SpherionFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Spherion franchise requires a total initial investment of $214K – $343K, including a $40K franchise fee and an ongoing 25.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2024 FDD, average unit revenue was $6.0M[2]. Verdict grade: A. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2024 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $214K – $343K
- 47th pct Business Serv…
- Avg gross sales
- $6.0M
- 28th pct Business Serv…
- Royalty
- 25.0%
- 34th pct Business Serv…
- Units
- 211
- 49th pct Business Serv…
- SBA default
- 0.0%
- system-wide median varies by category
Quick verdict · Business Services · color = vs category peers
Green = >15% above Business Services 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
Each dollar invested generates 21.6x in gross revenue, well above the typical 1.5-2.5x range.
Franchising since 1956. Systems this mature have refined operations and brand recognition.
Bottom line
- Total investment $214K – $343K including a $40K franchise fee, 25.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $6.0M/year (median $3.2M).
- Verdict A (Top Quintile) with a risk score of 50/100.
- No 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
- Legal entity
- Spherion Staffing, LLC
- Parent company
- SFN Group, LLC
- Ultimate parent
- Randstad N.V.
- CEO title
- Chief Executive Officer of Randstad North America, Inc.
- Kathryn George
- CEO experience
- 20 yrs
- Years in role or industry
- Incorporated in
- DE
- HQ
- One Overton Park, 3625 Cumberland Blvd., Suite 500, Atlanta, GA 30339
- Auditor
- Bennett Thrasher LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $463.4M
- vs $414.4M prior year
- Management churn noted
- Frequent turnover
- Item 2 disclosed frequent executive changes
Affiliated brands
- Temp Force
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
Overview
About
Spherion franchisees operate staffing and recruitment agencies, placing temporary and permanent employees in client companies. Day-to-day operations involve recruiting candidates, marketing to employers, managing placements, handling payroll processing, and maintaining client relationships to generate temporary labor revenue subject to the 25% royalty obligation.
- CEO
- Kathryn George
- Headquarters
- GA
- Founded
- 1946
- FDD year
- 2024
- States available
- 35
FDD Item 7 · 2024 filing · 16 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Feesnot refundable | $40K | $40K | |
| Computer System Hardwarenot refundable | $0 | $7K | |
| Real Propertynot refundable | $4K | $7K | |
| Furniture and Fixturesnot refundable | $16K | $35K | |
| Leasehold Improvementsnot refundable | $10K | $15K | |
| Signsnot refundable | $2K | $8K | |
| Equipmentnot refundable | $500 | $15K | |
| Opening Advertisingnot refundable | $8K | $13K | |
| Training Expensesnot refundable | $6K | $9K | |
| Start-up Suppliesnot refundable | $510 | $1K | |
| Insurancenot refundable | $2K | $8K | |
| Utility Expensesnot refundable | $160 | $1K | |
| Professional Feesnot refundable | $1K | $5K | |
| Business Licenseesnot refundable | $160 | $1K | |
| Hardware Installationnot refundable | $720 | $1K | |
| Additional Funds for 11 monthsnot refundable | $125K | $176K | |
| Total initial investment | $214K | $343K |
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
$-300K
-5.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
-70%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
—
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $214K – $343K
- Near category avg vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $125K – $176K
- Near category avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $30K – $40K
- Better than avg vs category
- Royalty
- 25.0%
- percentage_of_gross · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- -n/d
- Total fee load
- 25.3%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 25.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $200 |
| Transfer fee | $20K |
| Inventory (initial) | $510 – $1K |
| Total fee load | 25.3% of rev |
At 25.3% total fee load, roughly $1516K per year goes to the franchisor before you pay a single operating expense.
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $6.0M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $3.2M
- Item 19 type
- Gross Profit and Sales
- Sample size
- 67 units
- vs category median 32 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $100K→$41.3M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Transparency tier
- revenue_only
- Categorical assessment of disclosure depth
- Transparency
- 4 / 5
- vs category median 3 / 5 · above
Compared against 360 Business Services brands
Revenue is 21.6x the investment midpoint. At typical franchise margins, this suggests a payback under 3 years.
vs Business Services averages
How Spherion Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 211
- Opened
- 29
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 33
- Turnover rate
- 15.6%
- Company-owned
- 2
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 99%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (yr3)
- -2.8%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- +0.5%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 29
- Closed (3yr)
- 33
- Terminated (3yr)
- 0
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 11
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Projected new
- 10
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
- Transfer rate
- 5.3%
- Owners selling to other franchisees
- Ceased ops
- 15.9%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 22 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 loan disclosures. This brand has only 5 7(a) loans on file; statistical reliability is limited below 10 loans.
- Total loans
- 5
- Loan volume
- $14.5M
- Median loan
- $2.9M
- average
- Charge-off rate
- 0.0%
- 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)
- N/A
- 5-yr charge-off
- 0.0%
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 5
- Defaults
- 0
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Premium insight
SBA Lending Report
Deep-dive into Spherion's SBA lending history: lender network, geographic footprint, interest rates, and more.
SBA Lending Report
- Principal loss rate and NAICS industry benchmark
- 1 lenders with concentration factor
- Per-state charge-off rates across 1 states
- Startup risk premium and job creation velocity
- 1-year lending trend
Instant access. No subscription.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Spherion presents moderate-to-high risk due to system contraction, non-transparent profitability, exceptionally high royalties, unprotected territory, and litigation history suggesting operational and relationship challenges.
Litigation (Item 3)
6 case reference(s): 1 pending, 1 settled.
Largest disclosed settlement: $381,036
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Bennett Thrasher LLP
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: Yes
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
Score breakdown · what drove the 50 / 100 rating
- 01MINOR25% royalty on temporary gross profits is exceptionally high and creates ambiguity around actual net profitability
- 02MINORSystem declining 2.8% YoY with only 211 units suggests market saturation or operational challenges
- 03MEDNet income not disclosed in FDD Item 19 prevents accurate ROI assessment on $214K-$343K investment
- 04MINORUnprotected territory creates direct competition risk from other Spherion franchisees in same market
- 05HIGHActive litigation involving franchisee fraud allegations and prior breach settlement indicate franchisor-franchisee relationship strain
- 06MINORHigh initial investment ($40K franchise fee + $214K-$343K total) combined with 25% royalty leaves thin margins on staffing agency model
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 |
| Territory type | Political jurisdiction |
| Protected territory | No |
| Online sales rights | Granted |
| 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 | 60 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Termination groundsℹ | 1 |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 1 |
| Mandatory arbitration | No |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Georgia |
| Litigation count | 2 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
6 case reference(s): 1 pending, 1 settled.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Training location
- Franchisor location and on-site
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Site selection
- joint
- Franchisor financing
- Offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- PeopleSoft
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: PeopleSoft
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
92 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Spherion · FDD (2024) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Spherion franchise?
The total investment to open a Spherion franchise ranges from $214K – $343K, with an initial franchise fee of $40K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Spherion franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Spherion FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $6.0M. The median is $3.2M. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Spherion's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Spherion (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 Spherion franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Spherion has 211 total units in the United States, including 200 franchised units and 2 company-owned units. 29 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Spherion a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Spherion as a A-grade franchise with a risk score of 50 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.