Flying Cow vs. Coffee News vs. Going Solo

The restaurant publication/newsletter is a business venture that I always thought was ideal for someone looking for a consistent part time income or a student.  Basically, you place a weekly newsletter in a variety of places where people are waiting (ie. coffee shops, oil change shops, hair dressers, restaurants, cafes, etc.) and sell the sides of the newsletter as advertisement.  The newsletter is most often 11x17 and folded in half and filled with humorous jokes, horoscopes, trivia, and other lighthearted reading (example of Flying Cow below). 

The question is if you wanted to start a venture like this should you either:

• Go with the largest and most established franchise Coffee News
• Work with the folks at Flying Cow
• Do it all yourself

First off, I would rule out doing it all completely by yourself.  The reason why is the content.  That is perhaps the most value both of these companies provide is the content.  If you were to purchase the content it would cost too much and if you were going to write it yourself odds are it will not be as good and will definitely take more time.  Coffee News is the largest and most established company doing this so they have been around the block quite a few times.  However, with Coffee News you are looking to pay anywhere from 3-10k for franchise fees just to get the rights to run the business, plus there is ongoing royalties and start up costs. 

My favorite (I have researched all three options with a colleague and we both came to the same conclusion) is to go with Flying Cow.  You only pay for the weekly content and design (roughly $70 a week) have it printed locally and deliver it yourself. It is a much cheaper alternative than Coffee News and the quality is similar if not superior.  They also offer a marketing training program for $499 for those that need a little more training in sales & marketing before starting their venture.