Startup costs, franchise fees and the ongoing royalties you'd pay for 65 popular brands in our kit categories. Every number comes from each brand's Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
Download the spreadsheetGet a free sample packageSorted by number of locations, biggest brands first. Search, filter by category, or tap a column header to re-sort.
| Brand | Franchise fee | Total startup cost | Royalty | Marketing fund | Locations | Avg. sales / yr* | Fees to franchisor / yr* |
|---|
* Estimates. Average sales are third-party estimates, not figures every brand discloses. Yearly fees = estimated sales × (royalty + marketing fund), using the low end of any range.
Headline numbers can be misleading until you see what's included.
The big numbers you see include buying land and building a school. Leasing a building instead costs a fraction of that. Using Kiddie Academy as the example:
Franchise fee, build-out inside a leased space, equipment, furniture, playground and opening cash.
| Land (est.) | $1.5M |
| New building & site work (est.) | $1.8M |
| Franchise fee, equipment, furniture, playground, opening cash | $0.7M |
| Starting total | $4.0M |
You end up owning real estate. Some owners sell the building to an investor and lease it back to free up cash.
Figures are the low end of each option from Kiddie Academy's published range; the full range is in the table above. Kiddie Academy publishes land and building together; the split assumes about $1.5M for land. Costs depend on your market.
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Most brands offer several formats. A kiosk, a store in a strip center, a freestanding drive-thru and a location bought outright can differ by millions. Where it matters, each brand's note shows the options.
A few brands, like Snap Fitness, charge a set monthly amount instead of a percentage of sales. That helps a busy location and hurts a slow one.
No. They are third-party estimates, and many brands don't publish sales figures at all. Your location could do much more or much less. Always review the brand's current FDD, especially Item 19, with an accountant.
The franchise fee, build-out, equipment, signs, opening inventory, training travel, insurance, grand opening marketing and early operating cash, as estimated in Item 7 of each brand's FDD.
People often ask about these. You can't buy one, but you can open your own concept in the same space.
The four costs every franchise buyer should understand.
A franchise gives you a proven brand. Your own concept keeps the royalties in your pocket.
Franchises give you a proven build-out package. So do we, without the royalties.
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