Snip-itsFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Snip-its franchise requires a total initial investment of $200K – $357K, including a $35K franchise fee and an ongoing 5.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2024 FDD, average unit revenue was $268K[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 26.3% charge-off rate across 20 loans[1]. Verdict grade: F. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 21, 2026 · figures per the 2024 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $200K – $357K
- 20th pct Personal Care…
- Avg gross sales
- $268K
- 2nd pct Personal Care…
- Royalty
- 5.0%
- 4th pct Personal Care…
- Units
- 42
- 25th pct Personal Care…
- SBA default
- 26.3%
- system-wide median varies by category
Quick verdict · Personal Care & Beauty · color = vs category peers
Green = >15% above Personal Care & Beauty avg · No shading = within ±15% · Red = >15% below avg · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
26.3% of SBA loans charged off across 20 loans, above the 16% franchise average.
Franchised units fell from 46 to 42 over 3 years. Investigate why operators are leaving.
Bottom line
- Total investment $200K – $357K including a $35K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $268K/year, with an estimated 12% cash-on-cash return (based on EBITDA).
- Verdict F (Bottom Quintile) with a risk score of 100/100. SBA loan charge-off rate of 26.3% across 20 loans (well above the 16% franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2024).
- System contracting at -8.7% CAGR over 3 years. Investigate whether closures are franchisor-driven (consolidation) or franchisee-driven (economics).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- The Snip-its Franchise Company, LLC
- Parent company
- FS Snip-its LLC
- Incorporated in
- MA
- HQ
- 211 S. River Ridge Circle, Suite 100, Burnsville, Minnesota 55337
- Auditor
- D. F. Breen, LLC
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $690K
- vs $768K prior year
Overview
About
Snip-its franchisees operate children's hair salons, managing daily operations including haircuts, styling, and customer service in a kid-friendly environment. Staff handle appointment scheduling, inventory management, and marketing to attract and retain families in their local markets. Franchisees are responsible for hiring, training, facility maintenance, and achieving sales targets while paying 5-6% royalties to the franchisor.
- CEO
- Jason Bakker
- Headquarters
- MN
- Founded
- 2003
- FDD year
- 2024
- States available
- 15
FDD Item 7 · 2024 filing · 21 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Feenot refundable | $35K | $35K | |
| Security Deposit and Rent | $8K | $20K | |
| Staff Recruitingnot refundable | $500 | $4K | |
| Initial Trainingnot refundable | $1K | $3K | |
| Staff Wages During Trainingnot refundable | $3K | $3K | |
| Optional Construction Project Managementnot refundable | $0 | $28K | |
| Base Construction and Leasehold Improvementsnot refundable | $48K | $101K | |
| Millworknot refundable | $35K | $49K | |
| Snipification of Salonnot refundable | $21K | $23K | |
| Computer Hardware/POS Systemnot refundable | $3K | $4K | |
| POS Software System Feenot refundable | $150 | $225 | |
| Exterior Signagenot refundable | $4K | $6K | |
| Furniture, Fixtures, Equipment and Decornot refundable | $8K | $10K | |
| Audio Visual Equipmentnot refundable | $2K | $2K | |
| Proprietary Productsnot refundable | $2K | $3K | |
| Other Initial Inventory and Salon Suppliesnot refundable | $4K | $8K | |
| Shippingnot refundable | $5K | $14K | |
| Insurancenot refundable | $2K | $3K | |
| Professional Feesnot refundable | $500 | $7K | |
| Grand Opening Programnot refundable | $15K | $15K | |
| Total initial investment | $200K | $357K |
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.
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
$62K
23.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
21%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
4.7 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $200K – $357K
- Better than avg vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $5K – $21K
- Better than avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $35K – $35K
- Better than avg vs category
- Royalty
- 5.0%
- percentage_of_gross · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 2.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 7.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
- Payback period
- 8.3 yrs
- From FDD / Item 19
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 5.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 2.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $225 |
| Transfer fee | $18K |
| Renewal fee | $5K |
| Inventory (initial) | $5K – $11K |
| Total fee load | 7.0% of rev |
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $268K
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- N/A
- Avg ebitda
- $33K
- Reported as EBITDA in FDD Item 19
- Cash-on-cash
- 12.0%
- Based on EBITDA / investment midpoint
- Item 19 type
- gross_sales
- Sample size
- 43 units
- vs category median 35
- Range (low → high)
- $83K→$453K
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Quartile band
- $165K→$406K
- Bottom 25% → top 25%
- Transparency tier
- full
- Categorical assessment of disclosure depth
- Reporting year
- 2023
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Transparency
- 4 / 5
- vs category median 4 / 5 · typical
Compared against 186 Personal Care & Beauty brands
Revenue is only 1.0x the investment. This means each unit may take 5+ years to recoup the initial outlay at typical margins.
vs Personal Care & Beauty averages
How Snip-its Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 42
- Opened
- 0
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 1
- Turnover rate
- 2.4%
- Company-owned
- 0
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 100%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (yr3)
- -2.3%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- -8.7%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Closed (3yr)
- 4
- Terminated (3yr)
- 0
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 2
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Continuity rate
- 97.7%
- Units that stayed open
- Ceased ops
- 8.2%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 12 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.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
- Total loans
- 20
- Loan volume
- $3.4M
- Median loan
- $150K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- 26.3%
- 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)
- 73.7%
- 5-yr charge-off
- N/A
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 16
- Defaults
- 5
Vintage analysis
Snip-its charge-off rate by loan vintage
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Premium insight
SBA Lending Report
Deep-dive into Snip-its's SBA lending history: lender network, geographic footprint, interest rates, and more.
SBA Lending Report
- Principal loss rate and NAICS industry benchmark
- 10 lenders with concentration factor
- Per-state charge-off rates across 13 states
- Startup risk premium and job creation velocity
- 11-year lending trend
Instant access. No subscription.
A 26.3% charge-off rate means roughly 1 in 4 franchisees failed to repay their SBA loan. Investigate what changed.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Snip-its presents meaningful investment risk due to declining unit count, extremely modest disclosed profitability, missing revenue data, unprotected territory, and franchisor going concern issues.
Litigation (Item 3)
0 case reference(s): 0 pending, 0 settled.
Largest disclosed settlement: $100,000
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · D. F. Breen, 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: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 100 / 100 rating
- 01MINORUnit count declining 2.3% YoY (42 units) suggests system contraction and potential market saturation or franchisee struggles
- 02MINORAverage net income of $33,430 is extremely low relative to $200k-$357k investment — implies 6-10+ year payback period at best
- 03MEDRevenue figures not disclosed in FDD Item 19 — unable to validate profitability claims or benchmark performance expectations
- 04MINORNo protected territory — franchisees face direct competition from other Snip-its locations and cannot prevent cannibalization
- 05MINORRoyalty rate increases from 5% to 6% after year one — reduces already-thin margins during critical growth phase
- 06HIGHGoing Concern status is False — potential financial instability of franchisor raises questions about system support and longevity
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 5 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 2 |
| Territory type | Radius |
| Protected territory | No |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 30 days |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 2 |
| Mandatory arbitration | No |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Minnesota |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
0 case reference(s): 0 pending, 0 settled.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 28 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 24 hrs
- Training location
- On-site at franchisee's restaurant and franchisor's location
- Site selection
- joint
- POS system
- Zenoti
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Zenoti
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
18 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Snip-its · FDD (2024) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Snip-its franchise?
The total investment to open a Snip-its franchise ranges from $200K – $357K, with an initial franchise fee of $35K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Snip-its franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Snip-its FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $268K. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Snip-its's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, Snip-its has a charge-off rate of 26.3% across 20 loans, meaning 26.3% 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 Snip-its franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Snip-its has 42 total units in the United States, including 46 franchised units and 0 company-owned units.
Is Snip-its a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Snip-its as a F-grade franchise with a risk score of 100 out of 100, 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.
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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.