How long does it take to open a franchise? For most brands, the honest answer is about three to six months from the day you sign the franchise agreement to the day you open for business. A service franchise with no storefront to build out, like College Hunks Hauling Junk®, usually lands on the shorter end of that window, while a concept that needs real estate and construction can stretch past a year. The biggest variable is how fast you move through financing, licensing, and training, and that pace is largely in your hands.
How long does it take to open a franchise, on average?
Plan on three to six months for most service-based franchises. The clock starts when you sign the franchise agreement and pay the initial fee, and it ends when your first crews go out on paying jobs. Brands that require ground-up construction, a retail lease, or a commercial kitchen run longer, often nine to eighteen months, because the build itself sets the pace. A mobile or home-services model skips that build, so the timeline is driven by paperwork and preparation rather than a contractor’s schedule.
How long does it take to open a fast food franchise?
Longer than a service franchise, because the build sets the pace. A quick service restaurant
needs site selection, a lease, permitting and construction before opening, which is why those
concepts commonly run nine to eighteen months. College Hunks Hauling Junk® has no building to put
up, and Item 11 of the 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document puts its window at 110 to 140 days.
What are the stages between signing and opening?
The path from signing to launch breaks into a handful of stages that usually overlap rather than run one at a time. Here is how a service-franchise timeline typically looks.
| Stage | What happens | Typical duration |
|---|---|---|
| Award and signing | You sign the franchise agreement and pay the initial fee | Day 0 |
| Financing | You finalize an SBA or third-party loan if you are borrowing | 2 to 8 weeks (often overlaps) |
| Setup | Business entity, licenses, permits, insurance, vehicle and equipment | 3 to 8 weeks |
| Training | Franchisor-led initial training for you and your managers | Days to a few weeks |
| Launch prep | Hiring your first crew, local marketing, booking system live | 2 to 4 weeks |
| Opening | First paid jobs on the calendar | Opening day |
Because financing and setup can run at the same time, an organized owner who lines up capital early can compress the whole sequence. You can review the full investment breakdown while your loan is still in underwriting, so nothing waits on a single step.
What speeds up or slows down the timeline?
Three things move the date more than anything else: money, licensing, and your own availability. Financing is the most common delay, since an SBA loan can take several weeks to underwrite, so starting that conversation before you sign keeps it off your critical path. Licensing and insurance vary by state and city, and a market with heavier permitting adds time. A franchisor’s training calendar also has set dates, so the sooner you can attend, the sooner you launch. Owners who treat the first ninety days after signing like a full-time project, rather than a side task, consistently open faster.
How does the College Hunks Hauling Junk® franchise timeline work?
A College Hunks Hauling Junk® franchise is built to move quickly because there is no storefront to construct. After you are awarded a territory and sign, onboarding runs on a pre-launch checklist, and initial training runs about five to fifteen days for up to two management people, per the 2026 FDD, Item 11. You are standing up a fleet and a team, not pouring a foundation. Item 11 of the 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document puts that at 110 to 140 days, and the franchise agreement requires the business to be open within 150 days of signing. For how that compares against a concept that needs a building first, see our restaurant franchise alternatives comparison. Two things then shorten the ramp that follows. The national Sales & Loyalty Center books and dispatches jobs from day one, so the phones are answered before you have hired a full office, and every owner gets a dedicated Marketing Coach and Franchise Business Coach who work the launch plan alongside them. You can see the training and support owners get for how that onboarding is structured.
How long until a new franchise location is mature?
Opening day is only the start line. Revenue at a service franchise builds as the territory gains awareness and the crew count grows, and the system data shows that curve plainly. Across the College Hunks Hauling Junk® system, locations open 13 to 36 months averaged $730,493 in gross revenue, locations at 37 to 60 months averaged $1,126,072, and locations open 60 months or more averaged $1,999,230 (2026 FDD, Item 19). The planning takeaway is simple: budget working capital for a ramp measured in years, not weeks, and judge the opportunity by where a mature location lands rather than by month one. For the full picture, see what franchisees actually earn.
What should you do first?
If a spring or summer opening matters to you, count backward. A three-to-six-month window means the owners opening in the warm months signed over the winter, lined up financing early, and booked their training the moment a seat opened. The prospects who feel like the process dragged are almost always the ones who let financing sit untouched for a month after signing. Momentum is yours to set.
If you are weighing whether a College Hunks Hauling Junk® franchise fits your goals and your timeline, talk to our Franchise Development team and see whether a territory is still open in your market. We read every inquiry, and there is no pressure, just answers.
Disclosures
Financial information shared in this content is drawn from Item 19 of the 2026 CHHJ Franchising, L.L.C. Franchise Disclosure Document (Issuance Date: April 30, 2026, as amended August 26, 2026). See Item 19 for material assumptions, the underlying data set, and full required disclosures. Past performance does not guarantee future results. New franchisees may earn less.
This information is not an offer to sell or solicitation to buy a franchise. A franchise offering can only be made through the delivery of a Franchise Disclosure Document. Certain states regulate the offer and sale of franchises; if you are a resident of one of these states, we will not offer you a franchise unless we have complied with applicable pre-sale registration and disclosure requirements in your state.
College Hunks Hauling Junk®, College Hunks Moving®, and the H.U.N.K.S logo are registered trademarks of CHHJ Franchising, L.L.C. © 2026 CHHJ Franchising, L.L.C. All rights reserved.
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