Bni Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
- Investment
- $53K – $270K
- Disclosed sales
- $399K
- gross sales, not profit
- SBA charge-off
- Under 10 loans (4)
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
BNI (Business Network International) is a franchise that runs local business-networking and referral groups where members pass each other leads. Franchisees launch and manage chapters in a region, recruiting members and earning from membership dues.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A BNI franchise requires a total initial investment of $53K – $270K, including a $35K – $223K franchise fee and an ongoing 20.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2026 FDD, average unit revenue was $399K[2]. FranchiseVerdict grade: A (Strongest tier), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Sources, dates and evidence
FDD issued: · Data extracted: · Last cited check: · Staleness risk: low - issued within the last 12 months
Evidence: strong✓ Investment (Item 7)✓ Item 19 status✓ Units and owners (Item 20)✗ SBA loan coverage✓ Litigation (Item 3)✓ Financial statements (Item 21)✓ Franchisor identityhow this is scored7 of 7 headline figures on this page cite a page of the filing.
Overview
- Investment
- $53K – $270K
- 15th pct Business Serv…
- Avg gross sales
- $399K
- 5th pct Business Serv…
- Royalty
- 20.0%
- 51st pct Business Serv…
- Units
- 191
- 56th pct Business Serv…
- SBA charge-off
- N/A
Quick verdict · Business Services · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Business Services median · No shading = within ±10% · Red = unfavorable by >10% · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Bottom line
- COSTTotal investment $53K – $270K including a $35K franchise fee, 20.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $399K/year (median $293K).
- RISKVerdict A (Strongest tier), verdict score 76/100 (higher is better).
- GROWTHPositive: net +2 franchised outlets in the latest year (6 opened, 4 closed); 4 signed but not yet open (Item 20).
- TERMSNo protected territory and the franchisor reserves the right to compete in your area. Clarify territorial boundaries before signing.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- BNI Franchising, LLC
- Parent company
- BNI Global, LLC
- FDD Item 1, page 10 of the 2026 FDD
- Ultimate parent
- Prosperity Brands, LLC
- FDD Item 1, page 9 of the 2026 FDD
- Predecessor
- BNI Franchise Corp.
- Prior franchisor entity
- CEO title
- Chief Executive Officer
- Mary Kennedy Thompson
- Incorporated in
- Delaware
- HQ
- 3430 Toringdon Way, Suite 300, Charlotte, NC 28277
- Auditor
- Plante & Moran, PLLC
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $10.1M
- vs $7.2M prior year
Independent franchisee associations
- Franchise Advisory Council (FAC)
Franchisee-led councils or alliances disclosed in Item 20. Indicates operator voice.
Affiliated brands
- BNI Holdings
- and a wholly owned subsidiary of BNI Intermediate Holdings
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
Overview
About
- CEO
- Mary Kennedy Thompson
- Headquarters
- North Carolina
- Founded
- 1991
- FDD year
- 2026
- States available
- 35
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 22% above the typical business services franchise.
Source: FDD 2026 · Items 5–7
Full Item 7 breakdown11 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Fee | $35K | $223K | |
| Orientation and Travel Expenses | $2K | $4K | |
| Training Fees | $4K | $5K | |
| Supplies, Equipment and Software | $7K | $8K | |
| Video Conferencing License | $110 | $6K | |
| Professional Fees | $2K | $10K | |
| Computer System | $500 | $2K | |
| Advertising Expenses | $500 | $1K | |
| Deposits | $500 | $1K | |
| Insurance | $1K | $5K | |
| Additional Funds - 3 Months | $1K | $5K | |
| Total initial investment | $53K | $270K |
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.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $53K – $270K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $1K – $5K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $35K – $223K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Royalty
- 20.0%
- typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- Franchisor reserves the right to establish a system-wide …
- Total fee load
- 56.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 20.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $36 |
| Training fee | $4K |
| Transfer fee | $15K |
| Renewal fee | $9K |
| Total fee load | 56.0% of rev |
At 56.0% total fee load, roughly $223K per year goes to the franchisor before you pay a single operating expense.
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 42% below the business services norm.
Source: FDD 2026 · Item 19
Single-unit · not modelled
Returns at a glance
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit, and the operating costs that turn one into the other are in no filing. We publish no modelled return for BNI until someone supplies them — yours, in the models below.
—
Not modelled yet
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for ad fund rate, COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
Total invested capital · disclosed
$165K
Item 7 initial investment plus working capital, as filed — the one figure here that needs no assumption.
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
What one unit earns on your invested capital
Model A · Single-Unit Return
Computes unlevered return on invested capital (ROIC) for a single franchise unit, read against the 30–60% reference band · Yale SOM, Post-MBA Path Exhibit 2 (2023). Below that band a passive index fund likely outperforms; above it the franchisor has pricing power you're subsidizing.
Note: Item 19 revenue is what the franchisor discloses, and it is the top line only — gross sales are not profit. No FDD discloses the operating costs that turn one into the other, so those fields start empty and nothing is modelled until you supply them from your own lease quote, labor market and build-out budget.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one BNI unit return on the cash you put in?
Illustrative category typicals — not sourced to any filing, survey or sample. Replace them with figures from franchisee validation calls before you rely on the output.
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Your modelled return on total invested capital, before any debt financing.
—
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for ad fund rate, COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
What 25 units return when you use SBA financing
Model B · Return on Equity: Debt-Financed Acquisition
Models a 25-unit portfolio acquisition financed with an SBA 7(a) loan. Shows equity IRR (your return on cash invested), DSCR (how safely the cash flow covers debt service), and the capital stack (SBA + seller + equity breakdown).
This is the “search fund” or “entrepreneurship through acquisition” scenario: you buy an existing multi-unit operator, use leverage to amplify returns, and either operate or hire management. The 25-unit size is the typical minimum for an SBA-backed franchise portfolio acquisition to pencil as a full-time income.
What “return on equity” means here: if you put in $500K of your own cash and the business generates enough EBITDA to pay down debt and grow, your equity IRR is the annual return on that $500K, including the value created when you eventually sell. Target IRR for a search fund is typically 25–35%.
Not modelled yet
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for ad fund rate, COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
A 25-unit return is built on a per-unit EBITDA. Fill in the operating costs in Model A above and this model runs on that figure, or take the whole scenario to the full ROI workbench, where the portfolio and LBO models accept your own per-unit economics directly.
These models are for research and scenario planning only. Not investment advice. Actual results depend on your specific location, management, and market conditions. Consult a franchise attorney and accountant before signing any franchise agreement.
Item 19 · Source: 2026 FDD
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $399K
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $293K
Gross sales are revenue before expenses — not profit. Actual owner earnings depend on rent, labor, royalties, marketing fees, and debt service.
- Item 19 type
- historical
- Sample size
- 94 outlets
- vs category median 37 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $12K→$2.0MCited, not corroborated — printed on page 50 of the 2026 FDD. Nothing else in our record independently restates or re-derives it.
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Quartile band
- $95K→$891K
- Bottom 25% → top 25%
- Reporting year
- 2025
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2026
- Disclosed in the 2026 filing, covering 2025
- Transparency
- 4 / 10
- vs category median 3 / 10 · above
Compared against 296 Business Services brands
Operator outlook
What the numbers say
Data-driven interpretation of this brand's financial disclosures, fee structure, and system trajectory.
Unit economics
Average unit generates $399K/year in gross sales. Median is $293K — top performers pull the average up, so a typical unit earns less. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 2.5x.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 56.0% — above the Business Services median of 9.0%.
Disclosure
Transparency score 4/10 — this franchisor discloses detailed breakdowns (quartiles, segments, or cohort data). Buyers can model unit economics with higher confidence.
Operator retention
System roughly stable (-1.0% 3-year CAGR) with 191 units.
Source: FDD Item 19 financial performance representations and publicly filed FDD data. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Verify all figures with the franchisor and current franchisees before making any investment decision.
vs Business Services medians
How Bni Compares
Category median of published Business Services brands that report the figure; the middle half spans the 25th to 75th percentile and n counts the brands behind it. Medians are used because a few very large systems pull an average far from the typical brand. Revenue is disclosed gross sales, not profit.
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2026 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 191
- Opened
- 6
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 4
- Terminated
- 2
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 2.1%
- Company-owned
- 90
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 53%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (3-yr)
- +3.0%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 3-yr CAGR
- -1.0%
- Compounded over last 3 years
Last fiscal year · Item 20 exits and transfers
- Terminated
- 2
- Not renewed
- 0
- Transferred
- 1
- Reacquired
- 1
- Franchisor bought back
- Signed, not yet open
- 4
- 0.02 per open outlet · Item 20 Table 5
- Projected new
- 20
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 12 · 35 states reported
The Territory Map
FDD Item 12 reports the state count, but the specific list isn't in our current data. The map will appear once we re-extract from the FDD or enough franchisee contacts are available.
35
states with franchisees (per FDD Item 12)
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA loan disclosures. This brand has only 4 7(a) loans on file; statistical reliability is limited below 10 loans.
- Total loans
- 4
- Loan volume
- $3.1M
- Median loan
- $761K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- Under 10 loans (4)
- Insufficient SBA coverage: 4 loans, rate hidden below 10
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- Under 10 loans (4)
- 5-yr charge-off
- Under 10 loans (4)
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 4
- Defaults
- N/A
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
What could kill this investment?
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 4, 8, 16, 21
Risk & Legal
BNI presents HIGH RISK due to system contraction, significant pending litigation, unsustainable royalty structure, and governance failures that have resulted in international master franchise disputes.
Why this reads harsher than the A grade: the grade weighs financial health, unit economics, unit growth, scale, legal, and transparency across the whole filing, while this summary lists individual flags without that weighting. The flags are worth checking with current owners; neither is investment advice.
Litigation (Item 3)
Subject: the franchisor is a named party (defendant).
One pending federal suit (BNI v. Network In Action, trade secrets/trademark, filed 2024, unresolved) plus four prior resolved matters: an ICDR arbitration and related Bombay High Court suit with former India master franchisees over non-renewal (settled, BNI paid $1.9M each to two claimants), a California class-style suit over non-renewal (settled via new agreement), and an ICDR arbitration with former China/Hong Kong/Taiwan/Macau master franchisees over renewal rights (settled, BNI paid $680,000 and up to $1,470,000 for territory rights).
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Plante & Moran, PLLC
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
ⓘ These are the parent company's consolidated financials (the parent guarantees the franchisor), not this brand's standalone results — the figure reflects the whole corporate group, not this brand alone.
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: Yes
Score breakdown · what drove the 76 / 100 verdict
- 01MINORDeclining unit count (-2.9% YoY) indicates system contraction and franchisee attrition
- 02HIGHPending litigation for tortious interference and trademark infringement creates legal and operational uncertainty
- 03MINORHistory of master franchise agreement disputes across multiple countries (India, China, California) suggests systemic governance issues
- 04MINOR20% royalty on gross revenues is exceptionally high and leaves minimal margin for profitability
- 05MINORNo Item 19 (average net income) disclosure prevents accurate ROI assessment and raises transparency concerns
- 06MINORShrinking franchisee base suggests business model may not be sustainable or scalable
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 56.0% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2026 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 5 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 5 years |
| Territory type | No territory protection |
| Protected territory | No |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory population | 250,000 |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Granted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 75 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 20 days |
| Termination groundsℹ | 17 |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 1 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Charlotte, North Carolina |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | North Carolina |
| Litigation count | 5 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
One pending federal suit (BNI v. Network In Action, trade secrets/trademark, filed 2024, unresolved) plus four prior resolved matters: an ICDR arbitration and related Bombay High Court suit with former India master franchisees over non-renewal (settled, BNI paid $1.9M each to two claimants), a California class-style suit over non-renewal (settled via new agreement), and an ICDR arbitration with former China/Hong Kong/Taiwan/Macau master franchisees over renewal rights (settled, BNI paid $680,000 and up to $1,470,000 for territory rights).
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 76 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 0 hrs
- Training location
- Charlotte, North Carolina (or video conferencing/recording)
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 6 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- franchisee
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- Operating Management System
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Operating Management System
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
64 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a BNI franchise?
The total investment to open a BNI franchise ranges from $53K – $270K, with an initial franchise fee of $35K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do BNI franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the BNI FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $399K. The median is $293K. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
Who owns BNI?
BNI is franchised by BNI Franchising, LLC. Its parent company is BNI Global, LLC. The ultimate parent named in the FDD is Prosperity Brands, LLC. Source: FDD Item 1, 2026 filing.
What is Item 19 in the BNI FDD?
The FDD section where a franchisor may disclose financial performance of its outlets. Disclosure is optional and formats vary; figures are typically gross sales, which is revenue before expenses, not profit. FranchiseVerdict extracts these figures directly from the BNI FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is BNI's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for BNI (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 BNI franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, BNI has 191 total units in the United States, including 101 franchised units and 90 company-owned units. 6 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is BNI a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates BNI as a A-grade franchise with a verdict score of 76 out of 100 (higher is better). The grade is a deterministic score built from six weighted dimensions — financial health, unit economics, unit growth, scale, legal, and transparency — then calibrated against SBA loan charge-off rates and FDD age. Transparency is one of the six, so a filing that discloses less scores lower on that dimension than one that discloses more. 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.
For franchisors
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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.