Apex Leadership Co.Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Apex Leadership Co. franchise requires a total initial investment of $94K – $143K, including a $50K franchise fee and an ongoing 8.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $917K[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 23.1% charge-off rate across 26 loans[1]. Verdict grade: B. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $94K – $143K
- 29th pct Education
- Avg gross sales
- $917K
- 33rd pct Education
- Royalty
- 8.0%
- 31st pct Education
- Units
- 131
- 60th pct Education
- SBA default
- 23.1%
- system-wide median varies by category
Quick verdict · Education · color = vs category peers
Green = >15% above Education avg · No shading = within ±15% · Red = >15% below avg · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Each dollar invested generates 7.7x in gross revenue, well above the typical 1.5-2.5x range.
23.1% of SBA loans charged off across 26 loans, above the 16% franchise average.
Franchised units fell from 119 to 104 over 3 years. Investigate why operators are leaving.
167% cash-on-cash return (based on P&L Bottom Line). Above the 20% threshold most investors target.
Bottom line
- Total investment $94K – $143K including a $50K franchise fee, 8.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $917K/year (median $773K), with an estimated 167% cash-on-cash return (based on P&L Bottom Line).
- Verdict B (Above Average) with a risk score of 55/100. SBA loan charge-off rate of 23.1% across 26 loans (well above the 16% franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2024).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- Apex Leadership Franchising, LLC
- Parent company
- Heritage Acquisition, LLC
- Ultimate parent
- Heritage Operating Partners, LLC
- CEO title
- CEO
- Jamie Krasnov
- CEO experience
- 2007 yrs
- Years in role or industry
- Founder active
- Yes
- Original founder still leading the business
- Incorporated in
- DE
- HQ
- 1244 N. Post Oak Road, Suite 100, Houston, TX 77055
- Auditor
- Citrin Cooperman & Company, LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $476K
- vs $1.1M prior year
- Management churn noted
- Frequent turnover
- Item 2 disclosed frequent executive changes
Overview
About
Apex Leadership Co. operates as a leadership development and training franchise, likely delivering corporate coaching, team-building workshops, and personal development programs to businesses and individuals. Franchisees acquire rights to deliver proprietary curriculum, manage client relationships, and generate revenue through training services and 'Anython' fundraising programs (mechanism unclear). Day-to-day activities likely include client acquisition, scheduling workshops, delivering training, and managing administrative/compliance functions.
- CEO
- Jamie Krasnov
- Headquarters
- TX
- Founded
- 2021
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 27
FDD Item 7 · 2025 filing · 14 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Feenot refundable | $50K | $50K | |
| Initial Training Feenot refundable | $10K | $10K | |
| Vehicle | $0 | $3K | |
| Trailer | $4K | $9K | |
| Computer system | $0 | $1K | |
| Other equipment | $8K | $17K | |
| Storage | $0 | $500 | |
| Grand Opening Marketing | $10K | $10K | |
| Insurance premiums | $500 | $5K | |
| Professional services fees | $0 | $3K | |
| Travel and living expenses during training | $2K | $5K | |
| Amply Platform | $0 | $500 | |
| Rental Team | $0 | $5K | |
| Additional funds (for 3 months) | $11K | $25K | |
| Total initial investment | $94K | $143K |
Line items extracted from FDD Item 7. Ranges reflect the franchisor's stated low and high per line. Total is the sum of line-item lows / highs — actual costs may fall outside this range depending on market and build-out scope.
Single-unit · estimated
Returns at a glance
Indicative numbers using FDD Item 7 / Item 19 inputs and category-benchmarked cost ratios. Full single-unit, 25-unit portfolio, and LBO models (with every input editable to stress-test your own scenario) live on the financials page.
Store EBITDA · annual
$119K
13.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
87%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
14 mo
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $94K – $143K
- Better than avg vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $11K – $25K
- Better than avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $40K – $50K
- Near category avg vs category
- Royalty
- 8.0%
- percentage_of_gross · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 2.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 10.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
- Payback period
- 0.6 yrs
- From FDD / Item 19
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 8.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 2.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $150 |
| Training fee | $10K |
| Transfer fee | $10K |
| Renewal fee | $5K |
| Total fee load | 10.0% of rev |
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $917K
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $773K
- Avg p&l bottom line
- $197K
- Reported as P&L Bottom Line in FDD Item 19
- Cash-on-cash
- 166.6%
- Based on P&L Bottom Line / investment midpoint
- Item 19 type
- Actual
- Sample size
- 27 units
- vs category median 14
- Range (low → high)
- $51K→$2.9M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Quartile band
- $240K→$1.8M
- Bottom 25% → top 25%
- Transparency
- 7 / 5
- vs category median 4 / 5 · above
Compared against 237 Education brands
Revenue is 7.7x the investment midpoint. At typical franchise margins, this suggests a payback under 3 years.
vs Education averages
How Apex Leadership Co. Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 131
- Opened
- 19
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 3
- Turnover rate
- 2.3%
- Company-owned
- 12
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 91%
- vs corporate-owned
- Multi-unit owners
- 1.0%
- Net growth (yr3)
- +10.2%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- +14.4%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Transfers (3yr)
- 6
- Transfer rate
- 4.6%
- Owners selling to other franchisees
- Ceased ops
- 3.1%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 24 states with active franchisees
The Territory Map
Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator. Not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).
States derived from franchisee contact records (FDD Item 20). Shows states with at least one current operator on file. Full state registration data (Item 12) will appear on a future FDD refresh.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
- Total loans
- 26
- Loan volume
- $5.6M
- Median loan
- $216K
- average
- Charge-off rate
- 23.1%
- rates vary by category · see methodology
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- N/A
- 5-yr charge-off
- 0.0%
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 10
- Defaults
- 6
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
A 23.1% charge-off rate means roughly 1 in 4 franchisees failed to repay their SBA loan. Investigate what changed.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Moderate-to-elevated risk profile driven by historical regulatory violation, absence of Item 19 financial validation, modest unit growth, and cost structure pressures that require comprehensive verification through current franchisee interviews.
Litigation (Item 3)
Consent Order with Washington Department of Financial Institutions (Order No.: S-15-1656-15-C001) entered April 23, 2015. Predecessor violated Franchise Investment Protection Act by: (1) selling franchise while registration application was pending but not approved, and (2) failing to provide franchise disclosure document 14 days prior to franchise agreement execution. Settlement: $1,000 payment to Division for investigation costs. Cease and desist order imposed.
Largest disclosed settlement: $1,000
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Citrin Cooperman & Company, LLP
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: Yes
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: No
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 55 / 100 rating
- 01MINOR2015 regulatory violation by predecessor entity for failing to present disclosure documents timely and selling franchise while registration pending—indicates compliance or governance issues in corporate history
- 02MINORNo Item 19 Financial Performance Representation (going_concern: False)—inability to validate the $197,384 average net income claim independently; significant gap between gross revenue ($916,578) and net income ($197,384) suggests 78.5% cost structure requiring scrutiny
- 03MINORModest unit growth of 10.2% YoY against 131 total units suggests slower expansion momentum; vulnerable to market saturation in leadership/training sector
- 04MINORHigh initial investment range ($94K–$143K) paired with 8% royalty on gross revenue creates tight breakeven timeline—franchisee needs >$246K gross revenue annually just to cover 8% royalty alone
- 05MINORDual royalty structure (8% standard, 6% on Anython fundraising) adds complexity and potential for revenue disputes; unclear how 'Anython' is defined and tracked
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 3 |
| Territory type | Zip Codes |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | Yes |
| Territory population | 5,000 |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 25 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 60 days |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Texas |
| Litigation count | 1 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
Consent Order with Washington Department of Financial Institutions (Order No.: S-15-1656-15-C001) entered April 23, 2015. Predecessor violated Franchise Investment Protection Act by: (1) selling franchise while registration application was pending but not approved, and (2) failing to provide franchise disclosure document 14 days prior to franchise agreement execution. Settlement: $1,000 payment to Division for investigation costs. Cease and desist order imposed.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 34 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 41 hrs
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 6 mo
- From signing to launch
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
64 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Apex Leadership Co. · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Apex Leadership Co. franchise?
The total investment to open a Apex Leadership Co. franchise ranges from $94K – $143K, with an initial franchise fee of $50K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Apex Leadership Co. franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Apex Leadership Co. FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $917K. The median is $773K. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Apex Leadership Co.'s franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, Apex Leadership Co. has a charge-off rate of 23.1% across 26 loans, meaning 23.1% of franchise loans were charged off. Charge-off rates are one proxy for franchise risk, though they do not capture all closures. This data comes from FOIA-sourced SBA lending records.
How many Apex Leadership Co. franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Apex Leadership Co. has 131 total units in the United States, including 119 franchised units and 12 company-owned units. 19 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Apex Leadership Co. a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Apex Leadership Co. as a B-grade franchise with a risk score of 55 out of 100, based on our analysis of investment costs, revenue data, SBA loan performance, and growth trends. Our rating is based solely on publicly available FDD and government data; we recommend speaking with current franchisees before making any investment decision. This is not investment advice.
Data sourced from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) FOIA records. Not financial advice.
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Data extracted from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) loan disclosures (FOIA). This information is provided for research purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Verify all figures with the franchisor's current Franchise Disclosure Document before making any investment decision.