Money
Liquid capital and net worth: what brands ask for and why
Two figures decide which brands can consider you at all. What counts as liquid, how net worth is added up, and why the survey asks for both.
1 minute readEvery brand page shows an investment range like $120K to $162K. What is inside that number, what is not, and why the two ends are so far apart.
Updated Sep 26 · 2 minute read
On every brand page the first figure you see is the investment range: the low and high estimate of what it costs to open one unit. It comes from Item 7 of the brand's Franchise Disclosure Document, and it's the number to start from.
Item 7 is a table of the costs a new owner pays before and during opening, typically:
The initial franchise fee (also stated on its own in Item 5).
Real estate deposits, build-out and signage.
Equipment, fixtures and opening inventory.
Training expenses, including travel.
Insurance, licences and professional fees.
Additional funds for the first months of operation, usually three.
Each line has a low and a high estimate, and the range on the brand page is the sum of each column.
Your living expenses while the business ramps up.
Loan interest and fees.
Anything beyond the "additional funds" window, which is usually three months.
Real estate you buy rather than lease.
Plan for these on top.
A range of $120K to $162K is narrow. Ranges like $250K to $900K are common for brands where the site drives the cost: a kiosk in an existing building sits at one end and a stand-alone build in an expensive market at the other. Ask the brand, and its owners on validation calls, where a unit like yours usually lands.
The investment range is what you spend. Liquid capital and net worth are what the brand needs you to have before it will consider you. Liquid capital and net worth explains both.
The catalog's figures come from the brand and are checked against public sources, chiefly the FDDs filed in states that keep public registries (Wisconsin, Minnesota and California among them). When a figure has not been published, the brand page says "Not published" rather than filling in a guess. When your coach or the brand updates a figure, the change is recorded with its source.
Two figures decide which brands can consider you at all. What counts as liquid, how net worth is added up, and why the survey asks for both.
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