Welcome to the week. We are tracing how In-N-Out reached 10 states without franchising a single restaurant, an employee-run Redondo Beach juice bar franchise asking $350,000 at about 2.8x cash flow, and New Jersey's new independent contractor rules, which took effect October 1.

When In-N-Out opened its first Tennessee restaurants in December 2025, it reached its tenth state, 77 years after starting in California. The company still owns and operates every restaurant. For much of its history, it expanded by opening stores close enough to its production facilities to receive fresh ingredients. Because In-N-Out does not franchise, it funds that expansion and remains responsible for running each restaurant. It retains direct authority over purchasing, staffing, training, and food preparation, along with the financial risk when a location underperforms. 

The company began developing those systems early. Harry and Esther Snyder opened their first restaurant in Baldwin Park in 1948, and the business had just 18 locations when Harry died in 1976. Their son Rich became president at 24 and worked with his brother Guy to establish a commissary at Baldwin Park to control ingredients. He also developed In-N-Out University to train managers. By the time he died in 1993, the chain had 93 restaurants. 

New locations used the same supply and training systems, allowing the company to delegate daily operations while maintaining its standards. That control remains important because of the way In-N-Out prepares its food. It makes its own hamburger patties from fresh chuck, without additives, fillers, or preservatives. Restaurant employees prepare produce daily and cut fries from whole potatoes, and the kitchens have no freezers or microwaves. 

To expand into Texas, In-N-Out opened its first restaurants in Allen and Frisco on May 11, 2011, along with a new Dallas warehouse and patty-making facility. As its first restaurants opened in Colorado Springs and Aurora, the company began building a warehouse and patty-making facility in Colorado Springs to support the expansion.

In Tennessee, In-N-Out expanded using its Lancaster, Texas, meat facility, which Lynsi Snyder said would supply the restaurants for the foreseeable future. A regional facility costs more upfront but can supply several restaurants. For a smaller owner, that might mean a central kitchen serving three outlets or a warehouse supplying multiple branches. Combined earnings must justify the facility, delivery, and staffing costs, including unused capacity while new locations open. 

In-N-Out says its managers start in entry-level positions, gain experience with restaurant operations, and then take responsibility for a location. That progression supports the company-owned model because the business needs managers who can apply its standards without constant supervision. That is how company-owned expansion can preserve brand equity while allowing daily operations to move beyond the owner’s direct supervision.

Redondo Beach juice bar franchise asks $350K on $124K cash flow

Asking price: $350,000
Annual cash flow: $124,287
Gross Revenue: $450,754
Asking multiple: 2.82x cash flow
Franchisor buyer requirements: $1 million net worth, $300,000 liquid assets
Number of Employees: 11 (1 Full-time, 10 Part-time)

The juice bar occupies a large space in a busy Redondo Beach shopping center and is listed as absentee-owned, with a manager and staff handling operations. The seller says most customers are repeat or referral business, with little advertising spend. The reported cash flow includes the general manager’s salary as an add-back, so a buyer who keeps the manager would need to deduct that cost when estimating their earnings. Inventory is sold separately, and the purchase requires franchisor approval. 

Translation, if you own one: in a franchise resale, the franchisor's approval criteria determine who can buy the business. Net worth and liquidity minimums narrow the buyer pool before price comes up, so an owner planning an exit should learn the brand's transfer requirements and fees early, and document how the store runs without the owner.

Source: Juice Bar Franchise 100% Employee Run

New Jersey's final regulations for classifying independent contractors took effect on October 1. They apply to any business paying New Jersey workers on a 1099.

The rules codify the state's ABC test. The business must show that it does not control how the worker does the job, that the work falls outside its normal business activities or takes place outside all its business locations, and that the worker operates an independent trade or business. Failing any one of these factors makes the worker an employee under the state's unemployment and wage laws. A remote worker's home does not count as a place of business, and requiring a worker to form an LLC or carry insurance does not establish independence.

The Department of Labor can require a business to pay each misclassified worker up to 5% of their gross earnings over the past 12 months, plus penalties of up to $250 per worker for a first violation and $1,000 for each subsequent one, on top of back wages and unpaid taxes. For eight 1099 installers paid $55,000 each, the 5% payment alone could reach $22,000.

The Department can also issue a stop-work order, with $5,000 per day in penalties for violations, and the order applies to a successor entity. Buyers under an LOI on a New Jersey business with a contractor-heavy workforce should review classification before closing.

Two longtime managers who bought the golf course they ran for $7.3 million without a down payment, and the economics of owning a seasonal business with $500,000 in annual debt payments.