20 Best Franchises Under 10K You Can Start in 2024

When you open a franchise, you’re following a proven model of success. It’s one way to take some of the risk out of starting a new business.

However, the initial start-up costs of many franchises can put them out of reach.

If you want to open a branch of the famous golden arches, you’ll need to be able to invest one to two million, for example.

Fortunately, there are many successful franchising opportunities that won’t break the bank.

These tried-and-true models are perfect for first-time franchisees or those seeking a low-cost entry point into the world of business.

From proven concepts to emerging trends, we’ve got you covered with a diverse selection of franchises under 10K to help you find your ideal fit.

Benefits of Starting a Franchise under 10K

For small business owners, there are significant benefits to choosing a franchise opportunity with a low initial franchise fee, including the following:

Lower Initial Investment

The most obvious benefit is the lower upfront cost. With a franchise under 10k, you can kickstart your business without taking on significant debt or depleting your savings. This financial advantage allows you to use resources in other parts of your business, such as marketing or employee training.

Quicker Return on Investment

Since the initial costs are lower, the chances of reaching your break-even point and realizing an ROI are much quicker. For example, a $5,000 franchise that generates $1,000 in monthly profit will reach its break-even point in just five months. A $50,000 franchise would need 50 months to achieve the same milestone.

Lower Risk

A lower initial investment also translates to reduced financial risk. In the unlikely event that your franchise doesn’t perform as expected, your potential losses are limited. This reduced risk can make it easier for first-time entrepreneurs to plunge into business ownership.

Easier Financing

If you have limited or bad credit, it may be easier to get a loan for less than $10,000. You may be able to use your savings or borrow from friends and family instead of applying for a loan. 

Agility and Adaptability

Smaller franchises often have a simpler business model, so they can adapt when they need to. For example, a low-cost, home-based tutoring franchise can quickly pivot to online sessions if students prefer.

Greater Personal Involvement

With a lower investment, franchisees will likely be more hands-on and involved in day-to-day operations. Being more involved in running your business can help you make better decisions. 

20 Affordable Franchises for Under 10K

Here’s a list of 20 franchise opportunities under 10K. However, your total investment may be more for some of them.

Top Business Services Franchises Under 10k

Advisory Capital Brokerage offers a commercial capital broker franchise. Their training qualifies you to broker commercial financing for other businesses. This self-paced or two-day live course gives you the knowledge and skills to be a broker and run a successful business.

With access to over 100+ lenders, 100+ financial products, a proprietary CRM, and a broker liaison team for guidance and coaching, you’ll have a lot of personalized support. The course package costs $9,995 or 2 equal payments of $5,995. You’ll also get a free 1-year subscription to CapitalSearchEngine.com’s Broker Digital Brand plan.

This service provides custom logo design, white-labeled custom domains, e-mail accounts, website hosting, maintenance, and administration, fully optimized SEO, and full social media creation, administration, and management.

Eazi-Apps offers a low-cost franchise opportunity for a mobile app development business. You don’t have to have coding skills to build apps since the company offers its own mobile app builder.

The apps you build are sold to local businesses to help them generate income. The franchise fee and operating costs come in at just under $10,000. Eazi-Apps includes a comprehensive training program and ongoing support to help you succeed in the competitive mobile app development market. You’ll also get access to many tools and resources that will make it easier to develop apps.

They offer a content management system and marketing and sales support, too. There is an increasing demand for mobile apps across industries. The low cost and strong support provided by Eazi-Apps can help you break into the lucrative tech market.

Social Owl is an innovative franchise opportunity that offers a turnkey social media marketing business model. The franchise allows individuals to start a social media marketing business and sell social media packages to businesses, generating recurring monthly revenue.

One of the most attractive features of Social Owl is that there is no initial franchise fee, making it an accessible opportunity for individuals who may not have significant capital to invest. Instead, franchisees pay a reasonable monthly fee of $279 or purchase the annual package for $1,997. 

This affordable fee includes comprehensive training, ongoing support, and access to the company’s proprietary software and marketing materials.

SiteSwan offers a franchise opportunity for those looking to break into the web design market. SiteSwan’s website builder platform offers a reseller opportunity for its web services, providing a white-label solution that you can use to create and sell websites to businesses. You can build your entire business around this platform or add it to your other offerings, like marketing support and social media services.

With monthly plans ranging from $149 to $300, SiteSwan is an affordable franchise option with no upfront fees. The platform is easy to use and requires no coding experience, so you don’t have to worry if you’re not a techie. The company provides extensive training and support, including marketing materials and ongoing product updates to help you stay competitive in the market. 

SiteSwan also offers a range of customization options, allowing you to tailor your web design services to your client’s specific needs. With its user-friendly, customizable, and affordable website builder platform, SiteSwan is a good choice for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Farmer’s Insurance is one of our list’s most affordable franchising companies, with an initial fee of only $500. The company offers opportunities to own a Farmer’s insurance agency. You’ll have access to knowledgeable District Managers who serve as business coaches and help prepare you to start up and grow your business.

The franchise provides training on products and services, support on business development and execution, help with branding and local agency placement, and guidance on licensing and other milestone assessments.

Before starting a franchise, you’ll need to be certified in Property, Casualty, Life, and Health insurance, but Farmer’s Insurance offers comprehensive support after certification.

MobileStamp is an affordable franchise opportunity to build and sell loyalty programs to businesses. It offers a white-label product to put your own brand on everything.

With the Mobile Loyalty App Builder, you can easily set up mobile punch cards, counter tablet loyalty programs, mobile deals, social rewards, and more. MobileStamp provides a sales website and local website, innovative QR code, marketing material, customer video, and one-on-one training to help you learn the system and grow your business.

You don’t need sales or coding experience to start a franchise with MobileStamp. You control all the plans and pricing for your business, and MobileStamp only collects a small monthly reseller fee to license the platform, so you keep 100% of your sales.

Top Cleaning and Janitorial Franchises Under $10K

Corvus Janitorial Systems has provided commercial janitorial franchises for over 20 years. One advantage of choosing Corvus is access to state-of-the-art equipment, including electrostatic sprayers and hospital-grade disinfectants.

Corvus has a low start-up cost beginning at $7,500. You can also take advantage of in-house financing options, making starting your own cleaning business easier.

Buildingstars offers an affordable franchise opportunity in the commercial cleaning industry with upfront fees starting at $750. As a franchise owner, you receive a base of customer accounts that generate between $1,000-$5,000 in monthly gross revenue, ensuring a steady income stream from the start.

What sets Buildingstars apart from other cleaning franchises is its focus on providing its franchise owners with the most desirable cleaning accounts based on size, hours of operation, location, industry, and more. They focus solely on office buildings, ensuring you and your employees have a consistent workload.

JAN-PRO Cleaning & Disinfecting franchises require a minimum down payment of $1,250 and an additional $900 for JAN-PRO Franchise Development’s starter kit, making it an effective option to open a business with minimal up-front costs.

The franchise model provides comprehensive training, uniforms, IDs, initial starter supplies and equipment, and customer accounts. You’re free to focus on providing great service while JAN-PRO Cleaning & Disinfecting finds new customers for you.

Top Publishing Franchises Under 10K

N2 Publishing offers a low-cost franchise opportunity if you’re interested in advertising sales and publishing. N2 Publishing sells advertising and facilitates publishing magazines and directories for residential communities, cities, towns, and villages.

With an initial franchise fee of only $570 and an overall upfront investment range from $975 to $9,800, owning an N2 Publishing franchise is an affordable way to start your own business. As a franchise owner, you’ll be part of a team of more than 600 advertising salespeople and staff members who support them.

Coffee News is the world’s largest weekly restaurant publication. As a franchisee, you sell advertising, promote community events, and distribute the Coffee News publication weekly. Coffee News provides all the training and tools you need to be successful.

As a Coffee News Publisher, you build relationships with local business owners and participate in local organizations. You also act as a consultant for the businesses that advertise with you, helping them with concepts, events, promotions, and more. Franchise territories are defined by the area you select and where you distribute Coffee News.

You can accept advertising from anywhere. The income you build will be based on the number of editions you publish, your ad rate, the amount of time you dedicate to your business, and your ability to connect with small businesses in the local community effectively.

Top Fitness Franchises Under 10K

Momleta offers a franchise opportunity primarily aimed at new moms who want to start their own businesses in the fitness industry. Franchisees become fitness instructors for other new moms in their communities.

You don’t need prior fitness experience to become a Momleta owner. With a Tier 1 franchise fee of $5,000, you have an exclusive territory with a population of up to 100,000 people. You also receive the operations manual, ongoing support and training, and a start-up kit with everything you need to get started.

Momleta’s business model and one-on-one coaching program help you build a profitable business before considering expansion. You’ll need a current, approved national fitness certification, and you need to complete Momleta’s instructor training, which can be done online.

Unlike most franchisors, Momleta does not collect royalties on gross profits, allowing you to keep more earnings.

Another fitness franchise aimed at moms is Moms on the Run. Moms on the Run has an affordable upfront franchise fee of $1,950, allowing you to build a business in women’s fitness, running, and outdoor activities.

Franchisees coach women in fitness and network with other moms who are interested. Moms on the Run has been recognized as a top low-cost franchise by Entrepreneur Magazine for the past three years and has been named one of the top fitness franchises for less than $50,000 for four out of the last five years.

Moms on the Run provides full-time support to guide you through the start-up process and beyond, with turnkey resources, training videos, marketing materials, and other business management documents.

Jazzercise offers an affordable franchise opportunity for those passionate about dance and fitness. With an initial fee of $1250, you can become either an instructor franchisee or a class owner franchisee.

As a Jazzercise franchisee, you receive new choreography delivered digitally, access to an online routine choreography database, use of the Jazzercise brand and promotional images, and a discount on Jazzercise On Demand with Livestream Classes. Additionally, you have access to a network of franchisees worldwide, an exercise physiologist for guidance, and franchise support through the Franchise Customer Support team.

As an instructor franchisee, you pay an annual franchise fee of $120 and a monthly continuing franchise fee of 20% of gross or $250 minimum.

Top Food and Beverage Franchises Under 10K

Steak’n Shake is a franchising company-operated restaurant. For a total investment of just $10,000, selected Franchise Partners are granted the rights necessary to operate a franchised Steak ‘n Shake restaurant.

However, it’s worth noting that this opportunity requires that you be free of any other active business ventures and operate the restaurant on a full-time, hands-on basis. You need to successfully complete an extensive, multi-week training program before taking ownership of an existing Steak ‘n Shake and hiring a team of employees.

You’ll oversee all aspects of the restaurant and earn 50% of the restaurant profits, a higher percentage than many other franchises. However, you’ll pay more in ongoing costs due to the lower upfront pricing.

Java Dave’s Coffee offers a licensing opportunity for business owners. The company has developed a tasty line of beverages ranging from mochas and lattes to cappuccinos and cocoas. 

The Java Dave’s Franchise System was converted into a licensing opportunity in March 2003. With licensing, there are no ongoing fees to pay. Additionally, you still have the quality of Java Dave’s products and the training to make them, but you can add additional concepts to your business, like ice cream or bakery items, if you want.

Currently, there are three different licensing packages to choose from, ranging from $499.95 to $3,495.

Top Vacation Planning and Family Fun Franchises Under 10K

CruiseOne Dream Vacations offers an opportunity for travel enthusiasts who want to turn their passion into a home based travel business. As a home-based franchise owner, you can enjoy the freedom of being your own boss and creating memorable experiences for your customers.

With a low investment of $3,500, you can own your own travel agency franchise and earn 100% commission. Dream Vacations provides ample support to help you succeed, including training, marketing materials, and ongoing support from experienced franchise owners.

If you prefer to start small or have limited resources, you can become an independent travel advisor under the guidance of an existing franchise owner. As an independent contractor, you can sell cruises, tours, excursions, and other vacation packages and earn a 60% commission.

Cruise Planners is an affordable franchise opportunity with a limited-time discount of $2,000 off its initial franchise fee, making owning a franchise $8,995. The franchise fee includes a six-day training seminar with the leadership team and industry partners.

You’ll also receive access to hundreds of web-based training courses in Cruisitude Academy, business development coaching, ongoing support, award-winning marketing programs, a custom CRM and booking engine, and social media page design.

Card My Yard offers a unique and fun concept with a 24-hour yard greeting service for special celebrations. One of the main benefits of this franchise is that the start-up cost is low, at $7,750. 

They provide a proven method for creating a successful advertising campaign. Every franchisee is supported through training and constant assistance from a professional franchise team.

Edu3Dcation is an innovative franchise opportunity for those interested in educating children in the field of 3D design, printing, and scanning. More than 100 lesson scenarios are provided, meaning you can provide a course that lasts years, depending on the frequency of lessons. 

Edu3Dcation is the only company in the market offering children the chance to learn about designing, printing, and scanning in 3D. The franchise fee is $8000. Edu3Dcation offers a developed curriculum for a three-year course, where participants meet once a week for 75 minutes for fun projects.

You can also provide one-time classes, one-time classes in kindergartens, training for teachers in primary schools, animations at outdoor events, and shows and scientific demonstrations at camps for larger groups.

Next Steps in Starting a Franchise for $10,000

Although franchising comes with guidance and support, you’ll still need to do the hard work of running your business. Finding the right tools is the key to being successful.

Connecteam can help you run a profitable franchise by providing the tools to manage your business efficiently, cut costs, and keep your employees and customers happy.

Many of the top franchises in the country already use Connecteam’s small business management tools.

Our mobile onboarding and training feature lets you get your entire up and running quickly with customized courses. Once you’re ready to launch, you can use our smart employee scheduler to create and deploy schedules in seconds.

Get started with Connecteam for free today to make your franchise a success!