Sport Clips: a Profitable Franchise Making $379,000 Revenue

One of the leading hair salon franchise, since its founding in 1995 Sport Clips has expanded aggressively and now has more than 1,750 salons in the US. In addition to a rather simple business model, Sport Clips is also an affordable franchise for whoever wants to get into the hair salon industry.

Indeed, you would need to invest on average $353,000 to open a new location, less than salon franchises in general ($450,000 as per our own salon franchises benchmarks).

But is this a profitable business? With a revenue of $379,000 and a EBITDA margin of 23% the average Sport Clips salon makes $86,000 in profits per year. Not bad.

In this article we’re looking at Sport Clips from the perspective of its Franchise Disclosure Document to find out how much it really costs, how much profits you can make and whether it’s a good investment for franchisees. Let’s dive in!

Key stats

Franchise fee	$49,750
Royalty fee	6.0%
Marketing fee	5.0%
Investment (mid-point)	$353,000
Revenue per unit	$379,000
Revenue per sq. ft.	$300
Sales to investment ratio	1.1x
Payback period*	6-8 years
Minimum net worth	$400,000
Minimum liquid capital	$200,000

What is Sport Clips?

Sport Clips is an American hair-cutting franchise focused on men and boys.  It is based in Georgetown, Texas.

The franchise was founded in 1993 by Gordon Logan in Austin, Texas.

It began franchising in 1995 and today has over 1,779 franchises in the US and 1,895 worldwide.

Sport Clips franchises pros and cons

The Pros:

• Pre-opening training: The franchisor offers its franchisees a detailed on-the-job and classroom training curriculum. It trains them about the business system, including launching their salons, operations, equipment use and hiring the right staff.
• Third-party financing: Sport Clips offers its franchisees financing through third-party lenders. Franchisees get funding for startup costs, franchise fees, equipment, inventory and payroll.
• Site selection and build-out: The franchisor provides the franchisees with site selection assistance to identify a viable salon location in terms of traffic and growth demographics. Also, it helps them in the construction and set-up of the salons.
• Stylist recruitment guidance: The brand offers franchisees assistance in hiring, training and retaining the best talents to run their salons.
• Marketing plans: Sport Clips has an experienced marketing and advertising team to help its franchisees promote their businesses and public relations. Franchisees can leverage the brand’s popularity and other promotional tools such as national media, social marketing, email marketing and personalized local salon advertising programs.
• Part-time business: The franchise can be operated on a part-time basis as a side business. Franchisees get the freedom and flexibility of owning a business and can achieve a good work-life balance.
• Extensive support and ongoing coaching: The brand has an experienced team to help franchisees establish and run their salons successfully. Franchisees get help with a proven business model, professional business directors, a network of successful business partners and field coaches.
• Recession-resistant concept: Sport Clips provides franchisees with stability, confidence and growth potential. It focuses on the underserved market which helps franchisees to scale and grow into multi-units fast.
• Manager-run: The franchise allows for absentee ownership. Franchisees can employ managers who are actively involved in the salon’s daily activities as the owners concentrate on growing to multiple units. Therefore, franchisees don’t have to leave their day jobs.

The cons:

• Not a home-based or mobile business: A Sport Clips business cannot be operated from home or a vehicle. Franchisees need to have a fixed office space, retail facility or warehouse.
• No Exclusive Territory Protection: The franchisor does not grant its franchisees an exclusive protected area to operate in. The franchisees may face competition from franchises granted by the parent company or from competitive channels and brands it controls.
• Competition: The franchise faces stiff competition from brands such as Great Clips, Cost Cutters, Fantastic Sam’s and Hair Cuttery.

How much does a Sport Clips franchise cost?

You have to invest around $352,900 to open a Sport Clips franchise store, which is typically 1,000 to 1,500 sq. ft. in size.

This is an average. Indeed, the investment varies based on a number factors like the location of your salon, its size and other factors.

In addition to the initial franchise fee ($30,000 – $69,500) that you must pay to the franchisor, you would also pay for the leasehold improvements, furniture and fixtures, signage, equipment, professional fees, insurance, etc.

Sport Clips startup costs

Here’s the full breakdown of costs:

Startup cost	Amount
Initial franchise fee	$30,000 – $69,500
Leasehold improvements	$90,000 – $150,000
Fixtures, and equipment	$58,000 – $68,000
Signage	$4,000 – $8,000
Professional fees	$1,000 – $3,500
Insurance	$1,300 – $2,500
Additional Funds- 6 months	$40,000 – $75,000
Other	$42,000 – $63,000
Total	$266,300 – $439,500

How much revenue does a Sport Clips make?

A Sport Clips franchise makes $379,054 in sales per year on average, or $303 in revenue per square foot.

This number is the average sales per franchised Sport Clips for 1,439 franchised salons out of the 1,778 that were open for all of 2021 (as disclosed in the FDD).

How much profits does a Sport Clips salon make?

On average, a Sport Clips franchise makes $86,459 in profits per year. This corresponds to a 23% EBITDA margin.

So is Sport Clips a profitable franchise? Whilst 23% EBITDA margin isn’t necessarily bad, it’s not the best profit margin across the industry. Indeed we found that salon franchises have EBITDA margin around 27-30% on average.

We calculated this number using the information available in the Franchise Disclosure Document 2022. Fortunately, Sport Clips provides detailed information on the cost structure of its company-owned stores, to which we added royalty fees.

Profit and loss	Amount	% of revenue	Source
Revenue	$379,054	100%	as per FDD
Variable costs*	$(26,534)	7%	as per FDD
Royalties	$(22,743)	6%	as per FDD
Staff	$(162,993)	43%	as per FDD
Rent	$(50,000)	13%	as per FDD
Marketing	$(18,953)	5%	as per FDD
Other operating costs	$(11,372)	3%	as per FDD
EBITDA	$86,459	~23%

Should you invest in a Sport Clips franchise?

So should you buy a Sport Clips franchise? Are the profits worth the estimated initial investment $352,900 you would have to make to open a new location?

Well we think it does. Indeed, the payback for a Sport Clips franchise is 6 to 8 years on average (assuming a 12-15% net profit margin).

This means that you would repay all creditors (banks) and investors only 6 to 8 years after the initial investment by using the profits generated by your salon.

Yet, keep in mind this is an estimation based on both the average performance of the Sport Clips salons as disclosed in the FDD and our own benchmarks. There is no guarantee your salon will perform the same.

How does it compare vs. other franchises?

Disclaimer: This content has been made for informational and educational purposes only. We do not make any representation or warranties with respect to the accuracy, applicability, fitness, or completeness of the information presented in the article. You should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other professional advice. Nothing contained in this article constitutes a solicitation, recommendation, endorsement, advertisement, or offer to buy or sell any franchises, securities, or other financial instruments in this or in any other jurisdiction in which such solicitation or offer would be unlawful under the franchise and/or securities laws of such jurisdiction.

All content in this article is information of a general nature and does not address the detailed circumstances of any particular individual or entity. Nothing in the article constitutes professional and/or financial and/or legal advice, nor does any information in the article constitute a comprehensive or complete statement of the matters discussed or the law relating thereto. You alone assume the sole responsibility of evaluating the merits and risks associated with the use of any information or other content in this article before making any decisions based on such information or other content.