Drive-Thru Site Selection Scorecard

Most site decisions go wrong before anyone runs a number. The flyer looks good, the rent looks good, and six months later you're open on a site the morning commute drives right past. This scorecard turns a site visit into a 0-100 score across the seven things that drive a drive-thru unit. It also checks for four dealbreakers that end the conversation however good everything else looks.

Built for owners of small chains and franchisees running 2-20 units, with no real estate department.

The 100 Points

• Traffic + side of road: 25 (volume, and whether you're on the going-to-work side)
• Access + stacking: 20 (access type, medians, cross-access, stacking, double lanes)
• Economics: 15 (rent-to-sales: occupancy cost vs. forecast sales)
• Demographics: 15 (3-mile population, income, daytime population)
• Visibility: 10
• Competition / neighbors: 10 (trip-driving co-tenants, same-side competitors)
• Zoning risk: 5 (drive-thru by right vs. special permit, entitlement and utility red flags)

4 Automatic Dealbreakers

If any one trips, the final score shows DEALBREAKER, the verdict says "Do not pursue", and the site drops out of the ranking:

• Can't fit stacking (under 10 cars, or the queue spills onto the street)
• Wrong side of the road with no signal or easy left-in
• Drive-thru not allowed by zoning
• An existing tenant holds exclusive coffee rights

What'S In The Workbook (7 Tabs)

• Start Here: instructions, category weights, dealbreakers and color key
• Site Inputs: enter the facts for up to 3 sites, mostly Yes/No and dropdowns
• Forecast: build a sales forecast from your own comparable stores, adjust it with foot-traffic data, and sanity-check it against the capture rate (PASS / CAUTION / FAIL)
• Rent Calculator: total occupancy cost, rent-to-sales against an 8-10% target and 12% ceiling, the rent a site can carry, and a sales sensitivity table from -20% to +20%
• Scoring: line-by-line points with the rubric beside every line, plus dealbreakers, red flags and warnings
• Compare: all 3 sites side by side, with category scores, final score, verdict, rent-to-sales, red flags and rank
• Rubrics: the full scoring tables

Verdicts: 80-100 Strong - pursue · 65-79 Workable - fix the weak spots · 50-64 Marginal · under 50 Pass.

Plus: 12-Page Owner'S Guide (Pdf)

• Why each category is weighted the way it is
• What to gather before you start, and where it usually comes from
• Every scoring line explained
• The four dealbreakers and why they're final
• The 3-step forecasting method (comps, foot-traffic adjustment, capture-rate check)
• Red flags to clear before you sign
• "The biggest mistake," with a worked example from the sample sites
• A one-page before-you-sign checklist

Please Note

• The workbook includes three hypothetical example sites to show how scoring works. Overwrite them with your own.
• The thresholds (traffic counts, stacking, rent-to-sales targets) are the author's own site criteria, built into the rubric. Adjust your decisions to your concept and market.
• Works in Microsoft Excel. It uses standard formulas with no macros, so it can also be opened in Google Sheets.
• This is a digital download. Nothing will be shipped.
• Planning tool only. Scores are a decision aid, not a guarantee of sales. Confirm zoning, utility, traffic and lease terms with the jurisdiction, your broker, your engineer and your attorney.

Buy on Etsy