The Entrepreneur’s SourceFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A The Entrepreneur’s Source franchise requires a total initial investment of $114K – $126K, including a $75K franchise fee and an ongoing 25.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2024 FDD, average unit revenue was $144K[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 16.2% charge-off rate across 37 loans[1]. Verdict grade: B. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2024 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $114K – $126K
- 34th pct Business Serv…
- Avg gross sales
- $144K
- 3rd pct Business Serv…
- Royalty
- 25.0%
- 34th pct Business Serv…
- Units
- 186
- 47th pct Business Serv…
- SBA default
- 16.2%
- 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
Franchising since 1997. Systems this mature have refined operations and brand recognition.
The system grew 26% year-over-year. Fast growth means demand, but can strain support.
Bottom line
- Total investment $114K – $126K including a $75K franchise fee, 25.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $144K/year (median $118K).
- Verdict B (Above Average) with a risk score of 55/100. SBA loan charge-off rate of 16.2% across 37 loans (above the 16% franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2024).
- System growing at 38.8% CAGR over 3 years with 186 total units. Strong expansion trajectory.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- TES Franchising, LLC
- Incorporated in
- CT
- HQ
- 464 Heritage Road, Suite 3, Southbury, Connecticut 06488
- Auditor
- Velez Hardy CPAs and Advisors
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $20.8M
- vs $27.2M prior year
Affiliated brands
- AdviCoach Franchising
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
Overview
About
Franchisees operate as career counselors/business coaches, placing clients into entrepreneurial opportunities or employment roles. Revenue comes primarily from placement fees charged to clients or hiring companies. Day-to-day work involves client intake, career assessment, placement matching, and relationship management to generate commissionable placements.
- CEO
- Marissa Frois
- Headquarters
- CT
- Founded
- 1997
- FDD year
- 2024
- States available
- 37
FDD Item 7 · 2024 filing · 10 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Feenot refundable | $75K | $75K | |
| Training Feenot refundable | $25K | $25K | |
| Travel And Living Expenses | $2K | $4K | |
| Insurance Premiums - Annual | $700 | $2K | |
| Equipment | $150 | $3K | |
| Initial Marketing | $1K | $2K | |
| MST Fees and Brand Building Investmentsnot refundable | $3K | $3K | |
| Conference Feenot refundable | $0 | $450 | |
| Conference Travel and Living Expenses | $0 | $3K | |
| Additional Funds - 6 Months | $8K | $10K | |
| Total initial investment | $114K | $126K |
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
$-7K
-5.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
-6%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
—
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $114K – $126K
- Better than avg vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $8K – $10K
- Better than avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $75K – $75K
- Near category avg vs category
- Royalty
- 25.0%
- percentage · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- $750 per month
- Total fee load
- 25.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 25.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $150 |
| Training fee | $25K |
| Transfer fee | $19K |
| Renewal fee | $5K |
| Total fee load | 25.0% of rev |
At 25.0% total fee load, roughly $36K per year goes to the franchisor before you pay a single operating expense.
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $144K
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $118K
- Item 19 type
- Historical Yearly Placement Fees
- Sample size
- 140 units
- vs category median 32 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $0→$485K
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Transparency tier
- revenue_only
- Categorical assessment of disclosure depth
- Reporting year
- 2023
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Transparency
- 4 / 5
- vs category median 3 / 5 · above
Compared against 360 Business Services brands
vs Business Services averages
How The Entrepreneur’s Source Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 186
- Opened
- 49
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 4
- Turnover rate
- 2.2%
- Company-owned
- 0
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 100%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (yr3)
- +25.7%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- +38.8%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 38
- Closed (3yr)
- 0
- Terminated (3yr)
- 0
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 0
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Transfer rate
- 0.8%
- Owners selling to other franchisees
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 39 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
- 37
- Loan volume
- $4.9M
- Median loan
- $150K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- 16.2%
- 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)
- 60.0%
- 5-yr charge-off
- 25.0%
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 7
- Defaults
- 6
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
This is a high-risk placement/recruiting franchise with opaque profitability, misaligned fee structures, litigation history, and unprotected territories—proceed only after extensive current franchisee validation.
Litigation (Item 3)
1 case reference(s): 0 pending, 0 settled.
Largest disclosed settlement: $102,342
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Velez Hardy CPAs and Advisors
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 55 / 100 rating
- 01MINOR25% royalty on placement fees is extremely high and creates misaligned incentives; franchisee success depends on FEE COLLECTION, not client outcomes
- 02MINORNo Item 19 (Average Net Income) disclosure is a major transparency red flag; with $143.6K avg revenue and 25% royalties, profitability is unclear
- 03HIGHFTC litigation regarding dispute handling representations suggests franchisor made unsubstantiated claims about their support or safe harbor frameworks
- 04MINORArbitration award against franchisees for unlawful termination indicates termination disputes and potential franchisor overreach in contract enforcement
- 05MINORUnprotected territory in a business model dependent on local client relationships creates cannibalization risk and unfair competition between franchisees
- 06MEDHigh initial investment ($114K-$126K) relative to undisclosed net income creates poor visibility on ROI timeline and payback period
- 07MINORRapid growth (25.7% YoY) without profitability disclosure may indicate recruitment-driven expansion rather than unit-level sustainability
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 | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 1 |
| Protected territory | No |
| Territory population | 500,000 |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 50 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 30 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 2 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Southbury, Connecticut |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Connecticut |
| Litigation count | 2 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
1 case reference(s): 0 pending, 0 settled.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 80 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 202 hrs
- Training location
- On-site and corporate
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 4 mo
- From signing to launch
- Franchisor financing
- Offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- Proprietary TES data management and intranet system
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Proprietary TES data management and intranet system
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
190 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
The Entrepreneur’s Source · FDD (2024) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a The Entrepreneur’s Source franchise?
The total investment to open a The Entrepreneur’s Source franchise ranges from $114K – $126K, with an initial franchise fee of $75K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do The Entrepreneur’s Source franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the The Entrepreneur’s Source FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $144K. The median is $118K. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is The Entrepreneur’s Source's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, The Entrepreneur’s Source has a charge-off rate of 16.2% across 37 loans, meaning 16.2% 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 The Entrepreneur’s Source franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, The Entrepreneur’s Source has 186 total units in the United States, including 119 franchised units and 0 company-owned units. 49 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is The Entrepreneur’s Source a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates The Entrepreneur’s Source as a B-grade franchise with a risk score of 55 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.