Sit Means Sit franchise unit economics
Sit Means Sit franchisees run a mobile dog-training business inside an exclusive trade area holding at least 50,000 estimated dogs. The royalty depends on when you bought: 6% or $800 a month for owners since July 2023, and flat monthly fees of $900 or $600 for earlier vintages. The required software costs $800 a month on its own.
- Primary source
- Sit Means Sit Franchise, Inc., 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document
- Items read
- Items 5 and 6 for fees; Item 7 for cost to open; Item 19 for sales and any profit figure; Item 20 for the location count
- Population
- 0 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 required software costs exactly as much as the minimum royalty, $800 a month each. Which of them ends up the larger bill depends on when you bought: owners since July 2023 pay 6% above $160,000 of revenue, while earlier vintages pay a flat monthly fee that at $500,000 of sales works out five times cheaper.
- Software costs the same as the minimum royalty. $800 a month each, so a center billing under $160,000 pays the brand $9,600 and its software provider another $9,600 *.
- At $500,000 of sales the royalty ranges from $6,000 to $30,000. Depending only on the year the owner bought *, a five-fold difference between neighbors doing identical work.
- Six percent starts at $160,000 of revenue. $13,333 a month *, below that the $800 minimum applies and the royalty behaves as a fixed bill.
- A trade area is 50,000 dogs, worked out from a stated formula. Population divided by 2.5, times 0.372, times 1.7, about 197,700 people *.
- Advertising obligations are the lightest in this library. 1% of quarterly sales spent locally, with zero brand fund and zero cooperative requirement, $2,500 a year at $250,000 of sales *.
How much does a Sit Means Sit franchise make?
The 2026 FDD for Sit Means Sit does not publish unit revenue in a form that answers this directly. What it does publish is set out below, starting with Royalty, current vintage: 6% or $800 a month; Required software: $800 a month; 6% starts at: $160,000 of revenue; Trade area: 50,000 estimated dogs.
Top performers
What separates the top Sit Means Sit performers
Sit Means Sit publishes no revenue figures, so neither the average nor the spread between locations is disclosed.
Decided before you open
- Capacity, fixed at build.capacity is None vans multiplied by hours multiplied by how full they run. What you can sell is set by the build, and the build does not change after opening.
- Territory, and how much of it is real.This model sells from a territory rather than a building, quoted at 197,700 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 $40,175 to $137,250, a 3.4× 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
- Jobs, the operating driver.This model bills on jobs. Every job is won again, so the owner works on how many quotes turn into work and what the average job is worth when it does. 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 10.9% 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
- What the disclosure leaves out.Item 19 publishes no profit or cost data for franchised locations, no median, no performance bands, no attainment figure. 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 13 Pet Care brands in this library that do publish bands, the top group sells 4.1× the bottom at the typical brand, and a median 44% of locations reach their own average *. Assume a spread of that order here until the franchisor shows you otherwise.
Two bills of $800
The software provider takes as much as the brand does.
| Charge | Rate | $100,000 | $160,000 | $250,000 | $500,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royalty | 6% or $800 a month | $9,600 | $9,600 | $15,000 | $30,000 |
| Customer system | $800 a month | $9,600 | $9,600 | $9,600 | $9,600 |
| Financial database | $14.95 a month | $179 | $179 | $179 | $179 |
| Local advertising | 1% of quarterly sales | $1,000 | $1,600 | $2,500 | $5,000 |
| Total | n/a | $20,379 | $20,979 | $27,279 | $44,779 |
| Share of revenue | n/a | 20.4% | 13.1% | 10.9% | 9.0% |
The rates and monthly fees are as the brand reported it and the dollar figures apply them at each revenue level, marked *.
Below $160,000 of sales the software costs as much as the brand. $9,600 each *, so the first question in a young business is what that system earns you.
Brand fund contributions are absent entirely. With zero advertising council and zero cooperative requirement, so every marketing dollar beyond the 1% is a choice.
The load falls 11.4 points from $100,000 to $500,000. *, almost all of it the fixed $9,779 of software spreading further.
Fees listed as then-current may rise 10% a year, cumulatively. So the $800 software charge could reach $1,288 by the fifth year *.
The royalty itself adjusts with consumer price inflation. Once a year at most, so even the flat vintages move over a ten-year term.
Three royalties
What you pay depends on the year you signed.
| First franchise purchased | Royalty | A year at $500,000 * |
|---|---|---|
| On or after 1 July 2023 | 6% of gross sales or $800 a month | $30,000 |
| 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2023 | $900 a month, or $800 if paid on the 1st | $10,800, or $9,600 |
| Before 1 July 2020 | $600 a month, or $500 if paid on the 1st | $7,200, or $6,000 |
Every rate and early-payment discount is as the brand reported it and the annual column applies them to $500,000 of sales, marked *.
A pre-2020 owner pays a fifth of what a current one pays. $6,000 against $30,000 at the same revenue *, worth $24,000 a year of margin on identical work.
Paying on the first of the month is worth $1,200 a year. To the two legacy vintages *, a rare case where the date of a bank transfer is itself a line item.
The legacy regimes ignore revenue entirely. So for those owners every additional dollar of sales is theirs in full, which is the reverse of the current structure.
Additional trade areas are priced by vintage too. $10,000 to $15,500 on a tiered schedule for owners who first bought between July 2020 and May 2025, against $25,000 for everyone else.
Fees actually charged in 2025 ran $17,500 to $20,000. Which sits below every figure on the published schedule, so the list price is a starting point.
Fifty thousand dogs
The territory is counted in dogs, three steps from the census.
| Step | Calculation |
|---|---|
| Households | Census population divided by 2.5 |
| Dog-owning households | Households multiplied by 0.372 |
| Dogs | Dog-owning households multiplied by 1.7 |
| Minimum trade area | 50,000 dogs |
| Implied people * | About 197,700 |
Every step and the 50,000-dog minimum are as the brand reported it and the implied population reverses the formula, marked *.
The trade area is genuinely exclusive and fixed for the term. With zero sales-volume or penetration condition attached, and it may be reduced only on renewal, transfer or an uncured breach.
A business at $250,000 earns $5 a dog a year. *, which makes the penetration question concrete.
Reserving a trade area costs $5,000 for a year. Credited against the franchise fee, with an one-year extension costing half the then-current fee, so holding ground while you prepare has a price.
National accounts stay with the brand inside your area. Along with product sales through any channel and the right to advertise there, the main carve-outs from an otherwise strong exclusivity.
Working outside the area needs written consent. Including online, catalog, telemarketing and direct mail channels, inside or outside, so growth means buying another area.
Opening and the system
A light build, and a year that went backwards.
| Measure | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Businesses at start | 157 | 159 | 163 |
| Opened | 5 | 8 | 4 |
| Terminated | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| Ceased, other | 0 | 2 | 10 |
| Businesses at end | 159 | 163 | 148 |
| Total investment | $40,175 to $137,250 for a new franchisee | ||
Every figure is as the brand reported it, with zero company-owned or affiliate-owned businesses in any of the three years.
Fifteen businesses left in 2025 against four arriving. Ten of them through ceasing operations, after two years of growth.
North Carolina lost seven of its eleven businesses in one year. All recorded as ceasing for other reasons, the single largest concentration of the year’s decline.
The business opens for $40,175 at the low end. Assuming an existing suitable vehicle and zero training facility, among the lightest entry costs in this library.
A demonstration dog costs $50 to adopt or up to $7,500 to buy. And is required, a 150-fold range on a mandatory item.
Working without a training facility is permitted. Which is what keeps the low end at $40,175 against $39,000 of real property and improvements at the high end.
Questions we get asked
Questions an owner asks.
What does the brand take?
It depends when you bought. Owners since 1 July 2023 pay the greater of 6% of gross sales or $800 a month. Those who first bought between July 2020 and June 2023 pay a flat $900 a month, or $800 if paid on the first. Those who bought before July 2020 pay $600, or $500 on the first.
How big is that difference?
At $500,000 of sales, $30,000 against $6,000 on our reading, five times. The legacy regimes take zero account of revenue, so every extra dollar earned stays with those owners in full.
What else is required?
$800 a month for the customer system and $14.95 a month for the financial database, plus at least 1% of each quarter's gross sales spent on local advertising. There is zero brand advertising fund and zero cooperative requirement.
What does the software cost relative to the brand?
The same, at the minimum. Both the royalty minimum and the customer system are $800 a month. So a business billing under $160,000 a year pays $9,600 to each on our reading.
What does it cost to open?
$40,175 to $137,250 for a new franchisee, of which $30,000 is the franchise fee. The low end assumes you already own a suitable vehicle and work without a training facility. The high end includes $39,000 of property and improvements and a $7,500 demonstration dog.
How is the territory defined?
By dogs. A trade area holds at least 50,000 estimated dogs, worked out by dividing census population by 2.5 for households, multiplying by 0.372 for dog-owning households and by 1.7 for dogs. On our reading that implies roughly 197,700 people. The area is exclusive, fixed for the term and has zero sales quota.
What is the system doing?
It grew to 163 businesses by the end of 2024 and fell to 148 during 2025, with four openings against six terminations and ten ceasing for other reasons. Seven of those losses were in North Carolina.
Which two numbers should run monthly?
Revenue against $160,000 a year, because that is where the royalty turns from a fixed bill into a rate. Revenue per thousand dogs in your trade area. Because the area is fixed and penetration is the only lever inside it.
- No revenue figures. The filing makes no financial performance representation, so there is no disclosed sales number for any location.
- 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 range. The filing does not show the highest and lowest locations, so the spread inside the system is unknown.
- No attainment figure. The filing does not say how many locations reached the average it publishes.
- No ramp. The filing does not show how a new location builds up, so the first-year curve has to be assumed.
Questions worth putting to Sit Means Sit
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 did the highest and lowest locations sell last year, and what explains the gap?
- 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 Sit Means Sit 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 →What is a dog worth in your trade area?
A structured review of your unit economics, cash forecast. Reporting, built around a 50,000-dog territory, a royalty that turns from a bill into a rate at $160,000. Software that costs as much as the brand does.
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
Sit Means Sit reads against the rest of the dog training group: Bark Busters · Zoom Room. The dog training guide compares all of them on the same figures.
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.