Verified — real FDD extraction
Not found in the SBA Franchise Directory under this name — though SBA loans to its franchisees exist; verify eligibility with your lender
FARRELL'S EXTREME BODYSHAPING
Fitness · independent · est. —
Farrell's Extreme Bodyshaping is a fitness program combining kickboxing, strength training, and nutrition coaching delivered in time-bound group challenge sessions. A franchisee operates a fitness studio, leading or staffing instructors for group classes and selling enrollment in transformation programs.
FARRELL'S EXTREME BODYSHAPING net unit count declined -16.1% from 2021–2023 per its FDD Item 20.
New to franchising? Start here
A franchise is a business where you (the franchisee) pay a company (the franchisor) for the right to open and run a location using their brand and system — think a local Anytime Fitness or Taco John's owned by a small-business owner, not the corporation.
Before you can buy in, U.S. law requires the franchisor to give you a Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) — a long legal filing covering its fees, finances, and history. The numbers on this page come straight from that document:
- Franchise fee — the one-time cost to buy in.
- Royalty — the ongoing cut of your sales you pay the franchisor.
- Item 20 — how many locations opened and closed, the basis for our verdict (from Proven & strong down to Distressed — or Too new to judge).
The verdict
Showing strain
Distress
The disclosed record shows weakness — shrinking units, elevated exits, or churn — worth reading closely before going further.
Exit rate · latest year
10.0%
vs 3.4% across 33 fitness systems
Cost to open
$151K–$349K
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan defaults
15.0%
20 loans resolved — directional only
Market density · Minnesota
Typical density
3% denser than the national average
Behind the verdict
the record, factor by factor · Item 20
3-yr trend · Item 20 Table 1
terminations + ceased-ops vs. all exits · Table 3
transfers vs. base · Table 3
actual vs. projected openings · Table 5
Item 19 disclosure + completeness
Systemwide units
2021–2023
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
In fiscal 2023, 5 of 50 franchised outlets left the system — a 10.0% annualized exit rate, vs 3.4% across 33 fitness systems. Not every exit is a failure — but this is the measurable floor.
Show the outlet tables ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Status (FTC) | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets at start | 56 | 56 | 52 |
| Opened | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Transfers | 7 | 4 | 4 |
| Terminations | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Non-renewals | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 1 | 5 | 5 |
| Outlets at end | 56 | 52 | 47 |
| Net change | 0 | -4 | -5 |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present
Banks have made 28 SBA-backed loans to FARRELL'S EXTREME BODYSHAPING franchisees since 2013. Only 20 have resolved so far — too thin for a reliable default rate, but 3 of them charged off.
—
20 resolved · too thin to rate
—
avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $
—
default rate × loss severity
$148,600
what recent franchisees borrowed
58 mo
approval → charge-off, defaulted loans
3 vs 10
distinct banks — pulling back
Charge-off rate by loan approval year (%)
Loan performance by state
SOURCE: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA LOAN DATA (DATA.SBA.GOV), FY1991–PRESENT · MATCHED TO FARRELL'S EXTREME BODYSHAPING BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL
The owner's side of the deal
FDD × federal loan record
Who finances it
Wells Fargo Bank National Association
21.4% of this brand's loans
That lender charges off 15.6% of its loans to other franchise brands, vs 14.8% nationally.
Who buys it
Too few identified operators
Does experience help here?
Not enough resolved loans to split
Computed from 28 SBA 7(a)/504 loans to FARRELL'S EXTREME BODYSHAPING franchisees joined to the brand's own FDD. Debt service assumes level amortization at the average disclosed term and rate. A lender's rate excludes its loans to this brand, so it reads the lender, not the brand.
What it costs — and what it drags
FDD Items 5–7 · fees, investment, royalty
Buying in means a $40K franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $151K–$349K (Item 7). The franchisor publishes no earnings claim (Item 19) — ask current and former franchisees for real numbers.
To open (Item 7)
$151K–$349K
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$40K
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
7.5%
of sales, ongoing
Your figure — this brand discloses no Item 19 earnings; validate with current & former owners.
Royalty you'd pay / yr
$75K
7.5% of sales, before profit
Over a 10-yr term
$750K
royalties alone, excl. ad fund
This is not profit. It's the only money the FDD actually pins down — what you put in, and the royalty you owe on every dollar of sales. Your real take-home depends on labor, rent, food cost, and ramp-to-breakeven, none of which any FDD discloses.
Build a real pro-forma for FARRELL'S EXTREME BODYSHAPING with an independent CPALabor record
US Dept. of Labor enforcement · franchisee-level · FY2005–present
Federal investigators have concluded 1 wage case against operators of this system, recovering $1K in back wages for 2 workers. These cases name franchisee-owned locations, not the franchisor itself.
Concluded cases
1
Back wages owed
$1K
Employees affected
2
Since 2020
0
Read this carefully. The employers in these cases are individual FARRELL'S EXTREME BODYSHAPING franchisees — separately owned businesses operating under the brand name — not FARRELL'S EXTREME BODYSHAPING itself. The franchisor is not the respondent and in most cases is not a party. What the record shows is how this system's operators run their payrolls, which is worth knowing before you become one of them. Counts rise with system size and with age: a 20-year-old, 10,000-unit system will out-count a young one regardless of conduct. Source: DOL Wage and Hour Division concluded compliance actions, FY2005–present, most recent finding 2012.
Modeled risk
FDD Risk Score · modeled from the public record
Modeled from the public record, this brand sits mid-pack: riskier than 64% of systems we score.
Risk percentile
64 / 100
Loan-corroborated
Modeled SBA charge-off
14.7%
Observed SBA charge-off
15.0%
Top drivers: Share financed by high-loss lenders (lowers) · System size (log units) (raises) · Net unit growth (raises) · Investment ceiling (log) (raises). 15+ resolved loans stand behind this estimate. A linear scorecard built from this brand's own disclosure figures plus the federal loan record behind its franchisees; full spec and cross-validated accuracy on the methodology page. A score is context, not a verdict.
Distress signals
news-sourced · bankruptcies, closures, lawsuits
No recent closures, bankruptcies, or major lawsuits found in the news for FARRELL'S EXTREME BODYSHAPING. That's a good sign — but it reflects news coverage, not a guarantee.
9 questions to ask a FARRELL'S EXTREME BODYSHAPING franchisee
Built from this brand's own disclosures · take it to your validation calls
The franchisor will give you a list of owners to call. Most buyers ask whether they like it. These are the questions built from what FARRELL'S EXTREME BODYSHAPING has actually disclosed — each one carries the number it came from, so you can tell whether the answer squares with the record.
- 01
FARRELL'S EXTREME BODYSHAPING’s own Item 20 shows 5 of 50 franchised outlets left the system in fiscal 2023 — about 10.0%. Do you know any of those owners, and do you know why they left?
A franchisor will call these “transitions.” An owner three doors down usually knows whether they sold at a profit or handed the keys back.
FDD Item 20 · FY2023
- 02
4 units transferred to new owners in fiscal 2023. When you look at those, were they people cashing out a good business — or getting out of a bad one?
Transfers count as neutral in every ranking. They are the single easiest place to hide distress.
FDD Item 20 · FY2023
- 03
The system went from 56 units to 47 over 3 disclosed years. What's the explanation you've been given, and do you believe it?
A shrinking system means fewer owners funding the ad fund and support staff you're paying for.
FDD Item 20 · FY2021–FY2023
- 04
You pay 7.5% royalty on gross sales, plus the ad fund, before any of your own costs. On your actual revenue last year, what did you take home as the owner — not revenue, take-home?
Royalty is charged on sales, not profit. This is the number the brochure never shows and the one your life actually runs on.
FDD Item 6
- 05
FARRELL'S EXTREME BODYSHAPING’s FDD makes no financial performance representation at all — legally, they've told buyers nothing about earnings. What did your first 24 months actually look like, month by month?
When a franchisor won't publish numbers, existing owners are the only source. Silence in Item 19 is a choice, not a requirement.
FDD Item 19 · 2024
- 06
How many months did it take to cover your own costs, and how much cash did you burn getting there?
Ramp-to-breakeven working capital is the most underestimated line in any franchise purchase, and the most common reason otherwise-good units fail.
Not disclosed in any FDD — ask an owner
- 07
What does the franchisor charge for that you didn't expect — required tech fees, mandatory remodels, approved-supplier pricing?
Required spending appears across Items 6, 8 and 11 rather than in one place, so buyers routinely miss the total.
FDD Items 6, 8, 11
- 08
If your agreement came up for renewal tomorrow at current terms, would you sign again?
The single most predictive question you can ask. A hesitation is the answer.
Ask every owner you speak to
- 09
Who else should I call — including someone who left?
The franchisor's list is curated by definition. Former franchisees are where the unflattering truth lives, and current owners usually know how to reach them.
Ask every owner you speak to
Want this as a checklist you can take to the calls?
I'll email you the printable version, and tell you if FARRELL'S EXTREME BODYSHAPING’s numbers move — a new filing, a rising exit rate, a distress signal. Unsubscribe in one click.
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. I'm paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing FARRELL'S EXTREME BODYSHAPING's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
This page is what buyers see before they call you for validation. If the record above is wrong — or right in a way the numbers can't show — say so. Corrections are checked against the filings; nothing you write is published with your name unless you agree to it.
FARRELL'S EXTREME BODYSHAPING franchise questions, answered from the filings
What percentage of FARRELL'S EXTREME BODYSHAPING franchises closed last year?
In FARRELL'S EXTREME BODYSHAPING's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2023), 5 of 50 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 10.0% — compared with 3.4% across 33 fitness systems tracked here. That counts terminations, non-renewals, and "ceased operations — other reasons." There is no official failure rate, and not every exit is a failure, but this is the measurable floor.
How much does a FARRELL'S EXTREME BODYSHAPING franchise cost?
Per FARRELL'S EXTREME BODYSHAPING's 2024 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $40K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $151K–$349K (Item 7).
What royalty does FARRELL'S EXTREME BODYSHAPING charge?
FARRELL'S EXTREME BODYSHAPING charges an ongoing royalty of 7.5% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2024 FDD.
Does FARRELL'S EXTREME BODYSHAPING disclose earnings (Item 19)?
No — FARRELL'S EXTREME BODYSHAPING's 2024 FDD makes no financial performance representation in Item 19. That is legal and common, but it means the franchisor publishes no earnings claim; ask current franchisees for real numbers.