Training Mate Franchise Review (2026): Costs, Fees, Revenue Potential

• Category: Health & Wellness
• Initial Investment: $222,500 to $556,700
• Franchise Fee: $49,500
• Royalty: 5% of gross revenue in year 1, then 6%
• Marketing / Ad Fee: 2% of gross revenue
• Key additional recurring fees: $2,500 monthly local marketing spend; approximately $750 per month POS/software fee plus transaction costs; approximately $150 monthly technology-related fixed fees
• Number of locations: 7 total at year-end 2024 (3 franchised, 4 company-owned)
• Best Fit: Active owner with a trained manager in place; semi-absentee ownership is not clearly established in the disclosure

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The estimated initial investment ranges from $222,500 to $556,700, with a midpoint around $389,600. That places Training Mate in a relatively high startup-cost range for a single-unit service business.

Major cost drivers include the $49,500 franchise fee, leasehold buildout for a fitness studio, equipment, and opening working capital. The disclosure also references initial inventory of approximately $7,000 to $8,000 and additional funds of $30,000 to $60,000.

Because this is a physical studio model with meaningful space requirements and equipment needs, the capital requirement appears tied more to site development and ongoing operating setup than to a lightweight service launch.

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• Royalty fee: 5% of gross revenue for the first year, then 6%
• Marketing fee: 2% of gross revenue
• Local marketing expenditure: $2,500 per month
• POS and software fees: approximately $750 per month, plus transaction costs
• Technology-related fixed fees: approximately $150 per month
• Renewal fee: $10,000
• Late charge: $75 per overdue payment, plus interest
• Additional training / support fees: may apply if retraining or extra on-site help is needed

Overall, the percentage-based fee load is not especially high on its face, but the required fixed monthly marketing and software spending adds to the burden, particularly at lower revenue levels.

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Yes, the FDD includes Item 19 financial performance data.

2024 gross revenue disclosed for 4 studios

• Average: $739,844
• Median: $691,039
• Range: $517,660 to $1,057,637

2024 unit-level gross revenue

• Studio City, CA (affiliate-owned): $1,057,637
• West Hollywood, CA (affiliate-owned): $829,365
• Glendale, CA (franchisee-owned): $554,713
• Culver City, CA (franchisee-owned): $517,660

2022–2024 averages shown in Item 19

• 2022 average: $707,171
• 2023 average: $868,070
• 2024 average: $739,844

The spread is material. In 2024, the highest reported studio generated a little over 2 times the revenue of the lowest reported studio. That suggests location performance and operating execution may have a meaningful effect on results.

The disclosure also provides member counts. Average active members were:

• 2022: 138
• 2023: 175
• 2024: 191

For the two affiliate-owned studios with expense detail in 2024, the FDD reports:

• Studio City operating income: $354,879 on $1,057,637 gross revenue
• West Hollywood operating income: $134,251 on $829,365 gross revenue

Those figures are useful, but they apply only to two affiliate-owned locations, not the full sample. The disclosure does not clearly establish whether a typical franchisee should expect similar expense structure or operating income. Revenue is not profit, and even reported operating income is not the same as owner cash flow because financing costs, taxes, owner compensation structure, and other individual factors are not addressed here.

The sample is also limited. Item 19 covers two affiliate-owned locations and two franchisee-owned locations that were open at least six consecutive months during the relevant period, while excluding one newer franchisee-owned location and two larger affiliate-owned locations with personal training revenue.

The disclosure does not clearly state here whether the Item 19 figures are audited.

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• Model: B2C fitness studio
• Revenue pattern: Primarily recurring membership-style revenue, with some merchandise and possibly other in-studio sales
• Operating characteristics: Brick-and-mortar studio, meaningful square footage, trainers and front-desk staffing, equipment lease costs, software/POS systems, and ongoing local marketing requirements

This appears to be an operations-heavy studio business rather than a simple sales-driven model. Payroll is a major expense category in the affiliate-owned examples, which indicates labor management is central to execution.

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Advantages

• Item 19 includes actual gross revenue for four comparable studios, including two franchisee-owned units.
• The FDD also provides expense and operating income detail for two affiliate-owned studios, which gives some view into cost structure.
• Royalty starts at 5% in year one before moving to 6%.
• Outlet count increased from 5 total units in 2022 to 7 total units in 2024.

Considerations

• Startup cost is substantial at $222,500 to $556,700.
• The 2024 revenue range is wide, from $517,660 to $1,057,637, indicating uneven unit performance.
• Required fixed spending includes $2,500 monthly local marketing and about $750 monthly POS/software fees, plus transaction costs.
• The system is still small, with only 3 franchised units open at year-end 2024.
• The disclosure indicates a non-exclusive territory, which can limit geographic protection.

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This franchise may fit someone comfortable funding and operating a physical fitness studio with multiple staff roles, ongoing local marketing, and close attention to member retention and unit-level labor costs.

It likely does not fit someone seeking a low-cost launch, a simple home-based model, or a passive ownership structure clearly supported by the disclosure.

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• The franchise agreement allows the franchisor to terminate without cause, according to the disclosure.
• Territory protection is non-exclusive.
• The franchisor began offering franchises in 2022, so the franchise system is relatively new.
• Some additional fees can be triggered by noncompliance, including cleaning, audit, retraining, and customer service reimbursement charges.
• Holdover operation can increase royalty and advertising payments to 125% of the stated rates.

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Training Mate is a studio-based fitness franchise with a meaningful capital requirement and a labor-intensive operating model. The main tradeoff is that the FDD shows some units reaching substantial revenue, but the sample is small, performance varies materially, and the fixed operating commitments can weigh more heavily on lower-volume locations.

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