Kiddie Academy Franchise Costs, Fees & FDD

Year Business Began: 1981

Franchising Since: 1992

Headquarters: Abingdon, Maryland

Estimated Number of Units: 340

Franchise Description: Kiddie Academy Domestic Franchising, LLC is the franchisor. The Kiddie Academy system is a specialized system for the development and operation of year-round child care centers that offer academic and social enrichment, as well as education based child care services. The franchisee will operate a specially designed educational child care facility offering programs for children between six weeks and 12 years of age under the name “Kiddie Academy” using the Kiddie Academy system and marks.

Training Overview: The Franchisee Training Program will consist of 133.5 hours of training in the franchisor’s methods, techniques and curriculum applications. The Franchisee Training Program blends multiple modalities of instruction. The self-paced and self-guided component of the program is delivered via interactive e-learning within the Kiddie Academy University (KAU) training portal. Franchisees are also required to attend in-person a two-part on-site, instructor-led component at the franchisor’s corporate office in Abingdon, Maryland. Additionally, there are experiential, hands-on components of this instruction that take place at the franchisor’s academy in Abingdon, Maryland. Prior to or during the first week of operation, the franchisee’s franchise business consultant will provide an experiential, hands-on, comprehensive training at the franchisee’s academy. Also, the franchisor’s corporate teams provide structured one-on-one remote consultation and virtual classroom sessions for specific topics that are impacted by the academy situation of the franchisee. The franchisor will provide the academy’s initial director with approximately five days of instruction in the day-to-day management and operational principles unique to the Kiddie Academy system. Franchisees and/or their academy’s director also are obligated to attend, at the franchisor’s request, refresher training programs, courses, seminars, and other training programs which it may require during the term of the Franchise Agreement.

Territory Granted: The Franchise Agreement grants franchisees the right to operate a Kiddie Academy franchise at a single location that the franchisee selects and the franchisor approves. The Franchise Agreement may grant certain rights of protection to franchisees (the exclusive territory). If the population within a one-mile radius of the academy is less than 125,000, franchisees will receive the exclusive territory as described in the table in the FDD. Franchisees will receive no exclusive territory if the population within a one-mile radius of the academy is 125,000 people or more. Franchisees’ rights granted in the exclusive territory do not depend on the achievement of a certain sales volume or market penetration. The franchisor will not develop or license anyone else to develop a Kiddie Academy business under the marks and system that is located within the exclusive territory.

Obligations and Restrictions: The Franchise Agreement provides that the academy must at all times be under the direct, on-premises supervision of a trained and certified full-time director who is qualified to act as a director in the franchisee’s state. Franchisees or a principal, if franchisees are a corporation, partnership, or limited liability company, shall devote adequate energy to the management and supervision of the academy to assure compliance with all of the terms and conditions of the Franchise Agreement and the manuals. The franchisor requires franchisees to offer and sell only those services that it has approved. Further, franchisees must offer all services that the franchisor designates as required for all franchisees.

Term of Agreement and Renewal: The length of the initial franchise term will be co-terminus with the term of the franchisee’s lease (but not less than 15 years minimum) from the date the franchised business opens if the franchisee leases the premises for the academy, or 25 years if the franchisee purchases the real property where the franchised business is situated. Franchisees may renew their franchise for additional terms of 10 years each if they meet certain requirements.

Financial Assistance: Franchisees are responsible for making their own financing arrangements and the franchisor does not offer direct or indirect financing. Upon request, the franchisor will provide franchisees with names of potential lenders to provide third-party financing for their franchised business and may provide limited assistance and guidance to them during the application process. If the franchisor provides such support, it will not derive any revenue of any kind for this assistance. Franchisees may qualify for one or more of several SBA loan guaranty programs. All financing decisions are those of the franchisees. The franchisor does not guaranty a franchisee’s notes, leases or other obligations to third parties, and it does not receive direct or indirect payments associated with the financing process.

Estimated Initial Investment

Leased Facility

Name of Fee	Low	High
Total Initial Fee	$70,000	$150,000
Lease Deposit	$25,000	$35,000
Tenant Contributions for Improvements and Construction Soft Costs	Varies
Professional Fees and Loan Fees	$5,000	$45,000
Kitchen Equipment and Supplies	$25,000	$45,000
Supplies/ Equipment for Inside of Academy, Playground and Online Training Component	$115,000	$190,000
Outdoor Fixed Playground Equipment	$25,000	$150,000
Computer Hardware and Software and Classroom Technology	$25,000	$75,000
Office and Lobby Furniture, Office Equipment and Supplies, and Telephone System	$10,000	$25,000
Indoor and Outdoor Signage	$20,000	$35,000
Travel and Living Expenses While Training and Plan Review	$3,000	$5,000
Transportation Vehicles and Equipment	$0	$5,000
Insurance and Utility Deposits	$4,000	$10,000
Business Licenses	$3,000	$5,000
Start-Up Marketing and Advertising Expenses	$35,000	$35,000
Additional Funds/ Working Capital – 3 months after opening	$40,000	$105,000
ESTIMATED TOTAL	$405,000	$915,000

 
Purchased Facility

Name of Fee	Low	High
Initial Franchise Fee	$70,000	$150,000
Real Estate Acquisition and Construction Costs	$3,255,000	$5,450,000
Professional Fees and Loan Fees and Soft Costs	$225,000	$570,000
Kitchen Equipment and Supplies	$25,000	$45,000
Supplies/ Equipment for Inside of Academy, Playground and Online Training Component	$115,000	$190,000
Outdoor Fixed Playground Equipment	$140,000	$200,000
Computer Hardware and Software and Classroom Technology	$25,000	$75,000
Office and Lobby Furniture, Office Equipment and Supplies, and Telephone System	$10,000	$25,000
Indoor and Outdoor Signage	$20,000	$35,000
Travel and Living Expenses While Training and Plan Review	$3,000	$5,000
Transportation Vehicles and Equipment	$0	$5,000
Insurance and Utility Deposits	$4,000	$10,000
Business Licenses	$3,000	$5,000
Start-Up Marketing and Advertising Expenses	$35,000	$35,000
Additional Funds/Working Capital – 3 months after opening	$75,000	$150,000
ESTIMATED TOTAL	$4,405,000	$6,950,000

 
Other Fees

Type of Fee	Amount
Royalties	7% of gross revenues.
Brand Building Fund	2% of gross revenues.
Right to Audit for Revenue Compliance	If an audit reveals underpayments, the franchisee pays the amount of underpayments, plus interest on amounts owed to the franchisor at 2% above the prime rate, or the maximum rate permitted by law, whichever is less. If underpayments of more than 3% are discovered, in addition to the amounts stated above, the franchisee pays the cost of the audit or $10,000, whichever is greater, plus an amount that is equal to 10% of the amount owed. If an audit is conduced as a result of the franchisee’s failure to supply required records, after default, the franchisee pays the cost of the audit in addition to any amounts owed.
Failure to Comply with Reporting and Records Requirements	$1,000 for each failure to comply.
Relocation of Kiddie Academy Franchise	$30,000
Transfer (sale of assets of the franchised business from one or more individuals to an entity owned by the same individuals)	No fee.
Administrative Fee from Transferee (sale of business)	$25,000 - $50,000
Referral Fee (sale of business)	$10,000 - $75,000
Interest on Late Payments	Maximum rate allowed by law (or in the absence of such a rate, 1.5% per month).
Franchisee Training (at franchisor’s corporate office)	Training for up to two individuals for each franchisee is included.
Director Training (at franchisor’s corporate office)	One training per year is included.
Background Check Fee	No fee.
Site Selection Fee	No fee.
Franchise Renewal Fee	No fee.
Fees/Interest for Failure to Repair Academy	Repair costs plus 15% the franchisor’s total aggregate expenses if it incurs an administrative fee.
Late Charge on Late Payments	Up to 10% of amount of each late payment.
Annual Franchisee Conference – every other year	$1,500 fee if franchisees do not attend at least once every other year.
Replacement of Manuals	$500 per volume replaced if replaced in hard copy by the franchisor. No charge by the franchisor if replaced by franchisee utilizing online access to manuals.
Liquidated Damages	156 weeks of royalty fees and brand building fund fees.
Enforcement Costs	Reasonable costs incurred by the franchisor in enforcing the franchisee’s agreements.
Network Equipment	The franchisor’s cost to purchase and install the required network equipment plus a 25% administrative fee.

The above information has been compiled from the FDD of Kiddie Academy. Year of FDD: 2025.
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