How we check franchise data — and how we make money
Two questions decide whether you can trust a directory: where its numbers come from, and who pays it. Both answers are on this page, in plain words.
Where the numbers come from
Every financial figure on this site is FDD-derived: it originates in franchise disclosure documents — the initial-fee, ongoing-fee, initial-investment, and unit-history disclosures (Items 5, 6, 7, and 20 class data) — assembled from a commercial franchise-data provider and brand disclosure listings, then cleaned by our pipeline. We profile 5,700+ US brands this way.
What we do to the data: strip markup and junk values, null out impossible figures (a $0 investment is missing data, not free), swap min/max pairs filed backwards, and validate years and percentages. What we don't do: audit the filings, estimate missing figures, or accept a franchisor's marketing numbers over its filed ones.
The result is honest but not perfect. Filings lag reality, and coverage varies by field — which is why every figure carries a date and every gap stays visible.
Every figure is dated
The dataset snapshot is as of 2026-05, and each brand row carries its own as-of stamp. We refresh on a published cadence rather than claiming "updated daily" — a promise no directory that works from disclosure filings can honestly make. If a figure's date matters to your decision, treat the current FDD from the franchisor as the authority; that document, not any directory, is what you sign against.
Coverage, stated per field
No field covers all 5,719 brands, and we never pretend one does — money claims on this site use the field-specific count, not the catalog count. Compiled straight from franchise disclosure filings:
| Field | Brands covered | Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| Investment range (cash to open)FDD Item 7 class figures | 4,718 | 82.5% |
| Initial franchise feeFDD Item 5 class figures | 3,958 | 69.2% |
| Royalty rateOngoing fee, % of sales | 2,025 | 35.4% |
| Unit history (openings/closures)FDD Item 20 class, by year | 3,466 | 60.6% |
| Net-worth requirementFranchisor-stated minimum | 1,401 | 24.5% |
| Liquid-cash requirementFranchisor-stated minimum | 1,801 | 31.5% |
| SBA-eligibility flagWhere documented only | 2,168 | 37.9% |
| Documented veteran incentiveCovered subset only — see /veterans | 38 | 0.7% |
Where these numbers come from
Every figure across this site traces to a specific class of franchise disclosure — the Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) each US franchisor must give a buyer before any signing or payment — not a brochure or a sales page. The numbered items we read:
- FDD Item 5 — Initial franchise fee:
- the one-time entry fee.
- FDD Item 6 — Ongoing fees:
- royalty and ad-fund percentages.
- FDD Item 7 — Initial investment:
- the low-to-high range to open one unit.
- FDD Item 12 — Territory:
- whether a protected area is granted — negotiated per agreement, not a field we hold.
- FDD Item 19 — Financial performance:
- the only lawful earnings representation — our dataset holds none, so no page here makes an earnings claim from our data.
- FDD Item 20 — Unit history:
- openings, closures, terminations, and transfers by year.
- FDD Item 3 — Litigation:
- the count of disclosed franchise-related lawsuits.
Those items are compiled from a commercial aggregation of US FDD filings and public brand-disclosure listings, a snapshot dated 2026-05. We clean, date, and gap-mark every figure; we do not audit the underlying filings, and the current FDD from the franchisor is the authority you sign against.
Verify any of this independently
You don't have to take our word for the framework. These are the primary, authoritative sources — verify independently at:
- U.S. FTC — Franchises & Business OpportunitiesThe federal Franchise Rule (16 CFR Part 436) and the FDD requirement itself.
- FTC — A Consumer's Guide to Buying a FranchiseThe government's plain-language walkthrough of what to check before you sign.
- U.S. SBA — Franchise DirectoryBrands reviewed for SBA-loan eligibility, checked by lenders during underwriting.
- NASAA — State franchise registration & resourcesThe umbrella for the state regulators that register FDDs in registration states.
- International Franchise Association (IFA)The industry body — useful context, not a regulator; read it as such.
Links open on the source's own site. We link them so you can check the rules yourself; we don't control or endorse their content.
What we exclude — and recompute
The source data ships a "retention rate" field that is mathematically broken — roughly 1,570 brands report over 100%, one as high as 2,775%. That field never appears on this site. Instead, unit survival is our own recomputed metric, built only from year-by-year unit history, with the formula published where the number appears.
The full methodology — window selection, the at-risk denominator, the 2018 source gap, and its limitations — lives with the data study: the franchise unit track record.
The tickmarks on our tables
Cost tables across the site carry auditor-style marks in the margin. They mean exactly this:
- Cited. The figure traces to a disclosure-filing source with a date.
- Footed. A computed total — the column adds up, and we checked.
- Opened. Units opened during the year shown (Item 20 class data).
- Closed. Units terminated or ceased during the year shown.
- n/d — not disclosed. The brand's filings we can source don't state the figure. Rendered in red ink, never invented, never blanked.
Corrections
Spot an outdated or wrong figure? Email corrections@franchisesopportunity.com with the brand and the field, or use the contact form. Reported figures are checked against the source filings; a confirmed correction lands in the next dataset refresh, and brands that stop franchising are delisted rather than left to rot.
Support here is written on purpose — email first, a person replies within 2 business days, and there is no phone channel and no sales calls: you keep a record of exactly what we said.
How we make money
Franchise brands and our partner franchise advisors can pay us for qualified buyer inquiries you choose to send. Commercial terms are shown inside the authenticated portal for registered representatives, not on public buyer pages. Right now the model is per qualified lead, not a conversion fee or a percentage of a franchise sale.
What that means for your request is stated plainly: you pick the brands you want to learn about, and we may share your request with those brands and with franchise advisors who can follow up. You control who contacts you and how, and you can ask us to stop selling or sharing your details. How requests are used and shared, and the parties who may reach you, are spelled out in our privacy notice and the glossary.
What that money never buys:
- Editorial numbers. Cost and fee data render identically for paying and non-paying brands.
- Rankings. Data-ranked lists never consider payment; sponsored placement is separate and labeled.
- Public data edits. A claimed listing can submit corrections and source documents, but the public dataset changes only after operator review.
- Stale lead inventory. Inquiries are handled within 72 hours or closed instead of treated as old inventory.
And the earnings disclosure, because the conflict deserves naming (not just the model): our dataset contains no earnings fields, so no page on this site makes an earnings claim from our data. Pages that discuss what owners make use publicly attributed or FDD-cited ranges with their methodology stated — and you should read them knowing the brands being discussed can become paying customers of this site. That is exactly why this section exists and is linked sitewide.
The methodology only matters if the data holds up — see the data for yourself.