Salty Dawg Pet Salon Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
- Investment
- $195K – $470K
- Disclosed sales
- $591K
- gross sales, not profit
- SBA charge-off
- Not SBA-matched
Data from FDD filing
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Salty Dawg Pet Salon is a pet grooming franchise offering full-service dog and cat grooming. Franchisees run the salons, managing groomers, appointments, and pet care.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Salty Dawg Pet Salon franchise requires a total initial investment of $195K – $470K, including a $50K franchise fee and an ongoing 8.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $591K[2]. FranchiseVerdict grade: D (Below average), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Limited operating history: franchising since 2024. A system this young has fewer than three years of Item 20 outlet history and rarely enough SBA loans for a charge-off rate, so its grade rests on less evidence than an established system's. Read its Item 20 tables and talk to its first franchisees before relying on the grade. Other new franchisors
Sources, dates and evidence
FDD issued: · Data extracted: · Last cited check: · Staleness risk: medium - issued 12 to 24 months ago; a newer filing is likely on file
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 scored7 of 7 headline figures on this page cite a page of the filing.
Overview
- Investment
- $195K – $470K
- 22nd pct Personal Care…
- Avg gross sales
- $591K
- Incl. company outlets1 outlet
- Royalty
- 8.0%
- 51st pct Personal Care…
- Units
- 2
- 5th 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 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 $195K – $470K including a $50K franchise fee, 8.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $591K/year (includes company-owned outlets).
- RISKVerdict D (Below average), verdict score 35/100 (higher is better).
- GROWTHPositive: net +2 franchised outlets in the latest year (2 opened, 0 closed); 1 signed but not yet open (Item 20).
- FLAGRevenue data based on only 1 outlet. Treat as directional, not definitive. Ask franchisees directly for current unit economics.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Purely Pet LLC d/b/a Salty Dawg
- Parent company
- Loyalty, LLC
- FDD Item 1, page 8 of the 2025 FDD
- Predecessor
- Salty Dawg, LLC
- Prior franchisor entity
- CEO title
- Interim Chief Executive Officer
- Joe Dent
- Incorporated in
- Virginia
- HQ
- 780 Lynnhaven Parkway, Suite 240, Virginia Beach, Virginia 23452
- Auditor
- DASH Business Solutions, LLC
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $14K
- Most recent fiscal year
Affiliated brands
- has offered franchises s
- ATAX
- Tectum Franchising
- Loyalty Brokers
- Loyalty Business Services
- The Inspection Boys Franchise USA
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
Same owner · FDD Item 1, page 8
8 other brands on this site name Loyalty, LLC as parent or ultimate parent in their own FDD.
- ATAXB
- Cooper’s ScoopersC
- Hike DoggieD
- LedgersF
- Loyalty Business BrokersC
- Loyalty Business ServicesB
- The Inspection Boys® (Area Representative)D
- Zoomin Groomin®A
Grouped by the owner's name as each filing prints it (this page: the 2025 FDD). Spelling variants of the same group may be listed apart; a brand is never grouped with an owner its filing does not name.
Overview
About
- CEO
- Joe Dent
- Headquarters
- VA
- Founded
- 2024
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 2
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 17% below the typical personal care & beauty franchise.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 5–7
Full Item 7 breakdown14 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Feenot refundable | $50K | $50K | |
| Pre-Opening Training Travel and Lodging Expensesnot refundable | $2K | $5K | |
| Real Property - Purchased or Leased | $5K | $19K | |
| Equipment, Fixtures and Furnishingsnot refundable | $65K | $110K | |
| Construction and Remodelingnot refundable | $50K | $195K | |
| Inventory to Begin Operatingnot refundable | $5K | $20K | |
| Utility Deposits and Fees | $500 | $2K | |
| Business and Other Licensesnot refundable | $500 | $2K | |
| Signagenot refundable | $5K | $9K | |
| Legal and Accounting Feesnot refundable | $250 | $10K | |
| Grand Opening Advertisingnot refundable | $5K | $15K | |
| Insurancenot refundable | $2K | $4K | |
| Computer system, tablets, phone system and POSnot refundable | $1K | $3K | |
| Additional Funds (initial 3 months)not refundable | $5K | $28K | |
| Total initial investment | $195K | $470K |
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
- $195K – $470K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $5K – $28K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $50K – $50K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Royalty
- 8.0%
- typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 2.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 10.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 8.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 2.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $125 |
| Transfer fee | $10K |
| Renewal fee | $10K |
| Inventory (initial) | $5K – $20K |
| Total fee load | 10.0% of rev |
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 12% above the personal care & beauty norm.
Includes company-owned outlets
Based on a single outlet - not a system average
Source: FDD 2025 · 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 Salty Dawg Pet Salon 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
$349K
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
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 Salty Dawg Pet Salon 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: 2025 FDD
Financial Performance
Includes company-owned outlets
Based on a single outlet - not a system average
- Avg gross sales
- $591K
- Per unit, per year
Gross sales are revenue before expenses — not profit. Actual owner earnings depend on rent, labor, royalties, marketing fees, and debt service.
- Item 19 type
- Historical
- Sample size
- 1 outlet
- vs category median 38 · small
- Reported figure
- $591KCited, not corroborated — printed on page 65 of the 2025 FDD. Nothing else in our record independently restates or re-derives it.
- A single outlet — not a range
- Reporting year
- 2024
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2025
- Disclosed in the 2025 filing, covering 2024
- Transparency
- 3 / 10
- vs category median 4 / 10 · below
Compared against 177 Personal Care & Beauty 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 $591K/year in gross sales. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 1.8x. Includes company-owned outlets.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 10.0% — above the Personal Care & Beauty median of 7.9%.
Disclosure
Transparency score 3/10 — moderate disclosure depth. Average and range data are available but detailed cohort breakdowns may be limited. Sample size of 1 outlet — treat as directional only.
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 medians
How Salty Dawg Pet Salon Compares
Category median of published Personal Care & Beauty 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 2025 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 2
- Opened
- 2
- 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
- N/A
- Company-owned
- 0
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 100%
- vs corporate-owned
Last fiscal year · Item 20 exits and transfers
- Terminated
- 0
- Not renewed
- 0
- Transferred
- 0
- Reacquired
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Signed, not yet open
- 1
- 0.50 per open outlet · Item 20 Table 5
- Projected new
- 11
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 12 · 2 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.
2
states with franchisees (per FDD Item 12)
Where the owners are · Item 20 owner list
1 current owner across 1 state.
- FL 1
Counts only, from the list the franchisor prints in Item 20. Names and phone numbers are for your own due diligence and are not shown here.
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
Early-stage franchisor (2024) with negative net worth (-$230,448) and net loss (-$260,448) on just $14,339 revenue; distress flagged but early-stage. Also carries 9 litigation matters tied to CEO John Hewitt's prior Liberty Tax role, including a pending 2025 fraud/breach-of-fiduciary-duty suit.
Litigation (Item 3)
Subject: the franchisor is a named party (defendant).
Multiple cases involving CEO/Chairman John T. Hewitt tied to his prior role at Liberty Tax/JTH Tax: a pending 2025 fraud/breach-of-fiduciary-duty suit re ATAX QOZB investments; several concluded shareholder derivative and contract/severance suits from 2017-2021 (settled, no admitted liability); a 2019 DOJ enforcement action against Liberty Tax over franchisee tax-fraud controls (Hewitt barred from rehire/equity/board); and a related California DFPI Consent Order requiring Hewitt to disclose the DOJ Final Order in future FDDs.
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · DASH Business Solutions, LLC
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: No
- Must buy proprietary products: No
- Restricted to system-approved products: No
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 35 / 100 verdict
- 01HIGH9 litigation matters incl. pending 2025 fraud/fiduciary-duty suit
- 02MINORNegative net worth -$230,448, net loss -$260,448
- 03MINORRevenue only $14,339
- 04MINOREarly-stage distress (2 units)
- 05HIGHManagement litigation history
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 10.0% 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 | Exclusive territory |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | Yes |
| Territory population | 125,000 |
| 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 | 20 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 30 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 15 days |
| Termination groundsℹ | 8 |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 8 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Virginia Beach, Virginia |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Virginia |
| Litigation count | 10 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
Multiple cases involving CEO/Chairman John T. Hewitt tied to his prior role at Liberty Tax/JTH Tax: a pending 2025 fraud/breach-of-fiduciary-duty suit re ATAX QOZB investments; several concluded shareholder derivative and contract/severance suits from 2017-2021 (settled, no admitted liability); a 2019 DOJ enforcement action against Liberty Tax over franchisee tax-fraud controls (Hewitt barred from rehire/equity/board); and a related California DFPI Consent Order requiring Hewitt to disclose the DOJ Final Order in future FDDs.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 16 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 16 hrs
- Training location
- On-site and corporate
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Site selection
- franchisee proposes sites, franchisor approves
- Franchisor financing
- Offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- Designated third-party vendor
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Designated third-party vendor
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
1 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 Salty Dawg Pet Salon franchise?
The total investment to open a Salty Dawg Pet Salon franchise ranges from $195K – $470K, 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 Salty Dawg Pet Salon franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Salty Dawg Pet Salon FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $591K. Important context: Includes company-owned outlets; Based on a single outlet - not a system average. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
Who owns Salty Dawg Pet Salon?
Salty Dawg Pet Salon is franchised by Purely Pet LLC d/b/a Salty Dawg. Its parent company is Loyalty, LLC. Source: FDD Item 1, 2025 filing.
What is Item 19 in the Salty Dawg Pet Salon 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 Salty Dawg Pet Salon FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Salty Dawg Pet Salon's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Salty Dawg Pet Salon (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 Salty Dawg Pet Salon franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Salty Dawg Pet Salon has 2 total units in the United States, including 2 franchised units and 0 company-owned units. 2 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Salty Dawg Pet Salon a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Salty Dawg Pet Salon as a D-grade franchise with a verdict score of 35 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?
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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.