SpecFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A SPEC franchise requires a total initial investment of $578K – $2.0M, including a $45K franchise fee and an ongoing 6.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2024 FDD, average unit revenue was $1.6M[2]. Verdict grade: A. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2024 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $578K – $2.0M
- 71st pct Healthcare
- Avg gross sales
- $1.6M
- 38th pct Healthcare
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- 14th pct Healthcare
- Units
- 36
- 50th pct Healthcare
- SBA default
- N/A
Quick verdict · Healthcare · color = vs category peers
Green = >15% above Healthcare 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
Bottom line
- Total investment $578K – $2.0M including a $45K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $1.6M/year (median $1.5M).
- Verdict A (Top Quintile) with a risk score of 21/100.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- Salon Professional Education Company, LLC
- Incorporated in
- ND
- HQ
- 4377 15th Avenue South, Fargo, ND 58103
- Auditor
- Smith + Howard, PC
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $1.8M
- vs $1.9M prior year
Independent franchisee associations
- Franchise Advisory Council (FAC)
Franchisee-led councils or alliances disclosed in Item 20. Indicates operator voice.
Affiliated brands
- Fuel Productions
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
Overview
About
SPEC franchisees operate staffing and recruitment services for specialized professional placements (likely education/training based on 'Vara School Professionals' litigation reference). Day-to-day operations involve candidate sourcing, client relationship management, placement matching, and ongoing compliance with franchisor systems.
- CEO
- Samuel Shimer
- Headquarters
- ND
- Founded
- 2004
- FDD year
- 2024
- States available
- 19
FDD Item 7 · 2024 filing · 14 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Feenot refundable | $45K | $45K | |
| Website Fee | $2K | $2K | |
| Real Estate Improvements | $184K | $1.3M | |
| Equipment/Furnishings | $157K | $412K | |
| Exterior Building Signage | $14K | $40K | |
| Initial Training Attendance | $5K | $8K | |
| Computer Equipment/Phone and Alarm Systems | $35K | $45K | |
| Inventory to Begin Operating | $20K | $30K | |
| Insurance | $6K | $10K | |
| Utility Deposits and Other Prepaid Expenses | $2K | $6K | |
| Licenses and Permits | $4K | $8K | |
| Professional Fees | $5K | $10K | |
| Initial School Opening Marketing and Advertising Funds | $25K | $30K | |
| Additional Funds (3-month initial phase) | $75K | $120K | |
| Total initial investment | $578K | $2.0M |
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
$301K
19.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
22%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
4.6 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $578K – $2.0M
- Below avg, review vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $75K – $120K
- Near category avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $45K – $45K
- Better than avg vs category
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- percentage · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 0.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 6.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 6.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 0.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $250 |
| Transfer fee | $25K |
| Renewal fee | $5K |
| Inventory (initial) | $20K – $30K |
| Total fee load | 6.0% of rev |
A 6.0% total fee load is unusually lean. More of each revenue dollar stays with the franchisee.
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $1.6M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $1.5M
- Item 19 type
- Actual
- Sample size
- 28 units
- vs category median 12 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $468K→$3.9M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Quartile band
- $769K→$2.7M
- Bottom 25% → top 25%
- Transparency tier
- full
- Categorical assessment of disclosure depth
- Transparency
- 4 / 5
- vs category median 4 / 5 · typical
Compared against 201 Healthcare brands
vs Healthcare averages
How Spec Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 36
- Opened
- 2
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 0
- Turnover rate
- 0.0%
- Company-owned
- 0
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 100%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (yr3)
- +5.9%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- +2.9%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 2
- Closed (3yr)
- 1
- Transfers (3yr)
- 0
- Projected new
- 0
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
- Ceased ops
- 3.4%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 16 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
- 52
- Loan volume
- N/A
- Amount data pending
- Median loan
- N/A
- Charge-off rate
- N/A
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- N/A
- 5-yr charge-off
- N/A
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 0
- Defaults
- 0
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
SPEC presents caution-level risk due to undisclosed net income figures, anemic unit growth, litigation history, and high capital requirements relative to system maturity.
Litigation (Item 3)
0 case reference(s): 0 pending, 2 settled.
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Smith + Howard, PC
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
Score breakdown · what drove the 21 / 100 rating
- 01MEDNet income not disclosed in FDD Item 19 — unable to validate profitability claims against $1.59M average revenue
- 02MEDSlow unit growth of 5.9% YoY with only 36 locations suggests limited scalability or market saturation
- 03HIGHLitigation history including franchisor enforcement action and Washington state consent order for unregistered sale indicates compliance and operational issues
- 04MINORHigh investment range ($577K–$2.02M) requires strong ROI validation, but profitability metrics are opaque
- 05MED15-year term is lengthy commitment with limited exit flexibility given modest system size and growth rate
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 | 15 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 15 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 1 |
| Territory type | Population-based |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Territory population | 800,000 |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Granted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 2 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | North Dakota |
| Litigation count | 2 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
0 case reference(s): 0 pending, 2 settled.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 178 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 0 hrs
- Training location
- On-site and corporate
- Site selection
- franchisor
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- QuickBooks
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: QuickBooks
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
31 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
SPEC · FDD (2024) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a SPEC franchise?
The total investment to open a SPEC franchise ranges from $578K – $2.0M, with an initial franchise fee of $45K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do SPEC franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the SPEC FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $1.6M. The median is $1.5M. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is SPEC's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for SPEC (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 SPEC franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, SPEC has 36 total units in the United States, including 35 franchised units and 0 company-owned units. 2 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is SPEC a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates SPEC as a A-grade franchise with a risk score of 21 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.