FranchiseVitals / Under $250,000
Franchises Under $250,000 to Start
Grouped by the low end of the real investment range each franchisor discloses in Item 7 of its FDD -- not a marketing headline number. The high end can run well past this figure, so check each profile before ruling anything in or out.
Across the 37 franchises under $250,000 verified here, the initial investment averages $174,102 to $440,939; the lowest entry point is BrightStar Care at $101,464, and 7-Eleven runs up to $1,656,800. Initial franchise fees range from $2,000 to $94,950 (1 of these set the fee per store rather than a flat amount). Royalties average 6.3% of gross sales (8 of these disclose a non-percentage royalty). By the most recent Item 20 filing, 25 are opening more franchised locations than they close, 12 are losing locations.
Computed from the 37 entries listed below, each sourced from its own FDD -- not an industry-wide estimate.
What kind of business falls under $250,000
Home Services is the largest single category here, 6 of the 37 verified brands (16%), followed by food & beverage (6) and automotive (5).
Royalties in this tier average 6.3% of gross sales, against 6.1% across every verified brand on the site.
This tier groups brands by the low end of Item 7 of their FDD, which bundles the initial franchise fee with real estate or lease costs, equipment, opening inventory, training expenses, and a working-capital reserve -- not the franchise fee alone. Two brands here can share a fee and still land in different tiers once build-out and working capital are added in, so the number above is the floor, not the sticker price.
$125,460–$171,150
Growing$174,250–$265,750
Shrinking$121,577–$438,440
Growing$249,950–$479,950
Growing$129,149–$150,949
Shrinking$142,903–$312,398
Shrinking$127,050–$185,859
Growing$108,503–$152,618
Growing$126,880–$170,110
Shrinking$188,675–$636,458
Growing$183,400–$394,400
Shrinking$114,730–$228,601
Growing$185,930–$323,460
Shrinking$231,635–$376,392
Growing$166,671–$950,351
Growing$182,300–$303,500
Shrinking$231,450–$743,500
Growing$222,368–$606,081
Growing$243,155–$647,160
Growing$245,432–$344,768
Growing$240,200–$306,800
Growing$176,500–$231,500
Growing$236,800–$580,500
Shrinking$101,630–$233,780
Growing$238,982–$697,322
Shrinking$146,950–$512,450
Growing$127,316–$165,846
Growing$152,900–$298,675
Growing$162,900–$1,656,800
Growing$162,510–$204,550
Shrinking$117,720–$141,200
Growing$211,000–$510,000
Growing$150,155–$191,575
Shrinking$224,898–$1,200,818
Growing$196,000–$644,000
Shrinking$192,375–$639,550
Growing$101,464–$217,486
GrowingOnly hand-verified brands show up here -- more are added to each tier as they're checked against their actual filing.