🍟 6/16/2022 – A Ground Floor Franchise Opportunity

FRANCHISES OF THE WEEK

1) iSmash

Fast Facts

Background

  • Founded in 2018, franchising since November 2021
  • Based in Rochester, New York; 2 company locations open + 1 franchise in development
  • An entertainment center that allows customers to smash common household items using instruments such as baseball bats, crowbars, & sledgehammers

Fees + Investment

  • Royalty: 5%
  • Brand Fund: Up to 2% (not currently being charged)
  • Franchise Fee: $24,950
  • Initial Investment:
    • Core iSmash: $117,964 – $282,795
    • Core Plus Paint iSmash: $130,542 – $333,011
    • Core Plus Axe iSmash: $138,629 – $345,375
    • Core Plus Paint & Axe iSmash: $151,207 – $395,391

Financial Performance

  • The below table includes data on 1 company owned location in Rochester that’s been operating since October 2018.
  • The location operated as a Core iSmash center during 2019 & 2020, and operated as a Core Plus Paint & Axe in 2021.

The Wolf’s Take 🍟

Not gonna lie..this franchise looks fun AF!

Maybe I’m channelling my inner-child that loved throwing temper-tantrums, but the opportunity to blow off some steam and smash the shit out of a bunch of stuff with ZERO consequences sounds amazing.

Not to mention, the economics of the company owned location look pretty darn good – with adjusted profit coming in at about 1/3 the max investment!

Beyond providing “smash therapy” to customers, iSmash also does splatter paint sessions and axe throwing.

This place is basically an adult playground that could serve as a great event for birthday parties, corporate events, or just a fun day or night with some friends.

It’s early days for them, as they haven’t even been franchising for a year and have just 1 location sold in Tampa – but if you’re looking to get in on a concept early, iSmash could be a great opportunity for you!

Resources

2) Board & Brush Creative Studio

Fast Facts 

Background

  • Founded in 2015, franchising since 2017
  • Based in Wisconsin; 252 locations open at the start of 2022
  • Do-it-yourself wood sign workshops such as signs, trays, coat racks, boxes, and more

Fees + Investment

  • Royalty: 6%
  • Brand Fund: 1%
  • Franchise Fee: $25,000
  • Initial Investment: $64,589 – $93,461

Financial Performance

  • The below info contains performance data from existing franchised outlets in 2019, 2020, and 2021 (note: I have reformatted the information from the documentation as it was in paragraph form)

2019 – 167 franchised outlets open & operating all year

  • Lowest Earning outlet: $35,031
  • Highest-earning outlet: $499,328
  • Median Gross Revenue: $181,919
  • Average Gross Revenue: $199,544

2020 – 224 franchised outlets *technically* able to operate for 12 months, however covid-19 impacted performance significantly – no data was included other than “revenue was down 28% in 2020 compared to 2019”.

2021 – 199 outlets reported revenues in all 12 months, despite dealing with varying degrees of restrictions caused by covid-19

  • Lowest Earning outlet: $32,757
  • Highest-earning outlet: $410,733
  • Median Gross Revenue: $147,106
  • Average Gross Revenue: $153,287

All reported financials are “net of alcohol, refreshments, and promotional items”. Certain locations sell alcohol, while others are BYOB!

The Wolf’s Take 🍟

Relative to iSmash, this is a different take on adult recreation, but there’s clearly demand here.

Not only have they opened a whopping 250+ locations in just 5 years, the economics look solid as well – a $94k investment at most that averaged just under $200k in revenue in 2019.

I place more value on the pre-covid data, as 2020 and 2021 were difficult for many retail businesses. The caveat is that at this point in 2022, I would hope stores are at 2019 levels of monthly revenue (something you could find out from existing franchisees during due diligence).

Frankly, I’m a better fit as a customer for iSmash, but I can see the consumer demand for this, and have friends that have done variations of this a la “paint & wine night”.

If you’re in the market for a low budget franchise, check out Board & Brush!

Resources

FROM THE POD

Season 2 of Franchise Empires Drops June 21st!

Starting next Tuesday, Franchise Empires is back wherever you get your podcasts!

We’ll have more great conversations with multi-unit franchise owners of brands from Burger King to Mathnasium. 

Check Out The Trailer Here

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