and what do I need to do? Can you explain it to me?"

Region exclusive rights, Carter thought he'd just listen, as he wasn't particularly interested in this matter. But since they brought it up, it wouldn't hurt to understand a bit more.

"Alright, Mr. Blake. With regional exclusive rights, you'll be the sole user of the Kentucky brand in the state of Georgia. Until the authorization period expires, all franchise store management in that area, including brand licensing rights, will be granted by you to secondary franchisees. Corresponding franchise fees, as well as other expenses including but not limited to technical guidance, management support, etc., will all be paid to you. You just need to register with our company, and the charges should not exceed the range stipulated by our company."

"Correspondingly, you also need to establish a distribution center in Georgia within three years, and develop no fewer than five Kentucky Fried Chicken stores within five years. Additionally, the distribution center can be leased or otherwise acquired. For the first applicant, with $100,000, you can obtain ten years of regional exclusive rights, which is a very cost-effective offer! Mr. Blake, I strongly recommend it."

Well, no wonder KFC is expanding so fast!

Upon hearing this, Carter understood the profit potential involved. Joining KFC now, much like in the future, would entail a one-time franchise authorization fee, also known as the franchise fee. According to publicly available information, this fee is approximately around $13,000. Similarly, it's a ten-year authorization.

However, if you obtain regional exclusive rights, any future franchisees in Georgia would have to pay this fee to you. After all, running a franchise doesn't just mean you can set it up and forget about it. How will your dishes be prepared, and how will the restaurant be run? Do you need someone to guide you through it?

At this point, Carter could dispatch already established store staff over there, which would bring in additional guidance fees. The profit margin is substantial, but correspondingly, the risk and cost are entirely his to bear. Tasks such as establishing a raw material distribution center and opening new stores would become his responsibilities.

If he couldn't handle it, he'd end up losing everything. If he did well, it might seem like Cantai lost out, with all the money going to Carter as the intermediary. But as long as they held the brand ownership, what would they have to fear from him? After toiling for ten years to achieve results, just a mention of the authorization fee in ten years, what would he do?

If he didn't pay, then his ten years would have been for nothing. They could just take back the distribution center or even take over a market that had already been matured by him, along with a relatively complete logistics distribution system.

"Still not interested. I'll just join as an independent store. Additionally, I'll need a professional at the level of a store manager to come over and guide for a few months, is that okay?"

"That's fine, but because we don't have a matching distribution system in Georgia for the time being, the transportation costs in the transportation link may increase significantly after you purchase the raw materials. Are you really not considering it?"

The tone of the customer service lady sounded somewhat regretful, but she still tried to persuade Carter. After all, from her perspective, obtaining regional exclusive rights now is indeed a very suitable opportunity for both parties. It would be a win-win situation.

"I'm not considering it. Or rather, you need to let me operate a store first. I need to see if Kentucky Fried Chicken is popular in Georgia before I go all in! Just because I think it's delicious, doesn't mean others will too, right?"

Carter smiled and shook his head, still declining. Kentucky Fried Chicken's position in America has always been as a low-cost fast-food restaurant, focusing on high sales volume with low profit margins. It wasn't very attractive to someone like Carter, who had tasted the sweetness of the financial market. If it wasn't for the problem of debt repayment, wanting to recover his investment, and having to struggle to set up a KFC to attract popularity, Carter wouldn't even be interested in managing a KFC restaurant. Isn't buying its stocks better?

"Well, you're right, I was too hasty. Please leave your phone number, and we'll send you the details of the franchise as soon as possible!"

"Okay! The number is..."

Soon, two days later, the contract and payment were received by the Cantai company. They called Carter to inform him that they would soon dispatch a store manager to support the store's construction, and once the signed contract was brought back by the supporting construction store manager, this matter would be considered closed.

All that was left was to wait for the construction work to be completed, the plumbing and electrical pipes to be laid, the building to be erected, the interior decoration to be completed, and the equipment to be installed before the restaurant could open. However, this whole process would take at least two months.

By now, the small $100,000 had already been spent. The pipeline construction cost over $70,000, while the franchise fee and equipment purchase cost over $20,000. Later on, there would be the construction of the commercial building, decoration, as well as raw material procurement and personnel expenses.

"Well, now I'm really out of money."

The borrowed money, the Blake family's money, had already been nearly spent, and it was time for school to start again. With no money in his pocket, Carter had to dutifully put on his backpack and head to school.

He parked the Mustang in the parking lot as usual, grabbed his backpack, and stepped into the classroom. September, the time for new students to arrive, brought many unfamiliar faces to the campus.

But as he walked, Carter suddenly felt something was off. It seemed that both old and new students were looking at him with some curiosity, whispering to each other as they glanced at him.

Although no one came up to bother him, this kind of feeling of being watched made Carter uncomfortable all over.

"Strange!"

Muttering under his breath, Carter quickly walked into the classroom. The difference between American high schools and Chinese high schools is that American middle schools operate on a rotating class schedule.

Classrooms are not fixed for a particular class, but change according to the subject being taught. So even when entering the classroom, Carter could still feel the strange gaze, still scrutinizing him.

"Carter, I heard you went on a road trip around America this summer. Did you go to New York? Can I sit here?"

Just as Carter felt uneasy, a girl suddenly walked over and sat down next to him.

"You..."

"Hi, I'm Olga, Olga Hodell. We're in the same class, you know that, right?"

Blinking her eyes, the girl successfully anticipated what Carter was going to say and introduced herself proactively.

"Uh, yeah, yeah. I've been to New York."

Carter felt a bit embarrassed. After spending a year together, not knowing a classmate's name is considered very impolite in Carter's Chinese cultural mindset. However, he didn't realize that in the United States, it's quite normal.

If he hadn't embarked on the shocking cross-country road trip this summer, the girl in front of him, Olga, probably wouldn't even recognize him at most would feel like she'd seen his face before.

"Hi, Carter! Have you been to Los Angeles? Did you meet any celebrities? Oh, by the way, I'm Elena, from Class 1."