What is the 'A-Team' comprised of that Golden Corral makes available?
Golden_Corral Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
Immediately before, upon and after opening of your first and second Restaurants, make available to you an "A-Team" comprised of certain personnel of Golden Corral and/or authorized franchisees of other Golden Corral Restaurants for temporary employment by you, at the Restaurant, for the length of time Golden Corral, in its sole discretion, deems necessary to assist in training and preparing your non-managerial employees for opening and operating the Restaurant. Typically, the A-Team is comprised of from 20 to 24 individuals for on-site assistance, depending on Restaurant size. During the time these personnel are performing on-site assistance for you, you must bear all the costs and expenses (they will be considered to be your employees), such as transportation, including air travel to and from the Restaurant, food, lodging, and wages for such employees
Source: Item 11 — FRANCHISOR'S ASSISTANCE, ADVERTISING, COMPUTER SYSTEMS AND TRAINING (FDD pages 32–48)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to the 2025 Golden Corral FDD, the "A-Team" is comprised of certain personnel from Golden Corral and/or authorized franchisees from other Golden Corral restaurants. This team is made available to new franchisees for temporary employment to assist in training and preparing non-managerial employees for the opening and operation of the restaurant.
The FDD indicates that the A-Team typically consists of 20 to 24 individuals, depending on the restaurant size. This team provides on-site assistance immediately before, during, and after the opening of the franchisee's first and second restaurants. For the third restaurant opening, Golden Corral provides a New Restaurant Opening Specialist (NROS), and the A-Team will consist of some established A-Team members as well as members from the franchisee's other restaurants. For the fourth and any additional restaurants, the franchisee is expected to supply their own A-Team members from their other restaurants, along with their own NROS.
A significant point for prospective franchisees to consider is that while the A-Team is provided by Golden Corral, the franchisee is responsible for all costs and expenses associated with the A-Team's on-site assistance. These costs include transportation (including air travel), food, lodging, wages, and other related employee expenses. This cost is factored into the on-site assistance cost estimate detailed in Item 7 of the FDD.