Iron Tribe Fitness Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
- Investment
- $361K – $544K
- Disclosed sales
- $544K
- gross sales, not profit
- SBA charge-off
- Under 10 loans (4)
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Iron Tribe Fitness is a boutique fitness franchise offering coached, small-group functional and strength training. Franchisees run the gyms, managing coaches, class scheduling, and membership growth.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Iron Tribe Fitness franchise requires a total initial investment of $361K – $544K, including a $50K franchise fee and an ongoing 6.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2023 FDD, average revenue per franchisee was $544K. This franchisor reports Item 19 per franchisee rather than per outlet, so the figure is not comparable with per-outlet averages[2]. FranchiseVerdict grade: B (Above average), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Sources, dates and evidence
FDD issued: · Data extracted: · Last cited check: · Staleness risk: high - issued more than two years ago
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 scored8 of 8 headline figures on this page cite a page of the filing.
Overview
- Investment
- $361K – $544K
- 67th pct Health & Fitn…
- Avg gross sales
- $544K
- Per franchisee, not per outletIncl. company outlets
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- 13th pct Health & Fitn…
- Units
- 29
- 60th pct Health & Fitn…
- SBA charge-off
- N/A
Quick verdict · Health & Fitness · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Health & Fitness 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 $361K – $544K including a $50K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage revenue per franchisee of $544K/year (median $509K) (includes company-owned outlets), with an estimated 21% cash-on-cash return (based on Gross Sales Less Certain Costs). Note: this is gross profit, not take-home income. Averaged per franchisee, not per outlet - not comparable with per-outlet figures.
- RISKVerdict B (Above average), verdict score 46/100 (higher is better).
- GROWTHNegative: net -3 franchised outlets in the latest year (1 opened, 4 closed); 1 signed but not yet open (Item 20).
- DECLINESystem contracting at -20.0% CAGR over 3 years. Investigate whether closures are franchisor-driven (consolidation) or franchisee-driven (economics).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Iron Tribe Franchise, LLC
- CEO title
- CEO
- Forrest Walden
- Incorporated in
- AL
- HQ
- 300 27th Street South, Birmingham, Alabama 35233
- Auditor
- Horton, Lee, Burnett, Peacock, Cleveland & Grainger, P.C.
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $1.3M
- vs $1.4M prior year
Affiliated brands
- ITF
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
Overview
About
- CEO
- Forrest Walden
- Headquarters
- AL
- Founded
- 2011
- FDD year
- 2023
- States available
- 7
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 15% above the typical health & fitness franchise.
Source: FDD 2023 · Items 5–7
FDD Item 7 · 2023 filing
Initial investment breakdown
| Cost component | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $50K | $50K |
| Working capital (3–6 mo) | $40K | $75K |
| Equipment, build-out, other | $271K | $419K |
| Total initial investment | $361K | $544K |
Source: Iron Tribe Fitness 2023 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
- $361K – $544K
- Bottom third — review vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $40K – $75K
- Bottom third — review vs category
- Franchise fee
- $50K – $50K
- Middle of category vs category
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 1.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 7.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
- Payback period
- 4.7 yrs
- From FDD / Item 19
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 6.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 1.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $600 |
| Training fee | $4K |
| Transfer fee | $8K |
| Renewal fee | $5K |
| Inventory (initial) | $9K – $10K |
| Total fee load | 7.0% of rev |
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 14% above the health & fitness norm.
Averaged per franchisee, not per outlet - not comparable with per-outlet figures
Includes company-owned outlets
Source: FDD 2023 · 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 Iron Tribe Fitness 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 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
$510K
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
FDD-reported earnings
The FDD reports $174K as Gross Sales Less Certain Costs. This is a disclosed figure, not our estimate — we publish no modelled profit for Iron Tribe Fitness.
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 Iron Tribe Fitness 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 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 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: 2023 FDD
Financial Performance
Averaged per franchisee, not per outlet - not comparable with per-outlet figures
Includes company-owned outlets
- Avg gross sales
- $544K
- Per franchisee, per year — not per outlet
- Median gross sales
- $509K
- Per franchisee, not per outlet
- Avg gross sales less certain costs
- $174K
- Reported as Gross Sales Less Certain Costs in FDD Item 19
- Cash-on-cash
- 21.1%
- Based on Gross Sales Less Certain Costs / 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 sales and expenses
- Sample size
- 19 franchisees
- vs category median 11
- Range (low → high)
- $305K→$960KCited, not corroborated — printed on page 57 of the 2023 FDD. Nothing else in our record independently restates or re-derives it.
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Reporting year
- 2022
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2023
- Disclosed in the 2023 filing, covering 2022
- Transparency
- 9 / 10
- vs category median 4 / 10 · above
Compared against 173 Health & Fitness brands
Operator outlook
What the numbers say
Data-driven interpretation of this brand's financial disclosures, fee structure, and system trajectory.
Unit economics
The average franchisee generates $544K/year in gross sales. Includes company-owned outlets.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 7.0% — below the Health & Fitness median of 9.0%.
Disclosure
Transparency score 9/10 — this franchisor discloses detailed breakdowns (quartiles, segments, or cohort data). Buyers can model unit economics with higher confidence.
Operator retention
System contracting at -20.0% CAGR over 3 years. Investigate whether closures are franchisor-driven consolidation or franchisee exits.
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 Health & Fitness medians
How Iron Tribe Fitness Compares
Per franchisee, not per outlet - the category median is per-outlet only, so no comparison is shown
Category median of published Health & Fitness 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 2023 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 29
- Opened
- 1
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 4
- Terminated
- 1
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 13.8%
- Company-owned
- 9
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 69%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (3-yr)
- -20.0%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 3-yr CAGR
- -20.0%
- Compounded over last 3 years
Last fiscal year · Item 20 exits and transfers
- Terminated
- 1
- Reacquired
- 3
- Franchisor bought back
- Signed, not yet open
- 1
- 0.03 per open outlet · Item 20 Table 5
- Projected new
- 1
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
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
- $1.1M
- Median loan
- $323K
- 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
- 3
- 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
Litigation (Item 3)
Subject: officers or affiliates. The franchisor is not a named party in these cases.
0 case reference(s): 0 pending, 0 settled.
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Horton, Lee, Burnett, Peacock, Cleveland & Grainger, P.C.
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Item 21 audited financial statements cover fiscal years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 for Iron Tribe Franchise, LLC. FY2021 total revenue $1,302,109 (royalty fees $665,511, management fees $450,000, ad fee revenue $151,719, sponsorship $18,000, license fee revenue $16,879). Net income $99,303 included $170,337 of other income (ERC $63,337, PPP forgiveness $92,000, EIDL grant $15,000). Members' equity (deficit) of $(374,255) reflects $576,025 of distributions in 2021. Item 21 narrative also references an unaudited balance sheet and P&L as of November 30, 2023.
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: No
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: No
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
Score breakdown · what drove the 46 / 100 verdict
- 01MEDUnit count declined 13.0% YoY (29 units), indicating system contraction and potential franchisee struggles
- 02MINORHigh initial investment ($360,750–$544,250) paired with declining unit count raises ROI sustainability questions
- 03MINOR6% royalty on gross sales limits franchisee profitability, especially if average net income of $173,588 is overstated
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 7.0% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2023 · 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 | 1 |
| Territory type | Exclusive territory |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | Yes |
| Territory radius | 3 mi |
| Territory population | 25,000 |
| 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 | 15 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 30 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 15 days |
| Termination groundsℹ | 4 |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 2 |
| Mandatory arbitration | No |
| Arbitration location | Jefferson County, Alabama |
| Jury trial waiver | No |
| Governing law | AL |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
0 case reference(s): 0 pending, 0 settled.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 14 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 13 hrs
- Training location
- Birmingham, Alabama, or another location designated by franchisor
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 3 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- Franchisee with franchisor approval
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- ClubReady
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: ClubReady
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
34 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 Iron Tribe Fitness franchise?
The total investment to open a Iron Tribe Fitness franchise ranges from $361K – $544K, with an initial franchise fee of $50K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Iron Tribe Fitness franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Iron Tribe Fitness FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $544K. The median is $509K. Important context: Averaged per franchisee, not per outlet - not comparable with per-outlet figures; Includes company-owned outlets. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
Who owns Iron Tribe Fitness?
Iron Tribe Fitness is franchised by Iron Tribe Franchise, LLC. Source: FDD Item 1, 2023 filing.
What is Item 19 in the Iron Tribe Fitness 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 Iron Tribe Fitness FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Iron Tribe Fitness's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Iron Tribe Fitness (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 Iron Tribe Fitness franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Iron Tribe Fitness has 29 total units in the United States, including 20 franchised units and 9 company-owned units. 1 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Iron Tribe Fitness a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Iron Tribe Fitness as a B-grade franchise with a verdict score of 46 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
Are you the franchisor?
If you represent Iron Tribe Fitness, you can request corrections or provide updated information.
Other Health & Fitness franchises
Compare similar franchise opportunities in the Health & Fitness category
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.