PetWell Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
PetWellClinic is a veterinary franchise offering walk-in, no-appointment basic pet care like vaccinations and wellness exams. Franchisees run the clinics, managing veterinary staff, walk-in flow, and services.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A PetWell franchise requires a total initial investment of $311K – $524K, including a $49K franchise fee and an ongoing 7.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $502K[2]. FranchiseVerdict grade: B (Above average), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $311K – $524K
- 59th pct Healthcare
- Avg gross sales
- $502K
- Incl. company outlets6th pct Healthcare
- Royalty
- 7.0%
- 32nd pct Healthcare
- Units
- 28
- 44th pct Healthcare
- SBA charge-off
- N/A
Quick verdict · Healthcare · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Healthcare 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 $311K – $524K including a $49K franchise fee, 7.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $502K/year (median $467K) (includes company-owned outlets).
- RISKVerdict B (Above average), verdict score 56/100 (higher is better).
- GROWTHSystem growing at 40.0% CAGR over 3 years with 28 total units. Strong expansion trajectory.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- PetWell Franchisor LLC
- Parent company
- PetWellClinic Franchise Holdings LLC
- Predecessor
- PetWellClinic Franchisor LLC
- Prior franchisor entity
- CEO title
- Founder and Chief Executive Officer
- Dr. Sam Meisler
- CEO experience
- 18 yrs
- Years in role or industry
- Founder active
- Yes
- Original founder still leading the business
- Incorporated in
- DE
- HQ
- 555 West Jackson Ave., Unit 304, Knoxville, Tennessee 37902
- Auditor
- Kezos & Dunlavy
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $1.5M
- vs $2.1M prior year
Affiliated brands
- of ours
- Westside NJ Petwell
- easyDVM
- PetWe
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
Overview
About
- CEO
- Dr. Sam Meisler
- Headquarters
- TN
- Founded
- 2020
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 12
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost is about average for a healthcare franchise.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 5–7
Full Item 7 breakdown21 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Feenot refundable | $49K | $49K | |
| Lease Deposit | $4K | $15K | |
| Design Package | $3K | $5K | |
| Architect Fee | $5K | $12K | |
| Leasehold Improvements | $120K | $200K | |
| Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment | $5K | $14K | |
| Exterior Signage | $5K | $12K | |
| Interior Signage, Decor, Branding | $8K | $12K | |
| Audio/Visual Equipment, including Computer System | $3K | $6K | |
| Technology Feenot refundable | $2K | $2K | |
| Communications Feenot refundable | $50 | $300 | |
| Initial Inventory | $13K | $25K | |
| Business Licenses, Permits and Certificates | $1K | $2K | |
| Insurance | $2K | $3K | |
| Professional Fees | $5K | $15K | |
| Training Expenses | $3K | $8K | |
| Employee Recruitment | $500 | $1K | |
| Veterinarian Recruiting | $0 | $25K | |
| Initial Launch Marketing | $27K | $30K | |
| Operating Expenses/Additional Funds - 3 months | $58K | $88K | |
| Total initial investment | $441K | $653K |
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
- $311K – $524K
- Middle of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $58K – $88K
- Middle of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $49K – $49K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Royalty
- 7.0%
- percentage · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 1.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 9.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 7.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 1.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $400 |
| Training fee | $8K |
| Transfer fee | $3K |
| Renewal fee | $3K |
| Inventory (initial) | $13K – $25K |
| Total fee load | 9.0% of rev |
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 64% below the healthcare norm.
Includes company-owned outlets
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
$85K
17.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
17%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
5.7 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
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. The target band for an attractive franchise is 30–60% ROIC. Below that and a passive index fund likely outperforms; above that and the franchisor has pricing power you're subsidizing.
Note: Item 19 revenue is what the franchisor discloses. It's the top line only. Operating costs below are category estimates. Override them to match your real lease quote, labor market, and build-out budget.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one PetWell unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Estimated return on your total franchise investment, before any debt financing.
17%
Below the 30–60% attractive-franchise band
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%.
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 PetWell units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$1.0M
on $5.0M purchase
Total debt
$4.0M
SBA $2.5M + senior + seller note
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
Includes company-owned outlets
- Avg gross sales
- $502K
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $467K
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
- Sample size
- 25 outlets
- vs category median 20
- Range (low → high)
- $126K→$985K
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Transparency tier
- revenue_only
- Categorical assessment of disclosure depth
- Reporting year
- 2025
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2025
- The FDD edition these figures were read from
- Transparency
- 4 / 10
- vs category median 3 / 10 · above
Compared against 162 Healthcare 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 $502K/year in gross sales. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 1.2x. Includes company-owned outlets.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 9.0% (near the Healthcare average).
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 expanding at 40.0% CAGR over 3 years across 28 units — operators are staying and new ones are joining.
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 Healthcare averages
How PetWell Compares
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 28
- Opened
- 4
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 2
- Terminated
- 0
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 33.3%
- Company-owned
- 7
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 75%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (3-yr)
- +40.0%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 3-yr CAGR
- +40.0%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 7
- Closed (3yr)
- 7
- Terminated (3yr)
- 0
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 2
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 1
- Franchisor bought back
- Projected new
- 5
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
- Transfer rate
- 3.6%
- Owners selling to other franchisees
- Ceased ops
- 10.7%
- Units that stopped operating
Last reporting year only, multi-year history not disclosed in this brand's FDD.
Item 20 · 11 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.
Available to sell in · Item 12
- New York
- Rhode Island
- South Dakota
States where the franchisor is registered to sell new franchises (FDD registration filings).
Fast growth in a small system. Newer franchisors expanding quickly may not yet have the support infrastructure of larger systems.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
No SBA loan data available for this brand.
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
PetWell presents moderate-to-elevated risk due to undisclosed profitability metrics, franchisor financial concerns, and slow system growth that make unit-level ROI impossible to validate.
Litigation (Item 3)
No litigation required to be disclosed
Largest disclosed settlement: $129,250
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Kezos & Dunlavy
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
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: Yes
Score breakdown · what drove the 56 / 100 verdict
- 01MEDNo Item 19 (Average Unit Volume) disclosed — cannot verify if $502K average revenue translates to acceptable profitability
- 02MEDNet income not disclosed — unable to assess actual franchise profitability after 7% royalties and operating costs
- 03HIGHGoing Concern status is False — potential financial instability at franchisor level raises system sustainability questions
- 04MEDHigh investment range ($311K-$523K) against modest disclosed revenue creates ROI uncertainty
- 05MEDSlow unit growth (10.5% YoY on small base of 28 units) suggests limited market traction or franchisee recruitment challenges
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 | 1 |
| Territory type | protected |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory population | 100,000 |
| 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 | 5 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Termination groundsℹ | 1 |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 3 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | TN |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation required to be disclosed
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 51 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 26 hrs
- Training location
- Knoxville, Tennessee (Phase 2 and Phase 3 on-site)
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Field support
- 0 hrs/yr
- On-site visits per year
- Time to open
- 7 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- joint
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- easyDVM
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: easyDVM
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
23 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
PetWell · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a PetWell franchise?
The total investment to open a PetWell franchise ranges from $311K – $524K, with an initial franchise fee of $49K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do PetWell franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the PetWell FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $502K. The median is $467K. Important context: Includes company-owned outlets. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Item 19 in the PetWell 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 PetWell FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is PetWell's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for PetWell (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 PetWell franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, PetWell has 28 total units in the United States, including 21 franchised units and 7 company-owned units. 4 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is PetWell a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates PetWell as a B-grade franchise with a verdict score of 56 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 PetWell, 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.