Live Hydration Spa franchise unit economics
Live Hydration Spa franchisees run a small IV-drip and wellness spa on membership. The median franchised spa billed $428,157. Of the two company spas with full profit and loss, one billed $1,039,021 and kept 33.0%, the other billed $204,822 and lost 6.0%.
- Primary source
- Live Hydration Spa Franchise LLC, 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document
- Items read
- Items 5 and 6 for fees; Item 19 for sales and any profit figure
- Population
- 20 of 30 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.
Two company spas, same brand, same year. One billed $1,039,021 and kept 33.0% after every franchise fee. The other billed $204,822 and lost 6.0%. The difference is rent and product cost, the weaker spa actually ran the leaner labor line. Both need roughly $20,000 a month through the door before anything reaches the owner.
- Your break-even is about $20,000 a month, and a quarter of the system misses it. The two company cost structures covers its costs at $240,202 and $255,840 a year; five of the twenty franchise spas billed less than that.
- Rent is the line that decides it, at 4.8% of sales against 27.6%. The weak company spa occupies 3,200 square feet against the strong one's 2,000, on a fifth of the revenue.
- Labor is already lean at the weak spa. 19.6% of sales against 22.3% at the profitable one, so cutting staff is the one lever that has already been pulled.
- Retail is 0.7% of system sales. Product runs $66,134 across all twenty spas. Services are 63% to 88% of everything, so the product business here is a rounding line.
- Six franchisees left last year and four are still in the business. They rebranded as independent wellness and med spa operators.
How much does a Live Hydration Spa franchise make?
The average Live Hydration Spa unit reported $471,156 of revenue in the 2026 FDD, and the median reported $428,157. 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 9.5% 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.
How the business works
Two company spas, one profitable and one under water.
Live Hydration Spa publishes a complete profit and loss for both of the spas its affiliate owns. Every cost line, in dollars and as a share of sales. Put side by side, they are the closest thing to a controlled experiment you will find in a franchise filing.
| Line | Legacy (Omaha) | % | Tualatin (Oregon) | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross sales | $1,039,021 | 100.0% | $204,822 | 100.0% |
| Direct cost of goods sold | $230,367 | 22.2% | $69,351 | 33.9% |
| Direct labor | $231,583 | 22.3% | $40,213 | 19.6% |
| Direct gross profit | $577,071 | 55.5% | $95,259 | 46.5% |
| Rent | $49,876 | 4.8% | $56,589 | 27.6% |
| All other disclosed expenses | $82,677 | 8.0% | $21,001 | 10.3% |
| After disclosed expenses | $444,518 | 42.8% | $17,969 | 8.8% |
| Royalty, brand fund, marketing management | $101,277 | 9.7% | $30,370 | 14.8% |
| After franchise fees | $343,241 | 33.0% | −$12,401 | −6.0% |
Every dollar figure and percentage as the brand reported it, except the grouped "all other disclosed expenses" and "royalty, brand fund, marketing management" rows, which sum disclosed lines.
Rent is the largest difference between the two spas. Tualatin pays $6,713 more rent than Legacy in dollars, for a space 60% larger, on a fifth of the revenue, 27.6% of sales against 4.8%. Product cost compounds it at 33.9% against 22.2%.
And labor is where the weak spa is already tightest: 19.6% of sales against 22.3%. Whoever runs Tualatin has cut the line most operators reach for first. The result held flat. Because the problem sits in the lease and the treatment-room traffic that has to fill it.
What it takes to covers its costs.
Break-even for both spas is marked. Built from the disclosed cost structures, fixed costs divided by the contribution each spa keeps after variable costs, royalty and brand fund.
| Spa | Fixed costs | Contribution margin | Break-even sales | Per month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Legacy (Omaha) | $112,058 | 43.8% | $255,840 | $21,320 |
| Tualatin (Oregon) | $85,752 | 35.7% | $240,202 | $20,017 |
Ours, from the disclosed lines.
Both land near $20,000 a month. Tualatin billed $17,068 a month and came up about $35,000 short across the year. Legacy billed four times its break-even.
Run the same line across the twenty franchise spas and five of them billed less than $240,202, Sioux Falls, San Antonio, Mesa, Chandler and Greensboro. Three more sat within $75,000 of it. So a quarter of this system traded below the point where the company's own cost structures cover themselves.
Top performers
What separates the top Live Hydration Spa performers
Live Hydration Spa splits its locations into groups instead of publishing one average. The best group averaged $1,102,370 a year. The worst averaged $91,286. Both run the same brand, on the same agreement, paying the same fees. The middle location sold $428,157. The average was $471,156. More than half the system is below the number the brand quotes.
Decided before you open
- Trade area and site.A 12.1× gap between bands 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.Locations run 3,200 square feet. What you can sell is set by the build, and the build does not change after opening.
- What you spend to open.Opening costs $263,475 to $521,200, 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
- 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 9.5% 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.20 of 30 locations are behind these figures. 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, 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, no attainment figure. The brand’s own locations are the only margin signal in the document, and they are run by the people who wrote the playbook.
The costs
Every franchise spa, as the brand reported it.
| Spa | Gross sales | Membership share | Service share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lenox (Lincoln NE) | $1,102,370 | 30.8% | 68.9% |
| Fort Mill (SC) | $1,092,424 | 13.0% | 84.9% |
| Kirby (Houston TX) | $718,023 | 17.7% | 82.0% |
| Rockbrook (Omaha NE) | $710,127 | 21.7% | 78.3% |
| Sunset Hills (MO) | $588,092 | 21.5% | 77.2% |
| Frisco (TX) | $536,990 | 26.3% | 71.9% |
| Old Market (Omaha NE) | $533,184 | 21.5% | 77.8% |
| 1488 (Magnolia TX) | $451,591 | 24.7% | 75.3% |
| Vintage Park (Houston TX) | $443,156 | 28.8% | 71.2% |
| Lebanon (TN) | $430,051 | 25.7% | 73.8% |
| Median spa | $428,157 | n/a | n/a |
| Elmhurst (IL) | $426,263 | 32.4% | 67.5% |
| Lakeland (FL) | $398,784 | 34.5% | 65.5% |
| Long Island City (NY) | $314,939 | 31.9% | 66.3% |
| Eldersburg (MD) | $303,188 | 22.9% | 77.0% |
| Hastings (NE) | $281,118 | 36.1% | 63.7% |
| Sioux Falls (SD) | $216,573 | 20.6% | 79.0% |
| Chandler (AZ) | $211,701 | 37.3% | 62.6% |
| Greensboro (NC) | $163,120 | 12.0% | 88.0% |
| San Antonio (TX) | $131,009 | 21.8% | 74.0% |
| Mesa (AZ) | $91,286 | 18.1% | 81.9% |
Sales and shares as the brand reported it; the ordering and the median row are marked *.
The mix shows what the levers are. The two largest spas sit at opposite ends of membership share, 30.8% and 13.0%, so membership share is silent on size. Services take 63% to 88% of revenue everywhere, and product has 0.7% across the whole system.
So the retail business here is a rounding line. Your revenue is treatment-room throughput and the membership base that keeps it booked, and your cost of goods is the consumables behind those services.
Who owns them makes less difference than you would think.
| Owner type | Spas | Average gross sales |
|---|---|---|
| Absentee or semi-absentee | 6 | $505,193 |
| Non-medical owner | 4 | $450,743 |
| Clinical owner-operator | 10 | $430,986 |
Our grouping, from the filed owner descriptions for each spa, against the sales filed for it.
The franchisor attributes its 2025 closures to absentee owners who chased weight-loss and other services outside the core model. The sales table supports the second half of that more than the first. Absentee-owned spas run from $131,009 to $1,102,370. That is the full width of the system.
What the money side covers
The flat fees are 5.7% of sales at the median spa and 26.8% at the lowest-selling ones.
| Fee | Amount | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Royalty | 7.5% of gross sales | Percentage, monthly |
| Brand Development Fund | 2% of gross sales | Percentage, monthly |
| Marketing related | $588 per month | Flat, ceiling $1,500 |
| Digital ad spend | $750 per month | Flat, ceiling $1,500 |
| Point of sale / EMR | $440 per month | Flat |
| Software | $189 per month | Flat, ceiling $900 |
| Technology | $75 per month | Flat, ceiling $500 |
| Flat fees | $2,042 per month | $24,504 a year |
As the brand reported it, with the flat-fee total marked *.
What the flat fees cost by size. $24,504 a year is 5.7% of sales at the median spa of $428,157, 2.2% at Lenox, and 26.8% at Mesa. Add royalty and brand fund and the lowest-selling spa commits about 36% of gross sales before a single bag, nurse hour or square foot. Ours, from the disclosed rates.
That is the same shape the company spas show. Tualatin's franchise fees took 14.8% of sales against Legacy's 9.7%, on identical rates, because the flat portion lands on a fifth of the revenue.
Questions we get asked
Does Live Hydration Spa disclose profitability?
More than almost any brand in this category. You get a full profit and loss for both company spas, down to bank fees, and gross sales for every franchise spa by name. What you do without is any cost line for the franchise spas. So the company structures are the only benchmark you can hold your own P&L against.
What is my break-even?
Roughly $20,000 a month, on the company spas' cost structures, $240,202 a year at Tualatin's and $255,840 at Legacy's. Your own number moves with your rent above all. So take your fixed costs and divide by the share of each dollar left after product, labor, processor fees, royalty and brand fund. Legacy keeps 43.8% of each dollar; Tualatin keeps 35.7%.
Which number should I measure my spa against?
Plan on the median, $428,157. The stated average is $471,156, the twenty ranked spas average $457,199, and the median is the figure that holds. Find your position in the sales table, then check membership share. The spas above the median run services at 68% to 85% of sales.
Why did spas close last year?
The franchisor says its 2025 closures were absentee-owned and had drifted into weight-loss and other services outside the core model. Worth knowing that six franchisees left the system and four of them are still trading. Optimize Wellness & Aesthetics, Aesthetic Revival, MDRN Wellness Medical Spa and Aurora Wellness. They left the brand.
Marked for review: Item 19 reports two operational franchise outlets closing in 2025, while the outlet tables total six ceased plus one termination. We have used the outlet tables.
Who does bookkeeping for a Live Hydration Spa franchise?
Memberships bill in advance and become revenue as the month is served, so a growing membership base flatters your cash before it flatters your earnings. Product cost wants tracking by bag and by protocol, at 22.2% to 33.9% of sales in the company spas it is the second-largest line and the one your ordering controls. Keep rent visible as a share of sales every month, the two company spas differ on that ratio. 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.
- No attainment figure. The filing does not say how many locations reached the average it publishes.
Questions worth putting to Live Hydration Spa
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 Live Hydration Spa 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 →Run these numbers against your own spa.
A structured review of your unit economics, cash forecast, and reporting, so you know where you stand against the disclosed averages.
Request the review