Franchises under $10,000: what you can really get for the money

• FranchiseScope's Register analysis (19 August 2026, self-reported by franchisors): the lowest category medians for the low end of disclosed start-up costs were $18,669 for lawn and garden (n=9), $22,000 for pet services (n=14) and $27,500 for cleaning (n=55), among categories with at least nine disclosures.
• Across all 937 profiles that disclosed a low-end start-up estimate above zero, the median was $146,984.
• The last broad survey (Griffith University, 2016) found non-retail start-up costs from $2,800 to $620,000, with a median of $59,750. Those figures are a decade old.
• The headline fee is only part of the cost: in 2016, the median non-retail initial fee was $28,000, against a median total start-up cost of $59,750.
• If you only pay genuine wholesale prices for stock, the arrangement may fall outside the Franchising Code's definition of a franchise, and outside its protections.
• Income that depends on recruiting people rather than selling to customers is a pyramid-scheme warning sign, and pyramid schemes are illegal (ACCC).

These are the main types, with what to check for each.

• Low-fee service franchises: a small upfront fee for a mobile or home-based service. Check whether equipment, a vehicle, insurance and working capital are included, because the fee alone won't run the business.
• Deposit-style pricing: the advertised figure may be a deposit or first instalment, with more due later or financed. Ask for the total in writing.
• Distributorships and dealerships: the right to sell a supplier's products, often paid for through stock purchases. If your only payments are genuine wholesale prices, the Franchising Code may not apply.
• Licences: the right to use a name, product or method. Whether the Franchising Code applies depends on whether the arrangement meets the Code's definition of a franchise agreement.
• Network or multi-level marketing: you buy a starter kit and earn from sales and a 'downline'. The ACCC distinguishes legitimate multi-level marketing, where people earn from selling genuine products or services, from pyramid schemes, where people only make money by recruiting.
• Cheap resales: an existing low-cost franchise sold quickly by a departing owner. Find out why they're leaving and what the franchisor charges to approve a transfer.

Here's how a $9,900 offer can grow. The amounts are assumptions for illustration, not quotes or benchmarks for any system.

• Franchise fee: $9,900.
• Equipment and initial supplies: $6,000.
• Vehicle signage and uniforms: $2,500, assuming you already own a suitable vehicle.
• Insurance for the first year: $2,000.
• Launch marketing: $3,000.
• Legal and accounting advice on the agreement: $3,000.
• Working capital for 3 months at $2,500 a month: $7,500.
• Illustrative all-in total: $33,900, more than three times the headline fee, before a vehicle or your own living costs.

Ask the franchisor for its own estimate of start-up costs. Its Franchise Disclosure Register profile records the costs payable to start operating the business, which can be shown as a lower and upper range.

1. Where does the money come from? Selling goods or services to customers points to a genuine business. Payments for recruiting people point to a pyramid scheme.
2. Did you receive a disclosure document, a copy of the Franchising Code and the agreement in the form you'll sign? The franchisor can't sign until 14 days after you have them.
3. Will the business be substantially associated with the franchisor's brand, and run under a system the franchisor controls or suggests? Both are part of the Code's definition.
4. What are you paying for? Fees, royalties or training charges point to a franchise. Paying only genuine wholesale prices for stock may mean the Code doesn't apply.
5. Is the franchisor on the Franchise Disclosure Register? Franchisors must register at least 14 days before signing their first franchise agreement.
6. Is there a territory or customer base to serve, or just a product kit and a recruitment target?
7. Would you still make money if nobody new joined? If not, walk away.

The ACCC says it's against the law to participate in, or persuade someone to participate in, a pyramid scheme.

FranchiseScope analysed 1,187 Franchise Disclosure Register profiles captured on 19 August 2026, grouped by FranchiseScope category. Franchisors self-report start-up costs as a lower and upper estimate, and each range below runs from the category's median lower estimate to its median upper estimate, with n the number of profiles disclosing costs.

• Lawn and garden: $18,669 to $51,445 (n=9).
• Pet services: $22,000 to $53,000 (n=14).
• Cleaning: $27,500 to $79,890 (n=55).
• Mortgage and finance: $51,000 to $109,375 (n=15).
• Home and trade services: $52,500 to $127,500 (n=96).
• Courier and logistics: $55,000 to $135,000 (n=10).
• All categories: a median lower estimate of $146,984 (937 profiles) and a median upper estimate of $400,000 (923 profiles).

Samples of fewer than 20 profiles can shift with a few entries, so treat these as a rough guide rather than a price list. Our budget pages list individual systems in each band.

• Form part of a deposit on a low-cost system, alongside finance, if the numbers still work once repayments are included.
• Pay for independent advice before you commit. The ACCC's information statement recommends advice from a lawyer, an accountant and a business adviser before you sign.
• Fund a working capital buffer for a system you can otherwise afford.
• Cover proper due diligence, starting with the ACCC's free online course, Is franchising for me?, which has 6 modules and takes less than 90 minutes.
• Start an independent micro-business instead, if what you want is simply to be self-employed. Our franchise versus own business guide compares the two.
• Browse the lowest budget bands on FranchiseScope, starting with franchises under $30,000 and under $50,000.

• I have the franchisor's written estimate of all start-up costs, not just the fee.
• I've received a disclosure document, the Code and the agreement, and I know the franchisor can't sign until 14 days after I have them.
• I know that any payment made during that 14-day period must be refunded within 14 days if I ask in writing.
• I've found the franchisor on the Franchise Disclosure Register.
• My income would come from customers, not from recruiting people.
• I know what equipment, vehicle and working capital I must fund myself.
• I've spoken to current and former franchisees.
• A lawyer and an accountant have reviewed the offer.