FranchiseVitals / Under $500,000
Franchises Under $500,000 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 41 franchises under $500,000 verified here, the initial investment averages $352,512 to $1,009,697; the lowest entry point is The Joint Chiropractic at $254,250, and IHOP runs up to $3,735,850. Initial franchise fees range from $5,000 to $100,000. Royalties average 6.2% of gross sales (6 of these disclose a non-percentage royalty). By the most recent Item 20 filing, 32 are opening more franchised locations than they close, 7 are losing locations, 2 have no franchised units open yet.
Computed from the 41 entries listed below, each sourced from its own FDD -- not an industry-wide estimate.
What kind of business falls under $500,000
Food & Beverage is the largest single category here, 18 of the 41 verified brands (44%), followed by fitness (7) and retail (6).
Royalties in this tier average 6.2% 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.
$258,100–$480,500
Growing$364,015–$682,215
Growing$484,684–$770,754
Shrinking$445,299–$736,465
No franchised units yet$346,300–$459,700
Growing$271,037–$814,192
Growing$315,830–$2,093,361
Growing$385,450–$940,050
Shrinking$292,050–$514,950
No franchised units yet$376,500–$1,769,200
Growing$480,850–$941,300
Shrinking$403,289–$1,029,811
Growing$300,000–$720,500
Growing$291,145–$678,003
Growing$310,400–$1,048,500
Growing$436,176–$1,162,228
Growing$263,000–$630,000
Shrinking$317,521–$3,463,155
Growing$476,400–$671,200
Growing$275,875–$606,925
Growing$387,050–$756,100
Growing$366,200–$733,500
Growing$281,485–$890,267
Growing$327,600–$836,950
Growing$254,250–$520,800
Growing$362,300–$857,700
Shrinking$286,477–$811,186
Growing$392,667–$1,121,405
Growing$390,675–$680,775
Growing$475,200–$994,100
Growing$427,500–$3,312,500
Growing$288,890–$830,380
Growing$329,850–$683,215
Growing$263,305–$385,570
Growing$380,550–$3,735,850
Shrinking$256,950–$703,500
Growing$472,199–$551,771
Growing$262,646–$496,996
Shrinking$441,875–$1,328,210
Growing$355,700–$467,900
Growing$355,700–$485,900
GrowingOnly hand-verified brands show up here -- more are added to each tier as they're checked against their actual filing.