Business models / Massage Therapy Business / Own a franchise

A massage therapy business franchise, or your own?

Six franchise brands run a massage therapy business. Here they are beside the independent version of the same business, with each brand’s fees as it publishes them and worked out in dollars. A brand can bring customers an independent has to earn one by one. The question is whether it brings in more than it costs.

Typical for a massage therapy business: $150k to $600k in sales, and the owner keeps 18% to 28% after paying for its own marketing. Change either to your own numbers.

Work each brand out at

How the two sides are counted

  • Sales. A brand’s name brings customers an independent wins one at a time, so each brand is worked out at the sales it reports where we have them, and at yours where we don’t.
  • Marketing. On your own you pay for all of it, about 7% of sales here. The ad fund does part of that job, so it is counted once, not twice.
  • Survival. New franchised businesses were about 5 to 6 points more likely to make it through their first two years in Census data, and about half of all new businesses close within five years. It is not in the dollars; each brand’s details give the sources.

Your own massage therapy business and each brand, side by side

The independent version

Your own massage therapy business

Built and run under your own name

Cost to open
$45k to $175k
Annual sales
$300ktypical
Franchise fee
None
Royalty + ad fund
Noneall marketing is yours
$69,000
The owner keeps in a year, after about $21k of marketing
Taking new owners

Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa

Massage and facial spa

Total investment
$321k to $865k
Avg. annual sales
$1.3M to $1.4M
Franchise fee
$40k
Royalty + ad fund
6% + 5% of sales
$230k
The owner keeps in a year at $1.4M in sales (what it reports), after $149k to the brand
$161k more a year than on your own
Taking new owners

The NOW Massage

Boutique massage studios

Total investment
$476k to $813k
Avg. annual sales
Ask the brand
Franchise fee
$60k
Royalty + ad fund
6% + 2% of sales
$51k
The owner keeps in a year at $300k in sales (your sales), after $24k to the brand
$18k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners

Elements Massage

Massage studios

Total investment
$516k to $730k
Avg. annual sales
$936k to $956k
Franchise fee
$40k
Royalty + ad fund
6% + 2% of sales
$161k
The owner keeps in a year at $946k in sales (what it reports), after $76k to the brand
$92k more a year than on your own
Taking new owners

MassageLuXe

Membership massage spa

Total investment
$571k to $799k
Avg. annual sales
Ask the brand
Franchise fee
$43k
Royalty + ad fund
6% + 1% of sales
$51k
The owner keeps in a year at $300k in sales (your sales), after $21k to the brand
$18k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners

Heights Wellness Retreat

Massage and facials, formerly Massage Heights

Total investment
$622k to $820k
Avg. annual sales
Franchise fee
$50k
Royalty + ad fund
6% + 3% of sales
$51k
The owner keeps in a year at $300k in sales (your sales), after $27k to the brand
$18k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners

Massage Envy

Membership massage and skin care

Total investment
$719k to $1.1M
Avg. annual sales
Franchise fee
$45k
Royalty + ad fund
6% + 2% of sales
$51k
The owner keeps in a year at $300k in sales (your sales), after $24k to the brand
$18k less a year than on your own
Free account

See all 6 massage therapy business brands side by side

  • Every brand’s investment and fees, and what the owner keeps against running your own
  • The yearly sales the first 3 report, and a plus to add brands to your comparison and benchmark them in your account
  • Members see the sales every franchisor reports, for every brand

Free, no card. A new account accepts the Terms and the Privacy Policy. smbnest is a self-assessment tool and never takes a cut of your deal or a fee from a franchisor.

Before you sign: what to read in the disclosure document

Every franchisor must give you its Franchise Disclosure Document at least 14 days before you sign or pay. These are the parts that answer the questions above.

  • Items 5 to 7, the fees and the investment. The franchise fee, every other fee (technology, training, transfer, renewal), and the full opening budget, including working capital.
  • Item 19, what owners earn. Whether the brand states owner sales or earnings at all, and for which units. Put its figures in the boxes above in place of the typical ones.
  • Item 20, units opened, closed and sold. How many owners left in each of the last three years, and a list of current and former owners you can call.
  • Item 12, the territory. Whether you get a protected area, and what the brand can open or sell inside it.
  • Item 21, the franchisor’s own finances. Whether the company behind the brand is in good health.

smbnest is a self-assessment tool, not individualized advice. Fees are as each brand publishes them on its franchising page and in its disclosure document, reviewed in the month shown, and change; the figures in dollars are worked out at the sales you enter and are not a forecast. We never take a cut of your deal or a fee from a franchisor. Before you sign, speak with a franchise attorney and a qualified financial adviser, and call owners from the disclosure document.