A Day in the Life: What It Takes to Run a Noodle Bar Franchise

Running your own noodle bar franchise is an excellent way to work in a profitable and busy sector. You’ll be serving delicious food, working with fresh ingredients, and turning a healthy profit. So if you’re wondering what the life of a noodle bar franchisee will look like on a daily basis, here’s an insight into what you could find yourself doing.

Noodle bars are some of the fastest growing restaurants in the UK. The total number of restaurants operating in the UK has been increasing every year since 2009 [Statista], and, as the number of restaurants operating has grown, so too has the diversity of cuisines on offer. 

This has been great news for this sector and has convinced many people to change their lives and to start a noodle bar franchise in search of profit, job satisfaction and the opportunity to be their own bosses. 

In this article, you’ll discover what the daily life of a noodle bar franchisee could look like, so if you’re wondering whether this is the right industry for you, read on to find out more.

A day in the life of a noodle bar franchise

As the owner of a noodle bar business, you’ll be heavily involved with the management of your restaurant. But, if you decide to adopt a more hands-on approach, you will have the freedom to be working directly in the business yourself. Otherwise, you can also expect to be:

• Chairing meetings: As a restaurant owner, you’ll need a team of reliable staff members who are organised and co-ordinated. You will need to check in with your team regularly.
• Working with industry-leading equipment: As a franchisee for a big franchise, you’ll be working with the industry-grade, professional equipment that your franchisor provides for you.
• Trialling new recipes: Many restaurants are reworking traditional menus to include more options for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and halal customers. 
• Working with technology: While it might be a surprise to some, there are a number of tech trends that are changing the way restaurants work. You can expect to be up close and personal with many of these new trends. 

Advantages of running a noodle bar franchise

Working in this industry, you’ll be able to reap the rewards of a fast-growing, profitable, and busy sector. Some of the advantages of running a noodle bar franchise include:

• Being your own boss and working to your own schedule
• Running a business model with good survival rates
• Having a pre-existing customer base
• Having plenty of training and support, both before and after you launch

Challenges of running a noodle bar franchise

Running a noodle bar can be a rewarding decision, but starting any new business comes with several challenges that you’ll need to overcome. While this shouldn’t put you off running your own business, there are some drawbacks you’ll need to be aware of.

Working hours can be tough. Once your business is up and running, you will likely have more flexibility in how you work, but certainly in the early stages of your franchise business, you should expect to work hard and over long hours to get your business up and running. This might sound difficult at first, but nothing worth doing ever comes easy.

You will be a junior partner in the franchisor-franchisee relationship. But, this doesn’t mean you won’t have a say in how your business is run. The relationship you have with your franchisor is important and will play a role in how successful your business is. Your franchisor will have many pre-existing strategies designed to help your business, but nobody knows your customers like you. Feel free to give your own feedback when needed. 

Franchising opportunities in the noodle bar industry

If the noodle bar sector sounds like the right industry for you, it may be time for you to start exploring franchising opportunities. There are a number of big noodle franchises, so you could consider any of the following.

1. Thai Express

Thai Express is the global leader in Thai fast, casual dining. Using only the freshest ingredients, you will be serving a range of diverse recipes catering to all tastes, preferences and needs.

Following a total investment of £150,000, you will receive the extensive training package that the franchise has put together. You’ll be trained on business systems, how to manage your inventory and how to maximise your revenue. On top of this, you’ll have additional support with finding the right premises for you, branding and marketing support, as well as a turnkey operation designed to help you carry out seamless orders.

2. Camile Thai

Camile Thai is a healthy, sustainable and tech-friendly noodle bar that has enjoyed heavy demand throughout the pandemic. Thanks to this, Camile Thai has been growing as a business where many others have not been able to.

By choosing to run your business as part of the Camile Thai franchise network, you’ll be entitled to the extensive training that is provided for all new franchisees. Following a minimum investment of £100,000, you’ll have training and support on everything from your supply chain, to operations, restaurant design and fitout, product innovation and many other aspects besides.

Become a franchisee in the noodle bar industry

You should now have a better idea as to what an ordinary day in the life of a noodle bar franchisee will look like. If you still like the idea of running your own noodle bar franchise, you could be the ideal candidate for any of the opportunities listed above.

If you’re not sold on the noodle sector, there are many exciting franchising opportunities in other sectors that you might be a better fit for. On the UK franchise directory, you can search sector-by-sector to find an opportunity that matches you.