The average franchisee for Rise Southern Biscuits & Righteous Chicken pulled in $934,619 in gross revenue in 2022 [QSR Magazine, 2023]. For a brand with 23 locations and a menu centered on biscuits and fried chicken, that is the number that matters. It is the core unit of growth for a company that is not a venture-backed startup but a franchise system, scaling one store at a time.
The franchise wedge
Rise operates on a classic franchise model. The initial buy-in for a franchisee is $35,000, with an estimated total investment ranging from $410,000 to $619,000 [Franchise Grade, retrieved 2026]. The company then collects a 5% royalty on gross sales and a 2% ad royalty [Entrepreneur, 2025]. The $934,619 average gross revenue figure suggests the model has traction.
Leadership and transition risk
The company's founder and CEO, Culinary Institute of America-trained chef Tom Ferguson, died in February 2022 [Restaurant Business Online]. His passing represents a significant transition for a founder-led brand. With standardized operations and a development partner in Fransmart, a firm that announced a multi-unit franchise deal for Rise in March 2020 [RestaurantNews.com, March 2020], the day-to-day execution is less dependent on a single visionary.
The competitive plate
Rise operates in a specific and competitive niche. Its direct rivals include regional powerhouses like Bojangles and Biscuitville, as well as national giant Chick-fil-A.
- Concept focus. A narrow menu can drive operational efficiency and brand clarity.
- Geographic concentration. With an estimated 25 units [Entrepreneur, 2025], the brand is still regional.
- Franchisee appeal. The partnership with Fransmart provides professional franchise sales infrastructure [Fransmart].
The company's reported experimentation with locker technology for order pickup at some locations suggests an adaptation to modern convenience demands [Fransmart, retrieved 2026].
The next twelve months
Growth for Rise is measured in new franchise agreements and same-store sales. The partnership with Fransmart is the primary engine for signing multi-unit deals. The key metric to watch is whether the average unit volume holds or increases as the brand grows. The company was founded in 2012 and has built a foundation of roughly two dozen locations. The next phase is about proving that the $934,619 unit is not an outlier but a repeatable blueprint.