Training

Training is not one number. Item 11 must describe the subjects, classroom and on-the-job hours, location, timing, instructors, required attendees and who pays travel and living costs. The federal disclosure format requires a table titled “TRAINING PROGRAM,” but identical columns do not make programs equivalent.

Build an attendance schedule

Copy each subject and separate classroom from on-the-job time. Then add information that the hours alone omit:

• which owner, manager or employees must attend;
• whether attendance or successful completion is required;
• where training occurs and how often classes are offered;
• whether instruction is in person, remote or self-directed;
• who pays wages, travel, lodging and replacement labor;
• what pre-opening and opening-team support follows;
• what continuing or remedial training can later be required.

If two people must attend a 160-hour program, the business commitment is not simply 160 hours. It is 320 participant-hours plus travel and time away from the buyer’s existing work. If a manager leaves, determine whether a replacement must repeat training and at whose cost.

Compare shape, not prestige

The filings in this site’s comparison set show very different commitments. GDK’s 2024 filing lists 40 classroom and 120 on-the-job hours. Shah’s Halal lists 19 classroom and 85 on-the-job hours. The Halal Guys lists 24 and 136. Wienerschnitzel’s comparative record lists 48 classroom and 480 on-the-job hours, while bluTaco lists no classroom hours and 11.5 on-the-job hours.

Those totals do not rank instructional quality. They may reflect restaurant complexity, franchisee experience requirements, what the franchisor counts as formal instruction or a model built around an existing host retailer. Compare the subjects and attendees to the actual format. Food safety, prep, line deployment, inventory, scheduling, cash controls, delivery, local marketing and equipment care all demand evidence somewhere, but not necessarily the same mix of classroom and store time.

Wendy’s official franchise FAQ provides a useful outside comparison: it describes a four-to-six-month management program combining in-restaurant training, classroom work and regional orientation. That operator-page description helps a reader form questions. The current Wendy’s FDD and agreement would still control the obligations, costs and eligibility for an actual buyer.

Separate pre-opening from ongoing support

Item 11 covers more than the training table. Read the assistance language before and after opening, site and design support, computer systems, advertising program and operating-manual treatment. Identify verbs: “will provide,” “may provide” and “may require” create different expectations.

Ask recent franchisees when they were allowed to enroll, whether construction delays forced retraining or extra travel, who staffed the opening team and how long that team stayed. Ask mature operators which support continued after launch and which training became mandatory when products, software or standards changed.

Match training to the staffing model

Turn the curriculum into a role matrix. Who can open, close, receive inventory, run each station, handle allergens, reconcile cash and train a new employee? How many trained managers must be employed before opening? Does the model assume an owner-operator, a dedicated general manager or a multi-unit organization with its own trainers?

Finally, put training costs and payroll into the opening plan. Item 7 may include travel or training expenses, but its allowance can be a range based on assumptions that do not match the buyer’s distance or attendee count. Reconcile Item 7, Item 11 and the agreement rather than presuming the training line is all-inclusive.

The due-diligence question is not whether 500 hours beats 50. It is whether the disclosed program can produce the operating roles the restaurant requires, on the buyer’s timeline, with costs and completion conditions understood before the lease and opening clock begin.