Education
Goldfish Swim School Franchise
A children's swim-lesson franchise built around purpose-built indoor pools kept at 90 degrees, with small-class instruction for ages four months to twelve years. The first school opened in Birmingham, Michigan in 2006 and franchising began in 2008. Each school is a large build-out with a pool, which drives an investment in the millions and steady rather than explosive growth.
Every franchisor has to file a document called an FDD before they can legally sell you a franchise. Buried in it are the two things a sales rep won't volunteer: what you'll actually spend to open, and whether existing locations are opening or closing. That's what's below, pulled straight from Goldfish Swim School's own filing.
What it costs to open
From the filing's investment breakdown -- not a "starting at" number a sales rep quoted you.
Franchise fee
$50,000
Total to open
$2,584,033–$5,968,481
Ongoing royalty
6% of gross sales
What you'd actually spend, over time
The upfront cost is only part of it. Plug in what you expect a location to bring in, and see the real total once royalties over a few years are added on top.
Defaulted to a rough education industry average, not a figure from Goldfish Swim School's own FDD -- change it to your own estimate.
Total cost of ownership over 5 years
$2,689,033 – $6,073,481
Startup investment
$2,584,033–$5,968,481
Royalty per year (6%)
$21,000
Total royalty, 5yr
$105,000
When would you break even?
Revenue alone doesn't tell you this -- it depends on what's left after rent, labor, and everything else. Goldfish Swim School's FDD doesn't disclose a reliable profit figure (most franchisors don't), so this starts from a typical education profit margin (~15%) and applies it to the revenue you entered above -- adjust the percentage to your own realistic estimate.
Defaulted to a general education industry benchmark, not a figure from Goldfish Swim School's own filing -- this is a starting point to adjust, not a promise about what franchisees actually make.
At that profit, you'd break even in about
49.2–113.7 years
Weigh that payback period against what you already know: Goldfish Swim School is opening more locations. A long payback period on a shrinking brand is a very different bet than the same payback period on a growing one.
Is Goldfish Swim School actually growing?
Franchisors have to report, every year, how many locations opened, closed, or changed hands. Most franchise sites never show you this. Here it is:
Locations opened vs. closed, by year
GrowingFrom Item 20 of Goldfish Swim School's FDD, the section franchisors use to disclose real openings and closings.
| Year | Franchised units, start | Franchised units, end | Net change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 137 | 155 | +18 |
| 2024 | 155 | 172 | +17 |
| 2025 | 172 | 192 | +20 |
Most recent year (2025): gained 20 franchised units, ending the year at 192 total.
How Goldfish Swim School compares to other Education franchises
Across the 4 education franchises we've hand-verified so far, the typical range to open runs $1,259,458–$3,595,098, with royalties averaging around 7.3% of gross sales (based on the 4 of them that charge a flat %-of-revenue royalty). That's still a small sample -- treat it as a rough starting point, not an industry-wide benchmark.
Where this came from: California DFPI Registration Renewal, App ID APP00004318, filed 3/6/2026, effective 3/16/2026. FDD issued December 31, 2025. Item 5: $50,000 lump-sum franchise fee ($20,000 for second and subsequent schools under an area development agreement). Item 6: royalty is the greater of $1,250 per month or 6% of gross sales; brand fund the greater of $450 per month or up to 3% (currently 2%). Item 7: $2,584,033-$5,968,481 for a single school; with a development fee the area-development total is $2,604,033-$5,988,481. Item 20 Table 1 franchised outlets. You can pull the same filing yourself from the California DFPI's public franchise search. Filed 2026-03-06. None of this is investment advice -- get the franchisor's current FDD and talk to a real attorney or accountant before you sign anything.
If you see a different unit count elsewhere: franchisors only have to refile their FDD annually, so the numbers here can run 6–18 months behind a franchisor's own real-time marketing claims -- which often aren't independently verified, and sometimes count signed-but-not-yet-open locations. A gap isn't necessarily an error on either side; it's two different snapshots in time from two different sources.