Franchise Data for Brands Surveyed in New Annual Franchise Development Report

Franchise Update Media revealed some of the top-line items in the 2027 Annual Franchise Development Report at the Franchise Leadership & Development Conference (FLDC) in October. The full report will soon be available to purchase. The AFDR report is a valuable resource that can provide crucial insights into franchise development, lead generation, and recruitment best practices. It’s the kind of information that can help brands assess what they are doing right and what needs improvement. The project seeks to identify what’s new and innovative in franchise lead generation, recognize the methods and approaches yielding the best results, and gain insights into franchisors’ perspectives on current and future business performance. Survey participants were franchisors who completed an in-depth questionnaire online. Responses were aggregated and analyzed to produce a detailed view into the recruitment and development practices, budgets, spending allocations, and strategies of a wide cross-section of franchisors. The data, along with accompanying commentary and analysis, provided the basis for the 2026 AFDR. The in-depth report draws on insights from dozens of organizations that are actively expanding their franchise systems. Carefully researched and data-rich, it highlights the latest trends and sheds light on how brands are generating leads and closing franchise sales today. The AFDR reflects input from companies representing tens of thousands of franchise units across dozens of industry categories. Franchise Update Media creates this report annually and shares its findings with franchise development teams to give them an edge in their lead generation and recruitment efforts. Who makes up the AFDR? As studies from the AFDR will be shared over the next year, we wanted to start by showing the types of franchises that participated in the report. Here is the percentage of respondents among the five primary franchise categories: 26 percent food, 8 percent retail food, 10 percent retail (non-food), 38 percent service (brick-and-mortar), and 18 percent service (non-brick-and-mortar). We further broke down the sectors into specific industry categories. Fast-food restaurants (21 percent) and fast-casual restaurants (13 percent) were the two largest groups in the survey. That was followed by cleaning and maintenance (8 percent), health and fitness (8 percent), and home service franchises (8 percent). The report analyzed responses based on systemwide gross sales revenues over the last fiscal year. The largest group that responded to the survey was franchises with gross revenue sales of $500 million to $1 billion in the past 12 months (27 percent). The next largest groups were franchises with sales revenues of $100-$250 million (19 percent) and $250-$500 million (14 percent). We asked respondents for their total franchise investment per unit, and 87 percent were greater than $250,000. The breakdown is: 38 percent between $500,001 and $1,000,000, 27 percent between $250,001 and $500,000, and 22 percent more than $1,000,000. Finally, we asked respondents about the range of domestic franchise units they are currently operating. The largest group, at 30 percent, operates between 101 and 250 domestic units. The next highest group was 251 to 500 units (22 percent), followed by 26 to 100 locations (19 percent). Published: November 4th, 2026

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