Woofie’s Franchise Costs, Fees & FDD

Year Business Began: 2004

Franchising Since: 2018

Headquarters: Columbia, Maryland

Estimated Number of Units: 95

Franchise Description: The franchisor is Woofie’s Pet Ventures, LLC. The franchisor is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Authority Brands, Inc. The franchise is for the operation of a Woofie’s business, which provides pet sitting, dog walking services and pet grooming services to clients through a mobile pet spa van, as well as other related services that the franchisor may specify.
Training Overview: Before the franchised business opens, the key person and any owners that the franchisor designates must attend and successfully complete the initial training program. The training program generally consists of online training modules and approximately one week of in-person training. The in-person component of the initial training program is usually conducted at the franchisor’s office located in Virginia, but the training course may be held elsewhere in the future in the franchisor’s discretion. The franchisor will also send out its Fleet Instructor as well as a Groomer Instructor for van orientation and training for approximately two days each to the location of the franchised business within the first six months of operation. Additionally, each of the authorized groomers and authorized pet sitters must complete the specified training programs and/or modules the franchisor requires before they can provide grooming services or pet services to customers. After the franchised business opens, the franchisor may make available, at the time(s) and location(s) it designates, such other required and optional training programs as it deems necessary and appropriate.

Territory Granted: The franchise granted for the approved location only. The approved location may be a home office or a commercial office space that franchisees lease and which has been approved by the franchisor. While the franchisor generally recommends that franchisees operate from a commercial office space during this period, the franchisor does not require franchisees to do so unless the franchisee’s home office is not located within the territory. Franchisees will have a protected territory during the term of the Franchise Agreement, provided they are in full compliance with the terms of the Franchise Agreement, including certain minimum performance requirements and their obligation not to service customers outside of the territory. “Protected” means that the franchisor will not operate a business under the marks and the system in the territory or authorize others to operate franchised businesses within the territory, with certain exceptions. Typically, the territory is based on 50,000 to 75,000 households and defined using postal zip codes present at the time the territory is defined, although it can vary.

Obligations and Restrictions: Franchisees must designate an individual who will be responsible for the day-to-day operational performance of the franchised business and who has the authority to bind the franchisee in all decisions regarding the franchised business (the “key person”). If the franchisee is an entity, the key person must be the majority owner for the first full year the franchised business is operated. Franchisees are required to offer and sell all products and services that the franchisor designates as required items for Woofie’s businesses. Franchisees may also offer for sale any optional products and services that the franchisor has approved for sale in the franchised business. Franchisees are prohibited from offering any unapproved products or services without the franchisor’s prior written consent, and they must discontinue selling or offering for sale any products or services that the franchisor disapproves at any time.

Term of Agreement and Renewal: The length of the initial franchise term is 10 years. Franchisees can renew the Franchise Agreement for one additional term of 10 years if they meet certain conditions.

Financial Assistance: In its discretion, the franchisor may permit franchisees to finance up to 75% of the franchise fee and any applicable additional household fee rather than paying the entire amount in a lump sum when the Franchise Agreement is signed. However, the franchisor does not offer financing for any transaction involving brokers, referrals under the standard referral program or conversion referral program, or any other third party referral sources. The franchisor offers a reduction in the franchise fee for qualified active personnel or honorably discharged veterans of the American and Canadian armed forces and all qualified minority-owned, women-owned, and LGBTQ+- owned businesses. In addition, any applicable additional household fee is reduced by 30% for qualified active personnel or honorably discharged veterans of the American and Canadian armed forces.

Estimated Initial Investment

Name of Fee	Low	High
Franchise Fee	$57,500	$57,500
Pre-Opening/Grand Opening Marketing	$7,500	$7,500
Talent Team Fee	$5,000	$5,000
Owner Starter Kit Fee	$2,700	$2,700
Approved Mobile Unit Deposit	$18,000	$65,000
Approved Mobile Unit Financing Payments	$4,800	$6,075
Approved Mobile Unit Delivery Expenses	$1,500	$4,000
Mobile Unit Operating Expenses	$1,027	$1,875
Van Parking, Office Space, Office Equipment and Supplies	$4,625	$30,950
Computer System	$2,050	$2,050
Required Software Fees	$960	$2,500
Phone Expense	$450	$600
Technology Fee -3 months (post-opening)	$375	$375
Internet Service	$300	$500
Business Licenses and Permits	$250	$1,000
Insurance Premiums	$2,000	$3,750
Membership/Association Dues	$400	$600
Initial Training Expenses	$4,920	$14,760
Third Party Training	$500	$1,050
Initial Inventory	$2,566	$2,866
Professional Fees	$3,000	$4,000
Additional Funds – 3 Months	$60,000	$80,000
ESTIMATED TOTAL (does not include the cost of purchasing real estate)	$180,423	$294,651

 
Other Fees

Type of Fee	Amount
Royalty Fee	6.5% of gross revenue, subject to annual minimum royalty fee.
Brand Fund Contribution	Currently, 2% of gross revenue.
Brand Fund Materials	The franchisor’s costs.
Local Marketing and/or Cooperative	Starting on the original opening date, franchisees are required to pay $28,000 per calendar year for local marketing, prorated for the first partial year of operation.
Key Account Programs	Will vary under circumstances and may be determined based on number of participating franchisees or other factors.
Technology Fees	Currently, $125 per month.
Additional Opening Support Fee	A reasonable fee, up to $500 per day, plus the reasonable travel, meal, and lodging expenses of the franchisor’s opening support personnel.
Training Fees – Remedial and Optional Training	$300 per day and franchisees must reimburse the franchisor for its reasonable out of pocket costs.
Annual Conference	Determined by the franchisor based on its anticipated costs of the conference. The attendance fee may vary based on the location of the conference, the number of attendees under the franchisee’s registration, the timing of registration relative to the conference date, and other factors.
Non-Attendance Fee	$500 for the first missed conference and then $2,000 for any conference missed consecutively thereafter.
Call Center Fee	Currently, not applicable.
Service Deficiency	The franchisor’s costs.
Renewal Fee	$5,000
Transfer Fee	Generally, $10,000.
Change of Ownership Fee	Currently, (a) the greater of $500 or the franchisor’s external legal and administrative costs; plus (b) applicable training fee, currently $100 per day for each individual required to attend training.
Procurement of Insurance	Cost of insurance, plus reasonable fee of up to 25% of total insurance premium cost.
Vendor Review	The franchisor’s reasonable costs, plus the reasonable travel, meal, and lodging expenses of the vendor review personnel.
Management Fee	Up to $500 per day, plus the franchisor’s costs and overhead.
Step In Fee	Up to $500 per day, plus the franchisor’s costs and overhead.
Interest	12% per annum or the maximum rate permitted by applicable law, whichever is less.
Late Fee	$100 for second occurrence of payment more than 30 days past due; $200 for third occurrence; $300 for each subsequent occurrence.
Insufficient Funds Fee	$50 or the amount the bank charges the franchisor due to the insufficient funds, whichever is greater.
Indemnity for Tax Withholding	Amount of any penalties, interest, and expenses the franchisor incurs.
Audit Costs	The franchisor’s costs and expenses of conducting audit, including travel and lodging.
Enforcement Costs	Will vary under circumstances.
Defense Costs	The franchisor’s actual costs and expenses.
Indemnification	Will vary under circumstances.
Liquidated Damages	The greater of: (i) two years of royalty fees (calculated as the average royalty fees per payment period in the year preceding the termination of the Franchise Agreement, multiplied by the number of payment periods occurring in a two-year period); or (ii) $100,000.
De-Identification Fee	The franchisor’s actual costs and expenses.

The above information has been compiled from the FDD of Woofie’s. Year of FDD: 2025.
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