How to read Item 19 without fooling yourself
Item 19 is the only place a franchisor may tell you what its owners earn. It is optional, and it never covers everyone. Here is what to check before you trust the number.
Item 19 of the Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) is called "financial performance representations". A franchisor does not have to give you one. If it does, it must show how the numbers were made. Anything an employee tells you about earnings that is not in Item 19 is not backed by the filing.
Check 1: who is in the number?
Almost no Item 19 counts every outlet. Most count only outlets that were open for the whole year, or that sent in their books. The number tells you about those outlets, not about the one you would open. Look for how many were counted, and how many were left out.
| Franchise | Who is counted | FDD page |
|---|---|---|
| Club Pilates | 1,005 qualified studios, out of 1,179 at year end | p. 67 |
| Crumbl | 776 of 1,048 franchised outlets that ran all of 2025 and reported on time | p. 70 |
| The Joint Chiropractic | 799 clinics for sales; 29 new, 22 transferred and 35 sold by the franchisor are left out | p. 46 |
| Dogtopia | 202 outlets for sales (169 franchised and 33 owned by the company or affiliates) | p. 52 |
| Goldfish Swim School | 169 of 192 franchised schools open 12 months or more | p. 58 |
| Scenthound | 114 franchised Scenters that ran all of 2025 | p. 55 |
Counts are from each 2026 FDD. "Left out" is not a flaw by itself. It is a reason to ask how the outlets you would be compared with differ from the ones counted.
Check 2: revenue or profit?
Revenue is what the outlet took in. It is not what the owner kept. Rent, staff, supplies and the royalty all come out first. Several filings show revenue only. Club Pilates, Crumbl and Mosquito Joe show sales and no profit in Item 19 (pages 67, 70 and 73).
Profit figures are rarer, and they come with limits. Read what is taken out before profit is counted:
| Franchise | What the profit figure covers | FDD page |
|---|---|---|
| The Joint Chiropractic | Net profit is shown for only 492 of the 799 clinics, those that sent in profit-and-loss data | pp. 46, 48 |
| Dogtopia | Margins are shown for only 134 outlets that returned their P&Ls by January 15, 2026 | p. 52 |
| Scenthound | Net operating income is shown for only 82 of the 114 Scenters, those with complete financials | p. 55 |
| Goldfish Swim School | A "profit before other expenses" of $560,524 on average revenue of $1,994,169 (28.1%), before interest, taxes, depreciation and owner pay | p. 58 |
A profit table that covers only the outlets that sent in their books may lean toward the stronger ones. The filing does not say. Ask.
Check 3: average or median?
The average adds every outlet and divides. A few very big outlets pull it up. The median is the outlet in the middle: half earn more, half earn less. When the two are far apart, a few outlets are doing much better than the rest. Use the median to guess what a typical outlet does.
| Franchise (2025 sales) | Average | Median | FDD page |
|---|---|---|---|
| Club Pilates | $987,810 | $978,332 | p. 67 |
| Crumbl | $1,139,162 | $1,093,071 | p. 70 |
| The Joint Chiropractic | $563,514 | $526,397 | p. 46 |
| Goldfish Swim School | $1,994,169 | $1,781,634 | p. 58 |
| Scenthound | $461,041 | $427,445 | p. 55 |
Sales (revenue) figures for the outlets counted in each filing, not profit.
Check 4: how long has the outlet been open?
A new outlet is not a mature one. Mosquito Joe splits its numbers by age, and the gap is large. Businesses in their first five years averaged $208,341 in 2025 sales, with a median of $164,899 (117 businesses). Those open six years or more averaged $444,223, with a median of $288,923 (290 businesses). Both are on page 73. If you are buying a new outlet, the first row is the closer match.
Questions to ask the franchisor
- How many outlets are in the number, and how many are not? Find the count in Item 19, then compare with the outlet count in Item 20.
- Is this revenue or profit, and what costs come out first? Owner pay is often not taken out. You need that money to live on.
- What is the median, not just the average? If only an average is shown, ask for the median.
- What did outlets in their first two years do? That is the stage you will be in.
- Can I call owners and check? The owner list is at the back of the FDD. See the guide on questions to ask owners.
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