Goddard School Franchise

Goddard School, a The Goddard School Educational franchise, has been franchising since 1988 - 5 years after the concept was founded in 1983 , currently with 600 total locations in the education sector, headquartered in PA. Per the 2024 FDD, budget a total initial investment of $721K to $931K - a 29% spread between the low and high end that reflects how site size, market, and buildout scope change the capital requirement. Included in that number: the franchise fee of $135K, equipment, leasehold improvements, and initial working capital to carry the business through ramp-up.

Royalty payments here are set at 7.0% of gross sales; add the 1.0% advertising-fund contribution and the combined ongoing draw reaches 8.0% of gross sales. Critically, Goddard School does disclose financial performance data in Item 19, a voluntary disclosure that only about a third of U.S. franchisors make. The reported average gross revenue per location is $2.2M, which works out to about $154K in annual royalty for a typical unit. Remember that revenue is not profit -- what a franchisee actually takes home hinges on rent, labor, cost of goods, and local demand.

Goddard School's network is expanding: unit count grew at a 4.2% net rate over the past year (40 openings, 15 closures). Sustained positive growth is a signal that the unit-economics are working well enough to attract new operators, though late-stage growth can also reflect aggressive sales push rather than operational health.