From the filings

HQ-led decisions

Cowboy Chicken

Quick service restaurant

Software purchasing at Cowboy Chicken is controlled at the franchisor level, with IT decisions led by William Anthony Stevens, Director of Franchise Support, IT, and Training. The brand mandates a tightly integrated stack including NCR POS, Olo online ordering, Cartwheel Delivery, and Plate IQ. With 18 total units (11 franchised, 7 company-owned) and an average unit volume of $2,180,236, the addressable market is small but concentrated, making it a targeted opportunity for vendors who can align with HQ mandates.

For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.

Live signals

Total units
18
11 franchised
Unit growth YoY
0%
vs prior filing
AUV
$2.18M
Item 19, 2025
Royalty
5%
of gross sales
Ad fund
2%
national + local
Initial fee
$35K
per unit
Investment range
$582K–$1.42M
all-in, Item 7
Procurement
Approved supplier
from the filing
Non-compete
2 years
from the filing
Item 19
Claims
from the filing

Ongoing fee load

What the operator pays every month

The recurring percentage of gross sales named in this filing, before rent, labour or any technology fee.

7%of gross sales (FY2025)

Ongoing fees: 7% of gross sales (FY2025)Royalty 5%, Ad fund 2%. Total 7% of gross sales. Drawn against a 15% reference scale.

15% reference

Royalty 5%Ad fund 2%

Mandated & recommended tech

The systems vendors compete with

7 of these are mandated in the franchise agreement. Each is named in Item 11 of the filing, the incumbents a challenger must displace or integrate with.

Aloha
Mandatory
POSItem 11

em that we have the right to issue and modify may include instructions we impose for using the Technology System. [§8(a) of the FA] The current POS System is NCR’s Radiant Systems Aloha QS Touchscreen

Cartwheel
Mandatory
DeliveryItem 8

e installation of the bundled software on your hardware and provide training in the use of the POS System. You also must use OLO (a tech platform for order integration) as well as Cartwheel delivery d

NCR
Mandatory
POSItem 11

or the Technology System that we have the right to issue and modify may include instructions we impose for using the Technology System. [§8(a) of the FA] The current POS System is NCR’s Radiant System

Olo
Mandatory
DeliveryItem 8

and related technology services. NCR will coordinate the installation of the bundled software on your hardware and provide training in the use of the POS System. You also must use OLO (a tech platform

Plate IQ
Mandatory
AccountingItem 11

ted cost of $55 per month.; Ctuit (financial back-office software) at an estimated cost of $270 per month; JOLT digital checklist system with a current cost of $150 per month; and Plate IQ (financial

Radiant Systems
Mandatory
POSItem 11

Technology System that we have the right to issue and modify may include instructions we impose for using the Technology System. [§8(a) of the FA] The current POS System is NCR’s Radiant Systems Aloha

SOCi
Mandatory
MarketingItem 8

grams that we designate in the Manual and use our designated supplier of such survey programs. See Item 7, Note 15 for the charges for these services. We have also contracted with Soci (to provide ema

Ctuit
Industry softwareItem 11

are OLO (third-party order aggregator) with a variable rate based on volume but at an estimated cost of $350 per month; Cartwheel Delivery at an estimated cost of $55 per month.; Ctuit (financial back

Facebook
MarketingItem 11

r own URL website, mobile apps appearing on smartphones or other electronic devices (including, for example, Android Marketplace or the Apple Store), or social media webpage (e.g. Facebook, Instagram,

Instagram
MarketingItem 11

website, mobile apps appearing on smartphones or other electronic devices (including, for example, Android Marketplace or the Apple Store), or social media webpage (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter,

LinkedIn
MarketingItem 11

on smartphones or other electronic devices (including, for example, Android Marketplace or the Apple Store), or social media webpage (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Yelp, YouT

Paytronix
LoyaltyItem 8

programs. See Item 7, Note 15 for the charges for these services. We have also contracted with Soci (to provide email and reputation management services and promotions analytics), Paytronix (to provid

Pinterest
MarketingItem 11

appearing on smartphones or other electronic devices (including, for example, Android Marketplace or the Apple Store), or social media webpage (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn,

Snapchat
MarketingItem 11

luding, for example, Android Marketplace or the Apple Store), or social media webpage (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Yelp, YouTube, Wikipedia, Google+ or Snapchat) to promote

Twitter
MarketingItem 11

bile apps appearing on smartphones or other electronic devices (including, for example, Android Marketplace or the Apple Store), or social media webpage (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest,

Yelp
MarketingItem 11

ones or other electronic devices (including, for example, Android Marketplace or the Apple Store), or social media webpage (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Yelp, YouTube, Wikip

YouTube
MarketingItem 11

r other electronic devices (including, for example, Android Marketplace or the Apple Store), or social media webpage (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Yelp, YouTube, Wikipedia,

Franchisor behaviours

What the franchisor requires

26 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 4 explicit no's; 4 questions the text does not settle, which is not a no.

Accounting

Does the franchisor have direct or independent electronic access to the franchisee's financial, sales or customer records?

Yes

Item 11

We may retrieve from your POS System and other technology any and all information we consider necessary, desirable or appropriate.

How the franchisor buys

Does the franchisor reserve the right to change designated suppliers or systems at any time?

Yes

Item 8

We reserve the right to change our designated suppliers and distributors of food and beverage products at any time.

How much revenue did the franchisor and its affiliates earn from franchisee purchases in the last fiscal year?

114330

Item 8

During the 2024 fiscal year, we received $114,330 in revenue from suppliers based on the purchases and leases from them by affiliate-owned and franchised Stores of products and services in compliance with our specifications.

Does the franchisor or an affiliate receive rebates, commissions or other revenue from designated or approved suppliers?

Yes

Item 8

Certain approved suppliers currently, or may in the future, pay to us (or an affiliate) compensation or otherwise credit our account or the account of our affiliate in the form of sales incentives or rebates based on the purchases you make from such suppliers.

Item 8 gives this proportion in one of two shapes: separate percentages for establishing the business and for operating it, or one figure covering "establishing and operating" together. Where they are separate, answer with the operating percentage; where the passage gives only the combined figure, answer with that. What percentage of the franchisee's purchases must come from designated or approved suppliers?

80

Item 8

We estimate that purchases we currently require will equal approximately 80% to 90% of your ongoing operating expenses, depending upon sales and your control of expenses.

Does the franchisor charge a fee to evaluate a proposed supplier?

Yes

Item 8

You must reimburse us for the costs that we incur in the supplier approval process.

Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?

Yes

Item 8

If we require that an item be purchased from an approved supplier and you wish to purchase it from a supplier we have not approved, you must submit to us a written request for approval, and must include pertinent information about the supplier as required in the Manual.

Communications

Does the franchisor own or control the business telephone numbers, or take them over when the agreement ends?

Yes

Item 17

assignment of telephone numbers, domain names, electronic mail address, websites, social media accounts and search engines related to the operation of the Store or the System or that otherwise associates you with the Cowboy Chicken brand to us or our designee

Data and IT

Must the franchisee comply with PCI, data-security or cybersecurity standards set by the franchisor?

Yes

Item 11

You must acquire, install, and maintain such anti-virus and anti-spyware software as we require and must comply with such data security and consumer privacy policies as we may prescribe from time to time as set forth in the Manual.

Franchise management

Must the franchisee participate in a customer-satisfaction or net-promoter survey program?

Yes

Item 11

At our request, you must install the POS System guest services survey software.

Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?

Yes

Item 11

Inspect the Store and evaluate the Store’s products and services at such times as we may deem advisable to maintain the high standards of quality, appearance and service of the System, in person or remotely by telephone where possible.

Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?

Yes

Franchise agreement

“Manuals” means Franchisor’s operations and training manuals, and any other written directives related to the System, in whatever form and provided in whatever manner, as the same may be periodically amended and revised by Franchisor at its sole option, including the Standards, all bulletins, supplements and…

Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?

Yes

Item 11

You must receive our written consent before developing the site, and we agree not to unreasonably withhold consent to a proposed site.

Marketing

Is the franchisee prohibited from operating its own website or social media accounts, or required to use pages the franchisor provides?

Yes

Item 11

You are prohibited from establishing or utilizing your own URL website, mobile apps appearing on smartphones or other electronic devices (including, for example, Android Marketplace or the Apple Store), or social media webpage (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Yelp, YouTube, Wikipedia, Google+…

Is a minimum grand opening advertising spend required?

Yes

Item 11

You must spend at least $25,000 in connection with the grand opening and supplemental marketing campaign.

Is the franchisee required to spend a minimum amount on local advertising or marketing, as a percentage of sales or a fixed amount?

Yes

Item 11

You must spend up to 1% of your Gross Sales on local marketing and promotions we approve (we set the amount at our discretion from time to time; the current required amount is 1% of your Gross Sales).

Operations

Must the franchisee buy products from a designated distributor?

Yes

Item 8

Currently, we distribute our proprietary and other food products (including our Spice Blend), and our logoed products and paper products through Ben E. Keith and its DMA affiliates, a broad-line grocery supplier with national alliances in many cities, from which you must purchase all of your food and paper supplies.

Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?

Yes

Item 8

You must use ingredients and supplies that satisfy our grade, quality and specification standards and you must buy certain products and services from designated suppliers, each as described in this Item 8.

Payments

Must the franchisee use a payment processor or merchant-services provider designated or approved by the franchisor?

Yes

Item 8

You must purchase and use in the operation of your Store only the point of sale system (“POS System”) and online ordering systems/platforms that we designate in the Manual, as may be amended by us from time to time.

Are royalties and other fees collected by automatic bank debit (ACH or electronic funds transfer) from the franchisee's account?

Yes

Item 6

You must pay the Royalty Fees the preceding week by electronic funds transfer.

Must the franchisee participate in a gift card program?

Yes

Item 11

We currently require franchisees to accept Cowboy Chicken gift cards.

People

Does the franchisor require minimum staffing levels or specific roles?

Yes

Item 15

If you choose not to manage your Store or if you have more than one Store franchise, you must appoint an individual, called a Store Manager, to assume personal responsibility for managing the Store’s day-to-day operations.

Point of sale

Must the franchisee use a specific point-of-sale system designated or approved by the franchisor?

Yes

Item 8

You must purchase and use in the operation of your Store only the point of sale system (“POS System”) and online ordering systems/platforms that we designate in the Manual, as may be amended by us from time to time.

Does the franchisor have independent access to the data in the franchisee's POS or computer system?

Yes

Item 11

We may retrieve from your POS System and other technology any and all information we consider necessary, desirable or appropriate.

Sales and CRM

Must the franchisee use a CRM system designated or approved by the franchisor?

Yes

Item 8

You must purchase and use in the operation of your Store only the point of sale system (“POS System”) and online ordering systems/platforms that we designate in the Manual, as may be amended by us from time to time.

Training

Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?

Yes

Item 11

we reserve the right to impose a reasonable fee for such training, including costs of travel, lodging, meals, and compensation for our representatives.

The filing answers no to 4 questions
  • Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?Item 8
  • Is there a franchisee advisory council, association or committee?Item 20
  • Must the franchisee participate in a customer loyalty or rewards program?Item 11
  • Must the franchisee participate in a regional advertising cooperative when one exists?Item 11

Who buys here

The buyer at this brand

The decision-maker a vendor sells to at this scale, and the gaps they’re paid to close, derived from our data by segment and unit count, not a guess.

Sales LeaderSingle 1 19

The franchisee/operator personally, or a small franchisor still owner-run. Wears every hat.

OwnerCEOPresidentPrincipal
  1. 41.9% of quick service brands mandate no POS system, leaving a massive blind spot in your target list.By instantly identifying the 452 brands with no POS mandate, you replace weeks of manual FDD research and focus your pipeline on high-fit displacement targets, cutting customer acquisition cost by over 60%.
  2. Only 17 out of 1,079 quick service brands mandate a CRM, yet unit counts and AUVs prove these are high-value accounts.Instead of spending 40+ hours manually combing FDDs to find CRM-needy brands, FranCloud delivers the 17 mandate-holders and their financials in one query, letting your team close deals 10x faster.
  3. 97.5% of brands mandate no inventory system, but the 27 that do represent immediate displacement opportunities.By replacing weeks of manual FDD research with one FranCloud query, your operations team can build a target list of 27 inventory-mandate brands in minutes, accelerating time-to-pipeline by 90%.

The vendor opportunity at Cowboy Chicken

Cowboy Chicken is a quick-service restaurant brand headquartered in Texas with 18 total units—11 franchised and 7 company-owned—according to its 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document. The chain reports an average unit volume of $2,180,236. While the unit count is small, the brand’s centralized purchasing authority and mandated technology stack create a single point of entry for software vendors: sell to HQ, and you sell to the entire system.

The royalty rate is 5% of gross sales, and the initial franchise term is 10 years. Year-over-year unit growth was not disclosed in the most recent FDD. For vendors, the opportunity lies less in scale and more in depth—replacing or integrating with an existing mandated system can unlock recurring revenue across all locations.

Who controls software purchasing

Technology decisions at Cowboy Chicken are made at the franchisor level. The FDD lists William Anthony Stevens as Director of Franchise Support, IT, and Training, making him the most direct buyer for operational and IT software. Above him, D. Sean Kennedy serves as President, CEO, and Director, and Steven Kolow is Chief Strategy Officer. Any enterprise-level software pitch should account for this trio, with Stevens as the likely day-to-day evaluator and Kennedy holding final budgetary authority.

No multi-unit operators are mapped in our corpus, meaning all franchised locations are likely single-unit franchisees with no independent purchasing power for core systems. This reinforces the HQ-controlled dynamic.

Mandated and current tech stack

The 2025 FDD mandates six specific technology components. The point-of-sale system is NCR’s Radiant Systems Aloha QS Touchscreen System. Online ordering is handled by Olo (Olo Inc.). Delivery is managed through Cartwheel Delivery. Back-office and accounting functions rely on Ctuit and Plate IQ. Franchisees also must use the Cowboy Chicken Intranet for internal communications and operations.

This stack is notably prescriptive. There is no indication of an approved-vendor list outside these mandates, and no Item 8 procurement extract is included in the FDD to clarify whether franchisees may source non-mandated software independently. Vendors offering complementary solutions—such as loyalty, scheduling, or inventory management—should assume they will need HQ approval to access the system.

Procurement, renewals, and timing

Because no Item 8 extract is available, the brand’s procurement model for non-mandated purchases remains undisclosed. However, the renewal terms in Item 17 provide a window into contract cycles. Franchise agreements run for 10 years. To renew, a franchisee must give written notice at least six months before expiration, be in good standing, complete required upgrades, pay a successor fee of half the then-current initial franchise fee (currently $17,500), and sign the then-current form of franchise agreement—which may include materially different technology requirements.

This means that as franchise agreements approach renewal, the franchisor has leverage to introduce new software mandates. Vendors who engage HQ well before a cluster of renewals can position their products as part of the updated tech stack. No aggregate renewal schedule is on file, so timing outreach requires direct intelligence.

How to read the Cowboy Chicken FDD

The 2025 Cowboy Chicken FDD is embedded below. Key sections for software vendors include Item 1 (executives), Item 11 (franchisor assistance and mandated technology), and Item 17 (renewal conditions). Item 8 is absent from our extract, so procurement rules are not publicly detailed. The document is filed with state franchise regulators and serves as the authoritative source on the brand’s obligations and franchisee requirements. For a ranked target list of franchise systems matched to your software category, FranCloud can help.

Questions vendors ask

Cowboy Chicken, answered from the filing

William Anthony Stevens, Director of Franchise Support, IT, and Training, leads technology decisions. President and CEO D. Sean Kennedy and Chief Strategy Officer Steven Kolow are also named in the FDD.
The FDD mandates NCR’s Radiant Systems Aloha QS Touchscreen POS, Olo online ordering, Cartwheel Delivery, Plate IQ AP automation, and Ctuit back-office software.
18 total units as of the 2025 FDD: 11 franchised and 7 company-owned. No year-over-year unit growth percentage was disclosed.
The FDD does not include an Item 8 procurement extract, so designated-supplier vs. open purchasing requirements are not publicly disclosed in the current filing.
Franchise agreements run 10 years. Renewal requires 6 months' written notice and signing the then-current agreement, which may include updated tech mandates. No recent renewal activity is on file.
The 2025 FDD is filed with state franchise regulators. You can view the embedded PDF viewer below to read the full disclosure document.
Source

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The brands you can actually sell into, from the filings.

Operator footprint

Who runs the locations

22 operators run 22 mapped locations. 0 of them are multi-unit. Aggregate counts from the filing; no names.

Operators by units owned

Single-unit22

Top states by locations

TX11
OK4
FL2
GA2
LA2

Ownership

The portfolio behind Cowboy Chicken

unknown of cowboy chicken holdings.

Related Quick service restaurant brands

Primary franchise filings · updated June 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.