Brain Balance owner earnings are not disclosed in Item 19. For a manager-run, full-year franchised Center, the strongest defensible analytical range is approximately $50,000 to $185,000 in pre-tax owner earnings, with a base scenario near $99,000. The estimate is anchored to 2025 Gross Sales in the 2026 FDD and a broad U.S. educational-services operating-expense benchmark. Evidence confidence is Limited because the FDD provides no Center-level expense or profit data.
This range is an independent analytical scenario, not an Item 19 financial performance representation by BB Franchising LLC. It combines identified facts from the Brain Balance 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document with separately identified U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and scenario assumptions. Actual results can differ materially by location, Center format, Gross Sales, labor, occupancy, financing, owner involvement, local advertising efficiency, and execution.
FDD references are cited by year, Item, and page because no matching current public FDD was verified on a franchise-controlled domain. Brand context: the official Brain Balance franchise website.
The central FDD revenue observation for full-year franchised Centers.
Higher than the median because stronger Centers pull the average upward.
The Item 19 cohort excludes partial-year openings and a partial-year closure.
8% royalty, 9% local advertising, and 2% National Advertising Fund, before minimum effects.
Derived from 2022 taxable employer firms in Census NAICS 6116.
May 2023 mean wage for education administrators in Other Schools and Instruction.
What does the 2026 Brain Balance Item 19 actually measure?
It measures annual Gross Sales, not owner earnings. Item 19 reports 2025 revenue for 67 franchisee-owned Centers that operated for the full year. It does not disclose payroll, occupancy, royalty expense, advertising expense, operating profit, EBITDA, net income, owner salary, draws, or distributions.
The cohort combines standard Brain Balance Centers with seven Satellite Centers. The FDD states that a Satellite Center outsources some administrative work to its related standard Center but has the same enrollment and revenue capacity. Because the formats are combined, a buyer cannot isolate the economics of a standard Center or a Satellite Center from Item 19 alone.
| 2025 Item 19 observation | Gross Sales | Centers | How it is used here |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bottom-third median | $340,124 | 22 | Conservative revenue anchor |
| Overall median | $559,395 | 67 | Base revenue anchor |
| Overall average | $682,933 | 67 | Context, not the central scenario |
| Top-third median | $889,720 | 23 | Upside revenue anchor |
Source: Brain Balance 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, Item 19, pp. 65–69. Item 19 also reports a 2025 minimum of $111,600, maximum of $2,537,304, and 26 of 67 Centers meeting or exceeding the $682,933 average.
The average is $123,538 above the median, and only 38.8% of the reported Centers met or exceeded the average. That skew makes the median a more defensible central revenue anchor than the average, but neither figure says what remained for an owner after expenses.
How does Gross Sales translate into estimated owner earnings?
The manager-run scenarios produce approximately $50,200, $99,300, and $184,700 in annual pre-tax owner earnings. These are independent estimates for full-year operations, not franchisor-reported profits.
The model uses Item 19 medians for the bottom third, full cohort, and top third. It then applies a broad operating-surplus proxy from U.S. Census Bureau data for taxable employer firms in NAICS 6116, Other Schools and Instruction. In the 2022 Service Annual Survey, that group reported $27.475 billion of revenue and $22.596 billion of expenses, implying a 17.76% revenue-minus-expense ratio. The conservative and upside margins move three percentage points below and above that benchmark.
| Scenario | Revenue anchor | Margin assumption | Estimated pre-tax owner earnings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | $340,124 | 14.8% | $50,200 |
| Base | $559,395 | 17.8% | $99,300 |
| Upside | $889,720 | 20.8% | $184,700 |
Annual pre-tax operating surplus available to ownership before personal income tax and financing principal.
Interpretation: The chart is an uncertainty range, not a probability forecast. It combines different revenue observations with different margin sensitivities to show how both sales and cost control can move owner economics.
Sources and formula: Brain Balance 2026 FDD, Item 19, pp. 65–69; 2022 Census Service Annual Survey Tables 2 and 3; earnings = revenue anchor × scenario margin. Calculations use full precision and are rounded to the nearest $100.
What is included in the estimate?
The estimate is intended to approximate cash available after normal unit-level operating expenses and recurring franchise fees, but before personal income taxes and financing principal. Because the Census table is an aggregate industry expense measure rather than a Brain Balance profit-and-loss statement, several treatments cannot be isolated precisely.
- Manager compensation: treated as part of the employer-firm expense proxy in the manager-run scenario.
- Owner compensation: no salary, draw, or distribution is separately assumed in the manager-run result; the owner-operator labor value is shown separately.
- Royalty and advertising: not subtracted a second time from the Census margin, because the benchmark is an all-expense proxy. Double-charging the FDD fees would understate the scenario.
- Interest and depreciation: not separately identifiable in the aggregate Census table. A buyer should replace the proxy with actual Center books rather than add another generic interest or depreciation charge.
- Capital expenditures: excluded from the annual scenario and should be budgeted separately from operating earnings.
- Debt principal and personal income tax: excluded. The article does not estimate after-tax take-home pay.
Benchmark methodology: the Census Service Annual Survey methodology describes national revenue and expense estimates for U.S. employer firms. Brain Balance may differ materially from the broad NAICS group.
How does active owner operation change the result?
An owner who replaces the Center Director may receive an estimated owner-operator benefit of about $129,500 to $264,000. That figure is not pure business profit: it combines the manager-run residual with the estimated market value of the owner’s labor.
Item 15 permits a franchisee to manage daily operations. When the franchisee does not do so, the FDD requires a dedicated Center Director to attend required training. Every Center must also employ a Center Director, Program Director, and enough Program Coaches. The model therefore adds a $79,300 labor-value proxy only when the owner serves in the Center Director role; it does not remove the Program Director or coaching staff.
The $79,300 gap represents work performed by the owner, not passive income.
Interpretation: An owner-operator may improve cash retained by replacing a paid management role, but the added value compensates the owner for daily operating work. It should not be described as passive business profit.
Sources: Brain Balance 2026 FDD, Item 15, p. 54; May 2023 BLS wage data for Education Administrators, All Other in Other Schools and Instruction. The $79,300 industry mean is a proxy, not a disclosed Brain Balance Center Director salary.
The economic trade-off is time versus payroll. A working owner may capture manager labor value, but must still fund the Program Director and Program Coaches required by the operating model. A manager-run owner receives the residual business result and should not add the Center Director wage again.
Why can lower Gross Sales produce a much tighter earnings outcome?
The $6,000 monthly local advertising minimum raises the effective royalty-and-advertising burden at lower sales levels. The headline percentage is 19% of Gross Revenue, but the effective burden is about 31.2% at the bottom-third median and 22.9% at the overall median before the annual technology fee and usage-based charges.
| Recurring obligation | FDD term | At $559,395 median sales | Model treatment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Royalty | 8% of Gross Revenue; $1,000 monthly minimum | $44,752 | Included in fee-burden analysis |
| Local Advertising | 9% of Gross Revenue; $6,000 monthly minimum | $72,000 | Annual minimum exceeds 9% at median sales |
| National Advertising Fund | 2% of Gross Revenue; $200 monthly minimum | $11,188 | Percentage exceeds minimum |
| Annual Technology Fee | Currently $2,500 per Center | $2,500 | Fixed recurring fee; usage charges are additional |
Source: Brain Balance 2026 FDD, Item 6, pp. 7–14. The table excludes Cognitive App subscriptions, assessment fees, payment processing, extra users, convention expenses, and optional or program-specific charges.
Effective percentage after applying the FDD monthly minimums; annual technology and usage-based fees are excluded.
Interpretation: The fixed local advertising floor is most consequential below $800,000 of annual Gross Revenue. At the overall median, royalty and required advertising total approximately $127,940 before the $2,500 annual technology fee and variable program charges.
Source and formula: Brain Balance 2026 FDD, Items 6 and 19. Effective burden = max(8% of revenue, $12,000) + max(9% of revenue, $72,000) + max(2% of revenue, $2,400), divided by the relevant 2025 revenue anchor.
Sales productivity is the dominant variable because the Center must support required staffing, physical occupancy, and a substantial advertising commitment. A lower-sales Center does not receive proportionate relief from the $72,000 annual local advertising minimum.
What keeps this earnings range from having higher confidence?
The largest unresolved uncertainty is the absence of same-brand expense and profit data. Item 19 gives a strong revenue distribution but no Center-level cost structure, so the operating margin must come from a broad external benchmark.
- Mixed formats: the Item 19 population combines standard Centers and seven Satellite Centers, while their space needs and administrative structures differ.
- Excluded partial years: the 2025 cohort excludes one Center that closed during the year and three Centers that opened during the year.
- Reporting basis: the franchisor says the data came from voluntary franchisee reporting, required CRM data, and a small number of audits.
- Broad benchmark: NAICS 6116 covers Other Schools and Instruction, not only Brain Balance-style non-medical developmental programs.
- Local cost variation: payroll, rent, insurance, advertising conversion, payment processing, and enrollment-related app costs can vary materially by market and Center mix.
- No debt model: financing principal is outside the operating-earnings range, and actual lender terms can materially reduce owner cash flow.
Item 20 adds useful system context but does not solve the profit-data gap. The system ended 2025 with 73 franchised outlets and no company-owned outlets. During 2025, nine franchised outlets opened, one did not renew, and none were reported as ceasing operations for other reasons. Those counts describe system movement, not owner profitability.
Source: Brain Balance 2026 FDD, Item 20, pp. 69–74. The FTC Consumer’s Guide to Buying a Franchise explains why buyers should examine the source, assumptions, geographic relevance, and written substantiation behind Item 19 claims.
What should a buyer verify before relying on the range?
A buyer should replace the broad margin proxy with actual Center-level records. The most useful diligence is a consistent comparison of Item 19 substantiation, franchisee profit-and-loss statements, owner hours, and local operating assumptions.
- Request the written substantiation for the 2025 Item 19 Gross Sales tables and confirm how Satellite Centers are treated.
- Ask multiple current franchisees for normalized annual payroll, Center Director compensation, Program Director compensation, coaching labor, occupancy, insurance, merchant fees, app charges, and required advertising spend.
- Separate owner salary for work performed from business profit, distributions, retained earnings, and debt-funded draws.
- Compare manager-run and owner-operated Centers with similar age, market size, enrollment mix, and physical format.
- Confirm whether a target market can sustain the $6,000 monthly local advertising minimum without compressing staffing or occupancy coverage.
- Model financing interest and principal using the buyer’s actual loan proposal rather than a generic debt assumption.
- Review Item 20 contacts, including former franchisees, and ask why units transferred, closed, or did not renew.
The FTC Franchise Rule requires a 23-item disclosure document, and the FTC advises buyers to ask for written substantiation of financial performance representations. The official Brain Balance franchise process page provides current brand-level process context, but the FDD and verified operating records should control the earnings analysis.
What is the strongest defensible Brain Balance owner-earnings range?
The strongest defensible manager-run range is approximately $50,000 to $185,000 in annual pre-tax owner earnings, with a base analytical case near $99,000. It is a scenario-based estimate with Limited evidence confidence, not an official Brain Balance profit disclosure.
For an owner who performs the Center Director role, the corresponding estimated owner-operator benefit is approximately $129,500 to $264,000. About $79,300 of that amount represents labor value, not passive profit. The most important earnings driver is Gross Sales relative to required staffing, occupancy, and the local advertising minimum. The largest uncertainty is the lack of same-brand expense and profit data by Center format.
A buyer should verify the Item 19 substantiation, obtain comparable franchisee profit-and-loss statements, separate owner labor from residual profit, and test the exact market’s payroll, rent, advertising, usage fees, and financing before treating any point in the range as decision-ready.