Creative World School Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Creative World School is an early childhood education franchise offering preschool and childcare with an enrichment-based curriculum. Franchisees run the centers, managing teachers, enrollment, and licensing compliance.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Creative World School franchise requires a total initial investment of $5.8M – $10.1M, including a $75K – $80K franchise fee and an ongoing 5.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $2.5M[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 0.0% charge-off rate across 23 loans[1]. FranchiseVerdict grade: A (Strongest tier), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $5.8M – $10.1M
- 74th pct Education
- Avg gross sales
- $2.5M
- 42nd pct Education
- Royalty
- 5.0%
- 2nd pct Education
- Units
- 29
- 43rd pct Education
- SBA charge-off
- 0.0%
- % of SBA 7(a) loans not repaid · median varies by category
Quick verdict · Education · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Education avg · 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
- Total investment $5.8M – $10.1M including a $75K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $2.5M/year (median $2.5M), with an estimated 9% cash-on-cash return (based on P&L Bottom Line).
- Verdict A (Strongest tier), verdict score 80/100 (higher is better). SBA loan charge-off rate of 0.0% across 23 loans (well below the franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2025).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Creative World Schools Franchising Company, Inc.
- Parent company
- None
- CEO title
- CEO, President, Director and Certified Training Instructor
- Dr. Marianne Whitehouse
- CEO experience
- 1999 yrs
- Years in role or industry
- Founder active
- Yes
- Original founder still leading the business
- Incorporated in
- FL
- HQ
- 25110 Bernwood Drive, Suite #104, Bonita Springs, Florida 34135
- Auditor
- Hill, Barth & King LLC
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $4.1M
- vs $3.8M prior year
- Management churn noted
- Frequent turnover
- Item 2 disclosed frequent executive changes
Overview
About
- CEO
- Dr. Marianne Whitehouse
- Headquarters
- FL
- Founded
- 1999
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 6
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 1195% above the typical education franchise.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 5–7
FDD Item 7 · 2025 filing
Initial investment breakdown
| Cost component | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $75K | $75K |
| Working capital (3–6 mo) | $25K | $150K |
| Equipment, build-out, other | $5.7M | $9.9M |
| Total initial investment | $5.8M | $10.1M |
Source: Creative World School 2025 FDD, Items 5 and 7[2]. “Equipment, build-out, other” is computed as total minus disclosed line items above.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $5.8M – $10.1M
- Bottom third — review vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $25K – $150K
- Middle of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $75K – $80K
- Middle of category vs category
- Royalty
- 5.0%
- tiered · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 1.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 6.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
- Payback period
- 11.2 yrs
- From FDD / Item 19
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 5.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 1.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $350 |
| Training fee | $1K |
| Transfer fee | $20K |
| Renewal fee | $20K |
| Inventory (initial) | $15K – $20K |
| Total fee load | 6.0% of rev |
A 6.0% total fee load is unusually lean. More of each revenue dollar stays with the franchisee.
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 194% above the education norm.
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 19
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
$433K
17.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
5%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
18.6 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $2.5M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $2.5M
- Avg p&l bottom line
- $708K
- Reported as P&L Bottom Line in FDD Item 19
- Cash-on-cash
- 8.9%
- Based on P&L Bottom Line / investment midpoint
Gross sales are revenue before expenses — not profit. Actual owner earnings depend on rent, labor, royalties, marketing fees, and debt service.
- Item 19 type
- Gross Revenues + Average Income and Expense tables (EBITDAR)
- Sample size
- 13 units
- vs category median 14
- Range (low → high)
- $1.2M→$3.5M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Transparency tier
- limited
- Categorical assessment of disclosure depth
- Reporting year
- 2024
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Transparency
- 10 / 10
- vs category median 4 / 10 · above
Compared against 234 Education brands
Revenue is only 0.3x the investment. This means each unit may take 5+ years to recoup the initial outlay at typical margins.
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 $2.5M/year in gross sales. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 0.3x.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 6.0% — below the Education average of 10.6%.
Disclosure
Transparency score 10/10 — this franchisor discloses detailed breakdowns (quartiles, segments, or cohort data). Buyers can model unit economics with higher confidence.
Operator retention
System roughly stable (0.0% 3-year CAGR) with 29 units.
Multi-unit rate
Only 1% of franchisees own multiple units. Could indicate challenging economics or a young system where operators haven't had time to expand.
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 Education averages
How Creative World School Compares
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 29
- Opened
- 1
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 0
- Terminated
- 0
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 0.0%
- Company-owned
- 5
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 83%
- vs corporate-owned
- Multi-unit owners
- 1.0%
- Net growth (3-yr)
- +8.7%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 3-yr CAGR
- +0.0%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 2
- Closed (3yr)
- 0
- Terminated (3yr)
- 0
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 0
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Projected new
- 2
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
- Transfer rate
- 3.4%
- Owners selling to other franchisees
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 16 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
- 23
- Loan volume
- $40.6M
- Median loan
- $254K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- 0.0%
- 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)
- 100.0%
- 5-yr charge-off
- 0.0%
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 6
- Defaults
- 0
- Typical loan rate
- 6.7%
- avg rate to borrowers
- Franchised industry avg
- 5.3%
- brand beats franchise avg ↓
- Jobs supported
- 248
- 1.4 per loan
- Lender concentration
- 33%
- top lender's share
Borrower mix: 75% went to startups / new businesses, 25% to established operators
Franchise vs independent — in child day care services, franchised businesses charge off at 5.3% vs 13.0% for independents — franchising is associated with 59% lower SBA default risk in this category.
Top lenders financing Creative World School franchisees
Showing 3 of 6 lenders. The full breakdown — every lender, state distribution, interest rates & risk ratings — is in the SBA Lending Report below.
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Premium insight
SBA Lending Report
Deep-dive into Creative World School's SBA lending history: lender network, geographic footprint, interest rates, and more.
SBA Lending Report
- Principal loss rate and NAICS industry benchmark
- 6 lenders with concentration factor
- Per-state charge-off rates across 4 states
- Startup risk premium and job creation velocity
- 6-year lending trend
- SBA 504 real estate/equipment data
Instant access. No subscription.
With a 0.0% charge-off rate across 23 loans, banks have historically viewed this brand favorably for lending.
What could kill this investment?
SBA loans charge off at 0.0% — 100% below the 16.0% national norm, i.e. lower lender-observed risk.
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 4, 8, 16, 21
Risk & Legal
Creative World School presents moderate-to-cautionary risk: corporate going concern issues, stagnant growth, unverified financials, and capital-intensive model with extended ROI timelines warrant thorough franchisee financial validation.
Litigation (Item 3)
No litigation required to be disclosed
Largest disclosed settlement: $350,000
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Hill, Barth & King LLC
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 80 / 100 verdict
- 01HIGHGoing Concern issue flagged — indicates potential financial instability at corporate level despite disclosed profitability
- 02MINORAnemic unit growth of 4.3% YoY with only 29 locations suggests weak system expansion and franchisee recruitment challenges
- 03MINORHigh investment ceiling ($10.1M) paired with modest average net income ($708K) yields 7-10 year payback horizon under ideal conditions
- 04MEDNo Item 19 (Financial Performance Representation) disclosed — cannot independently verify the $2.5M revenue and $708K net income claims
- 05MINORWide royalty band (5-7%) and 'Adjusted Gross Revenues' definition may obscure actual take-home profitability
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 6.0% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 20 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 3 |
| Territory type | exclusive |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | Yes |
| Territory radius | 5 mi |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | No |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 20 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 60 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 3 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Franchisor headquarters (Bonita Springs/Lee County, Florida) |
| Jury trial waiver | No |
| Governing law | FL |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation required to be disclosed
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 104 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 96 hrs
- Training location
- One of our locations in Florida; your School or another School/training facility for Employee Training
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 14 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- Franchisor must approve site; provides site selection criteria
- Franchisor financing
- Offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- ProCare
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: ProCare
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
16 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Creative World School · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Creative World School franchise?
The total investment to open a Creative World School franchise ranges from $5.8M – $10.1M, with an initial franchise fee of $75K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Creative World School franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Creative World School FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $2.5M. The median is $2.5M. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Creative World School's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, Creative World School has a charge-off rate of 0.0% across 23 loans, meaning 0.0% 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 Creative World School franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Creative World School has 29 total units in the United States, including 24 franchised units and 5 company-owned units. 1 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Creative World School a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Creative World School as a A-grade franchise with a verdict score of 80 out of 100 (higher is better), 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.
For franchisors
Are you the franchisor?
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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.