Beauty Franchises in the USA: Haircuts & Waxing

Item 7 of European Wax Center's Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) puts the total investment from $331,600, a total calculated with the $36,000 Franchise Fee for existing franchisees; a new franchisee's Franchise Fee is $45,000, and the FDD prints no low-end total with that fee. You find and negotiate your own lease for a location European Wax Center approves. Item 7 of Sport Clips' FDD puts one store from $236,800, excluding real estate costs, and this estimate already includes the $30,000 Grand Opening advertising deposit you pay Sport Clips before the store opens. The table's fee line starts at the $30,000 fee for a single-store Franchise Agreement, which Sport Clips awards only in specified circumstances; as a rule, new franchisees sign a three-store Multi-Unit Development Addendum with a $69,500 fee, and the FDD prints no total for that case. For capital, European Wax Center's Investment Requirements page lists minimum liquid capital of $250,000 and a minimum net worth of $700,000. The FAQs page on Sport Clips' franchising site lists liquid assets of at least $200,000 (cash and marketable securities) and a net worth of at least $400,000, and says the requirement may be higher in areas where construction costs are higher than normal or for a candidate who wants more than three licenses. Neither brand's FDD states these capital amounts, so confirm them with European Wax Center and Sport Clips before you apply.

European Wax Center and Sport Clips both charge a 6% royalty, but on different bases: European Wax Center's Royalty Fee is 6% of Gross Sales, paid weekly, and Sport Clips' Royalty is 6% of Net Sales, paid every Monday by ACH transfer. Each also requires an advertising or marketing contribution. European Wax Center franchisees pay a monthly Marketing Fund Contribution of 3% of Gross Sales directly to EWC MFund, LLC, an affiliate of the franchisor. Sport Clips' Franchise Agreement sets the Advertising Fund contribution at $300 a week or 5% of Net Sales, whichever is more; Sport Clips' current policy, which it can change and reviews each December, is to charge 5% of sales, capped at $650 a week, with no weekly minimum. Other recurring payments differ by brand. Among them, European Wax Center charges a Technology & Security Fee of $310 a month, and Sport Clips bills a Training Fee, a Stylist Recruitment Fee, a Technology Fee, and a $10 Relief Fund contribution every week; the Stylist Recruitment Fee and the Technology Fee are each 1% of Net Sales under the Franchise Agreement, with weekly caps under current policy. Item 6 of the FDD lists the fees you pay the franchisor or its affiliates, with the amount and due date of each.

Under the FTC Franchise Rule, a franchisor can give sales, income, or profit figures only in Item 19 of its FDD, unless, for example, it shows you the actual records of an existing location you are considering buying; Franch Monsters makes no earnings estimates of its own. The 2026 FDDs of European Wax Center and Sport Clips both have such figures in Item 19: European Wax Center reports fiscal 2025 Gross Sales for the 1,028 franchised centers that were open and operating for the entire year, and Sport Clips reports 2025 gross sales for mature franchised stores, those with more than two years in operation, along with 2025 expense reports for company-owned stores. Ask franchisees listed in Item 20 how long it took to hire and train a manager and the staff who serve clients, and how their payroll compared with the royalty and the advertising or marketing contribution they pay.

The requirements on the European Wax Center and Sport Clips listings do not include a cosmetology or esthetics license for the franchisee, and both franchisors train the people who manage the location. European Wax Center requires you to identify and employ a dedicated center manager who completes its initial training program before the center opens; if you are an individual, it may require you to be the manager (FDD Item 15). Sport Clips gives initial training at its office in Georgetown, Texas, to you and one other person, and trains your store manager before the store opens (FDD Item 11). Whether you, your manager, or the people who perform the services need a state or local license, and whether the premises do, is a separate question to raise with the franchisor and your state before you sign.