Cricket is a strange player in the cell phone market. Before the purchase by AT&T, I met with an owner of three Cricket locations. This gentleman owned a dozen or so franchises of different sorts and was thinking of hiring a CPS firm to handle the bookkeeping and accounting of his companies, but seemingly wanted it done for free. That is what it was also costing him at the time, since he was doing it at the then.
That client did not work out, but I started looking into Cricket, I was intrigued. The franchise was not expensive as far as franchises go. Then I started to notice the locations. I talked to a friend who was in the industry and he described them as bottom feeders. All prepaid services targeting low income people.
Then he explained their structure. One manager two employees. These three people would cover all shifts, the focus was to be sales not service. There is no money to be made in servicing a client, especially one you didn’t sign. Any one with a credit card was a potential client.
I remained intrigued but not enough to make a move.
The next time I looked, AT&T had bought Cricket for the market share. The franchise costs had risen drastically. Looked like AT&T was trying to recapture those investment costs. The royalty rates were also much higher.
Making to risk all the higher is making a profit. The business model in a tight labor market would be difficult as a turnkey business. The only way I can see it working it with multiple locations and a rolling staff, to cover those who quit, don’t show or rob you blind.
The reward has to be high for the risk. Once the buyout occurred the reward dwindled, and the risk increased in my eyes. So, I haven’t looked into Cricket since.