Zen Massage Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Zen Massage is a wellness franchise offering therapeutic and relaxation massage services in a spa setting. Franchisees run the studios, managing licensed massage therapists, appointments, and memberships.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Zen Massage franchise requires a total initial investment of $296K – $363K, including a $39K franchise fee and an ongoing 5.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $518K[2]. FranchiseVerdict grade: A (Strongest tier), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $296K – $363K
- 34th pct Personal Care…
- Avg gross sales
- $518K
- 13th pct Personal Care…
- Royalty
- 5.0%
- 2nd pct Personal Care…
- Units
- 9
- 17th pct Personal Care…
- SBA charge-off
- N/A
Quick verdict · Personal Care & Beauty · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Personal Care & Beauty avg · No shading = within ±10% · Red = unfavorable by >10% · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Bottom line
- COSTTotal investment $296K – $363K including a $39K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $518K/year (median $525K).
- RISKVerdict A (Strongest tier), verdict score 60/100 (higher is better).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Zen Massage Franchising, Inc.
- Predecessor
- Abundance Group, LLC
- Prior franchisor entity
- CEO title
- Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
- Keith Larson
- Incorporated in
- North Carolina
- HQ
- 19911 Zion Avenue Ste. D-1, Cornelius, NC 28031
- Auditor
- Scharf Pera & Co., PLLC
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $264K
- vs $257K prior year
Overview
About
- CEO
- Keith Larson
- Headquarters
- NC
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 5
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 37% below the typical personal care & beauty franchise.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 5–7
FDD Item 7 · 2025 filing
Initial investment breakdown
| Cost component | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $39K | $39K |
| Working capital (3–6 mo) | $25K | $50K |
| Equipment, build-out, other | $232K | $274K |
| Total initial investment | $296K | $363K |
Source: Zen Massage 2025 FDD, Items 5 and 7[2]. “Equipment, build-out, other” is computed as total minus disclosed line items above.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $296K – $363K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $25K – $50K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $39K – $39K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Royalty
- 5.0%
- Gross Weekly Receipts · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 2.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 7.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 5.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 2.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $400 |
| Transfer fee | $10K |
| Renewal fee | $10K |
| Total fee load | 7.0% of rev |
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 35% below the personal care & beauty norm.
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 19
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
$119K
23.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
33%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
3.1 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
What one unit earns on your invested capital
Model A · Single-Unit Return
Computes unlevered return on invested capital (ROIC) for a single franchise unit. The target band for an attractive franchise is 30–60% ROIC. Below that and a passive index fund likely outperforms; above that and the franchisor has pricing power you're subsidizing.
Note: Item 19 revenue is what the franchisor discloses. It's the top line only. Operating costs below are category estimates. Override them to match your real lease quote, labor market, and build-out budget.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one Zen Massage unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Estimated return on your total franchise investment, before any debt financing.
33%
Within the 30–60% "attractive franchise" band
What 25 units return when you use SBA financing
Model B · Return on Equity: Debt-Financed Acquisition
Models a 25-unit portfolio acquisition financed with an SBA 7(a) loan. Shows equity IRR (your return on cash invested), DSCR (how safely the cash flow covers debt service), and the capital stack (SBA + seller + equity breakdown).
This is the “search fund” or “entrepreneurship through acquisition” scenario: you buy an existing multi-unit operator, use leverage to amplify returns, and either operate or hire management. The 25-unit size is the typical minimum for an SBA-backed franchise portfolio acquisition to pencil as a full-time income.
What “return on equity” means here: if you put in $500K of your own cash and the business generates enough EBITDA to pay down debt and grow, your equity IRR is the annual return on that $500K, including the value created when you eventually sell. Target IRR for a search fund is typically 25–35%.
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Zen Massage units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$1.7M
on $8.3M purchase
Total debt
$6.6M
SBA $4.1M + senior + seller note
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: 2025 FDD
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $518K
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $525K
Gross sales are revenue before expenses — not profit. Actual owner earnings depend on rent, labor, royalties, marketing fees, and debt service.
- Item 19 type
- Gross Receipts
- Sample size
- 7 outlets
- vs category median 38 · small
- Range (low → high)
- $338K→$813K
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Reporting year
- 2024
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2025
- Disclosed in the 2025 filing, covering 2024
- Transparency
- 4 / 10
- vs category median 4 / 10 · typical
Compared against 179 Personal Care & Beauty brands
Operator outlook
What the numbers say
Data-driven interpretation of this brand's financial disclosures, fee structure, and system trajectory.
Unit economics
Average unit generates $518K/year in gross sales. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 1.6x.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 7.0% (near the Personal Care & Beauty average).
Disclosure
Transparency score 4/10 — this franchisor discloses detailed breakdowns (quartiles, segments, or cohort data). Buyers can model unit economics with higher confidence.
Operator retention
Net unit growth roughly flat at 0.0%.
Source: FDD Item 19 financial performance representations and publicly filed FDD data. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Verify all figures with the franchisor and current franchisees before making any investment decision.
vs Personal Care & Beauty averages
How Zen Massage Compares
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 9
- Opened
- 0
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 0
- Terminated
- 0
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 0.0%
- Company-owned
- 2
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 78%
- vs corporate-owned
- Multi-unit owners
- Outlier
- Reported value implausible. See FDD Item 20
- Net growth (3-yr)
- +0.0%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 3-yr CAGR
- +0.0%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 0
- Closed (3yr)
- 0
- Terminated (3yr)
- 0
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 0
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 6 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 2 7(a) loans on file; statistical reliability is limited below 10 loans.
- Total loans
- 2
- Loan volume
- $594K
- Median loan
- $125K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- N/A
- limited sample (2 loans) — rate not shown below 10
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
- 2
- Defaults
- N/A
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
What could kill this investment?
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 4, 8, 16, 21
Risk & Legal
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Scharf Pera & Co., PLLC
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Score breakdown · what drove the 60 / 100 verdict
- 01MINORThin financials: net worth $116,807, net loss -$2,814
- 02MINORSmall 9-unit system, $262K revenue
- 03MINORNo litigation; flat growth, 0% turnover
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 7.0% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 1 |
| Territory type | Population |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| 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 |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | North Carolina |
| Litigation count | 0 |
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 17 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 20 hrs
- Training location
- On-site at Restaurant
- POS system
- Mindbody
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Mindbody
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
12 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Zen Massage · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Zen Massage franchise?
The total investment to open a Zen Massage franchise ranges from $296K – $363K, with an initial franchise fee of $39K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Zen Massage franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Zen Massage FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $518K. The median is $525K. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Item 19 in the Zen Massage 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 Zen Massage FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Zen Massage's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Zen Massage (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 Zen Massage franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Zen Massage has 9 total units in the United States, including 7 franchised units and 2 company-owned units.
Is Zen Massage a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Zen Massage as a A-grade franchise with a verdict score of 60 out of 100 (higher is better), 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.
For franchisors
Are you the franchisor?
If you represent Zen Massage, you can request corrections or provide updated information.
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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.