Discover Strength franchise unit economics
Discover Strength franchisees run strength training studios where credentialed exercise physiologists deliver one-to-one and small-group sessions inside a protected territory.
Discover Strength franchise at a glance
A studio open 13 to 24 months averaged $278,638 of gross sales and one open 24 months or more $872,951.
Discover Strength franchisees averaged $872,951 of sales in 2025, with a median of $876,482, according to Item 19 of Discover Strength’s 2026 FDD, issued 28 April 2026. The 14 in that group are 56%* of Discover Strength’s 25 locations. Fees paid to Discover Strength come to about 8.8%* of sales. A Discover Strength franchise costs $529,000 to $870,000 to open.
- A Discover Strength franchise costs $529,000 to $870,000 to open, including a $58,000 initial franchise fee, according to the brand's 2026 FDD.
- Discover Strength charges a royalty of 6% of sales and a 2% brand fund contribution.
- Discover Strength reported 25 franchised locations in its 2026 FDD.
- Discover Strength franchisees averaged $872,951 of sales from 12 months ended 31 December 2025, with a median of $876,482.
- 50% of reporting Discover Strength locations reached the average.
- At the average Discover Strength location, wages took 43.7% and rent and space costs took 12% of sales.
- Work out Discover Strength's fees at your own sales with the minimum fee calculator.
- Labor, payroll taxes and rent take 91.6% of a second-year Discover Strength studio’s sales and 59.7% of a mature studio’s, a difference of 32 points.
These figures come from Discover Strength's 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, as the brand reported them, and were read by Averan Advisors.
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Talk to Averan → Move your books and accounting to Averan →- Three lines take 91.6% of a second-year studio’s sales and 59.7% of a mature one’s. Those three lines are labor, payroll taxes and rent *, leaving 8.4% and 40.3% before royalty, marketing, utilities and insurance.
- Rent is 35.0% of a second-year studio’s sales and 12.0% of a mature one’s. That is $97,656 against $104,604 a year *, near-identical dollars, 23 points apart as a share.
- A mature studio bills 3.13 times a second-year one. $872,951 against $278,638, and labor falls from 50.7% of sales to 43.7% across the same span *.
- After the brand’s 10.6%, a second-year studio runs at negative 2.1%. That compares with 31.4 points left at a mature one *, so year two is funded.
- The year-five sales requirement of $500,000 sits above the lowest-selling mature studio. That studio billed $262,478, and missing the requirement lets the brand shrink the territory or end the agreement.
How much does a Discover Strength franchise make?
The average Discover Strength unit reported $872,951 of revenue in the 2026 FDD, and the median reported $876,482. Item 19 of the Discover Strength FDD publishes sales, labor, payroll taxes and rent for franchised studios by years open, and what an owner keeps depends on the costs set out below. Fees come off the top first, at about 8.8% 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.
Top performers
What separates the top Discover Strength performers
Discover Strength publishes a range for its studios instead of grouped averages. The highest-selling Discover Strength franchised studio open 24 months or more billed $1,635,173 in 2025. The lowest-selling Discover Strength studio in that group billed $262,478. Both run the same brand, on the same agreement, paying the same fees.
Decided before you open
- Site and trade area.The highest-selling Discover Strength studio sells 6.2× the lowest-selling one. Catchment, daytime population and neighboring businesses affect where a location falls.
- Capacity.Locations run 2,064 to 2,538 square feet. The build sets how much you can sell.
- Opening cost range.Opening costs $529,000 to $870,000, a 1.6× range inside one brand.
- Lease cost.Occupancy cost ran 12.0% of sales in this filing. Rent stays the same when sales fall, so it takes a larger share of sales at lower-selling locations.
- Cash needed in the first year.This filing shows how a new location builds up: the month sales cover costs, and how much cash you fund before then.
Live operating levers
- Wages.Wages take 43.7% of sales. The levers are staff productivity, scheduling against demand hour by hour, and the balance of base pay to commission.
- Occupancy cost.Rent and building costs take 12.0% of sales here. The rent is fixed when the lease is signed, so this share falls only as sales per square foot rise.
- Sessions sold.Revenue comes from one-to-one and small-group sessions. Track sessions delivered per trainer each week and how many clients renew.
- Memberships and rebooking.A recurring plan turns appointments into a monthly subscription and keeps the schedule fuller. Rebooking before the customer leaves keeps it full.
- Fees.Discover Strength’s fees run about 8.8% of sales, and Discover Strength sets no minimum royalty.
Context you underwrite around
- Locations included.These figures cover 14 of 25 locations. Locations open less than the full year, brand-owned, or not meeting the reporting criteria are excluded, as are locations under the brand’s current size standard.
- What the filing does not include.Item 19 of the Discover Strength FDD publishes sales, labor, payroll taxes and rent for franchised studios by years open. Ask the franchisor or current owners for any cost line the filing leaves out.
Discounts available
- Discover Strength charges existing franchisees $48,000 for an additional studio.
- Discover Strength charges $40,000 for each additional studio signed at the same time as the first.
- Discover Strength charges eligible full-time employees of current studios a $38,000 fee.
From Item 5 of the Discover Strength 2026 FDD. The costs on this page use the full initial franchise fee for one unit, before any discount.
Rent stays put, sales triple
Franchised studios by years open, 2025
| Line | 13 to 24 months (6) | Share * | 24 months and over (8) | Share * |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross sales | $278,638 | 100% | $872,951 | 100% |
| Labor | $141,217 | 50.7% | $381,362 | 43.7% |
| Payroll taxes | $16,250 | 5.8% | $35,470 | 4.1% |
| Rent | $97,656 | 35.0% | $104,604 | 12.0% |
| Left before the brand | $23,515 | 8.4% | $351,515 | 40.3% |
| Fees paid to the brand | $29,479 | 10.6% | $77,024 | 8.8% |
| Left after the brand | $(5,964) | (2.1%) | $274,491 | 31.4% |
The sales, labor, payroll taxes and monthly rent are as the brand reported it and the annual rent, brand charges and the two remaining rows are derived from them, marked *.
Rent differs by $579 a month between the two groups. $8,138 against $8,717 *, so the 23-point fall in rent as a share of sales is sales growth alone, against a cost that changes by less than a tenth.
Labor falls seven points as a studio matures. That is 50.7% to 43.7%, worth $61,106 a year at mature sales *, and the second largest source of the swing after rent.
Local marketing, utilities, insurance, supplies, interest and owner pay all sit below the last line. So the 31.4% a mature studio keeps is a gross figure, and the negative 2.1% at a second-year studio is before those costs.
Sales per square foot run $135 in year two and $344 at maturity. * That is on studios of roughly 2,064 and 2,538 square feet implied by those figures.
The median second-year studio bills 82.9% of its group average. $231,118 against $278,638, while the mature median at $876,482 sits fractionally above its own mean. So the young group is the skewed one.
Franchised against company
Company-owned against franchised studios, 2025
| Measure | Company 13–24 mo (2) | Company 24+ mo (6) | Franchised 13–24 mo (6) | Franchised 24+ mo (8) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average gross sales | $269,990 | $1,032,286 | $278,638 | $872,951 |
| Median | $269,990 | $1,197,924 | $231,118 | $876,482 |
| Low | $210,998 | $374,579 | $104,293 | $262,478 |
| High | $328,982 | $1,426,766 | $479,191 | $1,635,173 |
| Labor share | 68% | 46% | 51% | 44% |
| Sales a square foot | $129 | $524 | $135 | $344 |
Every figure is as the brand reported it, with the company-owned columns describing the predecessor operator instead of franchisee performance.
Mature company studios bill $524 a square foot against $344 at franchised ones. 1.52 times *, on 1.18 times the sales, so they run the same revenue through a smaller box.
Young company studios spend 68% of sales on labor. Against 51% at young franchised ones, which on $269,990 of sales puts those three core lines at 116.4% *, meaning the brand has its own openings through the same trough.
The highest-selling franchised studio billed $1,635,173. That is above the highest-selling company one at $1,426,766, so the ceiling in this system belongs to a franchisee.
The lowest-selling mature franchised studio billed $262,478. The lowest-selling mature company studio billed $374,579, a $112,101 gap at the bottom that matters more than the gap at the top.
More than a third of the reporting studios are the brand’s own or its predecessor’s. The split is 8 company against 14 franchised, and one company studio has traded 19 years, so read the company columns as a long-run demonstration.
The target to clear
Minimum sales requirement
| Year | Minimum gross sales | How it compares * |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | $100,000 | Below the lowest-selling second-year studio at $104,293 |
| Year 2 | $225,000 | Below the second-year average of $278,638 |
| Year 3 | $350,000 | Above the second-year average |
| Year 4 | $450,000 | Below the second-year high of $479,191 |
| Year 5 onward | $500,000 | Above the lowest-selling mature studio at $262,478 |
The schedule is as the brand reported it and the right-hand column compares each threshold to the filed franchised averages, medians and ranges, marked *.
Missing the minimum lets the brand shrink your territory or end the agreement. The brand can also require additional general manager training at your expense, so the schedule has teeth beyond a performance conversation.
The step from year two to year three asks for $125,000 more. 56% growth in a single year, against a system where the average studio takes until month 24 to reach $278,638.
At the mature average of $872,951 the requirement is met 1.75 times over. 1.75 times the year-five minimum *, so the pressure sits entirely in years three and four.
Territory is the lesser of a three-mile radius or about 50,000 people. So a mature studio bills $17.46 a head at the population cap *, and the brand decides which of the two measures applies.
Relocating costs 25% of the then-current franchise fee. Relocation is permitted only if the premises become untenantable through casualty, so a Discover Strength owner keeps the chosen site for the full term.
Fees and what it costs to open
Franchise fees by years open
| Charge | Rate | 13 to 24 months | 24 months and over |
|---|---|---|---|
| Royalty | 6% of gross sales | $16,718 | $52,377 |
| System marketing fund | 2% | $5,573 | $17,459 |
| Local marketing | 2% | $5,573 | $17,459 |
| Technology | $400 a month | $4,800 | $4,800 |
| Scheduling app | $199 a month | $2,388 | $2,388 |
| Paid to the brand (all but local marketing) | n/a | $29,479 | $77,024 |
| Share of sales | n/a | 10.6% | 8.8% |
The rates and monthly charges are as the brand reported it and the annual dollar figures apply them to each group's filed gross sales, marked *.
Local marketing may rise to the greater of $12,000 a quarter or 3% of monthly sales. On 60 days’ notice, which at second-year sales would take the requirement from $5,573 to $48,000, worth 15.2 points of sales *.
A studio costs $529,000 to $870,000 to open. 0.61 to 1.00 times what a mature studio bills in a year *, of which $211,000 to $268,000 goes to the brand.
The equipment package alone is $153,000 to $183,000, bought from the brand. $75,000 is due at signing, alongside building work of $220,000 to $390,000 before any tenant allowance.
Additional funds cover only three months. The range is $20,000 to $55,000, against a second-year studio that on these figures is still running at a deficit on its core lines.
Fees actually collected in 2025 ran $33,500 to $58,000. The list fee is $58,000 and the employee rate is $38,000, so the low end sits below every disclosed tier.
Questions we get asked
Questions an owner asks
How much does a Discover Strength franchise make?
Discover Strength franchisees averaged $872,951 of sales in 2025, with a median of $876,482, according to Item 19 of Discover Strength’s 2026 FDD, issued 28 April 2026. The 14 in that group are 56%* of Discover Strength’s 25 locations. Fees paid to Discover Strength come to about 8.8%* of sales. A Discover Strength franchise costs $529,000 to $870,000 to open.
What does a Discover Strength studio bill?
A franchised studio open 13 to 24 months averaged $278,638 in 2025 with a median of $231,118, a low of $104,293 and a high of $479,191. One open 24 months or more averaged $872,951 with a median of $876,482, a low of $262,478 and a high of $1,635,173.
What happens between year two and maturity at Discover Strength?
Sales triple while rent stays the same. Rent runs $8,138 a month at young studios and $8,717 at mature ones, so it falls from 35.0% of sales to 12.0%. Labor falls from 50.7% to 43.7%. Together with payroll taxes, those three lines drop from 91.6% of sales to 59.7%, on our reading.
What is left over at Discover Strength?
Before the brand's fees, the studio keeps 8.4% at a second-year studio and 40.3% at a mature one. After royalty, marketing fund and technology charges of 10.6% and 8.8%, that is minus 2.1% and plus 31.4%. Local marketing, utilities, insurance, supplies, interest and owner pay all still come out of the second figure.
What fees does Discover Strength charge?
Discover Strength charges 6% of gross sales in royalty, 2% to the system marketing fund, $400 a month of technology and $199 a month for the scheduling app, and requires 2% of gross sales of local marketing spend. The brand reserves the right to raise the local requirement to the greater of $12,000 a quarter or 3% of monthly sales on 60 days' notice.
Is there a sales requirement at Discover Strength?
Yes, and it rises: $100,000 in year one, $225,000 in year two, $350,000 in year three, $450,000 in year four and $500,000 from year five. Missing it lets the brand require extra general manager training at your expense, reduce the territory or terminate. The year-five minimum sits above the lowest-selling mature studio in the system at $262,478.
How do the company studios compare at Discover Strength?
Mature company studios averaged $1,032,286 against $872,951 franchised, at $524 a square foot against $344. But young company studios spent 68% of sales on labor against 51% at young franchised ones. Eight of the 22 reporting studios are company-owned, and one has traded 19 years, so read those columns as a long-run demonstration.
What does a Discover Strength studio cost to open?
A Discover Strength studio costs $529,000 to $870,000 to open for 1,800 to 2,200 square feet, of which $211,000 to $268,000 goes to the brand. Building work runs $220,000 to $390,000 and the equipment package $153,000 to $183,000 with $75,000 due at signing. Additional funds of $20,000 to $55,000 cover three months.
Which two numbers should run monthly at Discover Strength?
Track gross sales against $8,717 of monthly rent, because rent is the fixed cost the whole model leans on and it falls from 35% of sales to 12% purely on volume. Then track labor as a share of sales against 43.7%, because that is where a mature studio lands and it is the only large line an owner controls week to week.
- Item 19 of the Discover Strength FDD gives no profit after every cost. It publishes sales, labor, payroll taxes and rent for franchised studios by years open, so what an owner keeps after all costs is not disclosed.
Questions worth putting to Discover Strength
The filing answers what it answers. These are the gaps an owner or a buyer should close directly.
- How would wages and rent at a new Discover Strength location compare with the figures in the filing? Item 19 of the Discover Strength FDD publishes sales, labor, payroll taxes and rent for franchised studios by years open.
- Which factors does Discover Strength see in its highest-selling locations, such as trade area, years open and size?
- 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 Discover Strength locations closed, were sold, or changed hands last year, and why?
Run your own numbers.
The Franchise Numbers Check 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. It checks whether you are ready to open another one. It is free and it runs in your browser.
Launch the diagnostic →How far through the build-up are you?
We review your unit economics and cash forecast and build your reporting around a lease that costs the same at $278,638 and $872,951, labor at 43.7% of sales. The territory carries a $500,000 minimum.
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Discover Strength reads against the rest of the personal training group: Alloy Personal Training · Fit Body Boot Camp · Fitness Together · GYMGUYZ. The personal training guide compares all of them on the same figures.
Questions owners ask next
The figures above raise these, and each one is answered on its own page.
- At what level of sales does a minimum fee stop costing me more than the percentage?It works out the sales level where a minimum fee stops applying.
- How much cash do I fund before a new location covers its own costs?It builds a 13-week forecast for the months before break-even.
- My payroll percentage keeps climbing. Is that a payroll problem?It shows how to tell whether payroll is rising or revenue is falling.
- I run several locations. Which ones actually make money?It shows each location's contribution to profit and the reporting it takes to see it.
- How much of Item 19 can I rely on?It explains what an Item 19 financial performance representation tells you and what it leaves out.
Where these figures come from.
Every figure here comes from Discover Strength Franchising LLC’s 2026 FDD and is unaudited by us. We are unaffiliated with the brand. Calculations of our own are labeled where they appear, the figures describe past performance at other businesses and are not a projection of yours. This page is an educational summary. It is not an offer to sell a franchise, and it is not financial, legal or tax advice. Discover Strength® is a registered trademark of its owner. How Averan reads a Franchise Disclosure Document.
These figures come from the brand's disclosure. They are not a forecast, an offer to sell a franchise or advice. Source: Discover Strength Franchising LLC, 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, issued 28 April 2026.