BelocalFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A BELOCAL franchise requires a total initial investment of $2K – $12K, including a $735 franchise fee and an ongoing 15.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $102K[2]. Verdict grade: F. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $2K – $12K
- 0th pct Business Serv…
- Avg gross sales
- $102K
- 2nd pct Business Serv…
- Royalty
- 15.0%
- 32nd pct Business Serv…
- Units
- 157
- 45th pct Business Serv…
- SBA default
- N/A
Quick verdict · Business Services · color = vs category peers
Green = >15% above Business Services 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 14.7x in gross revenue, well above the typical 1.5-2.5x range.
Franchised units fell from 154 to 135 over 3 years. Investigate why operators are leaving.
Bottom line
- Total investment $2K – $12K including a $735 franchise fee, 15.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $102K/year.
- Verdict F (Bottom Quintile) with a risk score of 86/100.
- System contracting at -12.3% CAGR over 3 years. Investigate whether closures are franchisor-driven (consolidation) or franchisee-driven (economics).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- N2 Franchising, Inc.
- CEO title
- Chief Executive Officer and President
- JP Hamel
- CEO experience
- 2025 yrs
- Years in role or industry
- Incorporated in
- DE
- HQ
- 9151 Currency Street, Irving, Texas 75063
- Auditor
- A+G LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $77.5M
- vs $82.5M prior year
- Management churn noted
- Frequent turnover
- Item 2 disclosed frequent executive changes
Overview
About
BELOCAL franchisees publish hyper-local community newspapers/publications and generate revenue through print and digital advertising sales. Day-to-day operations involve community engagement, content curation, ad sales outreach, and publication production while remitting 15% of advertising value as royalties to the franchisor.
- CEO
- JP Hamel
- Headquarters
- TX
- Founded
- 2016
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 34
FDD Item 7 · 2025 filing · 10 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Feenot refundable | $735 | $735 | |
| Office Furniture & Equipmentnot refundable | $0 | $3K | |
| Computer Hardware & Softwarenot refundable | $0 | $3K | |
| Office Supplies and Stationerynot refundable | $90 | $125 | |
| Insurance Coverage (1 year)not refundable | $400 | $650 | |
| Initial Training Expensesnot refundable | $0 | $1K | |
| Attorney and Professional Feesnot refundable | $0 | $2K | |
| Licenses and Permitsnot refundable | $0 | $500 | |
| Entity Formationnot refundable | $100 | $500 | |
| Additional Funds (for first 3 months of operation)not refundable | $600 | $1K | |
| Total initial investment | $2K | $12K |
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
$5K
5.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
66%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
18 mo
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $2K – $12K
- Better than avg vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $600 – $1K
- Better than avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $735 – $735
- Better than avg vs category
- Royalty
- 15.0%
- Monthly Commission based · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- -n/d
- Total fee load
- 15.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 15.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $0 |
| Transfer fee | $735 |
| Total fee load | 15.0% of rev |
At 15.0% total fee load, roughly $15K per year goes to the franchisor before you pay a single operating expense.
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $102K
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- N/A
- Item 19 type
- Commissions
- Sample size
- 84 units
- vs category median 32 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $4K→$199K
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Transparency
- 0 / 5
- vs category median 3 / 5 · below
Compared against 360 Business Services brands
Revenue is 14.7x the investment midpoint. At typical franchise margins, this suggests a payback under 3 years.
vs Business Services averages
How Belocal Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 157
- Opened
- 103
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 89
- Terminated
- 2
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 56.7%
- Company-owned
- 13
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 92%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (yr3)
- +1.5%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- -12.3%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Transfers (3yr)
- 6
- Transfer rate
- 4.1%
- Owners selling to other franchisees
- Continuity rate
- 57.2%
- Units that stayed open
- Termination rate
- 1.4%
- Franchisor-initiated terminations
- Ceased ops
- 58.8%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 28 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.
No SBA loan data available for this brand.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
BELOCAL presents meaningful concerns: minimal growth trajectory, absent financial performance data, regulatory compliance history, unprotected territories, and high advertising-based royalties with unclear valuation mechanisms.
Litigation (Item 3)
Two administrative actions by state regulatory agencies against affiliate Neighborhood Networks Publishing, Inc. (now The N2 Company): (1) California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (Order I.D. 337865) - alleged violations of California Franchise Investment Law for offering/selling franchises without disclosure documents prior to 2016 registration; settled October 2020 with $10,000 reimbursement of investigative costs. (2) State of Washington Department of Financial Institutions Securities Division (Order No. S-18-2456-18-CO01) - alleged violations of Washington Franchise Investment Protection Act for offering/selling franchises without disclosure documents and making unauthorized financial performance representations prior to 2017 application; settled April 2019 with $4,000 reimbursement of investigative costs.
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · A+G LLP
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: No
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: Yes
- Must buy proprietary products: No
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 86 / 100 rating
- 01MINORStagnant unit growth (1.5% YoY) suggests market saturation or franchisee dissatisfaction
- 02MINORNo financial disclosure (Item 19) prevents assessment of actual franchisee profitability and ROI
- 03MINORTwo regulatory compliance violations in California and Washington indicate disclosure/registration failures to prospective franchisees
- 04MINORUnprotected territory creates direct competition risk from other franchisees in same market
- 05MINORHigh royalty rate (15% of advertising value) is contingent on subjective valuation and creates revenue uncertainty
- 06MINORVery low franchise fee ($735) may indicate weak brand support or insufficient franchisor resources
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 | 3 years |
|---|---|
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 0 |
| Territory type | non_exclusive |
| Protected territory | No |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| 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 | 10 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 90 days |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Irving, Texas |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Texas |
| Litigation count | 2 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
Two administrative actions by state regulatory agencies against affiliate Neighborhood Networks Publishing, Inc. (now The N2 Company): (1) California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (Order I.D. 337865) - alleged violations of California Franchise Investment Law for offering/selling franchises without disclosure documents prior to 2016 registration; settled October 2020 with $10,000 reimbursement of investigative costs. (2) State of Washington Department of Financial Institutions Securities Division (Order No. S-18-2456-18-CO01) - alleged violations of Washington Franchise Investment Protection Act for offering/selling franchises without disclosure documents and making unauthorized financial performance representations prior to 2017 application; settled April 2019 with $4,000 reimbursement of investigative costs.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 12 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 17 hrs
- Training location
- On-site and corporate
- Ongoing training
- Required
- POS system
- Publisher Hero CRM
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Publisher Hero CRM
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
100 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
BELOCAL · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a BELOCAL franchise?
The total investment to open a BELOCAL franchise ranges from $2K – $12K, with an initial franchise fee of $735. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do BELOCAL franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the BELOCAL FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $102K. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is BELOCAL's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for BELOCAL (fewer than 10 loans on file). Charge-off rates are one way to gauge franchise risk, but not all franchise loans go through the SBA program. We recommend reviewing turnover and closure data in the FDD and speaking with current franchisees.
How many BELOCAL franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, BELOCAL has 157 total units in the United States, including 154 franchised units and 13 company-owned units. 103 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is BELOCAL a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates BELOCAL as a F-grade franchise with a risk score of 86 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.