Scenthound franchise unit economics
Engler’s Take
Scenthound, a membership dog-wellness concept where an owner runs a shop the brand calls a Scenter, reported average gross revenue of $461,041 across the 114 shops open the full 2025 year, built on 483 members and 560 dog visits a month, with 84% of that revenue coming from members. Among the 82 shops filing a full profit line, on average revenue of $505,363, earnings after operating costs averaged 11.5% of revenue, or $58,264, ranging from 26.2% in the top quartile to a 10.8% loss in the bottom. Against a $322,999 to $553,269 investment range, that blends to a payback of about 5.5 years at the system average and 1.8 years in the top quarter. The spread has one driver: a shop covers its costs at about 451 members and the average first year ends at 432, leaving each additional member near that line worth roughly $533 of operating income a year.
- Primary source
- Scenthound Franchising LLC, 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document
- Items read
- Item 7 for cost to open; Item 19 for sales and any profit figure
- Population
- 114 of 148 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.
The 19-member gap between break-even and the average first year looks small, but at $533 a member it is worth about $10,000 a year, which is the difference between a shop that pays its owner and one that files a loss.
- A shop covers its costs at about 451 members. The average first year ends at 432. The bottom quartile averaged 383 members and lost $36,207. The quarter above them averaged 489 members and made $20,307 *.
- Around that point, one more member adds $533 a year. $56,514 of difference across 106 members *, so 19 more members covers the costs and 40 more is worth $21,320.
- The top quartile keeps 26.2% of sales. The bottom quarter loses 10.8%. That is $175,259 kept against $36,207 lost, across the 82 shops that reported their costs.
- Wages take 60.4% of sales at the bottom quartile and 40.6% in the top quarter. Shops in the top quarter pay 34% more in wages and sell twice as much. $201,992 of wages against $271,111 *.
- Software and local advertising cost about the same whatever a shop sells. That is 11.6% of sales in the bottom quartile and 6.0% in the top quarter. $8,100 of software, plus $25,000 to $35,000 a year of local advertising *.
How much does a Scenthound franchise make?
The average Scenthound shop sold $461,041 in 2025, and half the shops sold less than $427,445. Sales are not net operating income. After wages, rent, products and the money paid to the brand, the average shop kept 11.5% of sales, which is $58,264. The fees take about 13.1% of sales before any of that. The top quartile kept $175,259. The bottom quarter lost $36,207.
Members are the unit
One member is worth $955 a year and visits 1.16 times a month.
The brand reports three things about each shop. How many members it has, how many dog visits it does a month. How much of its money comes from members. The average shop has 483 members, and those members bring in 84% of its sales. The plan itself costs a member $491 a year, about $41 a month. The same member spends another $313 on other services.
| Measure | Highest | Median | Lowest | Average | Per member a year * |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Member count | 1,004 | 470 | 129 | 483 | n/a |
| Monthly dog visits | 1,100 | 540 | 193 | 560 | 13.9 |
| Sales | $991,061 | $427,445 | $109,027 | $461,041 | $955 |
| Membership fees | $483,073 | $226,287 | $63,206 | $237,319 | $491 |
| Other revenue from members | $379,712 | $135,940 | $28,554 | $151,327 | $313 |
| Total sales from members | $862,785 | $362,227 | $91,761 | $388,645 | $805 |
| Revenue from other customers | $128,276 | $65,218 | $17,267 | $72,396 | n/a |
| Share of revenue from members | 87% | 85% | 84% | 84% | n/a |
The brand reported the first four columns. We worked out the last one by dividing the brand's average figures by its average of 483 members.
More members, more money, in every group of shops.
The top quartile averages 691 members and $710,494 of sales. The bottom quarter averages 298 members and $262,256. Sales at the top quarter are 2.7 times the bottom quarter. Each member is worth $1,028 in the top quarter and $880 in the bottom quarter, a difference of 17%.
| quartile | Members | Monthly visits | Sales | Revenue a member * | Visits a member a month * | From members |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top quarter | 691 | 802 | $710,494 | $1,028 | 1.16 | 84% |
| Second quarter | 520 | 610 | $499,520 | $961 | 1.17 | 85% |
| Third quarter | 425 | 483 | $373,642 | $879 | 1.14 | 83% |
| Bottom quarter | 298 | 347 | $262,256 | $880 | 1.16 | 85% |
| All 114 | 483 | 560 | $461,041 | $955 | 1.16 | 84% |
The brand reported the members, visits, sales and member share. We divided each of those by that group's member count to get the last two columns.
A member books 1.16 visits a month. Across all four groups of shops the range is 1.14 to 1.17.
Doubling the members is worth $448,238 of sales. Going from 298 members to 691 takes a shop from $262,256 to $710,494.
Top performers
What separates the top Scenthound performers
Scenthound splits its locations into groups instead of publishing one average. The best group averaged $710,494 a year. The worst averaged $262,256. Both run the same brand, on the same agreement, paying the same fees. The middle location sold $427,445. The average was $461,041. More than half the system is below the number the brand quotes.
Decided before you open
- Trade area and site.A 2.7× gap between bands is not an operating gap. Catchment, daytime population and what sits next door set the ceiling before the first customer arrives.
- What you spend to open.Opening costs $322,999 to $553,269, a 1.7× 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.
- Lease economics.Occupancy cost ran 10.3% of sales in this filing. The rent does not fall when sales do, so the same lease is a far heavier line at the bottom of the system than at the top. That is how a weak site compounds into a weak profit line.
Live operating levers
- Wages, the dominant line.Wages take 48.8% of sales, against 11.5% 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 10.3% 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.
- 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 13.1% 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.
Context you underwrite around
- The reporting screen.114 of 148 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 is left at the end
Twenty shops lost money in 2025.
Eighty-two shops reported all of their costs. The top quartile kept 26.2% of sales. The bottom quarter lost 10.8%. Wages take 40.6% of sales at the top quartile and 60.4% in the bottom quarter. In dollars the difference is 34%.
| Line | Top quarter | Second | Third | Bottom quarter | All 82 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shops | 20 | 21 | 21 | 20 | 82 |
| Members | 654 | 565 | 489 | 383 | 523 |
| Monthly dog visits | 759 | 652 | 586 | 438 | 609 |
| Sales | $667,372 | $554,267 | $459,232 | $334,354 | $505,363 |
| Wages, taxes and benefits | $271,111 | $266,432 | $246,860 | $201,992 | $246,844 |
| Rent | $49,439 | $55,112 | $54,848 | $47,754 | $51,866 |
| Other occupancy cost | $14,514 | $13,307 | $13,497 | $11,243 | $13,147 |
| Royalty | $40,042 | $33,256 | $27,902 | $20,061 | $30,322 |
| Technology | $8,100 | $8,057 | $8,100 | $8,100 | $8,089 |
| Brand fund | $7,095 | $6,496 | $5,478 | $4,381 | $5,866 |
| Local advertising | $32,089 | $30,880 | $31,327 | $30,587 | $31,218 |
| Other operating | $69,707 | $65,946 | $56,702 | $46,435 | $59,737 |
| Net operating income after operating costs | $175,259 | $74,769 | $20,307 | −$36,207 | $58,264 |
| As a share of revenue | 26.2% | 13.4% | 4.4% | −10.8% | 11.5% |
Every figure is as the brand reported it.
Costs are covered at about 451 members. At 383 members a shop lost $36,207 and at 489 it made $20,307. So the point where it covers its costs is 451 members and about $414,000 of sales
Around that point, one more member adds $533 a year. $56,514 of difference across 106 members *.
Rent is $47,754 at the bottom quartile and $49,439 at the busiest, a difference of 3.5%. A shop in the bottom quarter pays 14.3% of its sales for that space. One in the top quarter pays 7.5%.
The highest single shop kept $343,146 and the lowest lost $66,677. Half the shops kept less than $44,105, while the average was $58,264. 47 of the 82 shops kept less than the average.
The first year
Month twelve ends at 432 members. Costs are covered at 451.
The brand reports how members build up month by month in the first year, for all 114 shops. The average shop signs 229 members in month one and reaches 432 by month twelve. The top quarter by members ends the year at 596. The bottom quarter ends at 280.
| Month | Top quarter | Second | Third | Bottom quarter | Average | Gap to 451 * |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 311 | 235 | 209 | 163 | 229 | 222 |
| 2 | 357 | 282 | 238 | 187 | 266 | 185 |
| 3 | 408 | 316 | 261 | 206 | 297 | 154 |
| 4 | 448 | 343 | 282 | 218 | 322 | 129 |
| 5 | 484 | 374 | 297 | 232 | 346 | 105 |
| 6 | 511 | 389 | 312 | 243 | 363 | 88 |
| 7 | 530 | 405 | 325 | 254 | 378 | 73 |
| 8 | 546 | 421 | 338 | 265 | 392 | 59 |
| 9 | 567 | 436 | 354 | 269 | 406 | 45 |
| 10 | 575 | 451 | 367 | 274 | 416 | 35 |
| 11 | 581 | 461 | 373 | 279 | 423 | 28 |
| 12 | 596 | 469 | 382 | 280 | 432 | 19 |
The brand reported the member counts. We compared each month against the 451 members a shop needs to cover its costs.
Two thirds of the first year's members join in the first five months. That is 346 of 432 by month five *.
The bottom quarter of shops ends the first year at 280 members. That is 171 short of covering costs *. At $533 a member, those 171 members are worth $91,143 a year.
Older shops have more members.
Shops opened in 2022 or earlier average 603 members and keep 17.9% of sales. Shops opened in 2024 average 466 members and keep 3.0% of sales.
| Opened | Shops reporting costs | Members | Monthly visits | Sales | Net operating income after operating costs | Margin * |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 or earlier | 27 of 32 | 603 | 710 | $606,138 | $108,298 | 17.9% |
| 2023 | 25 of 37 | 510 | 607 | $497,904 | $58,254 | 11.7% |
| 2024 | 30 of 45 | 466 | 523 | $420,881 | $12,584 | 3.0% |
| All filing | 82 of 114 | 523 | 609 | $505,363 | $58,264 | 11.5% |
The brand reported the members, visits, sales and what each shop kept. We worked out the last column as a share of sales.
Two more years of trading adds 137 members and $95,714 a year. Shops go from 466 members to 603 *, and from keeping 3.0% of sales to keeping 17.9%.
Fees and what it costs to open
Small shops pay more for advertising than the percentage suggests.
- Royalty: 6% of Gross Revenues
- Brand Fund: up to 1.5% of Gross Revenues
- Local Advertising Requirement: 5.5% of Gross Revenues, or $25,000 a year, whichever is greater, capped at $35,000
You will be expected to meet the local advertising requirement whatever your sales do. The percentage only decides the bill between $454,545 and $636,364 of revenue; below that the $25,000 minimum governs, which is why shops in the bottom quartile spend $30,587 on advertising and shops in the top quarter spend $32,089.
| Charge | Rate | At the top quarter | At the bottom quarter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | n/a | $667,372 | $334,354 |
| Royalty | 6%, rising by up to 1 point a year to a 9% ceiling | 6.0% | 6.0% |
| Brand fund | up to 1.5%, rising to a 3% ceiling | 1.1% | 1.4% |
| Technology | $675 a month, rising 10% a year | 1.2% | 2.4% |
| Local advertising | 5.5%, minimum $25,000, ceiling $35,000 | 4.8% | 9.1% |
| Together | n/a | 13.1% | 18.9% |
The brand reported the rates, the caps and the percentages. We worked out the sales figures where the rule changes.
Opening costs $322,999 at the cheapest, and most of that is the building work.
| Line | Low | High | Share of the low estimate * |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $49,900 | $49,900 | 15.4% |
| Build-out | $140,500 | $266,000 | 43.5% |
| Furniture and fixtures | $33,000 | $45,800 | 10.2% |
| Equipment, signage and architect review | $12,500 | $37,300 | 3.9% |
| Opening supplies and inventory | $10,500 | $10,500 | 3.3% |
| Technology and point of sale | $1,649 | $3,269 | 0.5% |
| Grand opening marketing | $20,000 | $35,000 | 6.2% |
| Training, travel and opening support | $3,750 | $8,000 | 1.2% |
| Rent, deposits and permits | $3,500 | $34,200 | 1.1% |
| Professional fees and insurance | $2,700 | $8,300 | 0.8% |
| Other amounts payable to the franchisor | $0 | $5,000 | 0.0% |
| Additional funds, three months | $45,000 | $50,000 | 13.9% |
| Total | $322,999 | $553,269 | 100% |
The brand reported the amounts. We worked out each one as a share of the total, and we grouped a few of the brand's smaller lines together. Both columns still add up to the totals shown.
At the average shop, it takes 5.54 years to earn back the $322,999 it costs to open. In the top quartile it takes 1.84 years *.
The opening advertising costs about $109 for each member it brings in. That is $25,000 for the 229 members who join in month one *, and each of those members is worth $955 of sales a year.
Questions we get asked
Questions owners ask.
How many members does a Scenthound shop need?
About 451 to cover its costs. Shops with 383 members lost $36,207 and shops with 489 made $20,307. The average shop finishes its first year with 432 members, and the average across all shops is 483.
What is a member worth?
$955 of sales a year. Of that, $491 is the plan and $313 is what the same member buys on top. Members bring in 84% of a shop's sales and visit 1.16 times a month.
What does a Scenthound shop keep?
11.5% of sales on average across 82 shops, which is $58,264. The top quartile keeps 26.2%, or $175,259. The bottom quarter loses 10.8%, or $36,207. Shops opened in 2022 or earlier keep 17.9%, shops opened in 2023 keep 11.7%, and shops opened in 2024 keep 3.0%.
Where does the money go?
Wages at 48.8% of revenue, other operating costs at 11.8%, rent at 10.3%, local advertising at 6.1%, royalty at 6.0%, other occupancy cost at 2.7%, technology at 1.6% and the brand fund at 1.2%.
What does it cost to open?
$322,999 to $553,269, of which the build-out is $140,500 to $266,000 and additional funds for three months $45,000 to $50,000. The initial franchise fee is $49,900, with $5,000 off for qualifying veterans on a first Scenter.
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