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It's actually hilarious sometimes. The business models that generate most scorn and incredulity on HN are the straightforward ones. They convert labor pretty much directly to a very basic product with a clear demand by society, that can't possibly be profitable, are we sure it's not actually a front for Real Estate or AI or Tax Evasion?

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I'm sure real estate is the primary business model of McDonald's but franchisees wouldn't be paying the rent and fees if the restaurant model itself wasn't very profitable.

Most restaurants in Europe generate an average of 250k in net cash flow per average restaurant, that's few years of work before ROI.

It's very easy to lose money running a McDonald's (or any restaurant) if you do not keep a very close eye on all your controllable expenses. Most franchisees need multiple stores to cover all the overhead and actually be profitable.

McDonalds's Corp, the landlord, is in a better position but they also don't want to see stores fail, it's bad for their image.

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