BODYBAR Pilates franchise unit economics
BODYBAR Pilates franchisees run a reformer Pilates studio of 12 or 14 machines selling recurring memberships and class packages. 38 studios trading all of 2025 averaged $766,821 of gross sales and $182,646 of net income after normalized expenses, 23.8%. The number that stands out is revenue per member: $237 a month across 269 members, the highest in this library.
- Primary source
- BODYBAR Franchise, LLC, 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document
- Items read
- Items 5 and 6 for fees; Item 7 for cost to open; Item 19 for sales and any profit figure; Item 20 for the location count
- Population
- 38 of 73 locations
- Our calculations
- Marked on the page with an asterisk. Method
- Last reviewed
- 26 September 2026
Disclosure-based. Not a forecast, not an offer to sell a franchise, and not advice.
A member here is worth $237 a month, the highest figure in this library, against $56 at a 24-hour gym and $132 at a group fitness studio. On 269 members that produces $766,821 of sales and $182,646 of net income. The catch is the range: one studio earned $389,940 and another earned $1,802.
- Revenue per member is $237 a month across 269 members. $195 to $296 between studios, the highest member value of any brand in this library.
- Net income averages $182,646 on $766,821 of sales, 23.8%. Normalized expenses take 72.2% and cost of goods 4.0%.
- The highest-selling studios earned $389,940 and the lowest-selling $1,802. On sales of $1,054,516 and $420,002, a 2.51 times range producing a 216 times range in what was left.
- A presale drive delivers 183 founding members before opening day. Against an operating average of 269, 68% of the eventual base, sold across 16 to 12 weeks.
- The network went from 14 studios to 73 in three years. +11, +21 and +27, with zero company-owned studios throughout.
How much does a BODYBAR Pilates franchise make?
The average BODYBAR Pilates unit reported $766,821 of revenue in the 2026 FDD, and the median reported $756,694. The brand’s disclosure document discloses revenue and not profit, so what an owner keeps depends on the cost structure set out below. Fees come off the top first, at about 9% of sales across royalty, brand fund and the rest of the stack. Revenue is not income. Rent, wages, cost of goods and the franchise fees all come out before an owner is paid. The figures for the highest-selling and lowest-selling businesses are below.
Members & the mix
What a member is worth.
| Measure | Average | Median | Highest | Lowest | Top third | Bottom third | Studios above the average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total members | 269 | 265 | 435 | 149 | 327 | 215 | 17 / 45% |
| Revenue per member a month | $237 | $234 | $296 | $195 | $268 | $213 | 20 / 53% |
As the brand reported it.
$237 a member a month is the highest member value in this library. Against $131.92 at a group fitness studio, $64.25 at a coaching-led gym and $56.42 at a 24-hour club. Reformer Pilates sells a small number of expensive relationships, and the whole model follows from that: 269 members produce what 1,000 members produce elsewhere.
Member count varies 2.92 times and member value varies 1.52 times. 435 against 149, and $296 against $195. So roughly two thirds of the sales range is how many people belong. For a studio running 14 reformers, 435 members is about 31 members a machine and 149 is about 11.
The bottom third holds 215 members at $213 each a month. $549,540 a year at that combination. The top third holds 327 at $268, $1,051,632. Both figures bracket the filed sales range, which is the arithmetic check that these two levers multiply.
Where the revenue comes from.
| Category | Average | Median | Highest | Lowest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Membership revenue | 76.1% | 76.0% | 84.4% | 66.1% |
| Credit packages | 11.0% | 10.3% | 22.1% | 4.9% |
| Retail | 5.6% | 4.8% | 15.7% | 2.2% |
| Fees | 5.4% | 5.3% | 7.6% | 2.9% |
| Instructor training | 1.7% | 1.5% | 5.0% | 0.0% |
| Other | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.5% | 0.0% |
As the brand reported it.
Late cancellation and absence fees are 5.4% of revenue, the same order as retail. $41,408 a year at the average studio, ranging 2.9% to 7.6%. In a booked-class format with 12 or 14 machines a session, an empty reformer is lost capacity. This line is what a studio recovers when it enforces the policy. It is also almost pure margin.
Membership is 66.1% to 84.4% of revenue depending on the studio. An 18.3 point range. The studios leaning hardest on credit packages take 22.1% that way against 4.9% at the other end. Packages have zero recurring commitment, so a studio at the package-heavy end has materially less predictable revenue on the same sales.
Opening with members already signed.
| Measure | Founding memberships |
|---|---|
| Average | 183 |
| Median | 172 |
| Highest | 309 |
| Lowest | 78 |
As the brand reported it, across 27 studios that completed a presale drive during 2025 in Texas. Alabama. Illinois. Florida. California. Georgia. West Virginia, Kansas, New York, Ohio, Arizona, North Carolina and Iowa.
A studio opens with 183 members against an operating average of 269. 68% of the eventual base, sold before the doors open. That is the most consequential operating fact here: the build-up risk that dominates most fitness formats is largely resolved before trading starts. Is also why the $20,000 grand opening requirement and the $3,000 monthly local advertising commitment land where they do.
The presale range is 78 to 309, four times. The lowest-selling opened in California in July and the highest-selling in West Virginia in the same month, so market size accounts for little of it. Whatever separates a 309-member presale from a 78-member one is done in those twelve to sixteen weeks. It determines the studio's starting position by roughly $657,000 of first-year revenue at $237 a member a month.
Top performers
What separates the top BODYBAR Pilates performers
BODYBAR Pilates splits its locations into groups instead of publishing one average. The best group averaged $939,878 a year. The worst averaged $597,451. Both run the same brand, on the same agreement, paying the same fees. The middle location sold $756,694. The average was $766,821. More than half the system is below the number the brand quotes.
Decided before you open
- Trade area and site.A 1.6× gap between bands, and 216.4× between the strongest and weakest single location, is not an operating gap. Catchment, daytime population and what sits next door set the ceiling before the first customer arrives.
- Capacity, fixed at build.capacity is 38 studio floor multiplied by hours multiplied by how full they run. What you can sell is set by the build, and the build does not change after opening.
- What you spend to open.Opening costs $431,425 to $756,035, a 1.8× range inside one brand. The high end usually buys more capacity, so the cheapest build is not always the cheapest route to the top band.
Live operating levers
- Members, the operating driver.This model bills on members. The owner watches how many people join, how many cancel, and what a member spends beyond the plan. It is worth watching every week, because by the time it turns up in a monthly close the quarter is half gone.
- Service and retail mix.Attachment rate on retail, and the share of customers on the higher service tiers, lift what each hour earns without adding an hour or a room. It is the only lever that raises the ceiling without spending capital.
- Fees, and where the minimum bites.Fees run about 9.0% of sales. A minimum sits underneath the percentage, so the low-volume location pays the higher effective rate. The brand charges the weakest locations the most. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum and know which side of it you are on, because the answer changes what an extra dollar of sales is worth.
Context you underwrite around
- The reporting screen.38 of 73 locations are behind these figures. Locations open less than the full year, brand-owned, or not meeting the reporting criteria are excluded, so the numbers describe locations that cleared that screen, not the system as a whole.
- What the disclosure leaves out.Item 19 publishes no profit or cost data for franchised locations. Anything below the sales line has to come from the franchisor or from owners you call.
Profit and loss
38 studios, five lines.
| Line | Average | Share of sales | Median | Highest | Lowest | Top third | Bottom third | Studios above the average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross sales | $766,821 | 100% | $756,694 | $1,054,516 | $420,002 | $939,878 | $597,451 | 18 / 47% |
| Cost of goods sold | $30,513 | 4.0% | $24,347 | $83,122 | $7,205 | $43,556 | $21,693 | 14 / 37% |
| Gross profit | $736,426 | 96.0% | $737,077 | $1,010,655 | $410,908 | $896,322 | $575,758 | 19 / 50% |
| Normalized expenses | $553,780 | 72.2% | $566,469 | $711,341 | $387,593 | $598,646 | $480,047 | 22 / 58% |
| Net income | $182,646 | 23.8% | $177,297 | $389,940 | $1,802 | $293,255 | $95,712 | 19 / 50% |
Every figure is as the brand reported it except the share column, which is marked *.
Cost of goods is 4.0% of sales, so this is a pure service business. $30,513 against $766,821, and it covers retail merchandise alone. Gross profit is 96.0%, which means everything that decides whether a studio works sits in the normalized expense line, labor, rent, marketing and the brand.
Normalized expenses take 72.2% of sales, and they include the royalty and the rent. $553,780. The range on that line is $387,593 to $711,341, 1.83 times, against a sales range of 2.51 times. So expenses scale with sales but less than proportionally, which is what produces a 23.8% average net income and a bottom end near zero.
The lowest-selling studios in this group earned $1,802 for the year. On sales somewhere above the $420,002 minimum. The highest-selling earned $389,940. Sales vary 2.51 times across the 38; what is left over varies 216 times. That is the number to hold against a 23.8% headline margin.
Half the studios beat the average net income and 47% beat the average sales. 19 of 38 and 18 of 38. The median net income of $177,297 sits $5,349 below the average. So the distribution is close to symmetrical at the middle and pulled apart only at the tails.
Fees and what it costs to open
What the fees come to. (Items 5 and 6)
| Studio | Gross sales | Royalty and marketing fund at 9% | Local advertising and technology | Total | Share of sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highest in the group | $1,054,516 | $94,906 | $42,000 | $136,906 | 13.0% |
| Top third | $939,878 | $84,589 | $42,000 | $126,589 | 13.5% |
| Average studio | $766,821 | $69,014 | $42,000 | $111,014 | 14.5% |
| Bottom third | $597,451 | $53,771 | $42,000 | $95,771 | 16.0% |
| Lowest in the group | $420,002 | $37,800 | $42,000 | $79,800 | 19.0% |
Ours, built from the filed rates: a 7% royalty collected weekly through the booking platform, a 2% marketing fund fee collected the same way, a local advertising requirement averaging $3,000 a month across a twelve-month period excluding agency fees. A technology fee of $500 a month which may rise 30% a year.
$42,000 a year lands on every studio regardless of size. $36,000 of local advertising and $6,000 of technology. That is 4.0% of the highest-selling studios's sales and 10.0% of the lowest-selling one's. It is why the all-in rate runs 13.0% to 19.0% on identical terms. Agency fees on top could add another $4,800 to $18,000.
The royalty is collected weekly through the booking platform. Along with the marketing fund, direct from the payment processor, with the franchisor reserving the right to move to daily collection. For a studio whose revenue arrives as recurring memberships that is broadly frictionless, but it removes any float between collecting from members and paying the brand.
The technology fee may rise 30% a year. $500 a month today, $6,000 a year. Compounded at the stated ceiling that reaches $22,283 by year six. Against a fee schedule that is otherwise conventional, that is the line to model at the cap.
What it costs to open a studio.
| Item | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $60,000 | $60,000 |
| Travel and living while training | $2,500 | $10,000 |
| Founding instructor training program | $8,500 | $11,150 |
| Real estate and lease | $5,200 | $20,000 |
| Building work | $120,000 | $275,000 |
| Pilates equipment package | $105,000 | $128,660 |
| Audio-visual and computer systems | $25,225 | $32,225 |
| Signage | $10,000 | $22,000 |
| Initial inventory kit | $10,000 | $15,000 |
| Advertising and grand opening | $20,000 | $30,000 |
| Insurance | $4,000 | $8,000 |
| Shipping | $5,000 | $12,000 |
| Professional fees | $26,000 | $42,000 |
| Additional funds, three months | $30,000 | $90,000 |
| Total | $431,425 | $756,035 |
As the brand reported it.
The build costs 0.56 to 0.99 times a year of average sales. $431,425 to $756,035 against $766,821. That is among the lowest capital-to-revenue ratios in this library. It follows from the format. 12 or 14 reformers in a small box, with building work and equipment together running $225,000 to $403,660.
Professional fees are carried at $26,000 to $42,000, higher than signage, inventory and insurance combined. Covering lawyers, accountants, architects and construction management. In a build where the equipment package is fixed and bought from one supplier, the variable professional cost is a real line.
Three months of working capital is $30,000 to $90,000, and the presale largely accounts for why that is enough. A studio opening with 183 founding members at a discounted rate arrives with revenue from day one. Is precisely what the build-up assumption in most fitness formats has to fund instead.
The network of locations
The network of locations. (Item 20)
| Year | Start | End | Net change | Company-owned |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 14 | 25 | +11 | 0 |
| 2024 | 25 | 46 | +21 | 0 |
| 2025 | 46 | 73 | +27 | 0 |
As the brand reported it.
The system has grown 5.2 times in three years, from 14 studios to 73. Openings accelerated each year, 11, 21, 27. 27 of the 73 opened during 2025 and sit outside the financial tables. So more than a third of the network has yet to complete a full trading year.
The franchisor owns zero studios. Every figure here is franchisee performance, which for benchmarking is as clean as this library gets. For judging what the model does in expert hands, there is zero evidence either way.
Four of the 38 studios were excluded for reporting or transfer reasons. Two transferred, one agreed to transfer and two failed to report their financials on time. In a 73-studio system those are individually visible events, and a prospective owner should ask about each of them directly.
Questions we get asked
Questions owners ask.
What should a studio be billing?
The 38 studios trading all of 2025 averaged $766,821 of gross sales with a median of $756,694, ranging from $420,002 to $1,054,516. The top third averaged $939,878 and the bottom third $597,451. Average membership was 269, from 149 to 435, at $237 a member a month.
What does a studio earn?
Net income averaged $182,646, 23.8% of sales, with a median of $177,297, a high of $389,940 and a low of $1,802. Normalized expenses took 72.2% and cost of goods 4.0%. That net income figure already includes the royalty, marketing fund, rent, labor, technology and every other recurring cost except debt payments, interest. Discretionary items like meals, travel and charitable giving. It excludes the franchise fee, build-out, equipment and anything capitalized.
How does the presale work?
Beginning 16 to 12 weeks before opening, a studio sells discounted founding memberships. Across 27 studios that opened during 2025 the presale delivered an average of 183 founding members. A median of 172, a high of 309 and a low of 78. Against an operating average of 269 members, that is 68% of the eventual base signed before the doors open. Is why this format has a lighter working capital assumption than most fitness concepts.
What does the brand cost each year?
A 7% royalty and a 2% marketing fund fee, both collected weekly through the booking platform. A local advertising requirement averaging $3,000 a month and a $500 monthly technology fee, 9% of sales plus $42,000 flat. That works out at 13.0% of sales at the highest-selling studios in the group and 19.0% at the lowest-selling ones. Agency and management fees sit outside the advertising measurement and add $400 to $1,500 a month. The technology fee may rise 30% a year.
Who does bookkeeping for a BODYBAR Pilates franchise?
Every studio in the system is measured the same way, so the close has a target. Three things deserve their own lines. Revenue per member per month, against $237 system-wide and $195 to $296 across studios. Because the whole model rests on a small number of high-value relationships and that ratio moves before the member count does. The revenue mix, against 76.1% membership and 11.0% credit packages. That is because a studio drifting toward packages trades recurring revenue for one-off revenue at the same top line. And late cancellation and absence fees, 5.4% of revenue here and almost pure margin, a line that appears only where the policy is enforced and the system is configured to charge it. Royalty and marketing fund are swept weekly straight from the payment processor. So the cash calendar runs weekly while the books run monthly, and that reconciliation belongs in the close. Averan provides bookkeeping, controller, and fractional CFO support for franchise owners and has Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisors on the team.
- No profit figure. The filing reports sales and not earnings, so what an owner keeps is not disclosed.
- No cost lines. Wages, rent and cost of goods are not broken out, so margin cannot be rebuilt from the document.
Questions worth putting to BODYBAR Pilates
The filing answers what it answers. These are the gaps an owner or a buyer should close directly.
- What do locations at the median spend on wages and rent as a share of sales? The filing reports sales only.
- What separates the highest-selling locations from the lowest: trade area, years open, size, or the owner?
- How long does a new location take to reach the average you publish, and what does the build-up look like month by month?
- At what level of sales do the minimum charges stop applying and the percentage take over?
- How many BODYBAR Pilates locations closed, were sold, or changed hands last year, and why?
Run your own numbers.
The Franchise Finance Diagnostic runs the same checks on your own numbers. It scores where you stand and compares you with Item 19 of your brand’s FDD. It works out what one location earns and spends, and builds a 13-week cash forecast. Checks whether you are ready to open another one. It is free and it runs in your browser.
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