What does turnkey mean in franchising?
Last reviewed July 6, 2026
Turnkey describes a franchise offering in which the franchisor delivers a ready-to-operate unit — site found, build-out finished, equipment installed — so the buyer "turns the key" and opens. In practice the word is marketing shorthand more often than a contractual promise: check what the agreement actually obligates the franchisor to deliver, at what cost, and who absorbs the overruns.
Where turnkey is real, it shows up in Item 7 as franchisor-managed line items and in the agreement as delivery obligations with dates. Where it isn't, "turnkey" quietly means "we have a checklist." The word also says nothing about operations after opening day — staffing and sales are never turnkey.