The Wellness WayFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A The Wellness Way franchise requires a total initial investment of $77K – $247K, including a $15K franchise fee. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $961K[2]. Verdict grade: A. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $77K – $247K
- 13th pct Healthcare
- Avg gross sales
- $961K
- 28th pct Healthcare
- Royalty
- N/A
- Units
- 49
- 55th 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
Each dollar invested generates 5.9x in gross revenue, well above the typical 1.5-2.5x range.
Franchised units fell from 39 to 0 over 3 years. Investigate why operators are leaving.
Bottom line
- Total investment $77K – $247K including a $15K franchise fee.
- Average unit revenue of $961K/year (median $668K).
- Verdict A (Top Quintile) with a risk score of 22/100.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- The Wellness Way Franchise LLC
- Parent company
- The Wellness Way, LLC
- CEO title
- Chief Executive Officer
- Nicole Seidel
- Founder active
- Yes
- Original founder still leading the business
- Incorporated in
- WI
- HQ
- 2525 W Mason Street, Green Bay, WI 54303
- Auditor
- CliftonLarsonAllen LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $1.4M
- vs $2.0M prior year
- Management churn noted
- Frequent turnover
- Item 2 disclosed frequent executive changes
Affiliated brands
- WWE
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
Overview
About
The Wellness Way franchisees operate health and wellness centers offering services such as chiropractic care, nutritional counseling, fitness programs, or complementary health treatments. Day-to-day operations include patient/client consultations, treatment administration, billing, staff management, and regulatory compliance in the healthcare services sector.
- CEO
- Nicole Seidel
- Headquarters
- WI
- Founded
- 2022
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 19
FDD Item 7 · 2025 filing · 15 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Fee | $15K | $15K | |
| Real Estate | $3K | $10K | |
| Utility Deposits | $2K | $4K | |
| Leasehold Improvements | $5K | $50K | |
| Insurance | $2K | $4K | |
| Furniture, Equipment, Computers, and Supplies | $20K | $89K | |
| Costs of Attending Initial Training | $3K | $5K | |
| Signage | $5K | $9K | |
| Initial Inventory and Start-Up Package | $8K | $20K | |
| Opening Marketing | $2K | $10K | |
| Licenses & Permits | $750 | $4K | |
| Legal & Accounting | $3K | $7K | |
| Administrative Services | $2K | $2K | |
| IT Support Services | $0 | $600 | |
| Additional Funds (3 months) | $10K | $20K | |
| Total initial investment | $79K | $248K |
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
$173K
18.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
98%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
12 mo
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $77K – $247K
- Better than avg vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $10K – $20K
- Better than avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $15K – $15K
- Better than avg vs category
- Royalty
- the higher of 5% of weekly Gross Revenues or 5% of Minimu…
- Ad fund
- 1.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 6.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty (flat) | The higher of 5% of weekly Gross Revenues or Minimum Performance Requirements |
| Marketing / ad fund | 1.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $0 |
| Transfer fee | $7K |
| Renewal fee | $3K |
| Inventory (initial) | $8K – $20K |
| 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
- $961K
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $668K
- Item 19 type
- gross_sales
- Sample size
- 44 units
- vs category median 12 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $181K→$4.0M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Quartile band
- $289K→$2.0M
- Bottom 25% → top 25%
- Transparency tier
- revenue_only
- Categorical assessment of disclosure depth
- Reporting year
- 2024
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Transparency
- 4 / 5
- vs category median 4 / 5 · typical
Compared against 201 Healthcare brands
Revenue is 5.9x the investment midpoint. At typical franchise margins, this suggests a payback under 3 years.
vs Healthcare averages
How The Wellness Way Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 49
- Opened
- 13
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 2
- Turnover rate
- 4.1%
- Company-owned
- 10
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 80%
- vs corporate-owned
- Multi-unit owners
- 33.3%
- Net growth (yr3)
- +34.5%
- Net unit change last year
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 20
- Transfers (3yr)
- 1
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.
Available to sell in · Item 12
- California
- Indiana
- Maryland
- New York
- Rhode Island
States where the franchisor is registered to sell new franchises (FDD registration filings).
Fast growth in a small system. Newer franchisors expanding quickly may not yet have the support infrastructure of larger systems.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
No SBA loan data available for this brand.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
The Wellness Way presents moderate-to-cautious risk due to undisclosed profitability metrics, aggressive growth potentially outpacing franchisee sustainability, and opaque royalty structure despite solid average unit revenue.
Litigation (Item 3)
No litigation required to be disclosed
Largest disclosed settlement: $20,000
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · CliftonLarsonAllen LLP
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: Yes
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: No
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 22 / 100 rating
- 01MEDNet income not disclosed in Item 19 — unable to verify profitability claims against $960K average revenue
- 02MINORHigh royalty structure (5% of revenue OR minimum performance requirements) creates unpredictable costs and potential disputes
- 03MINORRapid unit growth (34.5% YoY) may indicate aggressive recruitment over sustainable franchisee success
- 04MINORWide investment range ($77.4K–$246.9K) suggests inconsistent startup costs and unclear value proposition
- 05HIGHGoing Concern status 'False' is ambiguous — requires clarification on franchisor financial stability
- 06HIGHNo litigation disclosed but wellness/health claims industry faces regulatory scrutiny
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 | 7 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 7 years |
| Territory type | Radius |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory radius | 3 mi |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Not allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 3 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 10 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 45 days |
| Termination groundsℹ | 1 |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 3 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Green Bay, Brown County, Wisconsin |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Wisconsin |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation required to be disclosed
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 80 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 8 hrs
- Training location
- On-site and off-site
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Site selection
- franchisee
- Franchisor financing
- Offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- The Wellness Way System Software
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: The Wellness Way System Software
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
57 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
The Wellness Way · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a The Wellness Way franchise?
The total investment to open a The Wellness Way franchise ranges from $77K – $247K, with an initial franchise fee of $15K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do The Wellness Way franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the The Wellness Way FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $961K. The median is $668K. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is The Wellness Way's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for The Wellness Way (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 The Wellness Way franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, The Wellness Way has 49 total units in the United States, including 39 franchised units and 10 company-owned units. 13 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is The Wellness Way a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates The Wellness Way as a A-grade franchise with a risk score of 22 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.