FranchiseVerdict
Discover Strength logo
FV-00760·STRONGExcellent91

Discover Strength

Health & FitnessFranchising since 2020Website
Investment
$472K – $839K
84th pct Health & Fitn…
Avg revenue
$848K
44th pct Health & Fitn…
Royalty
6.0%
9th pct Health & Fitn…
Units
22
57th pct Health & Fitn…
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $472K – $839K including a $58K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
  • Average unit revenue of $848K/year (median $1.1M).
  • Rated STRONG with a risk score of 54/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 26 loans (below the industry average).
  • System growing at 366.7% CAGR over 3 years with 22 total units — strong expansion trajectory.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Discover Strength Franchising LLC
Incorporated in
Minnesota
HQ
4450 Excelsior Blvd., Suite 490, St. Louis Park, MN 55416
Auditor
Baker Tilly US, LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$915K
vs $2.0M prior year

Yale framework · single-unit ROIC

Returns Analysis

Pulls Item 7 (investment) and Item 19 (revenue) from this brand's FDD into the Yale unlevered-ROIC formula. Override any input to stress-test it against your own assumptions.

The model · Yale framework

What would one Discover Strength unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
FDD Item 19 reports $847,648
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: fitness
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $472K–$839K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $20K–$40K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

37%

In Yale's "attractive" band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$254K
EBITDA margin
30.0%
Total invested
$685K
Payback
32 mo
Unit-level only. A multi-unit portfolio gives up roughly 5–15% of this to shared services (corporate G&A) before reaching the ~10-unit break-even Yale describes.

Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing

What would 25 Discover Strength units return on equity?

Edit assumptions

Equity IRR · 5-yr

29.8%

3.69× MOIC

Year-1 DSCR

2.70×

EBITDA ÷ debt service

Equity required

$8.6M

on $19.5M purchase

Total debt

$10.8M

SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note

SBA 7(a) request ($9.7M) exceeds the $5M program cap. Excess capped automatically; backfill via conventional or equity.

Overview

About

Discover Strength franchisees operate strength training studios focused on 30-minute machine-based workouts with personalized coaching. Daily operations include managing membership sales, conducting client onboarding and training sessions, facility maintenance, and staff scheduling. Revenue derives from membership fees, personal training packages, and retail product sales.

CEO
Luke Carlson
Founded
2020
FDD year
2025
States available
5

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$472K – $839K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$20K – $40K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$58K
Royalty
6.0%
Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
2.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
8.0%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

Avg gross sales
$848K
Per unit, per year
Median gross sales
$1.1M
Item 19 type
Individual Store Performance
Sample size
12 units
vs category median 12
Range (low → high)
$223K$1.2M
Cohort dispersion
Transparency
5 / 5
vs category median 4 / 5 · above
Revenue rank44th
vs Health & Fitness peers
Investment cost rank84th
Lower investment ranks lower (better)
Royalty rate rank9th
Lower royalty = lower percentile (better)
Unit count rank57th
vs Health & Fitness peers
Risk score rank25th
Lower risk = lower percentile (better)

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
22
Opened
6
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Turnover rate
0.0%
Company-owned
8
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
64%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
+75.0%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
Outlier (see FDD)
Likely small-sample artifact
2023
14+8
Franchised units
2024
8
Franchised units
2025
3
Franchised units

Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.

Item 20 · 5 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).

AK
ME
VT
NH
MA
RI
CT
NY
NJ
PA
DE
MD
DC
WA
OR
CA
NV
ID
MT
WY
UT
CO
AZ
NM
ND
SD
NE
KS
OK
TX
MN
IA
MO
AR
LA
WI
IL
MS
TN
MI
IN
KY
AL
OH
WV
GA
VA
NC
SC
FL
HI
Registered · 5 states
Not registered

States derived from franchisee phone area codes (Item 20). Approximate — ported numbers may show the original state, not the franchisee's current location.

Government records

SBA Loan Data

Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.

Total loans
26
Loan volume
Avg loan
Default rate
0.0%
vs <3% typical · system-wide
5-yr default

FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17

Risk & Legal

54
Risk · 0-100
STRONG54 / 100

Early-stage fitness franchise with aggressive expansion, undisclosed unit-level profitability, and franchisor going concern issues presents meaningful capital risk despite growth metrics.

Score breakdown · what drove the 54 / 100 rating

  1. 01MEDNet income not disclosed in FDD Item 19 — unable to verify profitability claims or validate ROI against $472k-$838.5k investment
  2. 02MINORRapid unit growth (75% YoY) with only 22 locations suggests early-stage system with unproven unit economics and high failure risk
  3. 03MINORHigh franchise fee ($58k) relative to total investment and average revenue ($847.6k) indicates fee-heavy model with 6.9% royalty burden
  4. 04HIGHGoing Concern flag indicates financial instability at franchisor level — raises questions about support, marketing fund viability, and long-term survival
  5. 05HIGHNo litigation disclosed is neutral, but combined with early-stage status and missing profitability data creates opacity

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Population
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
5 years
Online sales rights
Restricted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
0
Right of first refusal
Yes
Franchisor can buy back on resale
Mandatory arbitration
Yes
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
1.5 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Optional
Governing law
Minnesota

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
40 hrs
On-the-job training
104 hrs
POS system
Mindbody
Operating tech stack

Item 20

Franchisee Contacts

Phone numbers extracted directly from this brand's FDD Item 20. After purchase, you'll also receive a list of validation questions tailored to this brand.

Franchisee contacts

27 numbers

Locked
(720) 291-••••
CO
(612) 749-••••
MN
(317) 694-••••
IN

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Discover Strength · FDD (2025) PDF

Single-page checkout · instant download · CSV export of contacts available separately above