BiggerPockets Money Podcast · Tuesday, September 8, 2026
Alex Smirzlock of Franyzie explains that franchise costs can range dramatically, from low-cost options like commercial cleaning services starting at $10,000 to large swim schools or indoor play parks costing up to $5 million. He suggests that $50,000 to $150,000 is typically sufficient to enter many income-replacing or empire-building franchise concepts.
“And so the answer I'm going to give you on the range of how do you get into this and what does it cost is pretty wide because there are side hustle franchises that are 10 to, you know, 20k to get into and it's like, card my yard or, you know, basically buying a bucket and a mop and doing commercial cleaning, you know, services franchise and it's very, very low cost to get into.”
“But then you have businesses that are all the way up to the, you know, four to $6 million range where it's a giant swim school, you know, for kids swimming lessons or an indoor play park that is, you know, much more infrastructure and more cost.”
“But I would say if you have 50 to 150k, you can get into the majority of the, let's call them, you know, good income replacing or empire building even concepts where you can buy multiple territories and start to, you know, scale up and build out a meaningful portfolio of concepts and territories.”