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Bar Method franchise — is it worth it?

Medium risk Shrinking network Item 19 disclosed

What Bar Method's most recent Franchise Disclosure Document says about the money, the litigation, and the franchisee churn — before you wire a five- or six-figure franchise fee.

Everything below is free, read straight off Bar Method's registered filing, with where the numbers land against category peers. Weighing Bar Method against other options? Get a free shortlist of franchises that fit your budget.

Figures above are as disclosed in Bar Method's most recent FDD (registered 2024). Source: Minnesota Dept. of Commerce — CARDS franchise registrations · filing 32587-202411-04 — check it yourself. See every other Minnesota-registered franchise.

How much does a Bar Method franchise make?

Bar Method is one of the franchisors that answers this on the record: its most recent FDD makes an Item 19 financial performance representation — actual unit earnings figures, disclosed by the franchisor itself. The headline figure did not machine-read cleanly from this filing, so we don't print one; Item 19 of the source FDD has the tables. See every other brand that discloses earnings in the Other franchises with disclosed Item 19 earnings ranking.

Bar Method franchise profit vs. revenue

Revenue is not profit. An Item 19 almost always reports sales — what a location takes in — not what an owner keeps. Out of that number come Bar Method's 6% royalty, the ad fund, rent, payroll, supplies and debt service. No FDD tells you a Bar Method franchise's profit, because profit depends on your site, your rent and how you run it — so treat any "Bar Method franchise profit" figure quoted elsewhere as someone's estimate, not a disclosure.

Bar Method lawsuits & legal history (FDD Item 3)

Bar Method's most recently filed Franchise Disclosure Document (2024) does disclose legal proceedings in Item 3 . Item 3 is the item where a franchisor must put its material legal history on the record. Two things it is not: it covers the franchisor and its predecessors, parents and affiliates, so a disclosed case is not necessarily a suit against Bar Method itself; and a disclosure is a fact, not a finding of wrongdoing — most entries are contract disputes with former franchisees, which every large system accumulates. Item 3 of the source FDD describes each case.

Bar Method closures & failure rate

Before you sign, Bar Method will hand you a list of current owners to call as references — and they choose who's on that list. It won't include the owners who quit, got bought out, or were forced out last year. The FDD does report that number, even though the reference list leaves those people off. Below is what Bar Method's most recent filing shows, and whether it's normal for a franchise of this kind.

The closest thing an FDD has to a failure rate is Item 20 — outlet openings, closures, terminations and non-renewals, reported by the franchisor. Bar Method's latest tables show a shrinking franchised network — more units left than opened. Net franchised outlets moved -2 to 73 in the latest reported year.

Who owns Bar Method?

Bar Method's franchise is offered by BAR METHOD FRANCHISOR LLC (THE) — the franchisor named on the cover of its most recently filed Franchise Disclosure Document (2024), and the entity a franchisee actually signs with. That name comes straight off the filing at MN CARDS; it identifies the franchisor, not necessarily the ultimate parent company behind it.

Compare Bar Method head-to-head

Franchises at a similar investment level at a similar investment level

Anyone weighing Bar Method is really weighing it against the other brands their money could go into. These are the closest by total initial investment (FDD Item 7), each with its own FDD-based page.

Bar Method franchise — frequently asked