I'm looking for comprehensive analysis on 2 QSR restaurant types
(smoothies and barbeque) in the US.  The answer should be my starting
point for research before writing a business plan to either become a
franchisee or start one of them on my own.

For each of the Smoothie market and the Barbeque Market answer the following:
--> Total market value, growth trends, etc.
--> What are the trends in the market, trends in the product (i.e.,
more fruit (smoothie), spicier sauce (barbeque), etc.)?
--> Who are the major players (company URLs), how many stores, when
opened, franchise vs. company owned, what revenues are generated,
general company comments. (top 10-15 stores for Smoothie and same for Barbeque)
--> How does the menu differ for each restaurant? (key
features/differentiation, average unit sale, approximate margin, any
cost information)
--> What is the consumer demographic (age, sex, ethnicity, income
levels, etc., visit frequency)?
--> Who are the key analysts / opinion leaders for the each industry (up to 5)?
--> Any analyst commentary / added value that would add substance to
my business plan
--> Please reference industry trade publications, analyst reports, etc.

---

Request for Question Clarification by czh-ga on 07 Dec 2005 18:13 PST

Hello entrepreneur06-ga,

I believe you'll have a much better chance of getting an answer if you
post a separate question for each of the two  businesses you want to
explore. As a first time poster to Google Answers I also suggest that
you review the following links so you can have the best experience
with this service.

http://answers.google.com/answers/faq.html
http://answers.google.com/answers/pricing.html

All the best.

~ czh ~