goGLOW Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
goGLOW is a beauty franchise specializing in airbrush spray tanning and skincare services. Franchisees run the studios, managing technicians, appointments, and retail.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A goGLOW franchise requires a total initial investment of $283K – $497K, including a $60K franchise fee. The 2025 FDD does not disclose unit-level revenue (no Item 19). FranchiseVerdict grade: C (Average), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $283K – $497K
- 31st pct Personal Care…
- Avg gross sales
- N/A
- Company-owned only
- Royalty
- N/A
- Units
- 10
- 18th pct Personal Care…
- SBA charge-off
- N/A
Quick verdict · Personal Care & Beauty · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Personal Care & Beauty 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
- COSTTotal investment $283K – $497K including a $60K franchise fee.
- RETURNSItem 19 covers three affiliate flagship studios, which the franchisor says should be considered more mature than a new franchised business - they opened in 2015, 2017 and 2020. The filing states no franchisee was open for the whole measurement period.
- RISKVerdict C (Average), verdict score 45/100 (higher is better).
- DATAItem 19 reports historical actuals rather than annual gross sales, so unit revenue is not directly comparable. Ask franchisees directly for full unit-level revenue.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- goGLOW Franchise, LLC
- Parent company
- goGLOW Holding, LLC
- CEO title
- Founder & Chief Executive Officer
- Melanie Richards
- Incorporated in
- DE
- HQ
- 7493 France Avenue S., Edina, Minnesota 55435
- Auditor
- Aprio, LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $657K
- vs $9K prior year
Affiliated brands
- goGLOW Sk
- goGLOW
- goGLOW Enterprises
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
Overview
About
- CEO
- Melanie Richards
- Headquarters
- MN
- Founded
- 2021
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 7
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 26% below the typical personal care & beauty franchise.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 5–7
Full Item 7 breakdown25 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Feenot refundable | $60K | $60K | |
| On-Site Initial Training Feenot refundable | $5K | $5K | |
| Costs and Expenses Associated with Initial Training | $500 | $3K | |
| Lease - Deposit and Rent over First 3 Months | $5K | $18K | |
| Design, Architecture, and Engineering Feesnot refundable | $8K | $15K | |
| Site Survey - Due Diligencenot refundable | $0 | $7K | |
| Permits and Permit Managementnot refundable | $2K | $7K | |
| Construction Project Managementnot refundable | $0 | $18K | |
| Utility Deposit | $500 | $1K | |
| Professional Fees | $3K | $5K | |
| Net Leasehold Improvements | $50K | $180K | |
| Furniture, Fixtures, and Equipment | $42K | $45K | |
| Interior and Exterior Signagenot refundable | $3K | $9K | |
| Business Management Systemnot refundable | $10K | $10K | |
| Technology Fee - 6 Monthsnot refundable | $6K | $6K | |
| Digital Marketing and Advertising Management - 6 Monthsnot refundable | $6K | $6K | |
| Grand Opening - Project Management Feenot refundable | $5K | $5K | |
| Business Licenses | $2K | $3K | |
| Computer System Hardware | $0 | $4K | |
| Financing/Leasing Amounts due in Connection with Initial Equipment Packagenot refundable | $6K | $8K | |
| Total initial investment | $283K | $497K |
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
- $283K – $497K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $15K – $25K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $60K – $60K
- Middle of category vs category
- Royalty
- Greater of (i) 8% of Net Revenue, or (ii) the applicable …
- Ad fund
- 1.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 9.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Marketing / ad fund | 1.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $1K |
| Training fee | $5K |
| Transfer fee | $10K |
| Renewal fee | $10K |
| Inventory (initial) | $25K – $28K |
| Total fee load | 9.0% of rev |
What do units actually make?
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 19
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
goGLOW did not disclose financial performance in FDD Item 19. The ROIC and return models require Item 19 revenue. Without it all inputs are estimates. You can still run the calculator with your own assumptions by entering an expected revenue figure.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one goGLOW unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Estimated return on your total franchise investment, before any debt financing.
42%
Within the 30–60% "attractive franchise" band
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: 2025 FDD
Financial Performance
Item 19 covers three affiliate flagship studios, which the franchisor says should be considered more mature than a new franchised business - they opened in 2015, 2017 and 2020. The filing states no franchisee was open for the whole measurement period.
Company-owned outlets only - not franchisee performance
- Item 19 type
- historical actuals
- Sample size
- 3
- vs category median 38 · small
- Range (low → high)
- $406K→$876K
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Source filing
- FDD 2025
- The FDD edition these figures were read from
- Transparency
- 6 / 10
- vs category median 4 / 10 · above
Compared against 179 Personal Care & Beauty brands
Operator outlook
What the numbers say
Data-driven interpretation of this brand's financial disclosures, fee structure, and system trajectory.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 9.0% (near the Personal Care & Beauty average).
Disclosure
Item 19 reports historical actuals rather than annual gross sales, so unit revenue is not directly comparable.
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 Personal Care & Beauty averages
How goGLOW Compares
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 10
- Opened
- 7
- 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
- 3
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 70%
- vs corporate-owned
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 7
- Closed (3yr)
- 0
- Terminated (3yr)
- 0
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 0
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 12 · 7 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.
7
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
- $1.9M
- Median loan
- $471K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- N/A
- limited sample (4 loans) — rate not shown below 10
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
- N/A
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 2
- 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
Early-stage, micro-franchise system with minimal scale, opaque royalty structure, and undisclosed unit performance data creates elevated risk despite positive unit-level economics.
Litigation (Item 3)
No litigation is required to be disclosed in Item 3.
Largest disclosed settlement: $225,000
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Aprio, 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: Yes
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
Score breakdown · what drove the 45 / 100 verdict
- 01MEDOnly 10 units system-wide suggests very early-stage franchise with unproven scalability and limited peer support network
- 02MEDNo disclosed unit growth trajectory despite 10-year operating history raises concerns about expansion viability and franchisee recruitment success
- 03MEDDual royalty structure (8% or minimum fee) is opaque—actual minimum royalty amount not disclosed, creating hidden cost risk
- 04MINORHigh initial investment range ($282.9k–$497k) against only 10 operating units creates survivorship bias; no data on failed locations
- 05MEDMissing Item 19 financial performance representations limits ability to validate the $663k average revenue claim across the tiny unit base
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 9.0% 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 | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 2 |
| Territory type | protected |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory radius | 2 mi |
| Territory population | 50,000 |
| Online sales rights | 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 |
| RoFR response window | 30 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Termination groundsℹ | 3 |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 4 |
| Mandatory arbitration | No |
| Arbitration location | Minneapolis, Minnesota (at franchisor's option, non-binding mediation or arbitration) |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | MN |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation is required to be disclosed in Item 3.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 16 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 43 hrs
- Training location
- Minneapolis, MN and/or your Premises
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 12 mo
- From signing to launch
- Franchisor financing
- Offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- Zenoti
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Zenoti
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a goGLOW franchise?
The total investment to open a goGLOW franchise ranges from $283K – $497K, with an initial franchise fee of $60K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do goGLOW franchise owners earn?
goGLOW does not disclose average franchise owner earnings in their FDD Item 19. Not all franchisors are required to make financial performance representations. We recommend asking existing franchisees directly about their financial experience.
What is Item 19 in the goGLOW 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 goGLOW FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is goGLOW's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for goGLOW (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 goGLOW franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, goGLOW has 10 total units in the United States, including 7 franchised units and 3 company-owned units. 7 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is goGLOW a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates goGLOW as a C-grade franchise with a verdict score of 45 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?
If you represent goGLOW, you can request corrections or provide updated information.
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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.