Checkers Drive-In Restaurants vs Papa Murphy's

Papa Murphy’s is the stronger target right now, and it’s not close. The dimension that wins is TAM—965 franchised units versus 499 means nearly double the addressable store count for a multi-location SaaS sale. That scale matters more than per-unit revenue here because POS, scheduling, and back-office tools are priced per seat or per location, not as a percentage of AUV. A 1,014-unit system with negative unit growth (-3.6% YoY) actually sharpens the pitch: franchisees feeling top-line pressure are more receptive to automation that cuts labor or streamlines ops, and a 5% royalty plus 2% ad fund leaves them hunting for margin relief you can sell against.

The tradeoff is budget depth. Checkers’ AUV of $1.14M and an investment range stretching past $2M signal operators with fatter checkbooks and more complex back-of-house needs—tempting if you sell a premium, all-in-one platform. But the unit count is too thin to build efficient pipeline velocity, and the wide investment band hints at a fragmented owner base where a few large franchisees dominate, making land-and-expand harder. Papa Murphy’s tight investment band ($450K–$693K) and lower AUV suggest simpler, more uniform operations, which means faster sales cycles, easier onboarding, and a product footprint that fits neatly without custom scoping.

Verdict: Papa Murphy’s wins on addressable scale and urgency, making it the higher-velocity software sales opportunity despite lower per-unit spend.