Discovery Map franchise unit economics
Discovery Map franchisees sell advertising around an illustrated visitor map, publishing about one map a year for an area of roughly 400 businesses. Across 102 maps, sales averaged $58,171 against a median of $53,210, about $145 from each business in the area. Print advertising has a 10% royalty and website advertising 25%.
- Primary source
- Discovery Map International, Inc., 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
- 102 of 116 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.
One map a year, one selling cycle, one number. Across 102 maps the average was $58,171 of advertising sales and the median $53,210. Range across an area of about 400 businesses, that is roughly $145 from each of them, and the whole business opens for $29,250.
- A map sells $58,171 on average and $53,210 at the median. With 38 of 102 reaching the average, a $214,930 top map pulling the two apart *.
- That is about $145 from each business in the area. Across roughly 400 businesses *. The clearest way to test whether a new area will have a map.
- Website advertising has two and a half times the royalty of print. 25% against 10% *, so a digital sale is worth far less to the owner than the same dollar of print.
- The opening cost is half an average map’s annual sales. $29,250 against $58,171 *, among the lightest entry costs in this library.
- The brand requires $40,000 of sales from year three. Rising from $20,000 and $30,000, and the lowest-selling map billed $10,430, a quarter of that line *.
How much does a Discovery Map franchise make?
The average Discovery Map unit reported $58,171 of revenue in the 2026 FDD, and the median reported $53,210. 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 13.8% 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 Discovery Map performers
Discovery Map splits its locations into groups instead of publishing one average. The best group averaged $214,930 a year. The worst averaged $10,430. Both run the same brand, on the same agreement, paying the same fees. The middle location sold $53,210. The average was $58,171. More than half the system is below the number the brand quotes.
Decided before you open
- Trade area and site.A 20.6× gap between bands is not an operating gap. Catchment, daytime population and what sits next door set the ceiling before the first customer arrives.
- Territory, and how much of it is real.This model sells from a territory rather than a building. Two owners with the same brand and different ground are running different businesses, and density decides how much driving sits between jobs.
- What you spend to open.Opening costs $29,250 to $36,300, a 1.2× 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
- Visits, the operating driver.This model bills on visits. The owner watches how many visits happen, what each one is worth, and how many customers book the next one before they leave. 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 13.8% 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.
- The first year.This filing shows how a new location builds up, so the ramp can be underwritten from the document rather than assumed. Read two things out of it: the month sales cross the point where costs are covered, and how much cash you fund before that month arrives. Everything before break-even is paid for by you.
Context you underwrite around
- The reporting screen.102 of 116 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.
What a map sells
Twenty times between the lowest-selling map and the highest-selling one.
| Measure | Sales a map | A business in the area * |
|---|---|---|
| Highest | $214,930 | $537.33 |
| Average | $58,171 | $145.43 |
| Median | $53,210 | $133.03 |
| Lowest | $10,430 | $26.07 |
| Reaching the average | 38 of 102, 37% | n/a |
Every sales figure and count is as the brand reported it and the per-business column divides them by the roughly 400 businesses in a typical area, marked *.
The highest-selling map sells 20.6 times the lowest-selling one. *, on the same annual publication and the same selling cycle.
The average sits $4,961 above the median. *, a modest gap for a distribution with a $214,930 top.
Sixty-four of the 102 maps fell below the average. 63% *, so the median is the better planning figure.
These are gross advertising sales before every cost. Net of sales tax and documented refunds, chargebacks and credits, and before printing, distribution, the royalty and the owner’s own time.
Only maps published and sold within the year are counted. Along with 66 of the 74 franchisees who traded, so the figures describe completed selling cycles.
Ten percent, and twenty-five
The digital dollar is worth less than the printed one.
| Map sales | Royalty at 10% * | Publication system fee | Total * | Share * |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $10,430, the lowest | $1,043 | $2,200 | $3,243 | 31.1% |
| $40,000, the required minimum | $4,000 | $2,200 | $6,200 | 15.5% |
| $58,171, the average | $5,817 | $2,200 | $8,017 | 13.8% |
| $214,930, the highest | $21,493 | $2,200 | $23,693 | 11.0% |
The 10% print royalty and the $2,200 annual publication system fee are as the brand reported it and the dollar figures apply them at each sales level, marked *.
Website advertising is charged at 25%. Two and a half times the print rate *, so $10,000 of digital sales costs $2,500 against $1,000 in print.
The publication system fee rises up to 5% a year, compounded. Taking $2,200 to $2,674 by the fifth year *, and it is the only fixed charge.
A 1% advertising fund sits unused in the agreement. With the brand able to introduce it at any anniversary, $582 a year at the average map *.
Local advertising obligations are absent entirely. With zero required spend and zero cooperative, and zero plans for one, the owner directs every marketing dollar.
A late or incomplete report costs $200. On top of 1.5% monthly interest, small numbers on a business of this size, but worth automating.
Four hundred businesses
The territory is counted in businesses.
| Term | Detail |
|---|---|
| Area | Typically at least 400 businesses |
| Sized by | Physical geography, population and business density |
| Minimum sales, year one | $20,000 |
| Year two | $30,000 |
| Year three onward | $40,000 |
| Reserving an unfranchised area | 20% of the current fee, for one year |
Every term is as the brand reported it, with the drawn map possibly covering less than the whole area because of the physical limits of a 17-by-22-inch page.
The exclusivity is conditioned on market penetration. And leaving part of the area unrepresented for two years lets the brand shrink it to what the map actually covers.
Reaching $40,000 takes $100 from each of 400 businesses. *, against an average map achieving $145.
Reserving an area costs $5,000 for a year. 20% of the current fee, non-refundable, useful where a market needs time to prepare.
A second franchise costs 75% of the then-current fee. $18,750 today *, and it is granted at the brand’s sole discretion.
Internet, mobile, retail and direct marketing all stay with the brand. Inside your area as well as outside, with zero compensation, which is the context for the 25% website royalty.
Opening and the system
A $29,250 entry, and a system holding near 116.
| Measure | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Franchised at start | 117 | 115 | 119 |
| Opened, United States | 2 | 11 | 4 |
| Terminated, United States | 2 | 5 | 6 |
| Franchised at end | 115 | 119 | 116 |
| Total investment | $29,250 to $36,300 | ||
Every figure is as the brand reported it, with international outlets falling from two to zero across the period and affiliate-owned maps from three to zero.
The brand exited its own three maps during 2024. So every map in the system is now franchisee-run.
Seventeen maps opened and thirteen were terminated in the United States. *, with eleven of those openings in a single year.
Both international maps closed. One in each of 2024 and 2025, leaving the system entirely domestic.
The investment is $29,250 to $36,300, of which $26,250 to $26,750 goes to the brand. A $25,000 fee plus $1,250 to $1,750 of map colouring, and the business runs from home.
Map racks and equipment cost $1,500 to $3,250. The only physical asset in the model, alongside a computer at $500 to $1,200.
Questions we get asked
Questions an owner asks.
What does a map sell?
In the year to 30 September 2025, across 102 maps, advertising sales averaged $58,171 with a median of $53,210. The highest was $214,930 and the lowest $10,430. Thirty-eight of the 102, or 37%, reached the average.
What does that mean per business?
An area typically holds at least 400 businesses, so on our reading the average map earns about $145 from each of them and the median about $133. The highest-selling map earns $537.
What does the brand take?
10% of printed advertising sales and 25% of website advertising sales, plus $2,200 a year for the publication system. That may rise up to 5% a year compounded. A 1% advertising fund exists in the agreement but is currently uncharged.
What does that total?
On our reading, $8,017 at the average map, 13.8% of sales, falling to 11.0% at the highest and rising to 31.1% at the lowest.
Why does the website rate matter?
Because at 25% it is two and a half times the print rate. Ten thousand dollars of digital advertising costs $2,500 in royalty against $1,000 for the same sales in print. That changes what a digital sale is worth to the owner.
Are there minimum sales?
Yes. $20,000 in year one, $30,000 in year two and $40,000 from year three. Reaching $40,000 takes about $100 from each of 400 businesses on our reading, against an average map achieving $145.
What does it cost to open?
$29,250 to $36,300, of which $26,250 to $26,750 goes to the brand as a $25,000 fee plus map colouring. The business runs from home, and the largest remaining item is $1,500 to $3,250 of map racks.
Which two numbers should run through the selling cycle?
Advertisers sold against the 400 businesses in your area. Because penetration is what the exclusivity depends on. Average sale per advertiser against $145. Because that is where this system's average map lands.
- 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 Discovery Map
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 Discovery Map 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.
Launch the diagnostic →How many of your 400 businesses advertise?
A structured review of your unit economics, cash forecast. Reporting, built around $145 a business, a 25% royalty on digital sales, and minimum sales that reach $40,000 by year three.
Request the reviewthe franchise library, all 243 brands · how franchise unit economics work · running the books across several locations · what Averan does for franchise owners
Discovery Map reads against the rest of the other group: Grease Monkey · TeamLogic IT.
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?How royalty, ad fund and minimums actually work on a monthly statement.
- How much cash do I fund before a new location covers its own costs?A 13-week forecast for the months before break-even.
- My payroll percentage keeps climbing. Is that a payroll problem?Usually it is a revenue problem wearing a payroll costume.
- Revenue was the highest it has been. Why did profit not move?Where the extra revenue went, line by line.
- At what point do spreadsheets stop coping?What changes at around ten units, and why lenders care.