The Taco Maker/Jake's Over The Top

Founded: 1978 Franchising since: 1978
After gaining valuable experience in successfully developing a large franchise system, Gil L. Craig founded The Taco Maker Inc. in 1968. Based in Ogden, Utah, The Taco Maker franchise system has locations in the United States, Latin America, Western Europe, and the Far and Middle East. Franchise sites include traditional freestanding buildings and mall food courts as well as the Express program, which complements The Taco Maker's co-branding relationship with companies including Blimpie and selected service station chains.

P.O. Box 362888 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936-2888

Phone: (787)273-3160

Franchisor is a privately-held company with 25 employee(s); 4 employee(s) in franchise department.

Franchise Growth

Year	U.S. Franchises	Canadian Franchises	Foreign Franchises	Company Owned
2005	135	0	1	3

Where Seeking Franchisees
In the U.S. Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North carolina, North dakota, New hampshire, New jersey, New mexico, Nevada, New york, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode island, South carolina, South dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, West virginia, Wyoming
Worldwide

Exclusive territories available.
Territory size: Varies

Total investment: $221K-400K Franchise fee: $19K-29K

Ongoing royalty fee: 5% Term of agreement: 15 years, renewable

Type of Financing Available

	In-House	Third Party
Franchise Fee	No	Yes
Startup Costs	No	Yes
Equipment	No	Yes
Inventory	No	Yes
Accounts Receivable	No	Yes
Payroll	No	Yes

Third-party financing source(s): the SBA & private lending institutions

Qualifications
Net worth requirement: $500K
Cash liquidity requirement: $100K
Business Experience:

• Industry experience
• General business experience

Operations

• 30% of all franchisees own more than one unit
• Number of employees needed to run franchised unit: 35
• Absentee ownership of franchise is NOT allowed. (90% of current franchisees are owner/operators)

Training

• Available at headquarters: 1 month

Ongoing Support

• Newsletter
• Toll-free phone line
• Grand opening
• Field operations/evaluations
• Purchasing cooperatives

Marketing Support

• Co-op advertising
• National media

Franchise 500® rank:
#287 (2006); #392 (2005);