If you’ve spent any time researching fitness franchise opportunities, you’ve probably noticed a pattern: the numbers are hard to find. Investment ranges are buried in fine print, “low cost of entry” claims come with no context, and you’re often asked to hop on a sales call before anyone will tell you what you’d actually spend.
We think that’s backwards. Choosing a franchise is one of the most significant financial decisions you’ll ever make, and you deserve real numbers before you invest a single conversation. So let’s walk through exactly what it costs to open a fitness franchise, what drives those costs up or down, and what a Discover Strength studio requires from signing to opening day.
The short answer
The total estimated initial investment for a single Discover Strength studio ranges from $529,000 to $870,000, and that figure includes the $58,000 initial franchise fee. It covers everything required to get your doors open — site selection and buildout, equipment, technology, pre-opening marketing, training, and the initial working capital to support operations while you ramp up your membership base.
Across the broader fitness industry, franchise investments span an enormous range. A small stretch-therapy or supplement concept might open for under $300,000, while a full-size big-box gym can easily exceed $2 million to $4 million once real estate, buildout, and equipment are accounted for. Boutique strength and personal training concepts like Discover Strength tend to sit in the middle — and for reasons worth understanding, that middle position comes with structural advantages.
Why footprint drives everything
The single biggest driver of fitness franchise cost isn’t the franchise fee — it’s square footage. Every additional square foot means more buildout expense, more equipment to fill it, more rent every month, and more members needed just to break even.
Discover Strength studios operate in a compact footprint of roughly 1,800 to 2,200 square feet. Compare that to a traditional gym at 15,000 to 40,000 square feet, or even a typical boutique group fitness studio at 3,000 to 4,500 square feet. The compact model does three things for your investment:
It lowers your buildout. Less space to construct, plumb, cool, and finish means initial capital expenditures stay controlled. There’s no pool, no locker room complex, no juice bar — just a purpose-built training floor, a welcoming lobby, and the specialized equipment that drives the workout.
It lowers your ongoing rent. Lease expense is one of the two largest recurring costs in any fitness business. A right-sized footprint in a strong retail corridor costs a fraction of what larger concepts pay, which protects your margins every single month you operate.
It raises your revenue per square foot. Because Discover Strength runs on an appointment-based model — clients book 30-minute strength training sessions with degreed exercise physiologists — the training floor is in productive use throughout the day. Franchised studios open 24 or more months average $344 in sales per square foot, a figure that reflects how much revenue a small, efficient space can generate. (Written substantiation for financial performance figures appears in Item 19 of our Franchise Disclosure Document; individual results vary.)
What your investment actually covers
A franchise investment shouldn’t be a mystery bag. Here’s where the money goes when you open a Discover Strength:
Site selection and studio buildout. You’re not left to guess at real estate. Demographic mapping identifies trade areas with the right concentration of your target client — busy, high-earning professionals and active adults — and you receive lease negotiation assistance and a streamlined, high-end studio design process.
Equipment and technology. Discover Strength workouts are built around specialized strength training equipment chosen for safety, efficiency, and results, plus the studio management software that runs booking, billing, and client tracking.
Pre-sale marketing. A structured grand-opening marketing and PR campaign is designed to secure paying, recurring members before your studio opens — so you’re not starting from zero on day one.
Training and education. Owners complete two five-day training blocks at the home office in Minneapolis, and your staff of degreed exercise physiologists goes through rigorous onboarding of their own. During your opening, home office team members are on-site supporting your launch.
Initial working capital. Funds are built into the investment range specifically to support payroll and day-to-day operations while your recurring membership base grows. Undercapitalization is the most common reason new businesses struggle; the investment range is designed to prevent it.
The financial requirements to qualify
Beyond the investment itself, Discover Strength requires candidates to meet two financial thresholds: a minimum of $150,000 in liquid capital and a minimum net worth of $750,000.
These aren’t arbitrary gates. They exist to ensure every franchise partner opens well-capitalized, with enough cushion to operate confidently through the ramp-up period and invest in growth rather than scrambling to cover expenses. A franchisor that lets undercapitalized owners in isn’t doing them a favor — it’s setting them up for stress at best and failure at worst.
Most candidates don’t fund the entire investment in cash. SBA loans are common in franchising because established franchise systems with registered disclosure documents streamline lender underwriting, and many candidates also use retirement rollover programs (ROBS) or conventional financing. During the discovery process, we can point you toward funding resources that fit your situation.
Cost is only half the equation
Here’s the question that matters more than “how much does it cost?” — what does the investment produce?
A cheaper franchise isn’t a better investment if the unit economics are weaker. When you evaluate any fitness concept, look at the relationship between the investment and the revenue engine behind it: How predictable is the revenue? How well do members retain? What does labor cost as a percentage of sales?
Discover Strength’s model is built on recurring membership revenue from clients who train twice a week, every week, as part of their health routine — not a January-resolution crowd that disappears by spring. Franchised studios open 24+ months averaged $872,951 in gross sales, with the highest-performing studio exceeding $1.6 million. Again, these are historical figures from our FDD’s Item 19, and individual results depend on your market, execution, and operations — but they illustrate why the investment range buys more than a lease and some equipment. It buys a proven revenue model.
Questions to ask any franchisor about costs
Wherever your search leads, press every franchisor on the same points we’ve covered here. Ask for the full Item 7 investment table, not a marketing range. Ask what percentage of the investment is working capital. Ask how the footprint affects rent in your target market. Ask what pre-opening marketing is included and who executes it. And ask to speak with existing franchisees about whether their actual costs matched what was disclosed.
A franchisor with a strong model will welcome those questions. We do.
Ready for the detailed numbers?
The complete line-by-line cost breakdown for a Discover Strength studio is available in Item 7 of our Franchise Disclosure Document, and we walk through it together — openly — during the mutual discovery process. If you’re ready to see whether the numbers work for your market and your goals, the first step is a 30-minute pre-qualification call.
Financial performance figures referenced above are historical results from franchised studios as disclosed in Item 19 of Discover Strength’s Franchise Disclosure Document. Some outlets have earned these amounts; individual results may vary depending on local market conditions, management execution, and operational performance.
