SWEAT440 franchise unit economics
SWEAT440 franchisees run a 2,500 to 3,500 square foot group fitness studio on unlimited monthly memberships and class packs. 19 franchised studios that traded all of 2025 averaged $689,037 of revenue, and the quarter range runs $337,712 of profit at the top against a $112,347 loss at the bottom. Rent alone runs from 21.0% to 40.1% of revenue, so the lease signed on day one sets the range.
- Primary source
- Sweat440 Franchising, LLC, 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
- 19 of 20 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.
Each quartile has a full seventeen-line profit and loss, and the bottom one loses money: −$112,347 of profit on $311,864 of revenue, with the best studio in that group earning $14,233. The line that does it is rent, 21.0% of revenue at the top quartile and 40.1% at the bottom, against a health and wellness norm near 10%.
- The bottom quartile lost $112,347 of profit on $311,864 of revenue. Five of nineteen studios, spending $1.36 for every dollar billed; the best of them earned $14,233.
- Rent runs 21.0% of revenue at the top quartile and 40.1% at the bottom. And the second quartile pays $21,751 more rent than the top quartile on $272,552 less revenue.
- Both company studios out-earn every franchised quartile, at 32.9% and 32.3% profit. Against 31.1% at the franchised top quartile, and the company figures already have an imputed royalty.
- $56,580 a year of cost holds still whatever you bill. 5.21% of top-quarter revenue and 18.14% of bottom-quarter revenue, before the 7% royalty.
- Members build with years open: 350 at the 2024 openings and 724 at the 2018 studio. 430 for 2023, 508 for 2022, 611 for 2019, a clean curve across 21 locations.
How much does a SWEAT440 franchise make?
The average SWEAT440 unit reported $689,037 of revenue in the 2026 FDD. 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 7% 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.
Members & the network
Membership builds year by year.
| Opening year | Studios | Average members | Highest | Lowest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 1 | 724 | 724 | 724 |
| 2019 | 3 | 611 | 702 | 497 |
| 2022 | 4 | 508 | 652 | 252 |
| 2023 | 7 | 430 | 702 | 232 |
| 2024 | 6 | 350 | 465 | 181 |
| All 21 | 21 | 462 | 724 | 181 |
Every studio is filed individually with its opening year, its member count at 31 December 2025 and its member count on opening day. The grouping and the averages are marked *.
The curve runs 350, 430, 508, 611, 724 from newest to oldest. Each year of years open adds roughly 80 to 100 members, and the build-up is still running at six years. An owner modeling year one should plan on about 350 members and expect the business to be a materially different one by year four.
The presale program delivers 247 members on opening day and grows them 66.6%. Across the sixteen studios that used it, membership on opening averaged 247 and stood at 412 at the year end. So more than half of a young studio's eventual base is signed before the doors open. That makes the $25,000 to $40,000 Market Introduction Plan the first real operating decision.
A member is worth $1,583 a year, or $131.92 a month. Franchised revenue of $13,091,696 over the 8,270 members at franchised studios. That figure lands inside the franchisor’s own recommended pricing table. Puts a Tier 1 unlimited monthly membership at $129 for a studio with 200 to 299 members and $149 at 300 to 399. The top quartile’s $1,086,739 of revenue implies 686 members, and the four highest member counts in the location table average 695.
The brand recommends raising price as the studio fills. Tier 1 runs $89 a month at under 100 members and $189 at 500 or more; Tier 3 runs $149 to $249 across the same range. That is the reverse of the usual instinct to discount into capacity, and it means a studio's revenue per member should climb alongside its member count.
The network of locations. (Item 20)
| Year | Franchised start | Opened | Terminations | Franchised end | Company end | Total end |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 13 | 5 | 18 |
| 2024 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 17 | 5 | 22 |
| 2025 | 17 | 3 | 0 | 20 | 4 | 24 |
As the brand reported it.
Openings fell from 9 to 5 to 3 while the system grew from 5 to 20. The pace has slowed each year even as the base has quadrupled. Against a filing showing a quarter of studios at negative profit, that slowdown is worth reading as information.
Florida holds 12 of the 20 franchised studios. Plus both company studios and the brand's home office in Miami Beach. A system this concentrated shares a labor market, a rent market and a seasonal pattern. So the quarter range above says more about individual sites than about regional variation.
What territory you get.
Your protected territory is the lesser of a three-mile radius or 50,000 people. Exclusive, drawn by the franchisor as a radius, polygon or other area once you sign a lease, and much smaller in a dense downtown. It may be altered only with your agreement, and keeping it depends on zero sales volume or market penetration target.
Before you have a site you hold a search area carrying zero territorial rights. It limits where you may look. The franchisor keeps the right to operate studios anywhere outside your territory, to sell memberships and merchandise through other channels including direct mail and electronic means. To develop other business systems under the marks with zero rights flowing to you.
Top performers
What separates the top SWEAT440 performers
SWEAT440 splits its locations into groups instead of publishing one average. The best group averaged $1,086,739 a year. The worst averaged $311,864. Both run the same brand, on the same agreement, paying the same fees.
Decided before you open
- Trade area and site.A 3.5× gap between bands is not an operating gap. Catchment, daytime population and what sits next door set the ceiling before the first customer arrives.
- Capacity, fixed at build.Locations run 2,500 to 3,500 square feet. capacity is 19 studio floor 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.
- What you spend to open.Opening costs $310,400 to $710,900, a 2.3× 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
- 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.
- Fees, and where the minimum bites.Fees run about 7.0% 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.19 of 20 locations are behind these figures. Locations open less than the full year, brand-owned, or not meeting the reporting criteria are excluded, as are locations under the brand’s current size standard, 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, no attainment figure. The brand’s own locations are the only margin signal in the document, and they are run by the people who wrote the playbook.
Profit and loss
Nineteen studios, four quartiles, one full profit and loss each.
| quartile | Studios | Revenue | Total expenses | Expenses as a share | profit | share of sales kept | Median profit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top quartile | 4 | $1,086,739 | $749,027 | 68.9% | $337,712 | 31.1% | $303,946 |
| Second quartile | 5 | $814,187 | $687,128 | 84.4% | $127,058 | 15.6% | $82,973 |
| Third quartile | 5 | $622,897 | $540,941 | 86.8% | $81,956 | 13.2% | $96,268 |
| Bottom quartile | 5 | $311,864 | $424,211 | 136.0% | −$112,347 | −36.0% | −$71,066 |
| All 19 studios | 19 | $689,037 | n/a | n/a | $96,536 | 14.0% | n/a |
Revenue, expenses, profit and medians are as the brand reported it for each quartile.
The bottom quartile spends $1.36 for every dollar it bills. $424,211 of expenses against $311,864 of revenue. Its highest-selling member still only reaches $14,233 of profit and its lowest-selling loses $240,407 in a single year. Five studios of nineteen, 26% of the reporting system, are funding their own losses out of the owner's pocket.
The drop from the top quartile to the second is 15.5 points of margin on 25% less revenue. 31.1% to 15.6%, where revenue falls from $1,086,739 to $814,187. So margin in this model collapses far faster than revenue does, which is what a cost base dominated by rent and wages produces. Between the second and third quartiles it changes by less than a tenth, 15.6% to 13.2%, and then it falls off a cliff.
Two quartiles have a median above their own average and two below. The third quarter's median profit of $96,268 sits above its $81,956 average, because one studio in it lost $44,034. The top quartile runs the other way, a $303,946 median against a $337,712 average, because one studio earned $504,024. In a nineteen-studio system, single units move every figure on the page.
System-wide profit works out at $96,536 a studio, a 14.0% margin. Weighted across all nineteen. For an owner that is the number to hold against the $310,400 to $710,900 cost of building one. Against the fact that a quarter of the system sits below zero.
Fees and what it costs to open
What the fees come to, by where you sit.
| quartile | Revenue | Royalty at 7% | Flat fees and required spend | Total | Share of revenue | Flat portion alone |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top quartile | $1,086,739 | $76,072 | $56,580 | $132,652 | 12.21% | 5.21% |
| Second quartile | $814,187 | $56,993 | $56,580 | $113,573 | 13.95% | 6.95% |
| Third quartile | $622,897 | $43,603 | $56,580 | $100,183 | 16.08% | 9.08% |
| Bottom quartile | $311,864 | $21,830 | $56,580 | $78,410 | 25.14% | 18.14% |
Ours, built from the filed rates: a royalty of the greater of 7% of weekly gross sales or $500 a week. A $420 monthly brand fund fee. A $1,200 monthly local advertising minimum. May reach $2,300; a $1,200 monthly marketing support fee paid to the franchisor's affiliate LeadTeam. A $300 monthly tech support fee. A $695 monthly designated software license fee. And a $900 monthly call center fee.
$56,580 a year lands on every studio regardless of what it bills. 5.21% of top-quarter revenue and 18.14% of bottom-quarter revenue. Add the royalty and the all-in rate runs 12.21% to 25.14%. For a studio in the bottom quartile, the flat portion alone is half the size of its entire profit shortfall.
The royalty has a $500 weekly minimum, which is $26,000 a year. That binds on any studio billing under $371,429, which describes most of the bottom quartile. The filed royalty line for that quartile averages $14,088 with a minimum of $79. So the studios in it are on reduced or deferred royalty arrangements, worth asking about directly. Because the modeled figure and the paid figure differ.
Three of the seven recurring charges go to the franchisor's affiliate or its designated suppliers. The marketing support fee to LeadTeam, the software license fee, and the call center fee, $2,795 a month between them. The franchisor also requires LeadTeam to run the $25,000 to $40,000 Market Introduction Plan before opening. That concentration matters because those are exactly the costs that stay flat while revenue falls.
What it costs to open a studio.
| Item | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $60,000 | $60,000 |
| Initial training fee | $5,000 | $5,000 |
| Lease deposit and three months' rent | $25,000 | $60,000 |
| Building work | $50,000 | $300,000 |
| Signage | $10,000 | $20,000 |
| Architect and engineering | $15,000 | $17,000 |
| Construction management | $15,000 | $17,500 |
| Furniture and fixtures | $15,000 | $25,000 |
| Equipment | $50,000 | $75,000 |
| Initial inventory | $4,700 | $7,500 |
| Professional services | $3,500 | $5,000 |
| Pre-opening travel and labor | $3,700 | $6,400 |
| Market Introduction Plan | $25,000 | $40,000 |
| Permits and licenses | $250 | $500 |
| Miscellaneous pre-opening | $5,750 | $18,500 |
| Storage facility | $0 | $1,000 |
| Additional funds, first three months | $22,500 | $52,500 |
| Total | $310,400 | $710,900 |
As the brand reported it.
The filed rents imply $42 to $83 a square foot on a 3,000 foot studio. The bottom quartile’s $125,095 is $41.70 and the second quartile’s $249,804 is $83.27, above the top of the $25 to $80 estimate. An owner reading the investment table alone would size rent from the three-month deposit line at $25,000 to $60,000. The quartile tables show what a year of it actually costs.
Building at the low end costs 29% of what a top-quarter studio bills and 100% of what a bottom-quarter one does. $310,400 against $1,086,739 and $311,864. At the high end, $710,900 is more than two years of bottom-quarter revenue. The difference between the two columns is $400,500, and $250,000 of it is building work alone. That is the line the landlord can be asked to have.
$90,000 reaches the franchisor and its affiliate before opening at the low end. A $60,000 franchise fee, a $5,000 training fee and a $25,000 Market Introduction Plan, rising to $105,000 where the plan costs $40,000. Add five months of the marketing support fee starting before opening, and the pre-opening commitment to the brand is fixed while the revenue is still zero.
Rent & wages
Two lines decide it.
| quartile | Revenue | Rent | Rent share | Wages | Wages share | Both together |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top quartile | $1,086,739 | $228,053 | 21.0% | $249,435 | 23.0% | 43.9% |
| Second quartile | $814,187 | $249,804 | 30.7% | $194,004 | 23.8% | 54.5% |
| Third quartile | $622,897 | $147,229 | 23.6% | $197,599 | 31.7% | 55.4% |
| Bottom quartile | $311,864 | $125,095 | 40.1% | $158,018 | 50.7% | 90.8% |
| Company studio, Brickell | $1,264,008 | $307,189 | 24.3% | $231,953 | 18.4% | 42.7% |
| Company studio, South Beach | $1,213,704 | $283,053 | 23.3% | $203,196 | 16.7% | 40.0% |
Dollar figures as the brand reported it; the share columns are marked *.
Rent at 21% to 40% of revenue is two to four times what a wellness studio normally has. Across the health and wellness brands with occupancy cost figures, the line lands between 9.68% and 11.3%. This concept sits in vibrant, high traffic, downtown areas, on 2,500 to 3,500 square feet at $25 to $80 a foot. That choice is the single largest economic fact about the model, and it is made once, at lease signing, for the length of the term.
The second quartile pays more rent than the top quartile, in dollars. $249,804 against $228,053 ($21,751 more) on revenue that is $272,552 lower. Those five studios are carrying a top-quarter lease on second-quartile traffic, and it costs them 15.5 points of margin.
Wages runs 23.0% at the top quartile and 50.7% at the bottom on $91,417 less spend. A studio has to be staffed to run classes whatever the attendance. So the bottom quartile spends $158,018 against the top's $249,435, 63% of the money for 29% of the revenue. That is the shape of a business with a staffing minimum.
The company studios hold wages at 16.7% and 18.4%. Four to six points below the franchised top quartile, on higher revenue, while carrying rent at 23.3% and 24.3%. Whatever the parent does with staffing model and scheduling in those two studios, it is worth $68,465 a year at top-quarter volume and is the most transferable lever on the table.
Questions we get asked
Questions owners ask.
What should a studio be billing?
The 19 franchised studios trading all of 2025 averaged $689,037. By quartile: $1,086,739 across four studios, $814,187, $622,897 and $311,864 across five each. The single highest was $1,177,559 and the lowest $194,019. The two company studios billed $1,264,008 and $1,213,704, both above the franchised top quartile.
What does a studio earn?
profit of $337,712 at the top quartile, $127,058 at the second, $81,956 at the third and minus $112,347 at the bottom, shares kept of 31.1%, 15.6%, 13.2% and minus 36.0%. Weighted across all nineteen that is $96,536 a studio, a 14.0% margin. The measure excludes owner compensation, debt service and depreciation, and it includes every fee and all local marketing. The company studios ran 32.9% and 32.3% with royalty imputed.
Why does the bottom quartile lose money?
Rent at 40.1% of revenue and wages at 50.7%, 90.8% between them before anything else. On top sits $56,580 of flat fees and required spend, which is another 18.14%. Those five studios average 241 members at the low end of the location table against 695 at the four highest-selling studios. A studio has to be staffed and housed whether 200 people come or 700. The model breaks below roughly 400 members.
What does the brand cost each year?
A royalty of the greater of 7% of weekly gross sales or $500 a week. $4,715 a month of brand fund, local advertising minimum, marketing support fee to the franchisor's affiliate, tech support, software license and call center, $56,580 a year. All in that is 12.21% of revenue at the top quartile and 25.14% at the bottom. Three of those recurring charges are paid to the franchisor's affiliate or designated suppliers.
Who does bookkeeping for a SWEAT440 franchise?
The franchisor has done half the work for you here by publishing a seventeen-line expense format. So the monthly close should report to that same shape and benchmark line by line against the quarter a studio actually sits in. Two ratios belong at the top of the pack. Rent as a percentage of trailing twelve-month revenue, tested against 21.0% at the top quartile. Wages as a percentage, tested against 23.0%. Below about 400 members those two ratios turn a profitable studio into a losing one within a quarter, and they move slowly enough to see coming. Membership reporting matters alongside them (count, joins, cancellations and revenue per member against $131.92 a month) because the recommended pricing rises with member count. So a studio that fills without repricing is leaving the increase on the table. Royalty is debited weekly by electronic transfer on the preceding week's gross sales. So the cash calendar runs weekly while the books run monthly. The reconciliation between them belongs in the close. Averan provides bookkeeping, controller, and fractional CFO support for franchise owners and has Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisors on the team.
- No median. Only an average is published, which a few large locations can lift on their own.
- 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 attainment figure. The filing does not say how many locations reached the average it publishes.
Questions worth putting to SWEAT440
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 SWEAT440 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.
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