Sweathouz Franchise Cost & 2026 FDD Data
70/100
Strongest tier
70 this brand56 Personal Care & Beauty medianlikely 66–74 (high confidence)
Higher is better · an editorial assessment, not investment advice
#539 of 3,069 graded brands
Why an A: Helped by legal record and transparency. See all six factors
- Total investment
- $632K – $1.3M
- Avg gross sales
- partial, no system average
- SBA charge-off
- 1 resolved of 42 loans: too few to judge
Data from the FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records. Analysis by FranchiseVerdict · Methodology · Website · Report an error · Franchisor? Claim this listing
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026 FDD
Per the 2026 FDD, a Sweathouz franchise requires a total initial investment of $632K – $1.3M, including a $45K franchise fee. Once open, the ongoing royalty is 8.0%. The 2026 FDD on file does not yield a unit-revenue figure we can publish. Verdict grade: A (Strongest tier), an editorial assessment, not investment advice.
Sources: 2026 FDD · What one unit could make and lose →
Sources, dates and evidence
FDD issued: · Data extracted: · Last cited check: · Staleness risk: low (issued within the last 12 months)
Evidence for the headline figures: partial✓ 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 scored5 of 5 headline figures on this page cite a page of the filing.
Overview
Quick verdict · vs Personal Care & Beauty median
Top edge: green = better than the Personal Care & Beauty median by more than 10%, red = worse by more than 10%, gray = within 10% or no benchmark. Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a).
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Methodology
Bottom line
- RETURNSItem 19 reports revenue for a partial period rather than annual gross sales, so the figure is not directly comparable.
- GROWTHIn the latest Item 20 year, the number of franchised outlets grew by 44 (44 opened, 0 closed).
- FLAGItem 4 discloses a bankruptcy of an officer or of a company an officer ran, not of the franchisor. Review Item 4 for details.
AT STAKEOne unit at the Item 7 midpoint: $126K a year in payments on assumed SBA 7(a)-style terms.You put in about $195K of your own cash and personally guarantee a $778K loan. Assumptions are labeled in Sales; not investment advice.See what one unit could make and lose
Things to check before you sign (2)
- The franchisor keeps the right to compete inside your territory (Item 12, territory).
- The franchisor receives rebates or payments from suppliers you buy from (Item 8, required suppliers).
Checked and clear: no auditor doubt that the franchisor can keep operating, no net loss of franchised outlets in the latest Item 20 years, no pending lawsuit naming the franchisor, no rule that the owner must run it personally and the full filing on file. Not on file here, so ask: SBA charge-off rate against the category median and jury-trial waiver.
What to do next
Step 1: Read the FDD itself.
Free: the franchisor must give it to you at least 14 days before you sign or pay. Or look it up in a state registry (Wisconsin, Minnesota, California). What to read first.
Step 2: Talk to current and former owners.
Free: Item 20 of the FDD lists every current owner and those who left last year, most with a phone number. Questions to ask.
Step 3: Talk to an SBA lender.
Free: the SBA's Lender Match, or the lenders already lending to this brand in the SBA section. Ask what you would personally guarantee and what the monthly payment would be. If you plan to use retirement savings, ask a CPA about the rules for that first.
Step 4: Have a franchise attorney review the FDD and agreement.
Free: your state bar's lawyer referral service can name franchise lawyers, and many offer a short first consultation. Bring the checks listed above.
Research steps, not investment or legal advice.
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost (the Item 7 midpoint) is 2.2× the Personal Care & Beauty median ($447K).
Source: FDD 2026 · Items 5–7 (fees and startup costs)
Do you qualify? The filing states no minimum net worth or liquid capital. Ask LS Franchisor LLC (Item 1: 120 Interstate N. Pkwy SE, Suite 400, Atlanta, Georgia 30339) and your lender what they require, and keep living costs for the first year outside the deal.
Full Item 7 breakdown17 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Fee | $45K | $45K | |
| Initial Equipment Package and Certain Opening Supplies | $109.4K | $238.5K | |
| Training Program Expenses | $0 | $9.75K | |
| Lease Review Fee | $0 | $2K | |
| Remote Call Buttons for Suites | $2.38K | $2.38K | |
| Three Months' Rent & Deposits | $20K | $60K | |
| Leasehold Improvements | $365.6K | $719K | |
| Professional Fees / Permits | $10.7K | $36.3K | |
| Furniture, Fixtures & Equipment | $4.5K | $12K | |
| Computer System, POS, and Technology Set Up | $1.75K | $4.5K | |
| Opening Inventory & Supplies | $18.5K | $24K | |
| Pre-Opening Marketing Program | $10K | $40K | |
| Pre-Opening Staffing | $10K | $30K | |
| Insurance | $5K | $15K | |
| Signage | $8K | $32.7K | |
| Deposits | $1K | $3K | |
| Additional funds (3 months) | $20K | $40K | |
| Total initial investment | $632K | $1.3M |
Line items extracted from FDD Item 7. Ranges reflect the franchisor's stated low and high per line. The total row is the total as printed in Item 7. Actual costs may fall outside this range depending on market and build-out scope.
Item 6 · what you pay once you are open
Ongoing fees
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 8.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fundBrand-wide marketing pool. 3% of Gross Sales (Brand Fund Contribution); combined with local advertising and co-op spend cannot exceed 6% Marketing Expenditure Cap in aggregate | 3.0% of gross sales |
Technology feeThe filing's detailTechnology Fee of $1,250 per month, subject to increase (Fee Adjustment); plus a required monthly amount of $1,000 for hosted software services (Mindbody, FranConnect, Microsoft Power BI, Axle CRM, Profit Keepers, Canva) | $1,250/month |
| Training feeAdditional training charge listed in Item 6 | $3,850 |
| Transfer fee | $22,500 |
| Renewal fee | $22,500 |
| Total fee loadabove the Personal Care & Beauty median of 8.0% (heavy) | 11.0% of sales |
What do units actually make?
Source: FDD 2026 · Item 19 (sales and earnings)
Items 6 (other fees), 7 (startup costs) and 19 (sales and earnings) · assumptions labeled
What you could make and lose: one unit
What one Sweathouz unit would ask of you, from the filing's Item 7 total and labeled assumptions.
How these figures are worked out
- Loan (assumption): 80% of the $973K Item 7 midpoint is a $778K loan, paid over 10 years at 10.5%: $126K a year. SBA 7(a)-style terms on a long-term rate; your lender sets yours.
What you put at risk
Your own cash in: about $195K Assumption (the part the loan does not cover of the $973K Item 7 midpoint), plus whatever anything Item 7 leaves out (its notes say what). The loan is $778K.
Personal guarantee. SBA 7(a) loans require a personal guarantee from anyone who owns 20% or more of the business. If the unit cannot pay, the lender can collect from you personally, which can include your savings and your home. The worst case is losing the cash you put in and still owing the rest of the loan.
Gross sales are not profit, and none of these figures is take-home pay until tax and every operating cost are paid. The assumptions are ours, not the filing's. Not investment advice.
Returns modelOne unit · several units · editable
Item 19 of the Sweathouz FDD discloses figures for part of the system but no single average across all outlets. The return models need one gross sales figure to start from, plus the operating costs that turn gross sales into a profit. Enter your own and the calculator runs on your assumptions; nothing here is modelled until you do.
Returns model · one unit
What would one Sweathouz unit leave you each year after the loan payment?
Not disclosed in Item 19. Enter your own gross sales assumption
Gross sales, not profit: the costs below decide what is left.
No Item 19 figures are on file for this brand. Enter your own costs from a lease quote, a payroll plan and calls with current owners.
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.
Item 7 midpoint of $632K to $1.3M
Item 7's $20K to $40K additional funds are already in the total
Left after the loan payment · per year
The unit's EBITDA minus the assumed loan payment. Before tax, depreciation and any cost your inputs leave out (insurance, accounting and legal, licenses, technology fees): not take-home pay.
Gross sales are not profit. Neither the filing nor a stated assumption on this page supplies annual revenue, direct costs, labor, rent / occupancy and other operating costs. Enter your own (a lease quote, owner calls) and the model runs on it.
Loan of $778K at 10.5% over 10 years, an assumption, not a quote. Return and payback are before tax, depreciation and the costs above. The loan usually needs your personal guarantee.
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: 2026 FDD · filed by LS Franchisor LLC
Financial performance
Item 19 reports revenue for a partial period rather than annual gross sales, so the figure is not directly comparable. We omit it from rankings.
vs Personal Care & Beauty medians
How Sweathouz 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.
Who are you contracting with?
LS Franchisor LLC, owned by Legendary Sweat Intermediate, LLC (LS Intermediate).
Same franchisor, other program: SWTHZ. Each is a separate offering with its own page.
Item 1 (the franchisor) · who you're contracting with
The franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- LS Franchisor LLC
- Parent company
- Legendary Sweat Intermediate, LLC (LS Intermediate)
- FDD Item 1, page 8 of the 2026 FDD
- Ultimate parent
- Legacy Franchise Concepts, L.P. (LFC Topco)
- FDD Item 1, page 8 of the 2026 FDD
- CEO title
- Chief Executive Officer
- Nico Varano, Jr.
- Incorporated in
- Georgia
- HQ
- 120 Interstate N. Pkwy SE, Suite 400, Atlanta, Georgia 30339
- Franchisor revenue
- $1.5M
- latest fiscal year in the 2026 FDD; $105K the year before
Same owner · FDD Item 1, page 8
1 other brand on this site names Legacy Franchise Concepts, L.P. (LFC Topco) as parent or ultimate parent in its own FDD.
- SWTHZ (grade B)
Grouped by the owner's name as each filing prints it (this page: the 2026 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
Franchisor of private, individual wellness suites offering infrared sauna, cold plunge contrast therapies, and Vitamin C showers under the SWTHZ/SweatHouz brand.
- CEO
- Nico Varano, Jr.
Is the system healthy?
+64 franchised outlets over the two years to 2025 (2 to 66).
Source: FDD 2026 · Item 20 (outlets opened, closed and transferred)
Item 20 (outlet counts) · unit dynamics
The growth chart
- Company-owned
- 16
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 81%
- vs corporate-owned
Last fiscal year · Item 20 rates and pipeline
- Reacquired
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Signed, not yet open
- 36
- 0.44 per open outlet · Item 20 Table 5
- Projected new
- 18
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
Item 20 · franchised units at year end
Franchised units rose from 2 in 2023 to 66 in 2025
Axis does not start at zero.
Source and method
Government records
SBA loan data
Matched to this brand from SBA 7(a) and 504 FOIA loan records.
- Loans on file
- 42
- SBA 7(a) loans matched to this brand, incl. those still being repaid
- Loan volume
- $27.3M
- Average loan
- $649K
- loan volume divided by loans
- Charge-off rate
- 1 resolved of 42 loans: too few to judge
- Limited SBA coverage: 42 loans, rate hidden until 10 have resolved and loans reach 2% of franchised units
- Paid in full
- 1 resolved of 42 loans: too few to judge
- Recent-loan charge-off
- 1 resolved of 42 loans: too few to judge
- Lenders
- 12
- Average interest rate
- 10.2%
- Jobs reported
- 757
- Lender concentration
- 29%
- top lender's share
Cumulative: every 7(a) loan matched to this brand in the SBA’s FOIA files, approved FY1991 onward. Historical lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
Borrower mix: of the 42 loans with a recorded business age, 42 (100%) went to startups or businesses under two years old and 0 (0%) to established businesses or ownership changes.
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Full SBA lending reportlenders · charge-off rate · trend
Lender network · SBA 7(a)
SBA Lending Report
Lender, state and yearly detail for Sweathouz from SBA 7(a) FOIA loan records.
- Average SBA guarantee
- 71%
- Average interest rate
- 10.2%
- Lender concentration
- 29%
- Jobs reported
- 757
Top 10 SBA lenders by loan count
| Loans | Volume | Charge-off |
|---|---|---|
| The Huntington National Bank | ||
| 12 | $3.9M | Not on file |
| Live Oak Banking Company | ||
| 6 | $3.9M | Not on file |
| Bank of Clarke | ||
| 6 | $3.4M | Not on file |
| FWBank | ||
| 3 | $2.4M | Not on file |
| Fortis Bank | ||
| 3 | $2.8M | Not on file |
A lender’s rate counts only its resolved loans, the loans that have finished (paid in full or charged off); a 0.0% often means few of its loans have finished. Under 10 resolved loans, the rate reads “Too few”.
Charge-off rate by state (top 10 by loans)
| State | Loans | Charged off | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| OH Ohio | 5 | 0 | Too few0 resolved |
| CO Colorado | 4 | 0 | Too few0 resolved |
| FL Florida | 4 | 0 | Too few0 resolved |
| NC North Carolina | 4 | 0 | Too few0 resolved |
| TX Texas | 3 | 0 | Too few0 resolved |
| UT Utah | 3 | 0 | Too few0 resolved |
| MA Massachusetts | 2 | 0 | Too few0 resolved |
| MD Maryland | 2 | 0 | Too few0 resolved |
| PA Pennsylvania | 2 | 0 | Too few0 resolved |
| TN Tennessee | 2 | 0 | Too few0 resolved |
Rate: charged-off loans over resolved loans (paid in full plus charged off), shown from 10 resolved loans. "Too few": under 10 resolved. The Loans column counts every approval in the window, including loans still being repaid.
SBA 7(a) loans approved per year
Borrower profile
The SBA's own business-age labels (2)
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA loan-level data, matched to the brand by FranchiseVerdict.
What are the risks?
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Verdict grade + FDD Items 3 (litigation), 4 (bankruptcy), 8 (required suppliers), 16 (what you may sell), 21 (audited financials)
Risk and legal
Grade A: Strongest tier, 70/100 (category median 56); the full grade is at the top of the page.
How the grade is built
Why an A, factor by factor
- Financial health NeutralAudited financials; no going-concern doubt; statements are the parent's, so this stays near neutral
- Unit economics NeutralNo Item 19 sales figure to set against the investment, so neutral
- Unit growth Neutral+64 franchised outlets over the two years to 2025 (2 to 66); growth is not graded below a 10-outlet starting base; turnover 0.0%
- Scale Neutral66 franchised units, +16 company-owned (82 in all); franchising since 2022
- Legal HelpsNo litigation naming the franchisor in Item 3; a bankruptcy disclosed in Item 4 (an officer's)
- Transparency HelpsItem 19 discloses financial performance; audited financials
- Adjustments after the six dimensions (-1 point)Rounding: the score is kept as a whole number, which moved it by 1 point.
From the six scored dimensions, an editorial assessment, not investment advice. How the score is built
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
Subject: an officer. An officer’s own bankruptcy or a company an officer ran, not the franchisor’s
Until April 2024, two of the franchisor's officers (Jeffrey J. Teschke and Kyle Casella) were officers of Honors Holdings, LLC, a multi-unit Orangetheory Fitness franchisee. Approximately 7 months after they left, an involuntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition was filed against Honors Holdings, LLC on November 20, 2024 (Case No. 1-24-44875-ess, E.D.N.Y.); case remains pending.
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
The revenue figures are in the Franchisor tab, under The franchisor.
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
ⓘ These are the parent company's consolidated financials (the parent guarantees the franchisor), not this brand's standalone results; the figure reflects the whole corporate group, not this brand alone.
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
Ask what the franchisor earns on the supplies it sells you or the rebates it takes (Item 8).
- Franchisor sells you products: Yes
- Franchisor takes supplier rebates: Yes
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Litigation case detail2 matters · Item 3
Litigation cases
Parent, affiliates, master franchisor and subfranchisor
Concluded (1)
HotBox Enterprises, LLC v. Legendary Sweat, LLC, et al., consolidated with Jamie Weeks v. Jessica Mortarotti, et al
settledLegendary Sweat, LLC (LS Opco, our affiliate) · filed 2020-06-01 · California Superior Court, County of Los Angeles · 20GDCV00469; 20STCV20681
“HotBox Enterprises, LLC v. Legendary Sweat, LLC, et al., No. 20GDCV00469 (the “HotBox Lawsuit”), consolidated on March 24, 2021, with Jamie Weeks v. Jessica Mortarotti, et al, No. 20STCV20681 (the “Related Lawsuit”), both filed in the California Superior Court, County of Los Angeles.”Page 11 of the 2026 FDD, Item 3
Outcome: “The parties to the cases entered into a confidential settlement agreement on February 2, 2022 under which (i) HotBox relinquished its assets to the LS Opco Parties, (ii) HotBox received $2,700,000 in proceeds, (iii) the parties released each other from all additional claims, and (iv) the lawsuits were dismissed.”
Officers and directors (individuals, not the company)
Pending (1)
In re WEH Liquidating, LLC, et al.
pendingKyle Casella (our officer) · filed 2023-03-30 · U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware · Case No. 25-11602; Adv. Proc. No. 25-52457-TMH
“… Case No. 25-11602; Adv. Proc. No. 25-52457-TMH, filed in the United States Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware.”Page 10 of the 2026 FDD, Item 3
Item 3 lists the litigation the franchisor must disclose; a matter against a parent, an affiliate or a named officer is not a matter against the franchisor, and pending claims are allegations, not findings.
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 11.0% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before your own operating costs.
Source: FDD 2026 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12 (territory), 15 (owner participation) and 17 (renewal, termination and disputes)
Contract and territory detail
| Allowed renewals | 2 |
|---|---|
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territory | No |
| Territory size | “No exclusive territory; franchisee receives a "protected territory" (boundaries on a map or a radius circle) within which the franchisor will not authorize another Business, but there is no minimum protected territory size, and the franchisor/affiliates reserve broad rights to compete outside the territory, under other brands, and through other channels.” |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Who runs it (Item 15) | A manager may run it |
| Non-compete (years) | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles) | 10 mi |
| Right of first refusal | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 30 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Curable defaults | 6 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Within 50 miles of franchisor's (or successor's) principal place of business, currently Atlanta, Georgia |
Items 5 (initial fees), 7 (startup costs), 12 (territory) and 20 (outlet counts) · development agreement
Area development (several units)
A development fee of $45,000 per unit you commit to, credited toward each unit's franchise fee while you keep to the schedule.
Every term, with its page
- Development fee
- $45,000 per unit committed.
2026 FDD p.12
“Development Fee: If we elect to sign a Development Agreement with you, you will pay us, in a lump sum, a nonrefundable initial development fee (the “Development Fee”) equal to $45,000 multiplied by the number of Businesses you agree to develop, with a minimum of 2 such Businesses.” - Credit against the fee
- $45,000 per unit is credited toward each unit's initial franchise fee.
2026 FDD p.1
“We credit this amount, in $45,000 increments, toward the initial franchise fee that is due as franchise agreements are signed until the aggregate amount of these credits equals the development fee.” - Item 7 for the agreement
- $90K – $225K to sign the development agreement, before any unit's own Item 7 total.
2026 FDD p.20
“TOTAL ESTIMATED INITIAL INVESTMENT2 $90,000 to $225,000” - Signed, not yet open
- 36 franchises sold but not open at year end (Item 20, Table 5; see Growth). Ask how long they have been waiting and why.
Each unit still needs its own Item 7 investment on top of the development fee ($45K times the units you commit to). Have a franchise attorney read the schedule and the default terms before you sign.
Items 10 (financing), 11 (training and support)
Training and operations
- Classroom training
- 35 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 40 hrs
- Training location
- Franchisor's Atlanta, GA headquarters (or virtual) for classroom; an affiliate-owned Business for on-the-job training
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 6–12 mo
- From signing to launch (FDD p.28)
- Site selection
- franchisor-assisted, franchisee ultimately responsible
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- Mindbody
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 (initial fees) & 11 (training and support)
Franchisor support
Franchisee contacts
We hold no owner list for this brand. Item 20 of the FDD lists the current and former owners; the free FDD is the source.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to open a Sweathouz franchise?
Per the 2026 FDD, the total investment to open a Sweathouz franchise ranges from $632K to $1.3M, with an initial franchise fee of $45K. This is the Item 7 total in the Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD): the startup costs the franchisor lists, such as build-out, equipment, inventory and working capital. It usually leaves out buying land or a building; Item 7's notes say what is excluded.
What do Sweathouz franchise owners earn?
Item 19 of the Sweathouz FDD discloses figures for part of the system but no single average across all outlets. These are gross sales figures, not profit; the Revenue section shows what the filing reports and on what basis. Item 20 of the FDD lists current and former franchisees; asking them directly is the standard way to fill this gap.
Who owns Sweathouz?
Sweathouz is franchised by LS Franchisor LLC. Its parent company is Legendary Sweat Intermediate, LLC (LS Intermediate). The ultimate parent named in the FDD is Legacy Franchise Concepts, L.P. (LFC Topco). Source: FDD Item 1, 2026 filing.
What is Item 19 in the Sweathouz 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 Sweathouz FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Sweathouz's franchise failure rate?
There is no published franchise failure rate, and Sweathouz has too few resolved SBA 7(a) loans on file (fewer than 10) to show an SBA charge-off rate that would mean anything. The SBA charge-off rate is the share of a brand's resolved SBA 7(a) loans to its franchisees that the SBA wrote off, including purchased guarantees. Resolved means paid in full or charged off; active loans are excluded because their outcome is not yet known. It is a lending outcome, not a count of closed businesses. Review the turnover and closure figures in Item 20 of the FDD and speak with current and former franchisees.
How many Sweathouz franchise locations are there?
Per the 2026 FDD, Sweathouz has 66 franchised units and 16 company-owned (82 in all). In the latest year, the number of franchised outlets grew by 44 (44 opened, 0 closed).
Is Sweathouz a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict gives Sweathouz an A Verdict grade (Strongest tier) with a verdict score of 70 out of 100 (higher is better), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Helped by legal record (no litigation naming the franchisor in Item 3) and transparency. The “Why an A” section on this page lists all six dimensions and any adjustment. Speak with current franchisees before making any investment decision.
Other Personal Care & Beauty franchises
Similar investment first, then by grade
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.