SafeSplash Swim School franchise unit economics
SafeSplash Swim School franchisees run swim schools that sell children’s swim lessons, parties and retail, either in their own pool or in pool time rented from a hotel, gym or community center.
SafeSplash Swim School franchise at a glance
SafeSplash Swim School’s Item 19 prints a full 2025 profit and loss statement for Dedicated Locations, which own the pool, and a separate one for Hosted Locations, which rent pool time.
SafeSplash Swim School’s 14 Dedicated locations open all of 2025 averaged $1,058,090 of sales, with a median of $964,348, according to Item 19 of SafeSplash Swim School’s 2026 FDD, issued 17 April 2026. Those 14 Dedicated SafeSplash Swim School locations are 13%* of its 106 franchised locations at the end of 2025. Fees paid to SafeSplash Swim School come to about 8%* of sales.
- A SafeSplash Swim School franchise costs $961,200 to $1,348,785 to open, according to the brand's 2026 FDD.
- SafeSplash Swim School had 106 franchised outlets at the end of 2025.
These figures come from SafeSplash Swim School's 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, as the brand reported them, and were read by Averan Advisors.
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Talk to Averan → Move your books and accounting to Averan →- A Hosted location costs 6% of a Dedicated one to open and earns 33% of the profit. That is $57,500–$81,000 against $961,200–$1,348,785; $74,393 of profit against $225,652.
- Renting pool time costs 15.3% of revenue where owning the occupancy cost 20.0%. That is why the smaller format runs the higher margin: 28.4% against 21.3%.
- 14 Hosted locations closed permanently during 2025 and zero Dedicated ones did. That is out of 63 Hosted locations open at the year end.
- The seven Dedicated locations that employ a manager pay $108,882 for it, 10.3% of revenue. The other seven run owner-operated at zero.
- The Enhanced Services fee ended in the first quarter of 2026. Hosted locations swap an average $27,125 charge for an $11,400 technology fee.
How much does a SafeSplash Swim School franchise make?
The average SafeSplash Swim School unit reported $1,058,090 of revenue in the 2026 FDD, and the median reported $964,348. The brand’s disclosure document puts the profit line at 21.3% of revenue. Fees come off the top first, at about 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 SafeSplash Swim School performers
SafeSplash Swim School publishes a range for its locations instead of grouped averages. The highest-selling of the 14 SafeSplash Swim School Dedicated locations had $1,703,924 of revenue in 2025. The lowest-selling SafeSplash Swim School Dedicated location had $557,002. Both run the same brand, on the same agreement, paying the same fees. The middle location sold $964,348. The average was $1,058,090. More than half the system is below the number the brand quotes.
Decided before you open
- Site and trade area.The highest-selling SafeSplash Swim School Dedicated location sells 3.1× the lowest-selling one. Catchment, daytime population and neighboring businesses affect where a location falls.
- Territory.SafeSplash protects about five miles around a Dedicated location and 2.5 miles around a Hosted one.
- Opening cost range.Opening costs $57,500 to $1,348,785, a 23.5× range inside one brand.
- Lease cost.Occupancy cost ran 20.0% of sales in this filing. Rent stays the same when sales fall, so it takes a larger share of sales at lower-selling locations.
Live operating levers
- Wages.Wages take 32.7% of sales, against 21.3% kept at the end. The levers are staff productivity, scheduling against demand hour by hour, and the balance of base pay to commission.
- Occupancy cost.Rent and building costs take 20.0% of sales here. The rent is fixed when the lease is signed, so this share falls only as sales per square foot rise.
- Enrollment.Pool time and the class schedule set the number of SafeSplash lesson places. Track how many are filled, the price of each, and how long families stay.
- Service and retail mix.Retail sales and the share of customers on higher service tiers raise revenue per hour without adding hours or rooms.
- Fees.Royalty and brand fund at SafeSplash take 8% of sales, and the $950 monthly technology fee brings fees paid to the brand to 9.1% of 2025 Dedicated average revenue*.
Context you underwrite around
- Locations included.These figures cover 37 of 106 locations. Locations open less than the full year, brand-owned, or not meeting the reporting criteria are excluded.
- Affiliate-owned schools.SafeSplash’s 2025 Item 19 covers franchised locations only and leaves out its 16 affiliate-owned schools.
Fees and what it costs to open
Royalty and fees by format
| Item | Rate | Dedicated at $1,058,090 | Hosted at $262,404 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Royalty | 6% of gross revenues | $63,485 | $15,744 |
| Strategic marketing and promotions fee | 2%, may rise to 3% | $21,162 | $5,248 |
| Local advertising requirement | 2% of gross revenues | $21,162 | $5,248 |
| Technology fee | $950 a month | $11,400 | $11,400 |
| Total | n/a | $117,209 | $37,640 |
| Share of revenue | n/a | 11.1% | 14.3% |
Ours, built from the filed rates applied to each format's average revenue.
The Enhanced Services fee ended in the first quarter of 2026. All 23 reporting Hosted locations and 8 of the 14 Dedicated ones paid it, at 10% to 13% of revenue for Hosted and 7% to 13% for Dedicated. It is replaced by the $950 monthly technology fee. On the filed averages that swaps $27,125 for $11,400 at a Hosted location (worth $15,725, that is 6.0 points of revenue) and $37,430 for $11,400 at a Dedicated one, worth $26,030 or 2.5 points.
The technology fee covers software alone. The SafeSplash Enhanced Services program also covered call center and billing services. The six Dedicated locations that stayed outside the program used their own employees to produce bills and answer calls. So the money moves from a franchisor fee line into wages, and how much of it an owner keeps depends on how well those two functions get absorbed.
Fees paid to the brand take 9.1% of a Dedicated location's revenue and 12.3% of a Hosted one's. Local marketing of 2% of revenue, spent by the owner, comes on top. The gap is the flat $11,400 technology fee, which is 1.1% of Dedicated revenue and 4.3% of Hosted revenue. On a Hosted location running two to four days a week at $188,293, that single fee is 6.1% of revenue.
Cost to open by format
| Item | Dedicated low | Dedicated high | Hosted low | Hosted high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $55,000 | $55,000 | $37,500 | $37,500 |
| Net building work | $679,550 | $949,800 | n/a | n/a |
| Additional funds, three months | $90,000 | $150,000 | $7,500 | $20,000 |
| Furniture, fixtures, equipment and signage | $50,000 | $70,000 | $2,000 | $4,000 |
| Advertising and marketing | $25,000 | $28,900 | $5,000 | $7,500 |
| Architectural construction documents | $17,250 | $17,250 | n/a | n/a |
| Engineered pool plans | $14,000 | $14,000 | n/a | n/a |
| Rent, initial deposit | $10,000 | $15,000 | n/a | n/a |
| Insurance | $5,000 | $12,000 | $2,000 | $2,500 |
| Professional services | $5,000 | $10,000 | $1,000 | $3,000 |
| Licenses and permits | $4,400 | $10,000 | $0 | $2,000 |
| Retail inventory | $3,000 | $5,000 | $500 | $1,000 |
| Training expenses | $3,000 | $4,000 | $2,000 | $3,500 |
| Soil testing | $0 | $7,835 | n/a | n/a |
| Total | $961,200 | $1,348,785 | $57,500 | $81,000 |
As the brand reported it, reordered here by size; all four columns add exactly to the stated totals.
Building work is $679,550 to $949,800, 71% of the Dedicated build. Add engineered pool plans, architectural documents and soil testing and the pool itself accounts for $710,800 to $988,885. That is what the Hosted format buys its way out of for a $37,500 franchise fee and $20,000 of everything else.
A Dedicated build is 4.3 to 6.0 years of its own profit; a Hosted build is 9 to 13 months of its own. That is $961,200 to $1,348,785 against $225,652, and $57,500 to $81,000 against $74,393. Both figures sit before depreciation and debt service, so the Dedicated payback lengthens further once financing is layered on.
Working capital (cash to run the business day to day) is $90,000 to $150,000 for a Dedicated location and $7,500 to $20,000 for a Hosted one. SafeSplash labels both as three months of funds. Against Dedicated operating expenses of $832,447 a year, $150,000 is 2.2 months; against Hosted expenses of $188,010, $20,000 is 1.3 months. The Hosted reserve is the thinner of the two relative to its own cost base, and 14 Hosted locations closed during 2025.
Two formats
Dedicated against hosted locations, 2025
| Line | Dedicated | Share | Hosted | Share | Gap in points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales | $1,058,090 | 100.0% | $262,404 | 100.0% | n/a |
| Wages, staff | $292,026 | 27.6% | $73,892 | 28.2% | +0.6 |
| Wages, management | $54,441 | 5.1% | $2,001 | 0.8% | −4.3 |
| Building costs | $211,600 | 20.0% | $40,212 | 15.3% | −4.7 |
| Royalties | $63,485 | 6.0% | $15,617 | 6.0% | 0.0 |
| Other | $55,343 | 5.2% | $11,915 | 4.5% | −0.7 |
| Marketing | $44,963 | 4.2% | $10,651 | 4.1% | −0.1 |
| Enhanced services | $37,430 | 3.5% | $27,125 | 10.3% | +6.8 |
| Insurance | $19,421 | 1.8% | $1,531 | 0.6% | −1.2 |
| Supplies | $19,391 | 1.8% | $1,852 | 0.7% | −1.1 |
| Repairs and maintenance | $17,374 | 1.6% | $477 | 0.2% | −1.4 |
| Merchant and credit card fees | $16,973 | 1.6% | $2,737 | 1.0% | −0.6 |
| Adjusted at-the-location profit | $225,652 | 21.3% | $74,393 | 28.4% | +7.1 |
Both columns as the brand reported it, reordered here by size; the point gap is marked *.
A Hosted location costs 6% of a Dedicated one at either end of the range. That is $57,500 against $961,200, and $81,000 against $1,348,785. It produces 24.8% of the revenue and 33.0% of the profit. Measured as return on the build, that is 92% to 129% a year for Hosted against 17% to 23% for Dedicated, a payback of roughly ten months against five years.
Renting pool time costs 15.3% of revenue; owning the occupancy cost 20.0%. The Hosted Location Fee runs 10% to 25% of revenue or $4,000 a month, whichever is larger. That single line replaces rent, common area charges, property tax and utilities. So the format that avoids the capital also pays less for space as a share of what it bills. That is the opposite of how these trade-offs usually run.
Staff wages are 27.6% and 28.2% across the two formats. Instructor-to-swimmer ratios travel with the teaching model. What differs is management: 5.1% at Dedicated locations against 0.8% at Hosted ones. That is because a single manager covers one Dedicated location plus one to three Hosted ones.
Repairs and maintenance is $17,374 at a Dedicated location and $477 at a Hosted one. That is 36 times. Supplies run $19,391 against $1,852 and insurance $19,421 against $1,531. Owning a pool means owning a mechanical plant, chemistry and a liability profile; renting time in one leaves all three with the host.
Only 43% of Dedicated locations reach the average revenue and 29% reach the average profit. Revenue runs $557,002 to $1,703,924 with a median of $964,348, $93,742 below the average. Dedicated SafeSplash profit runs $84,016 to $475,941, with a median of $202,141. The SafeSplash Dedicated median profit of $202,141 is $23,511 below the $225,652 average profit*.
How the hosted version works
Hosted location results by operating days
| Group | Locations | Average revenue | Median revenue | Low | High | Average profit | Median profit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 to 7 operating days | 9 | $392,792 | $283,801 | $116,526 | $887,843 | $124,784 | $38,487 |
| 2 to 4 operating days | 13 | $188,293 | $140,594 | $73,961 | $364,987 | $45,037 | $23,570 |
| All reporting locations | 23 | $262,404 | $240,428 | $52,344 | $887,843 | $74,459 | $23,570 |
| Franchisees with 1 location | 3 | $145,000 | $91,568 | $55,453 | $287,980 | n/a | n/a |
| Franchisees with 2 to 3 | 6 | $711,618 | $462,718 | $158,935 | $1,834,314 | n/a | n/a |
| Franchisees with 4 to 10 | 5 | $1,049,582 | $993,942 | $529,778 | $1,990,253 | n/a | n/a |
As the brand reported it.
SafeSplash Hosted locations open five to seven days a week in 2025 averaged $204,499 more revenue and $79,747 more profit than those open two to four days, about $68,166 of revenue and $26,582 of profit for each extra day*. The SafeSplash Hosted profit margin in 2025 was 31.8% at five to seven days and 23.9% at two to four days*.
Median profit at five-to-seven-day locations is $38,487 against an average of $124,784. 3.2 times apart, and only 2 of the 9 reach the average. One SafeSplash Hosted location at $463,846 lifts the group average. Across all 23 reporting locations, 5 reach the average profit and the minimum is a $22,422 loss. Anyone modeling this format should build from the medians, $23,570 across all locations.
Franchisees with four to ten locations bill $1,049,582 across the business. That compares with $145,000 for single-location owners and $711,618 for those with two or three. Per location that is $194,367, $145,000 and $309,399 *, so the middle group holds the highest-selling individual sites while the largest group runs more of them. One manager can cover a Dedicated location plus one to three Hosted ones, which is where the multi-unit logic in this system comes from.
The host facility sets the hours and pool space available. Performance moves with the arrangement reached with the host. The number and timing of hours, and how much of the pool you may use. Most Hosted locations run a limited number of classes because the pool is shared. So the lease negotiation here is a schedule negotiation, and it is the single most valuable conversation in the format.
The network of locations
Units opened and closed, 2023 to 2025
| Year | Start | Opened | Terminations | Non-renewals | Reacquired | Ceased, other | End | Net change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 94 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 103 | +9 |
| 2024 | 103 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 21 | 90 | −13 |
| 2025 | 90 | 30 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 106 | +16 |
As the brand reported it; every row reconciles exactly.
Departures ran 7, then 23, then 14 across three years. Openings were 16, 10 and 30. The network fell 13 outlets in 2024 and recovered 16 in 2025. The recovery is substantially the affiliate selling 11 of its own schools into the franchise system.
14 of 63 Hosted locations closed permanently during 2025 and zero Dedicated locations did. A further five Hosted locations closed for part of the year and 21 filed incomplete statements. So the 23 locations in the profit and loss are 37% of the format. That is the cost side of the low entry price. A Hosted location can be closed as easily as it was opened, by the operator or by the host facility.
The affiliate shrank from 29 schools to 16 in a single year. Nine closed and eleven were sold to franchisees. For an owner already in this system, those eleven refranchised schools are the ones to watch. They converted mid-year. So they sit outside every performance table until next year.
Territory is protected. SafeSplash protects five miles around a Dedicated location and 2.5 miles around a Hosted one, with no performance condition attached to keeping it. The franchisor will place no other SafeSplash locations inside it. It reserves the right to sell into the territory through SwimLabs and Swimtastic locations, online channels and its own affiliates. All digital marketing is controlled centrally, so an owner may advertise outside the territory but may run no websites or social accounts.
Questions we get asked
Questions owners ask.
How much does a SafeSplash Swim School franchise make?
SafeSplash Swim School’s 14 Dedicated locations open all of 2025 averaged $1,058,090 of sales, with a median of $964,348, according to Item 19 of SafeSplash Swim School’s 2026 FDD, issued 17 April 2026. Those 14 Dedicated SafeSplash Swim School locations are 13%* of its 106 franchised locations at the end of 2025. Fees paid to SafeSplash Swim School come to about 8%* of sales.
What should each format be earning at SafeSplash Swim School?
The 14 reporting Dedicated locations averaged $1,058,090 of revenue and $225,652 of adjusted at-the-location profit, a 21.3% margin. The median revenue was $964,348, with a range from $557,002 to $1,703,924. Profit ran from $84,016 to $475,941, with a median of $202,141. The 23 reporting Hosted locations averaged $262,404 and $74,393, a 28.4% margin, with a median revenue of $240,428 and a range from $52,344 to $887,843. Profit ran from a $22,422 loss to $463,846, with a median of $23,570. Those locations had been open an average of 4.7 years on the Dedicated side.
Which format makes more sense at SafeSplash Swim School?
A SafeSplash Hosted location costs 6% of a Dedicated build at either end of the Item 7 range and earned 33% of the Dedicated average profit in 2025, a payback of roughly ten months against five years. In 2025, 14 SafeSplash Hosted locations closed permanently and no Dedicated location closed. A SafeSplash Hosted location rents pool time from a third-party host, and its results vary with that arrangement. Many SafeSplash franchisees run both formats, and one manager can cover a Dedicated location plus one to three Hosted ones.
Where does the money go at SafeSplash Swim School?
At a Dedicated location, staff wages take 27.6% of revenue, occupancy cost 20.0%, royalties 6.0%, management wages 5.1%, other 5.2%, marketing 4.2% and enhanced services 3.5%. Insurance, supplies, repairs and merchant fees each take between 1.6% and 1.8%. At a Hosted location, staff wages take 28.2% and occupancy cost 15.3% (the host facility fee, at 10% to 25% of revenue or $4,000 a month) with repairs at 0.2%, supplies at 0.7% and insurance at 0.6%. Management wages are 0.8%. Of the 14 Dedicated locations, seven employ a manager at an average of $108,882 and seven run owner-operated at zero.
What changed for 2026 at SafeSplash Swim School?
The Enhanced Services program ended in the first quarter of 2026. It covered call center services, billing and software for a fee of 10% to 13% of revenue at Hosted locations and 7% to 13% at Dedicated ones. Every reporting Hosted location and eight of fourteen Dedicated locations used it. It is replaced by a $950 monthly technology fee covering software alone. So a Hosted location swaps an average $27,125 charge for $11,400 and a Dedicated location swaps $37,430 for $11,400. The call center and billing work has to be absorbed into wages or outsourced, which is where part of that saving goes back.
Who does bookkeeping for a SafeSplash Swim School franchise?
Two things make this system distinctive at the close. First, most owners run more than one location and often both formats. So the close has to produce a clean per-location profit and loss as well as a consolidated one. SafeSplash franchisees holding four to ten Hosted locations bill $1,049,582 across the business, and a consolidated statement alone shows nothing about any single site. Management wages are the line that makes this hard, since one manager’s cost is genuinely shared across a Dedicated location and up to three Hosted ones. It has to be allocated on a basis that survives scrutiny. Second, the 2026 fee change: the Enhanced Services fee drops out of the expense stack and a $950 monthly technology fee replaces it. Billing and call handling move into wages or a third-party vendor. So the comparative period needs restating before any year-over-year read means anything. Alongside that, royalty is swept transaction by transaction with ancillary revenue invoiced quarterly. That means the royalty accrual and the cash sweep sit on different calendars. Averan provides bookkeeping, controller, and fractional CFO support for franchise owners and has Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisors on the team.
Questions worth putting to SafeSplash Swim School
These are questions the SafeSplash Swim School filing leaves open. An owner or a buyer can put them to SafeSplash Swim School directly.
- Is the profit figure in Item 19 before or after owner pay, and how many locations sit below it?
- Which factors does SafeSplash Swim School see in its highest-selling locations, such as trade area, years open and size?
- 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 SafeSplash Swim School locations closed, were sold, or changed hands last year, and why?
Run your own numbers.
The Franchise Numbers Check 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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Talk to AveranWhere these figures come from.
Every figure here comes from SafeSplash Brands, LLC’s 2026 FDD and is unaudited by us. We are unaffiliated with the brand. Calculations of our own are labeled where they appear, the figures describe past performance at other businesses and are not a projection of yours. This page is an educational summary. It is not an offer to sell a franchise, and it is not financial, legal or tax advice. SafeSplash Swim School® is a registered trademark of its owner. How Averan reads a Franchise Disclosure Document.
These figures come from the brand's disclosure. They are not a forecast, an offer to sell a franchise or advice. Source: SafeSplash Brands, LLC, 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, issued 17 April 2026.
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