Sola Salon Studios franchise unit economics
Sola Salon Studios franchisees run salon studio buildings that license private salon studios month to month to independent beauty professionals.
Sola Salon Studios in the news
- Sola Salons names Elliot Baldini chief operating officer in Denver · ColoradoBiz ·
- Sola Salons Pairs Franchisee Expansion with New Vagaro Tech Partnership to Drive Next Phase of Growth · Franchising.com ·
Each Sola Salon Studios headline above is the publisher's own and links to the publisher. Averan Advisors checked these Sola Salon Studios links on 11 October 2026. Franchise news lists news on 95 brands, including Sola Salon Studios. Sola Salon Studios is in the Salon Suites franchise guide.
Sola Salon Studios franchise at a glance
Sola Salon Studios’ Item 19 reports average and median occupancy month by month through a new location’s first year, and December 2025 occupancy for the 653 locations open 13 months or more.
Item 19 of Sola Salon Studios’ 2026 FDD, issued 30 April 2026, reports occupancy, and the 653 Sola Salon Studios locations open 13 months or more ran 89.7% median occupancy in December 2025. Sola Salon Studios publishes no revenue figures, so neither the average nor the spread between locations is disclosed.
- A Sola Salon Studios franchise costs $950,214 to $1,748,296 to open, including a $60,000 initial franchise fee, according to the brand's 2026 FDD.
- Sola Salon Studios charges a royalty of 5.5% of sales, a 1.5% brand fund contribution and a $185 monthly technology fee.
- On Averan's reading, Sola Salon Studios’ franchise fees come to about 7% of sales.
- Sola Salon Studios reported 677 franchised locations in its 2026 FDD.
- Work out Sola Salon Studios' fees at your own sales with the minimum fee calculator.
These figures come from Sola Salon Studios' 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, as the brand reported them, and were read by Averan Advisors.
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See what your numbers should look like every month.
Talk to Averan → Move your books and accounting to Averan →- Average occupancy runs 47.9% in month one and 78.8% by month twelve. The median climbs further, from 43.5% to 86.6%, 43.1 points across the first year.
- The median overtakes the average at month six and finishes 7.8 points above it. 86.6% against 78.8%, so a minority of low-occupancy Sola Salon Studios locations pulls the mean down.
- Mature locations run 89.7% median occupancy, with 107 of 653 completely full and one at 26.3%. The average across the same 653 is 85.1%.
- A build costs $950,214 to $1,748,296, and improvements plus fixtures are 82% of it at both ends. That is $777,633 to $1,441,784 before anything else.
- Franchise fees take 7.0% of revenue plus $2,220 to $3,000 of technology fee. Those are a 5.5% royalty against a $500 monthly minimum and a 1.5% marketing fund contribution.
How much does a Sola Salon Studios franchise make?
The 2026 FDD for Sola Salon Studios does not publish unit revenue in a form that answers this directly. Sola Salon Studios had 677 franchised locations at the end of 2025. Median occupancy at maturity was 89.7%, average occupancy in month 12 was 78.8%, and the total investment is $950,214–$1,748,296.
Top performers
What separates the top Sola Salon Studios performers
Sola Salon Studios publishes no revenue figures, so neither the average nor the spread between locations is disclosed.
Decided before you open
- Capacity.Capacity is the floor space, times the hours it is open, times how full it runs. The build sets how much you can sell.
- Territory.Sola Salon Studios franchisees sell from salon studio buildings with a street address inside a territory, so the number of people who live or work near each one sets how many customers it can draw.
- Opening cost range.Opening costs $950,214 to $1,748,296, a 1.8× range inside one brand.
- Fees and the minimum.Fees run about 7.0% of sales. A minimum fee also applies, so lower-selling locations pay a higher effective rate. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum.
Live operating levers
- Suites rented.The suites are built once and then let, so the business is how many are occupied and how long each tenant stays.
- Memberships and rebooking.A recurring plan turns appointments into a monthly subscription and keeps the schedule fuller. Rebooking before the customer leaves keeps it full.
- Service and retail mix.Retail sales and the share of customers on higher service tiers raise revenue per hour without adding hours or rooms.
Context you underwrite around
- Locations included.These figures cover 653 of 677 locations. Locations open less than the full year, brand-owned, or not meeting the reporting criteria are excluded.
- What the filing does not include.Sola Salon Studios’ Item 19 gives no profit or cost data for franchised locations or performance bands. Ask the franchisor or current owners for cost and profit figures.
- Sales spread in the category.Across 38 Health and Wellness brands in this library, the top group sells 3.1× the bottom at the typical brand, and a median 43% of locations reach their own average *. Ask the franchisor for this brand’s spread.
The first year
Occupancy by month for the first twelve months
| Month | Average | Median | Lowest in range | Median less average | Locations beating the average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 47.9% | 43.5% | 2.5% | −4.4 | 187 (44%) |
| 2 | 54.7% | 50.0% | 3.8% | −4.7 | 197 (46%) |
| 3 | 59.1% | 57.9% | 5.0% | −1.2 | 210 (49%) |
| 4 | 62.6% | 61.2% | 3.8% | −1.4 | 211 (49%) |
| 5 | 65.9% | 65.5% | 6.9% | −0.4 | 210 (49%) |
| 6 | 68.0% | 69.0% | 3.1% | +1.0 | 219 (51%) |
| 7 | 70.7% | 73.6% | 7.7% | +2.9 | 234 (55%) |
| 8 | 72.8% | 77.0% | 10.3% | +4.2 | 228 (53%) |
| 9 | 74.9% | 80.5% | 12.1% | +5.6 | 241 (56%) |
| 10 | 76.5% | 83.3% | 12.1% | +6.8 | 242 (57%) |
| 11 | 77.7% | 85.2% | 11.5% | +7.5 | 253 (59%) |
| 12 | 78.8% | 86.6% | 11.5% | +7.8 | 263 (61%) |
The average, median, lowest-in-range and met-or-exceeded rows are as the brand reported it; the median-less-average column is marked *.
Half the first year's climb happens in the first five months. That is 47.9% to 65.9% on the average, then 65.9% to 78.8% across the next seven. The large part is front-loaded, which is what a pre-opening leasing effort buys, and the curve is still rising at month twelve.
At month twelve the median location is 7.8 points ahead of the average one. 86.6% against 78.8%, and the two crossed over at month six. When the median beats the mean by that much, a small group of badly lagging locations is doing the pulling. The lowest-in-range row confirms it. A location at month twelve was running 11.5% occupancy.
At least one location is at 100% occupancy in every month of the first year, including month one. The low in the same month was 2.5%. The spread between the lowest and highest Sola Salon Studios location is at least 87.9 points in every month of the first year.
61% of locations beat the average by month twelve, up from 44% in month one. Exactly 50% beat the median in every month, as arithmetic requires. That rising share against the mean is the same pattern from the other side: the tail lengthens as the year goes on.
Fees and what it costs to open
The fee schedule
| Fee | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Royalty | 5.5% of sales, minimum $500 a month | Due on the 10th; franchisees who signed before 2020 may pay a lower rate |
| National marketing fund | 1.5% of sales, up to 2% | Combined with any multi-area marketing program, capped at 2% |
| Technology fee | $185 to $250 a month | Due on the 25th, adjustable on notice |
| Property management software | $447 to $546 a year | Payable to the franchisor |
| Computer upgrades and maintenance | Usually up to $1,000 a year | When the franchisor requires it |
| Renewal | $7,500 | Initial term 10 years, renewal term 10 years |
| Transfer | $0 to $12,500 plus broker fees | Plus a lead fee of 10% of the sale price, capped at $50,000, where the buyer came from the franchisor |
As the brand reported it.
The ongoing brand cost is 7.0% of sales plus a technology fee. That is 5.5% of royalty and 1.5% to the marketing fund, with the technology fee at $2,220 to $3,000 a year on top. That is a light load by franchising standards, and it sits against a build costing up to $1.75 million. The money in this model goes to the landlord and the contractor.
Agreements signed before 2020 may have a lower royalty. So the system contains two fee generations, and anyone benchmarking against a long-standing franchisee’s numbers is comparing against a different rate card.
Selling to a buyer the franchisor introduced costs 10% of the sale price, capped at $50,000. That is on top of a transfer fee of up to $12,500 and any broker fees. Worth knowing a decade before you need it, because it prices one exit route against another.
What it costs to open
| Line | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Improvements and conversions, after tenant improvement allowance | $566,633 | $1,146,784 |
| Furniture and fixtures | $211,000 | $295,000 |
| Initial franchise fee | $60,000 | $60,000 |
| Additional funds, three months | $30,000 | $70,000 |
| Market introduction fee | $20,000 | $20,000 |
| Signage | $15,000 | $25,000 |
| Rent or real estate | $12,084 | $51,666 |
| Architectural fees | $12,500 | $35,000 |
| Business licenses, permits and site evaluation | $15,500 | $28,000 |
| Insurance, computers, software, travel and utility deposits | $7,497 | $16,846 |
| Total | $950,214 | $1,748,296 |
As the brand reported it, except two grouped lines. Those are marked *. We combined business licenses and fees with permits and site evaluation services, and insurance with computer equipment and software, the property management software, travel and living expenses for training, and utility deposits.
Discounts available
- Sola Salon Studios charges existing open franchisees $45,000 instead of $60,000 for each additional franchise.
- Sola Salon Studios lowers the per-unit cost under a multi-unit development agreement for new franchisees: $150,000 for 3 units ($50,000 each), $270,000 for 6 ($45,000 each) and $480,000 for 12 ($40,000 each); existing franchisees pay less.
From Item 5 of the Sola Salon Studios 2026 FDD. The costs on this page use the full initial franchise fee for one unit, before any discount.
Improvements and fixtures are 82% of the build at both ends of the range. That is $777,633 of the $950,214 low and $1,441,784 of the $1,748,296 high. You are constructing private rooms inside a shell, and the franchise fee plus the market introduction fee ($80,000) is 8% of the low total. This is a construction project with a brand attached.
Three months of additional funds is $30,000 to $70,000. Against a first-year curve that reaches only 47.9% average occupancy in month one and 59.1% by month three. The reserve covers the largest part of the build-up, and the curve keeps climbing for another nine months after it runs out.
The improvements line ranges $580,151 and is stated after the landlord's contribution. $566,633 to $1,146,784, net of tenant improvement allowance, so the number you negotiate with the landlord moves the largest line in the table directly. A $200,000 allowance is a third of the low estimate.
What territory you get
You are offered one of three protected radii: half a mile, one mile or two miles. The franchisor chooses which at its sole determination when the premises address is set, weighing population density and household counts among other factors. The grant is explicitly stated as being other than an exclusive territory. Competition reserved from other franchisees, franchisor and affiliate outlets and other channels and brands the group controls.
A multi-unit development agreement assigns a development area instead. The Sola Salon Studios development area ranges from part of a city to a multi-county or single-state area, sized against the number of locations you commit to and the demographics of the area. It comes with a set development schedule and a separate franchise agreement for each location.
Mature occupancy
Occupancy at mature locations, December 2025
| Measure | Occupancy | Locations |
|---|---|---|
| Median | 89.7% | 328 (50%) at or above |
| Average | 85.1% | 412 (63%) at or above |
| Highest in range | 100.0% | 107 (16%) |
| Lowest in range | 26.3% | 1 (0.2%) |
As the brand reported it, measured for the single month of December 2025.
16% of mature locations are completely full. That is 107 of 653 at 100% occupancy in December, against a median of 89.7% and one location at 26.3%. A sixth of this system has run out of studios to license, which makes the suite count chosen at build time a ceiling.
The median sits 4.6 points above the average at maturity, the same shape as at month twelve. 89.7% against 85.1%, and 63% of locations beat the average while 50% beat the median. A tail of low-occupancy locations stays in this system. It just gets smaller, from 11.5% at month twelve to 26.3% at maturity.
A mature location gains 6.3 points of average occupancy over a twelve-month-old one. That is 85.1% against 78.8%, and on the median just 3.1 points, 89.7% against 86.6%. So the build-up is substantially complete at the end of year one: most of what a location will ever fill, it has filled.
Four locations closed during 2025 out of 677. A closure rate of 0.6%, and every one of them had been open more than a year. On a model where the tenant base pays monthly and the landlord is paid monthly, a low-selling location can hold on for a long time. That is why the 26.3% figure exists at all.
The network of locations
The network of locations
| Year | Franchised start | Franchised end | Net change | Company end | Total end |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 585 | 631 | +46 | 66 | 697 |
| 2024 | 631 | 660 | +29 | 69 | 729 |
| 2025 | 660 | 677 | +17 | 67 | 744 |
As the brand reported it.
744 locations, with net additions falling each year. Sola added 46, then 29, then 17 franchised locations. This is the largest salon-suite network in the category by some distance. Its growth rate is settling. That matters for an existing Sola Salon Studios owner mainly because the protected radius on offer runs from half a mile upward in markets that already have Sola locations in them.
Four closures across 677 locations in 2025. 0.6%, and every closure was a location open more than a year. Against a system where one location runs 26.3% occupancy and 16% run at 100%, that shows a location with low occupancy stays open. The operator keeps paying the lease while the studios sit empty.
The company estate fell by two in 2025 after rising for two years. That is 61 to 66 to 69 to 67. Those 67 locations contribute to the marketing fund on exactly the same terms as franchised ones.
Questions we get asked
Questions owners ask.
How much does a Sola Salon Studios franchise make?
Item 19 of Sola Salon Studios’ 2026 FDD, issued 30 April 2026, reports occupancy, and the 653 Sola Salon Studios locations open 13 months or more ran 89.7% median occupancy in December 2025. Sola Salon Studios publishes no revenue figures, so neither the average nor the spread between locations is disclosed.
What occupancy should a Sola Salon Studios location run?
Across 653 franchised locations open 13 months or more, median occupancy in December 2025 was 89.7% and the average 85.1%, ranging from 26.3% to 100%. 328 locations met or beat the median, 412 met or beat the average, and 107 were completely full. In the first year the average runs 47.9%, 54.7%, 59.1%, 62.6%, 65.9%, 68.0%, 70.7%, 72.8%, 74.9%, 76.5%, 77.7% and 78.8% by month; the median finishes higher at 86.6%.
How long does a Sola Salon Studios location take to fill?
Most of it happens inside twelve months. The average location reaches 65.9% by month five and 78.8% by month twelve, against a mature average of 85.1%. So about six points of the climb happens after year one. On the median the gap is smaller still: 86.6% at month twelve against 89.7% at maturity, a difference of 3.1 points. The range stays wide throughout: some location is at 100% in every month of the first year. The lowest is 2.5% in month one and 11.5% at month twelve.
What do Sola Salon Studios’ fees add up to?
Sola charges a 5.5% royalty on sales against a $500 monthly minimum, and a national marketing fund contribution currently at 1.5% with a 2% combined ceiling. The technology fee is $185 to $250 a month, plus property management software at $447 to $546 a year and computer maintenance usually under $1,000 a year. Franchisees who signed before 2020 may pay a lower royalty. Opening costs $950,214 to $1,748,296, including a $60,000 franchise fee and a $20,000 market introduction fee paid to the franchisor. Renewal is $7,500 and a transfer up to $12,500, with a further 10% of the sale price, capped at $50,000, where the franchisor introduced the buyer.
What you have to work out for yourself
Revenue. Occupancy stands alone here, with no studio counts, no license rates, no costs and no profit figures. So the filed 89.7% has to be multiplied by your own studio count and your own rate card to become a number. The two variables that decide the outcome are the ones you negotiate. Those are what the landlord charges per square foot and what a stylist in your market will pay for a Sola Salon Studios room.
Who does bookkeeping for a Sola Salon Studios franchise?
Run the close like a small commercial landlord's, because that is what this is. Revenue is a rent roll: license fees by studio, by tenant, by term, with move-ins, move-outs, concessions, deposits and arrears tracked separately. Calculate occupancy the same way the franchisor calculates it for royalty reporting, so the two always tie. On the expense side, split base rent from the triple-net and common-area charges your own landlord passes through, because a CAM reconciliation landing late in the year can move a whole point of margin. And keep the royalty reporting clean: the agreement allows an audit charge with 1% monthly interest where a month is understated by 2% or more. Averan provides bookkeeping, controller, and fractional CFO support for franchise owners and has Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisors on the team.
- The filing gives no revenue figures. The filing makes no financial performance representation, so there is no disclosed sales number for any location.
- The filing gives no profit figure. The filing reports sales and not earnings, so what an owner keeps is not disclosed.
- The filing gives no range. The filing does not show the highest and lowest locations, so the spread inside the system is unknown.
Questions worth putting to Sola Salon Studios
These are questions the Sola Salon Studios filing leaves open. An owner or a buyer can put them to Sola Salon Studios 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 Sola Salon Studios 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.
Launch the diagnostic →What is your occupancy actually worth at Sola Salon Studios?
We review your unit economics, cash forecast and reporting, and turn the occupancy number into a rent roll, a margin and a plan.
Talk to AveranWhere these figures come from.
Every figure here comes from Sola Franchise, LLC's 2026 FDD, covering December 2025 and the first twelve months of operation for qualifying locations. The document is unaudited by us. The occupancy figures are as reported to the franchisor by franchisees. We are unaffiliated with the brand. The figures describe past performance at other locations. Calculations of our own are labeled where they appear. The brand’s disclosure document discloses occupancy and no revenue, cost or profit information. This page is an educational summary and is not legal or tax advice. SOLA SALON STUDIOS® 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: Sola Franchise, LLC, 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, issued 30 April 2026.
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Sola Salon Studios reads against the rest of the salon suites group: IMAGE Studios · MY SALON Suite · Phenix Salon Suites · Salons by JC. The salon suites 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?It works out the sales level where a minimum fee stops applying.
- How much cash do I fund before a new location covers its own costs?It builds a 13-week forecast for the months before break-even.
- My payroll percentage keeps climbing. Is that a payroll problem?It shows how to tell whether payroll is rising or revenue is falling.
- I run several locations. Which ones actually make money?It shows each location's contribution to profit and the reporting it takes to see it.
- How much of Item 19 can I rely on?It explains what an Item 19 financial performance representation tells you and what it leaves out.