Operating a Business on Shabbat

Shalom u’vrachah 

The wording is not correct. 

There is no Jew who is “forced to open a business on Shabbat because the franchisor will charge him a very large amount of money.” A Jew is obligated to observe Shabbat even if he will lose a very large amount of money. 

The correct wording of the question is: Is there a way in which it would be permitted for a Jew to open a business on Shabbat so that he will not lose a lot of money? 

Answer: The only way is to bring a non-Jewish partner into the business and to purchase the business in partnership with him. That is, to sell the business to someone else, and then buy it from him in partnership with a non-Jew. 

And it must be evident to everyone that the business also belongs to the non-Jew. 

The agreement must be that all profits and losses of Shabbat will belong only to the non-Jew. The Jew may not benefit at all from the work of the non-Jew. The remaining days will be divided equally between them. 

According to the Shulchan Aruch: the partnership must be made with a stipulation in advance, and with a contract signed properly, in accordance with all the laws of the country and through a lawyer, that on Shabbatot and Yamim Tovim the Jew will have no obligation whatsoever to work; rather, the non-Jew receives all the profits of Shabbat and Yom Tov, and the Jew receives in exchange the profits of one of the weekdays.
According to the Rema: the above agreement is necessary specifically when the agreement between them is that each one is obligated to work on his day according to a rotation, and Shabbat is included. But if the partnership is structured in such a way that both of them work together throughout the weekdays, or they appoint workers who work in the business, and the Jew does not work on Shabbatot and Yamim Tovim, and as a result he does not need to make up his work and work more on the weekdays, then they do not need to make a condition regarding the division of profits. In that case, even if the business continues to operate on these days through the non-Jewish partner or the workers, it is permitted, since the non-Jew is acting on his own behalf. And it is permitted for the Jew to divide the profits with him equally.
There are those who maintain that even according to the Rema, it is proper and correct, to the extent possible, that the Jew should not have a share in the profits of Shabbat and Yom Tov.

See Shulchan Aruch, Rema, and Mishnah Berurah, Orach Chaim, siman 245, se’ifim 1–3