Compare the Costs: Franchise Fees vs Independent Setup in 2026
Everyone quotes the franchise joining fee. Nobody quotes the five years of weekly fees behind it. This is the 2026 maths, side by side, using real numbers from my own school and instructors I've helped leave.
The franchise cost, year by year
Take a typical franchise at £250/week plus a £500 joining fee. That's £13,000 in year one before you've taught a lesson. Over five years, assuming the fee holds, that's £65,000 in franchise fees alone, plus the joining fee, plus the penalties and referral charges the contracts bury. You own nothing at the end.
| Year | Franchise fee (£250/wk) | Joining fee | Total to franchise |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | £13,000 | £500 | £13,500 |
| 2 | £13,000 | £0 | £26,500 |
| 3 | £13,000 | £0 | £39,500 |
| 4 | £13,000 | £0 | £52,500 |
| 5 | £13,000 | £0 | £65,500 |
The independent cost, once
Going independent is a one-off build plus small running costs. Using my own numbers: website £399, branding £199, GBP setup £89, local SEO £249, Meta setup £199, plus a financed car. Total setup under £5,000, and the car is an asset you own. After that, you pay only for what you choose.
| Item | Cost | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Website (Starter) | £399 | One-off |
| Branding pack | £199 | One-off |
| Google Business Profile | £89 | One-off |
| Local SEO foundation | £249 | One-off |
| Meta ads setup | £199 | One-off |
| Car finance (from) | £180/mo | Ongoing |
| Setup total | £4,135 |
The five-year gap
Franchise: £65,500 and you own nothing. Independent: ~£4,135 setup plus maybe £2,000-£3,000 of ads and SEO over five years, and you own the brand, the site, the car, the reviews and the pupil list. The gap is £55,000-£60,000 over five years, every penny of which stays in your pocket.
But what about pupils?
The franchise sells you pupils. In reality they get them from Google and Meta ads, the same places you can. When you rank locally and run a small ad, you get the same pupils, for a fraction of the cost, and they're yours. My pupil-getting strategies cover exactly how.
The hidden costs franchises don't quote
Beyond the weekly fee: referral fees per pupil, late-payment charges, pupil-rejection charges, vehicle admin fees, and early-termination bills running into thousands. I broke every one down in the hidden costs article. Independently, none of these exist because you set the rules.
What you're really buying
A franchise sells peace of mind and a name. But the name isn't yours, the pupils aren't yours, and the peace of mind vanishes the week the diary's empty and the fee's still due. Independence is the opposite: you build the asset, you keep the pupils, and the weekly "fee" becomes profit.
The 2026 verdict
If you value owning your business, independence wins on cost alone, before you even count the pupils and the asset. The Launch Package gets you set up for £1,799, less than two months of franchise fees, and everything it builds is yours forever.