Early education and child care franchise finance
Averan read the 2026 FDDs of seven early education and child care brands.
The median brand here reports average revenue of $2,193,815 an unit. Percentage fees at the median brand come to 10% of sales. The median cost to open runs $834,868 to $1,409,735.
Find an early education and child care brand
7 brands in this guide, each from its own 2026 FDD. Open one, or pick two and compare them.
The brands in this group
Each brand has its own business model breakdown, with every figure set out against the brand’s disclosure document it comes from.
- Celebree Schoolcompany-vs-franchised · Two full profit and loss statements, franchised against company-operated
- Kiddie Academyfour-line-operating-statement-revenue-labor-occupancy cost-miscellaneous-gross-profit-published-for-mature-and-building up-academies-each-with-top-and-bottom-quarters-average-and-median · Sales, labor, occupancy cost, miscellaneous and gross profit for 293 mature academies and 22 building up ones, each
- Lightbridge Academy Full P&L · Capacity utilization disclosed alongside profit
- Primrose Schoolsquartile · Building costs decides the outcome against an almost fixed rent line
- Soccer Shotsgroup · Scale buys revenue and sells margin
- The Goddard Schoolschool-by-school · Full school-by-school worksheet reconstructed and validated
- The Learning Experienceage-group · Ownership advantage reverses with center age
The figures, brand by brand
| Measure | Median | Brands | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average sales per unit | $2,193,815 | 7 of 7 | Median of each brand’s disclosed average |
| Median sales per unit | $2,214,708 | 6 of 7 | Median of each brand’s disclosed median |
| Initial franchise fee | $75,000 | 7 of 7 | |
| Royalty | 7% | 7 of 7 | Headline rate |
| Brand or advertising fund | 2% | 7 of 7 | |
| Percentage fees, all in | 10% | 7 of 7 | Royalty, funds and local marketing set as a share of sales |
| Cost to open, low | $834,868 | 7 of 7 | |
| Cost to open, high | $1,409,735 | 7 of 7 | |
| Profit margin | 16.3% | 5 of 7 | Each brand’s own profit line; definitions differ |
| Labor, share of revenue | 44.7% | 6 of 7 | |
| Building costs, share of revenue | 14.3% | 6 of 7 | |
| Unit growth, 2025 | 6.1% | 7 of 7 | (End − start) ÷ start |
| Customers lost, 2025 | 1.3% | 7 of 7 | Terminated, non-renewed, reacquired and ceased, ÷ opening units; transfers excluded |
Each figure is the median of the brands that disclose it, and the Brands column counts them.
How we calculated this
Revenue is each brand's own reported figure on its own unit basis, so the median describes the group and no single brand. Growth and customers lost are our calculations from each brand's outlet table. Where fewer than three brands disclose a figure, no benchmark is shown.
The model
The business model the top performers in early education and child care are running
What the top performers can do that others cannot
7 of the 7 brands here sell a place for a child. Rostering against demand is the constraint: wages run 44.7% of sales at the middle brand, more than any other line.
What the customer is buying
The customer buys a place held week after week. A location at the middle brand sells $2,193,815 a year; the top group sells $3,409,898. The offer is the same at both ends of that range, so the difference is volume rather than product.
Who the customer is, and how often they come back
This is a retention business. The money is made in the second year of a customer, not the first month, so the number that decides the year is how many stay. A median 45% of locations reach their own brand’s average, so most of the system is below the number the brand advertises, and the gap is usually a demand gap rather than an effort gap. The top group sells $3,409,898 against $1,522,695 at the bottom. Trade area and site set that range before an owner takes a booking.
How the money works
Opening costs $42,950 to $8,908,000 across the group, and inside one brand the top of the range is typically 1.7 times the bottom. At the middle brand the cost stack runs wages 44.7%, occupancy 14.3%, cost of sales 43.2%, franchise fees 10.0% of sales. What is left runs 16.3% at the middle brand, which is $555,813 a year at the top group and $248,199 at the bottom. The percentage barely moves between them; the dollars do. 4 of these brands publish how a new location builds up, so the first year can be read out of the document instead of guessed at.
Also disclosed across this group: $2,779,923, $21,938, $222,830, $230,351, $263,258, $489,221, 25.0.
Top performers
These are the things that separate top performers in early education and child care
At the typical early education and child care brand, the best group of locations sells $3,409,898 a year. The worst group sells $1,522,695. That is $1,887,203 more a year, 2.2 times over, for the same brand on the same agreement. Across these brands, a median of 45% of locations reach their own brand’s average. The average describes the top of a system, not the middle. 7 of the 7 brands here publish bands; the rest disclose no spread at all.
Decided before you open
- What it costs to open.Opening costs run $42,950 to $8,908,000 across the group, and the top of a single brand’s range is typically 1.7 times its bottom. The top group sells $3,409,898 a year against a build that tops out at $8,908,000, so at the heavy end of the range a location sells $0.38 for every dollar it cost to open. A build that heavy takes years of sales to recover, so the site has to be right the first time.
- What a location sells.Average sales run $2,193,815 at the middle brand and $3,409,898 at the top group. Format and site decide most of that before an owner does anything, which is why the same operator produces different results in different trade areas.
- Rent is one number, and it lands twice.Occupancy runs 14.3% of sales at the middle brand, which on median sales of $2,193,815 is $313,716 of rent a year. That same $313,716 is 9.2% of sales at the top group and 20.6% at the bottom. Nobody negotiated a worse lease. The top performers move this line by putting more sales through the same square footage: longer earning hours, a second daypart, and a site picked for traffic rather than for the rate.
Live operating levers
- 7 of the 7 brands here sell a place for a child.The licence fixes how many places exist, so the owner cannot sell their way past it. What is left is how many of the places are filled, what each one is priced at, and how long a family stays before they move on.
- 4 of the 7 brands here publish how a new location builds up.Where a brand shows its first year month by month, an owner can see when sales finally cover the costs and how much cash has to be put in before that point arrives. Where a brand does not show it, that curve has to be guessed at, and the guess is usually optimistic. They are Kiddie Academy, Primrose Schools, The Goddard School, The Learning Experience.
- Wages. Same labor market, different result.Wages run 44.7% of sales at the middle brand and 22.4% to 48.6% across the 6 that disclose it. These brands hire from the same pool at the same rates, so a 26-point spread is not a pay-rate gap. It is scheduling and productivity: rostering against booked demand hour by hour, managing sales per paid hour as the number, and keeping enough of the pay variable that the line falls when the week is quiet. On the top group’s $3,409,898 of sales, a point of wages is $34,099 a year; on the bottom group’s $1,522,695 it is $15,227. The same discipline is worth more where the volume already is.
- Cost of what you sell. The line that compounds.Products and materials take 43.2% of sales at the middle brand, 43.2% to 43.2% across the 1 that disclose it. Buying on the brand program rather than locally, holding the price list instead of discounting to close, and counting waste weekly are what separate the ends of that range, and each of them compounds with volume, which is why the gap widens as a location grows.
- What is left at the end. Where the gap comes from.Of the 5 brands that publish a profit line, the middle one keeps 16.3% of sales, from 14.7% to 28.3%. The cost lines above move by a few points between the best and worst locations while sales move by multiples, so the top performers are not running a cheaper business. They are running the same cost base over more revenue. Hold that 16.3% margin steady and the top group earns $555,813 against $248,199 at the bottom, a difference of $307,614 a year that comes from volume alone.
- What the brand charges. The line that works backwards.Fees run a median 10.0% of sales across 7 brands, from 9.0% to 12.0%. Where a minimum sits underneath the percentage, the weakest location pays the highest effective rate, so the fee line costs most exactly where it can least be afforded. The top performers clear the minimum early and stop thinking about it. At $3,409,898 the fees cost $340,990 a year; at $1,522,695 they cost $152,270. The percentage is the same and the burden is not.
Context you underwrite around
- How many brands show a ramp.4 of 7 filings in this group show how a new location builds up. For the rest the first year has to be assumed, and the assumption is usually wrong in the same direction.
Operating levers
What each brand’s top performers actually work on
The levers the filing supports, brand by brand. Three to five each, read from that brand’s own 2026 FDD. Filter by type of business, or open a brand for the figures underneath.
7 brands
Celebree School
Early education and child care
- Wages, the dominant line. Wages take 48.6% of sales, against 15.2% kept at the end. Staff productivity, scheduling against demand hour by hour, and the balance of base pay to commission are where this is won. Small movements here move the result more than anything else, because nothing else in the structure is that large.
- Occupancy, the line that does not flex. Rent and building costs take 15.6% of sales here. Sales per square foot and the hours the space is earning are the only two ways to move it, because the rent itself is fixed at signing.
- Enrolment, the operating driver. This model bills on enrolment. The licence fixes how many places exist, so what is left is how many are filled, what each is priced at, and how long a family stays. 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 12.0% 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.
Kiddie Academy
Early education and child care
- Wages, the dominant line. Wages take 46.5% of sales. Staff productivity, scheduling against demand hour by hour, and the balance of base pay to commission are where this is won.
- Occupancy, the line that does not flex. Rent and building costs take 16.9% of sales here. Sales per square foot and the hours the space is earning are the only two ways to move it, because the rent itself is fixed at signing.
- Enrolment, the operating driver. This model bills on enrolment. The licence fixes how many places exist, so what is left is how many are filled, what each is priced at, and how long a family stays. 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.
- 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.
Lightbridge Academy
Early education and child care
- Wages, the dominant line. Wages take 45.0% of sales, against 14.7% kept at the end. Staff productivity, scheduling against demand hour by hour, and the balance of base pay to commission are where this is won. Small movements here move the result more than anything else, because nothing else in the structure is that large.
- Occupancy, the line that does not flex. Rent and building costs take 15.0% of sales here. Sales per square foot and the hours the space is earning are the only two ways to move it, because the rent itself is fixed at signing.
- Enrolment, the operating driver. This model bills on enrolment. The licence fixes how many places exist, so what is left is how many are filled, what each is priced at, and how long a family stays. 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 12.0% 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.
Primrose Schools
Early education and child care
- Wages, the dominant line. Wages take 44.4% of sales, against 16.3% kept at the end. Staff productivity, scheduling against demand hour by hour, and the balance of base pay to commission are where this is won. Small movements here move the result more than anything else, because nothing else in the structure is that large.
- Occupancy, the line that does not flex. Rent and building costs take 12.3% of sales here. Sales per square foot and the hours the space is earning are the only two ways to move it, because the rent itself is fixed at signing.
- Enrolment, the operating driver. This model bills on enrolment. The licence fixes how many places exist, so what is left is how many are filled, what each is priced at, and how long a family stays. 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 10.0% 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.
- 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.
Soccer Shots
Early education and child care
- Cost of what you sell. Products and materials take 43.2% of sales, against 28.3% kept at the end. Buying terms, price discipline and waste are where this is won, and each of them compounds at volume. Small movements here move the result more than anything else, because nothing else in the structure is that large.
- Occupancy, the line that does not flex. Rent and building costs take 3.8% of sales here. Sales per square foot and the hours the space is earning are the only two ways to move it, because the rent itself is fixed at signing.
- Enrolment, the operating driver. This model bills on enrolment. The licence fixes how many places exist, so what is left is how many are filled, what each is priced at, and how long a family stays. 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 10.0% 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.
The Goddard School
Early education and child care
- Wages, the dominant line. Wages take 40.1% of sales, against 21.8% kept at the end. Staff productivity, scheduling against demand hour by hour, and the balance of base pay to commission are where this is won. Small movements here move the result more than anything else, because nothing else in the structure is that large.
- Occupancy, the line that does not flex. Rent and building costs take 13.6% of sales here. Sales per square foot and the hours the space is earning are the only two ways to move it, because the rent itself is fixed at signing.
- Enrolment, the operating driver. This model bills on enrolment. The licence fixes how many places exist, so what is left is how many are filled, what each is priced at, and how long a family stays. 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 11.0% 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.
- 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.
The Learning Experience
Early education and child care
- Enrolment, the operating driver. This model bills on enrolment. The licence fixes how many places exist, so what is left is how many are filled, what each is priced at, and how long a family stays. It is worth watching every week, because by the time it turns up in a monthly close the quarter is half gone.
- Membership and rebooking. A recurring plan turns a high-fixed-cost business from an appointment book into a subscription, which smooths the utilisation that drives the wage line. Rebooking before the customer leaves is what builds it, not marketing spend afterwards.
- 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.
- 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.
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.
- At what point do spreadsheets stop coping?What changes at around ten units, and why lenders care.
- I run several locations. Which ones actually make money?Location-level contribution, and what it takes to see it.
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 →What share of your revenue is staff?
A structured review of your unit economics, cash forecast. Reporting, built around wages measured against enrollment week by week, occupancy cost against the hours a room is actually used. A second-location gate set on cash.
Request the reviewWhere these figures come from
Every figure here comes from the brands' 2026 FDDs and is unaudited by us. We are unaffiliated with the brands. The medians, growth and customers lost figures are our own calculations. The figures describe past performance at other businesses. They are not a projection of your results. This page is an educational summary and is not an offer to sell a franchise or financial, legal or tax advice. All trademarks belong to their owners. How Averan reads a Franchise Disclosure Document.