Patrice & Associates franchise unit economics
Patrice & Associates franchisees run a home-based recruiting agency placing management-level candidates with restaurant, hospitality and retail clients, while the franchisor invoices and collects the fees. A placement averaged $11,680 across 387 of them in 2025, and an executive search placement averaged $26,467. The top sixth of 194 outlets averaged $89,744 of gross sales, which is about eight placements a year.
- Primary source
- Patrice Franchising, LLC, 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document
- Items read
- Items 5 and 6 for fees; Item 19 for sales and any profit figure; Item 20 for the location count
- Population
- 194 of 194 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.
Everything here is one placement at $11,680. Eight of them in a year puts an outlet in the top sixth of this system, where gross sales average $89,744. And an executive search placement averages $26,467 against $7,264 for everything else, so 23% of placements carried 52% of the fees.
- Eight placements a year reaches the top sixth of the system. $89,744 of gross sales divided by an $11,680 placement *, which is one placement just under every seven weeks.
- An executive placement is worth 3.6 times an ordinary one. $26,467 against $7,264 *, and 89 of 387 placements carried $2,355,550 of the $4,520,279 in fees.
- The top sixth holds 87.1% of the system’s gross sales. $2,961,538 of $3,400,179 across 33 of 194 outlets *, and the top two sixths together hold 98.6%.
- Ninety-seven of 194 outlets recorded $0.00 of gross sales. Exactly half, and 112 of 194 made zero placements, so the system median sits at $0.00 and the averages describe the working half.
- Franchise fees take 24% of gross sales before remitting anything. 10% royalty, 7% database, 5% billing services and 2% brand fund *, so an $11,680 placement pays $8,877.
How much does a Patrice & Associates franchise make?
The average Patrice & Associates unit reported $17,527 of revenue in the 2026 FDD, and the median reported $0. 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 24% 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 Patrice & Associates performers
Patrice & Associates publishes one average, $17,527, and nothing else. The gap between its best and worst locations is not in the filing.
Decided before you open
- Territory, and how much of it is real.This model sells from a territory rather than a building, quoted at 250,000 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 $105,100 to $121,050, 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
- Placements, the operating driver.This model bills on placements. The fee is earned when someone is hired and lost again if they leave inside the guarantee, so a placement that does not stick costs the firm twice. 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.
- 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 24.0% 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.194 of 194 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, no median. Anything below the sales line has to come from the franchisor or from owners you call.
- What the rest of the category shows.Across the 4 Staffing brands in this library that do publish bands, the top group sells 7.3× the bottom at the typical brand, and a median 31% of locations reach their own average *. Assume a spread of that order here until the franchisor shows you otherwise.
The placement as the unit
Eleven thousand six hundred and eighty dollars, once.
| Measure | All placements | Executive search | Everything else * |
|---|---|---|---|
| Combined fees | $4,520,279 | $2,355,550 | $2,164,729 |
| Placements | 387 | 89 | 298 |
| Average fee | $11,680 | $26,467 | $7,264 |
| Median fee | $8,100 | $23,000 | n/a |
| Highest fee | $68,000 | $68,000 | n/a |
| Lowest fee | $1,500 | $15,000 | n/a |
| At or above average | 126 of 387 (33%) | 32 of 89 (36%) | n/a |
The all-placement and executive search columns are as the brand reported it and the third column is the difference between them, marked *.
Executive search is 23% of placements and 52% of the money. 89 of 387 placements carrying $2,355,550 *, and the certification that unlocks it costs $10,000 once, against a $19,203 gap on every placement it wins.
The lowest executive placement, at $15,000, beats the average ordinary one. $7,264 *, so the lowest-selling executive fee in the system is worth double a typical placement.
An outlet that placed at all made 4.72 placements and earned $55,125 of fees. 387 across 82 outlets *, roughly one placement a quarter, which is the honest description of the working half of this system.
Two thirds of placements land below the average fee. 261 of 387 *, with a median of $8,100 against the $11,680 mean, so a handful of large searches have the figure.
One more placement a year is worth $8,877 after the brand’s share. $11,680 less 24% *, and an executive one is worth $20,115 on the same basis.
Six groups, two that trade
Two of the six groups have the whole system.
| Group | Outlets | Average | Median | Highest | Lowest | At or above average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top sixth | 33 | $89,743.57 | $56,240.00 | $663,639.00 | $24,416.00 | 8 (24.2%) |
| Second sixth | 32 | $12,239.14 | $11,340.63 | $22,764.08 | $4,480.00 | 14 (43.8%) |
| Third sixth | 32 | $1,468.40 | $530.00 | $4,200.00 | $0.00 | 13 (40.6%) |
| Fourth sixth | 32 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | 32 (100%) |
| Fifth sixth | 32 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | 32 (100%) |
| Bottom sixth | 33 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | 33 (100%) |
| All 194 | 194 | $17,526.70 | $0.00 | $663,639.00 | $0.00 | 40 (20.6%) |
Every figure is as the brand reported it for outlets open on the last day of 2025, excluding the 15 that closed during the year.
The second sixth averages $12,239, which is roughly one placement a year. $11,680 *, so the entire distance between the second sixth and the top sixth is about seven more placements.
The top sixth runs from $24,416 to $663,639. A 27-fold range inside one group *, and only 8 of its 33 members reach their own group average of $89,744.
The third sixth averages $1,468 and its median is $530. Below a single placement at any fee level in the table, which places the working threshold of this system squarely at the second sixth.
Forty of 194 outlets reach the system average of $17,526.70. 20.6%, and that average is itself about one and a half placements a year.
The placement-fee total and the gross-sales total differ by $1,120,100. $4,520,279 against $3,400,179 *, because the first counts fees per placement and the second counts sales per outlet, so treat them as separate measures.
The 24% and what it costs to open
Twenty-four percent comes off before you see it.
| Charge | Rate | On a $11,680 placement | On an executive placement | On top-sixth annual sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royalty | 10% of gross sales | $1,168 | $2,647 | $8,974 |
| P&A Database license | 7% | $818 | $1,853 | $6,282 |
| Billing services | 5% | $584 | $1,323 | $4,487 |
| Brand fund | 2% | $234 | $529 | $1,795 |
| Total | 24% | $2,803 | $6,352 | $21,538 |
| Left to the owner | 76% | $8,877 | $20,115 | $68,205 |
The rates are as the brand reported it and the dollar figures apply them to the filed placement fees and top-sixth gross sales, marked *.
The database license costs more than the billing service and the brand fund together. 7% against 5% and 2%, making it the second largest charge after the royalty itself.
Gross sales are defined to include the fees the brand deducts. So the 24% is calculated on the grossed-up figure, which is the definition worth reading twice.
Technology adds $4,200 a year and each recruiter adds $1,500. $350 a month currently, with a cap of $500, plus $125 a month per recruiter and $125 to set each one up. So a second recruiter costs $1,500 a year. A fifth of one placement covers.
Local advertising has zero requirement. Stated plainly, with cooperative participation optional as well, unusual, and it puts the whole marketing decision in the owner’s hands.
A start costs $105,100 to $121,050 and is home-based. Of which $92,000 goes to the brand: $65,000 initial fee, $10,000 executive recruiting certification, $7,000 training, $7,000 microsite and $3,000 marketing kit *, with only $4,000 to $6,000 of additional funds for three months.
Territory and the system
A quarter of a million people, and a system still adding outlets.
| Year | Start | Opened | Terminated | Non-renewed | Ceased, other | End |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 171 | 39 | 18 | 2 | 2 | 188 |
| 2024 | 188 | 28 | 22 | 6 | 0 | 188 |
| 2025 | 188 | 21 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 194 |
Every column is as the brand reported it and each year's arithmetic returns the filed closing count exactly.
Eighty-eight outlets opened and 65 left across three years. A net gain of 23 on a base of 171, with 52 terminations among those departures, so this system recruits and loses at a steady rate.
A territory holds roughly 250,000 people, drawn on zip codes. With a working outlet in the top sixth billing $89,744, that is 36 cents a head *, a reminder that this is a low-density, high-value business.
An exclusive territory is expressly excluded. Other agencies may work with candidates, clients and referral sources inside yours, and may place candidates with clients there. The protection covers targeted marketing into the territory and a physical location.
The brand may sell into your territory through other channels. Internet, catalog and direct marketing, under the same or other marks, with zero compensation, worth weighing alongside the 7% database license.
A second agency costs $32,500, half the first. And territories may be redrawn at renewal under the then-current standard, so the boundary you buy is the boundary for one term.
Questions we get asked
Questions an owner asks.
What is a placement worth?
$11,680 on average and $8,100 at the median across 387 placements in 2025. An executive search placement averaged $26,467 with a median of $23,000 and a minimum of $15,000. The highest single fee in the system was $68,000 and the lowest $1,500.
What does an outlet bill?
Across all 194 outlets open at the end of 2025, gross sales averaged $17,526.70 with a median of $0.00. The top sixth averaged $89,743.57, the second sixth $12,239.14 and the third sixth $1,468.40. The three lowest sixths (97 outlets, exactly half the system) recorded $0.00.
How many outlets actually place?
82 of 194 made at least one placement during 2025, so 112 made zero. Among those that did place, the average was 4.72 placements and $55,125 of fees, on our reading, roughly one placement a quarter.
What separates the top sixth?
Volume of placements. The top sixth averages $89,744 of gross sales, which at an $11,680 placement is about eight a year. The second sixth averages $12,239, which is about one. So the whole distance between them is seven more placements, on our reading.
Is the executive certification worth $10,000?
On these figures it pays for itself on a single placement. An executive search placement averages $26,467 against $7,264 for everything else, a $19,203 gap, or $14,594 after the brand's 24%, on our reading. Executive work was 23% of placements and 52% of fees in 2025.
What does the brand take?
24% of gross sales: 10% royalty, 7% for the P&A Database license, 5% for billing services and 2% to the brand fund. The franchisor invoices clients and collects, then remits the balance weekly. Gross sales are defined to include the fees deducted, so the 24% applies to the grossed-up figure. Technology adds $350 a month and each recruiter $125 a month.
What territory do you get?
Typically adjacent zip codes covering about 250,000 people, with zero minimum size. An exclusive territory is expressly excluded: other agencies may work with candidates and clients inside yours, and the brand reserves internet, catalog and direct-marketing channels there. What you get is protection from another agency locating in it or directing targeted marketing into it.
Which two numbers should run monthly?
Placements against eight a year, because that is the top sixth and each one is worth $8,877 after the brand's share. And the executive share of your placements against 23%, because executive work has 3.6 times the fee of everything else.
- No profit figure. The filing reports sales and not earnings, so what an owner keeps is not disclosed.
Questions worth putting to Patrice & Associates
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 Patrice & Associates 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 placements is your year holding?
A structured review of your unit economics, cash forecast. Reporting, built around an $11,680 placement, the eight of them that reach the top sixth. The 24% that comes off before anything reaches you.
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
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.
- How much of Item 19 can I rely on?What a financial performance representation does and does not tell you.
- What should I be looking at every week?The handful of numbers that move before the P&L does.