DreamMaker Bath & Kitchen franchise unit economics
DreamMaker Bath & Kitchen franchisees run a residential remodeling business from a design center, selling whole-room projects into a territory sized by population. Average contract value is $49,938 and average gross sales are $1,565,320, so a typical franchisee closes about 31 jobs a year, one every twelve days. The royalty is charged in steps on the whole year's sales. That makes a single contract worth far more than its price when it lands near a step.
- Primary source
- DreamMaker Bath & Kitchen, 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
- 41 of 44 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.
Average contract value is $49,938 and the royalty is charged in steps on the whole year's sales. Put those together and the second-quartile average of $1,478,535 sits $21,465 below a step, less than half a contract. Close one more job and the royalty bill falls by $12,288 while revenue rises by $49,938.
- One extra contract at the second-quartile average cuts the royalty bill by $12,288. $1,478,535 plus $49,938 crosses $1,500,000, taking the rate from 6% to 5%, $88,712 down to $76,424 *.
- The average franchisee closes 31 contracts a year at $49,938 apiece. One job every twelve days. The bottom quartile on contract value closes 18 at $23,695 *.
- Gross share of sales kept runs 38.3% to 52.8% by quartile. 14.5 points, which is $226,971 on the system's own average sales *.
- The system held 43 franchisees in 2011 and 41 in 2025 while average sales rose 215.89%. $495,524 to $1,565,320. Growth here has been depth.
- The share of franchisees reaching the average has fallen from 40% to 36.6%. The top went from $1,605,687 to $6,215,848 while the median went from $455,310 to $1,222,350.
How much does a DreamMaker Bath & Kitchen franchise make?
The average DreamMaker Bath & Kitchen unit reported $1,565,320 of revenue in the 2026 FDD, and the median reported $1,222,350. 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.
Top performers
What separates the top DreamMaker Bath & Kitchen performers
DreamMaker Bath & Kitchen splits its locations into groups instead of publishing one average. The best group averaged $3,232,951 a year. The worst averaged $417,467. Both run the same brand, on the same agreement, paying the same fees. The middle location sold $1,222,350. The average was $1,565,320. More than half the system is below the number the brand quotes.
Decided before you open
- Trade area and site.A 7.7× 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, quoted at 200,000 people. 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 $329,705 to $654,860, a 2.0× 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
- Cost of what you sell.Products and materials take 53.8% of sales. Buying terms, price discipline and waste are where this is won, and each of them compounds at volume.
- Jobs, the operating driver.This model bills on jobs. Every job is won again, so the owner works on how many quotes turn into work and what the average job is worth when it does. It is worth watching every week, because by the time it turns up in a monthly close the quarter is half gone.
- 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.41 of 44 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.
Contracts and groups
One contract, two effects.
| Annual gross sales | Royalty rate | Royalty at the top of the group * | Royalty one dollar above * | Saved by crossing * |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $0 to $749,999 | 7% | $52,500 | $45,000 | $7,500 |
| $750,000 to $1,499,999 | 6% | $90,000 | $75,000 | $15,000 |
| $1,500,000 to $2,499,999 | 5% | $125,000 | $100,000 | $25,000 |
| $2,500,000 to $3,999,999 | 4% | $160,000 | $120,000 | $40,000 |
| $4,000,000 and above | 3% | n/a | n/a | n/a |
The groups and rates are as the brand reported it; the three dollar columns are marked *, applying each rate to the group boundary.
The second quartile averages $1,478,535, $21,465 below the 5% group. At 6% that year costs $88,712 of royalty. Add one average contract of $49,938 and the year lands at $1,528,473, where 5% costs $76,424 *. Revenue rises $49,938 and the royalty bill falls $12,288 at the same time.
The steps get larger as the business grows. $7,500 at the first line, then $15,000, $25,000 and $40,000. A franchisee sitting at $3,999,999 pays $160,000; one dollar more and the bill is $120,000. Since the group is set on the calendar year, December is when this arithmetic is decided and January is when it resets.
A year between $642,858 and $749,999 costs more royalty than a year at $750,000. The same is true from $1,250,001 to $1,499,999, from $2,000,001 to $2,499,999 and from $3,000,001 to $3,999,999 *. Those four ranges are the places where selling more and paying less are the same decision, and each is roughly one to three contracts wide.
The top quartile averages $3,232,951 and needs $767,049 to reach 3%. 15.4 average contracts *. Worth $40,000 of royalty on top of the revenue, which makes the fifteenth contract of that push worth considerably more than the first.
What a contract is worth.
| quartile | Average contract value | Median contract value | Franchisees | Contracts at that quarter's sales * |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top | $99,971 | $86,857 | 10 | 32.3 |
| Second | $57,453 | $57,849 | 10 | 25.7 |
| Third | $44,730 | $44,454 | 10 | 21.6 |
| Bottom | $23,695 | $26,704 | 10 | 17.6 |
| All 40 | $49,938 | $53,113 | 40 | 31.3 |
Contract values are as the brand reported it. The contract-count column is marked *, dividing the matching sales quarter's average gross sales by that contract quarter's average contract value.
The average franchisee closes about 31 contracts a year. One every twelve days. That is the entire operating rhythm of this business. A designer, a salesperson and a production team working roughly two and a half whole-room projects a month.
Contract value runs from $23,695 to $99,971 across the quartiles. 4.2 times. The median contract of $53,113 sits above the average of $49,938. Means a handful of small contracts are pulling the mean down, the opposite of most measures in this library.
Two thirds of the sales gap is ticket. A business at $99,971 a contract needs 32.3 contracts to reach $3,232,951; a business at $23,695 needs 17.6 to reach $417,467 *. So the strong end is doing roughly 1.8 times the jobs at 4.2 times the value. Job size is where this model is won.
Fees and what it costs to open
What the fees come to.
| Franchisee | Gross sales | Royalty rate | Royalty | Marketing fee at 2% | Total | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highest reporting | $6,215,848 | 3% | $186,475 | $124,317 | $310,792 | 5.0% |
| Top quartile average | $3,232,951 | 4% | $129,318 | $64,659 | $193,977 | 6.0% |
| System average | $1,565,320 | 5% | $78,266 | $31,306 | $109,572 | 7.0% |
| Second quartile average | $1,478,535 | 6% | $88,712 | $29,571 | $118,283 | 8.0% |
| Third quartile average | $965,565 | 6% | $57,934 | $19,311 | $77,245 | 8.0% |
| Bottom quartile average | $417,467 | 7% | $29,223 | $8,349 | $37,572 | 9.0% |
Ours, built from the published royalty groups and the 2% marketing fee applied to filed sales figures.
The second quartile pays $10,446 more royalty than the system average on $86,785 less revenue. $88,712 against $78,266 *. That is the group structure working exactly as written, and it is the clearest argument on this page for managing the calendar year toward a step.
Franchise fees take 9.0% at the bottom quartile and 5.0% at the top reporting franchisee. A 4-point swing driven entirely by the royalty groups, since the marketing fee holds at 2% throughout. On the bottom quarter's $417,467 that 4 points is worth $16,699 *.
The minimum royalty reaches $45,500 a year on a 350,000-population territory. Implying $650,000 of annual sales at the 7% rate before the rate takes over *. The bottom quartile averages $417,467, so a franchisee in that group holding an urban territory pays the minimum, an effective 10.9%.
Opening a design center.
| Item | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Real estate | $154,450 | $310,105 |
| Additional funds, 9 to 12 months, including personal living expenses | $18,000 | $116,175 |
| Initial franchise fee | $48,000 | $75,600 |
| Initial advertising and promotional deposit | $48,000 | $66,000 |
| Equipment, supplies and inventory | $29,885 | $33,885 |
| Professional fees | $8,275 | $12,500 |
| Insurance | $7,500 | $12,000 |
| Vehicle | $0 | $11,000 |
| Refundable design center deposit | $5,000 | $5,000 |
| Software support fee | $4,495 | $4,495 |
| Training, travel, lodging and food | $4,000 | $4,000 |
| Initial education fee | $2,100 | $2,100 |
| Deposits, permits and licenses | $0 | $2,000 |
| Total | $329,705 | $654,860 |
As the brand reported it, reordered here by size. Both columns add to their stated totals exactly. The total sits before any additional franchise fee for a larger territory.
Real estate is 47% of the build at both ends of the range. $154,450 to $310,105. This is the line that separates DreamMaker from most home services brands in this library. The model runs from a design center where clients choose finishes. So there is a showroom to fit out.
$48,000 to $66,000 of advertising money is deposited with the franchisor at signing. At least $30,000 of it is spent by the franchisor, $9,000 covers a year of digital visibility. The remainder returns only against approved spending claimed within 24 months. So a meaningful part of the first year's marketing is directed.
The territory costs 24 cents a head. $48,000 for 200,000 people rural, $75,600 for 350,000 urban after the discount, and $240 for each further 1,000 to a cap of 1,000,000 *. Set against the system average of $1,565,320, a minimum rural territory returns its own fee in about eleven days of billing.
Cash to run the business day to day runs 9 to 12 months and includes the owner's living costs. $18,000 to $116,175. A longer runway than most filings assume, and appropriate for a trade selling 31 contracts a year. At that pace the first sale, the first production cycle and the first collection are months apart. The design center rent runs throughout.
Best to worst, by sales
Sales and margin, quartile by quartile.
| quartile | Franchisees | Average gross sales | Sales range | Reaching the quarter average | Average gross share of sales kept | Median gross share of sales kept |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top | 11 | $3,232,951 | $1,933,624 – $6,215,848 | 36.4% | 52.8% | 52.7% |
| Second | 10 | $1,478,535 | $1,222,350 – $1,763,220 | 50.0% | 48.5% | 48.6% |
| Third | 10 | $965,565 | $684,638 – $1,201,568 | 60.0% | 44.4% | 44.3% |
| Bottom | 10 | $417,467 | $132,900 – $611,994 | 60.0% | 38.3% | 40.1% |
| All reporting | 41 | $1,565,320 | $132,900 – $6,215,848 | 36.6% | 46.2% | 46.4% |
As the brand reported it.
14.5 points of gross share of sales kept separate the quartiles. 52.8% against 38.3%. Applied to the system's own average sales of $1,565,320, that is $226,971, more than the entire bottom sales quarter's cost of goods *. In a trade where materials, subcontractors and production labor all sit above the line, that range is estimating and buying.
The top sales quartile is 7.7 times the bottom. $3,232,951 against $417,467, on eleven and ten businesses. The top quarter's own range runs 3.2 times inside itself, from $1,933,624 to $6,215,848, so dispersion persists even among the highest-selling one.
Only 36.4% of the top quartile reaches its own average. Against 60.0% in the third and bottom quartiles. That pattern says the top quartile is carried by two or three very large businesses while the lower quartiles cluster. So an owner benchmarking against $3,232,951 is measuring against a handful of outliers.
Aggregate sales rose 9.49% from 2024 to 2025 across 39 franchisees. The average of each business's own growth rate was 11.65%, and the median was 2.25%. A 9.4-point gap between the average growth rate and the median one means a small number of franchisees grew a great deal while half the system moved barely at all.
The margin quartiles are evenly spaced at about 4.5 points apart. 52.8%, 48.5%, 44.4%, 38.3%. Unlike the sales table, this one has zero cliff at either end, which suggests margin here is a gradual matter of operating discipline.
Fifteen years
Fifteen years of the same forty businesses.
| Year | Franchisees reporting | Highest gross sales | Lowest gross sales | Reaching the average | Reaching the median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 43 | $1,605,687 | $11,727 | 40% | 51% |
| 2012 | 38 | $2,156,458 | $54,977 | 37% | 50% |
| 2013 | 34 | $2,360,821 | $77,124 | 41% | 50% |
| 2014 | 34 | $3,178,756 | $30,902 | 44% | 50% |
| 2015 | 33 | $3,150,590 | $0 | 42% | 52% |
| 2016 | 31 | $3,828,318 | $29,121 | 48% | 52% |
| 2017 | 35 | $3,831,484 | $44,500 | 40% | 51% |
| 2018 | 33 | $4,324,709 | $500 | 36.4% | 51.5% |
| 2019 | 30 | $4,450,529 | $91,419 | 43.3% | 50.0% |
| 2020 | 33 | $3,616,261 | $500 | 39.4% | 51.5% |
| 2021 | 34 | $6,296,384 | $110,821 | 35.3% | 50.0% |
| 2022 | 39 | $7,050,066 | $61,824 | 30.8% | 51.28% |
| 2023 | 38 | $6,710,075 | $112,805 | 34.2% | 50.0% |
| 2024 | 40 | $5,279,835 | $225,080 | 37.5% | 52.5% |
| 2025 | 41 | $6,215,848 | $132,900 | 36.6% | 51.2% |
As the brand reported it, assembled here from the fifteen notes accompanying the gross sales graph.
43 reporting franchisees in 2011, 41 in 2025. With a trough of 30 in 2019. Fifteen years of operating history and the count sits two below where it started, while average gross sales more than tripled. Whatever this brand has built, it has built inside the businesses it already had.
The highest franchisee went from $1,605,687 to $6,215,848. 3.9 times, peaking at $7,050,066 in 2022. The median went from $455,310 to $1,222,350, 2.7 times. So the top has pulled away from the middle across the whole period, which is exactly what the attainment column records.
The share reaching the average fell from 40% to 36.6%, bottoming at 30.8% in 2022. While the share reaching the median has sat between 50% and 52.5% in every one of the fifteen years, as it mechanically must. The average-attainment line is the real signal, and it has been drifting down as the distribution stretches.
The minimum has risen from $11,727 to $132,900. With $0 recorded in 2015 and $500 in both 2018 and 2020. A lowest-selling-franchisee figure that has climbed roughly elevenfold says the brand has stopped carrying near-dormant units, which is the other half of a flat outlet count.
The system opened 3, 3 and 1 outlets across 2023 to 2025 against 3, 2 and 0 terminations. 42 to 44. Zero non-renewals, zero reacquisitions and zero closures for other reasons in three years, with 3 transfers, all in 2024. 3 agreements sit signed and unopened against 3 projected openings for 2026.
Questions we get asked
Questions owners ask.
What should a DreamMaker business be billing?
The 41 franchisees who operated and reported for the whole of 2025 averaged $1,565,320 of gross sales with a median of $1,222,350, ranging from $132,900 to $6,215,848. 15 of the 41, 36.6%, reached the average. By quartile the averages were $3,232,951 across 11 businesses, $1,478,535, $965,565 and $417,467 across 10 each. Aggregate sales across the 39 franchisees present in both years rose 9.49% from 2024, with an average individual growth rate of 11.65% and a median of 2.25%. Across fifteen years the average has risen from $495,524 in 2011 and the median from $455,310.
What margin does the work have?
Across 37 franchisees, gross share of sales kept averaged 46.2% with a median of 46.4%. By quartile: 52.8%, 48.5%, 44.4% and 38.3%. Cost of goods sold covers equipment, production labor including insurance, workers compensation and burden, production vehicle expense, materials and freight, general production supplies, permits, debris removal, subcontractor costs and small tools. Operating expense data is absent, so the comparison stops at gross profit with every overhead sitting below it.
How big is a job?
Average contract value across 40 reporting franchisees was $49,938 with a median of $53,113. By quartile the averages were $99,971, $57,453, $44,730 and $23,695. Dividing the system's average gross sales of $1,565,320 by the average contract gives about 31 contracts a year, or one every twelve days. 23 of the 40 franchisees reached the average contract value.
What does the brand take?
Royalty is charged in steps on annual aggregate gross sales and applied to the whole year. 7% below $750,000, 6% to $1,499,999, 5% to $2,499,999, 4% to $3,999,999 and 3% above, collected weekly by bank draft. Reporting beginning in the first full week after the eight-month anniversary. A marketing, advertising and promotion fee of 2% of gross sales sits alongside it. From the third anniversary a minimum royalty of $500 a week applies. $250 a week for each additional 100,000 of population above the 200,000 minimum territory, with population reassessed each January. A business merged into the franchise has 4% to 3% royalty and a 1% marketing fee on the rolled-in sales for a period. Franchisees participate in a centralized search and digital marketing program, the first year of which is covered by $9,000 of the initial advertising deposit.
Who does bookkeeping for a DreamMaker franchise?
The group structure makes the calendar year the governing period here in a way that few franchise models match. Royalty is charged on the whole year’s aggregate sales at whichever group the year lands in. So the rate stays open until the year is nearly over and the accrual has to be managed against a forecast. A business tracking toward $1,478,535 has a materially different December than one tracking toward $1,510,000. The same forecast decides whether the weekly minimum royalty or the rate applies, which for a 350,000-population territory means $45,500 a year is the minimum. Below that sits revenue recognition: gross sales for reporting purposes means cash received. A remodeling contract is signed, produced and collected across months. So the reporting basis and the management accounts can diverge by a full project cycle unless they are reconciled deliberately. And with the benchmark stopping at a 46.2% gross share of sales kept, an owner’s own job-costing is the only source of a real bottom line, cost of goods here includes production labor, burden, subcontractors and debris removal, all of which have to be coded to the job. 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.
Questions worth putting to DreamMaker Bath & Kitchen
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 DreamMaker Bath & Kitchen 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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