Sandler Training Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
- Investment
- $78K – $102K
- Disclosed sales
- $738K
- gross sales, not profit
- SBA charge-off
- 0.0%
- on 17 loans
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Sandler Training is a B2B franchise delivering sales and leadership training and coaching using its proprietary methodology. Franchisees run a local training practice serving corporate clients through workshops, coaching, and ongoing programs.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Sandler Training franchise requires a total initial investment of $78K – $102K, including a $59K franchise fee and an ongoing 8.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $738K[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 0.0% charge-off rate across 17 loans[1]. FranchiseVerdict grade: A (Strongest tier), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
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 scored6 of 6 headline figures on this page cite a page of the filing.
Overview
- Investment
- $78K – $102K
- 24th pct Education
- Avg gross sales
- $738K
- Outlet subset24th pct Education
- Royalty
- 8.0%
- 44th pct Education
- Units
- 138
- 67th pct Education
- SBA charge-off
- 0.0%
- % of SBA 7(a) loans not repaid · median varies by category
Quick verdict · Education · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Education 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 $78K – $102K including a $59K franchise fee, 8.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $738K/year (reported for a subset of outlets rather than the whole system).
- RISKVerdict A (Strongest tier), verdict score 86/100 (higher is better). SBA loan charge-off rate of 0.0% across 17 loans (well below the franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2025).
- GROWTHPositive: net +1 franchised outlets in the latest year (10 opened, 9 closed) (Item 20).
- TERMSNo protected territory and the franchisor reserves the right to compete in your area. Clarify territorial boundaries before signing.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Sandler Systems, LLC
- Parent company
- Sandler Holdings, LLC
- FDD Item 1, page 7 of the 2025 FDD
- Predecessor
- Sandler Systems, Inc. (S-Corp, converted to LLC 5/31/2022); formerly David H. Sandler & Associates, Inc. (merged into SSL April 1994)
- Prior franchisor entity
- CEO title
- President
- David Braun
- Incorporated in
- Maryland
- HQ
- 300 Red Brook Boulevard, Suite 10, Owings Mills, Maryland 21117
- Auditor
- RSM US LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $31.5M
- vs $27.7M prior year
Independent franchisee associations
- Franchise Advisory Council (FAC)
Franchisee-led councils or alliances disclosed in Item 20. Indicates operator voice.
Affiliated brands
- Blue Marlin Sandler SPV
- Sandler Systems Canada
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
Overview
About
- CEO
- David Braun
- Headquarters
- MD
- Founded
- 1983
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 36
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 54% below the typical education franchise.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 5–7
Full Item 7 breakdown8 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Feenot refundable | $59K | $59K | |
| Travel and Living Expenses While Training | $1K | $2K | |
| Real Estate and Improvements | — | — | |
| Office Furnishings and Equipment | $5K | $7K | |
| Office Supplies | $250 | $450 | |
| Miscellaneous Opening Cost | $400 | $1K | |
| Insurance | $2K | $3K | |
| Additional Funds (6 months) | $10K | $30K | |
| Total initial investment | $78K | $102K |
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
- $78K – $102K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $10K – $30K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $59K – $59K
- Middle of category vs category
- Royalty
- 8.0%
- typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- $544.79 per month
- Total fee load
- 8.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 8.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $240 |
| Transfer fee | $13K |
| Renewal fee | $0 |
| Total fee load | 8.0% of rev |
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 81% above the education norm.
Reported for a subset of outlets rather than the whole system
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 Sandler Training 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 ad fund rate, 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
$110K
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 Sandler Training 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 ad fund rate, 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 ad fund rate, 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
Reported for a subset of outlets rather than the whole system
- Avg gross sales
- $738K
- 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
- gross sales
- Sample size
- 107 outlets
- vs category median 16 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $7K→$5.8MCited, not corroborated — printed on page 40 of the 2025 FDD. Nothing else in our record independently restates or re-derives it.
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Quartile band
- $91K→$1.9M
- Bottom 25% → top 25%
- Reporting year
- 2024
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2025
- Disclosed in the 2025 filing, covering 2024
- Transparency
- 5 / 10
- vs category median 4 / 10 · above
Compared against 204 Education brands
Revenue is 8.2x the investment midpoint. At typical franchise margins, this suggests a payback under 3 years.
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 $738K/year in gross sales. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 8.2x. Reported for a subset of outlets rather than the whole system.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 8.0% (near the Education median).
Disclosure
Transparency score 5/10 — this franchisor discloses detailed breakdowns (quartiles, segments, or cohort data). Buyers can model unit economics with higher confidence.
Operator retention
System contracting at -4.8% CAGR over 3 years. Investigate whether closures are franchisor-driven consolidation or franchisee exits.
Multi-unit rate
Only 7% of franchisees own multiple units. Could indicate challenging economics or a young system where operators haven't had time to expand.
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 Education medians
How Sandler Training Compares
Category median of published Education 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
- 138
- Opened
- 10
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 9
- Terminated
- 0
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 1
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 6.5%
- Company-owned
- 0
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 100%
- vs corporate-owned
- Multi-unit owners
- 7.5%
- Net growth (3-yr)
- +0.7%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 3-yr CAGR
- -4.8%
- Compounded over last 3 years
Last fiscal year · Item 20 exits and transfers
- Terminated
- 0
- Not renewed
- 1
- Transferred
- 6
- Reacquired
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 30 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.
Where the owners are · Item 20 owner list
96 current owners across 30 states.
- CA 13
- NJ 7
- NY 7
- FL 6
- GA 5
- IL 5
- MA 5
- MD 5
- OH 5
- CO 4
- IN 4
- KS 4
- +18 more states
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.
- Total loans
- 17
- Loan volume
- $4.1M
- Median loan
- $100K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- 0.0%
- on 17 loans · rates vary by category · see methodology
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- 100.0%
- 5-yr charge-off
- 0.0%
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 13
- Defaults
- 0
- Typical loan rate
- 8.5%
- avg rate to borrowers
- Franchised industry avg
- 27.5%
- brand beats franchise avg ↓
- Jobs supported
- 48
- 1.2 per loan
- Lender concentration
- 12%
- top lender's share
Borrower mix: 33% went to startups / new businesses, 67% to established operators
Franchise vs independent — in professional and management development training, franchised businesses charge off at 27.5% vs 16.0% for independents — franchising is associated with 72% higher SBA default risk in this category.
Top lenders financing Sandler Training franchisees
Showing 3 of 13 lenders. The full breakdown — every lender, state distribution, interest rates & risk ratings — is in the SBA Lending Report below.
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Lender network · 7(a) + 504
SBA Lending Report
Full lending analysis for Sandler Training from SBA 7(a) FOIA data.
- Principal loss rate
- 0.0%
- Avg SBA guarantee
- 70%
- Avg interest rate
- 8.54%
- Lender concentration
- 11.8%
- Job velocity
- 1.2 per $100K
- NAICS benchmark
- 11.1%
- NAICS 611430
- Jobs supported
- 48
Top SBA lendersTop lender holds 12% of loans
| # | Lender | Loans | Volume | Default % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Celtic Bank Corporation | 2 | $250K | 0.0% |
| 2 | The Huntington National Bank | 2 | $126K | 0.0% |
| 3 | CDC Small Business Finance Corp. | 2 | $242K | N/A |
| 4 | First Bank of the Lake | 2 | $1.9M | 0.0% |
| 5 | Brookline Bank, a Division of Beacon Bank and Trust | 1 | $50K | 0.0% |
| 6 | Five Star Bank | 1 | $350K | N/A |
| 7 | TD Bank, National Association | 1 | $65K | 0.0% |
| 8 | Hanover Community Bank | 1 | $75K | N/A |
| 9 | First Merchants Bank | 1 | $50K | N/A |
| 10 | United Midwest Savings Bank National Association | 1 | $150K | N/A |
Geographic failure vector
| State | Loans | Defaults | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| NCNorth Carolina | 3 | 0 | 0.0% |
| TXTexas | 3 | 0 | -- |
| MIMichigan | 2 | 0 | -- |
| CACalifornia | 1 | 0 | -- |
| COColorado | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
| FLFlorida | 1 | 0 | -- |
| KSKansas | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
| KYKentucky | 1 | 0 | -- |
| NJNew Jersey | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
| NYNew York | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
SBA 7(a) lending trend
Borrower profile
Source: SBA 7(a) + 504 FOIA loan-level data, matched by FranchiseVerdict
With a 0.0% charge-off rate across 17 loans, banks have historically viewed this brand favorably for lending.
What could kill this investment?
SBA loans charge off at 0.0% — 100% below the 16.0% national norm, i.e. lower lender-observed risk.
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: the franchisor is a named party (defendant).
Resolved: Topline Solutions, Inc. (TSI), a former franchisee, sued SSL in 2009 over a revenue-sharing/customized-training-program dispute, seeking ~$1.2M compensatory + $500K punitive damages; SSL counterclaimed against TSI and its principal Steven Kraner for breach of contract and copyright infringement. Case settled September 2017 with SSL paying TSI $760,000; dismissed with prejudice.
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · RSM US LLP
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: No
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: Yes
- Must buy proprietary products: No
- Restricted to system-approved products: No
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 86 / 100 verdict
- 01MINORNegative net worth -$20,651,218
- 02HIGH1 resolved litigation matter
- 03MINORPositive revenue $31.5M and net income $1.87M offset
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 8.0% 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 | 5 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 5 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 3 |
| Territory type | No territory protection |
| Protected territory | No |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory sizeℹ | varies by ZIP code sectional areas, typically state-sized |
| Online sales rights | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 50 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 21 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 180 days |
| Termination groundsℹ | 11 |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 5 |
| Mandatory arbitration | No |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Maryland |
| Litigation count | 1 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
Resolved: Topline Solutions, Inc. (TSI), a former franchisee, sued SSL in 2009 over a revenue-sharing/customized-training-program dispute, seeking ~$1.2M compensatory + $500K punitive damages; SSL counterclaimed against TSI and its principal Steven Kraner for breach of contract and copyright infringement. Case settled September 2017 with SSL paying TSI $760,000; dismissed with prejudice.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 43 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 0 hrs
- Training location
- On-site and corporate
- Ongoing training
- Optional
- Site selection
- franchisee (SSL approves office/training facility location)
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- HubSpot CRM
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: HubSpot CRM
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
96 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 Sandler Training franchise?
The total investment to open a Sandler Training franchise ranges from $78K – $102K, with an initial franchise fee of $59K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Sandler Training franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Sandler Training FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $738K. Important context: Reported for a subset of outlets rather than the whole system. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
Who owns Sandler Training?
Sandler Training is franchised by Sandler Systems, LLC. Its parent company is Sandler Holdings, LLC. Source: FDD Item 1, 2025 filing.
What is Item 19 in the Sandler Training 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 Sandler Training FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Sandler Training's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, Sandler Training has a charge-off rate of 0.0% across 17 loans, meaning 0.0% of franchise loans were charged off. Charge-off rates are one proxy for franchise risk, though they do not capture all closures. This data comes from FOIA-sourced SBA lending records.
How many Sandler Training franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Sandler Training has 138 total units in the United States, including 138 franchised units and 0 company-owned units. 10 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Sandler Training a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Sandler Training as a A-grade franchise with a verdict score of 86 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
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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.