Salon Professional Education Company (SPEC)
Formerly known as The Salon Professional Academy
Bottom line
- Total investment $582K – $2.0M including a $49K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $1.9M/year (median $1.7M).
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 64/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 1 loans (below the industry average).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
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 Salon Professional Education Company (SPEC) unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
28%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Salon Professional Education Company (SPEC) units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
26.8%
3.28× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
3.07×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$13.4M
on $26.3M purchase
Total debt
$12.9M
SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Salon Professional Education Company franchisees operate cosmetology and beauty trade schools, delivering state-regulated curriculum and hands-on training to students pursuing licenses in hair, nails, and esthetics. Day-to-day operations include student recruitment/enrollment, instructor management, regulatory compliance, and tuition collection. Revenue is primarily tuition-based with high fixed overhead (facility, staff, compliance).
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
Item 19
Financial Performance
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 25 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 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.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Contracting franchise system with hidden profitability data, litigation history, and substantial capital requirement creates elevated investment risk.
Score breakdown · what drove the 64 / 100 rating
- 01MINORDeclining unit count (-5.6% YoY) signals system contraction and potential market saturation or franchisee dissatisfaction
- 02MEDNet income not disclosed in Item 19 prevents accurate ROI analysis; only gross revenue ($1.875M avg) provided without profitability metrics
- 03HIGHRecent litigation history (2021 breach of contract suit; 2013 Washington consent order for unregistered sale) indicates compliance and relationship management issues
- 04MEDHigh initial investment range ($581.8K–$2.0M+) relative to undisclosed net income creates significant downside risk without clear profit visibility
- 05MINORLong 15-year term locks franchisees into relationship with declining system and franchisor with regulatory history
- 06MINOR6% royalty on gross revenues is extractive if net margins are thin, particularly in education sector with competitive pressure
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
Item 11
Training & Operations
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
42 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Salon Professional Education Company (SPEC) · FDD (2025) PDF