BNI franchise: cost, fees & unit track record
Opening a BNI franchise takes $77,880 – $104,780 all-in, per its franchise disclosure filings (data as of 2026-05). The initial franchise fee is $70,880 – $78,280. Ongoing, franchisees pay a royalty of 20% on sales. Anything the filings do not state is marked "Not disclosed" below — never estimated.
BNI franchise costs and fees
| Verification mark | Cost item | Low | High | Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise feeOne-time, paid to the franchisor at signing | $70,880 | $78,280 | $70,880 to $78,280 | |
| Initial investment (all-in)FDD Item 7-derived range: build-out, equipment, opening costs | $77,880 | $104,780 | $77,880 to $104,780 | |
| Net worth requiredFranchisor's stated qualification minimum | Not disclosed1 | Not disclosed1 | ||
| Liquid cash requiredFranchisor's stated qualification minimum | Not disclosed1 | Not disclosed1 | ||
| Cash to open (all-in range) | $77,880 | $104,780 | $77,880 to $104,780 | |
- 1 "Not disclosed" means BNI's filings do not state this figure. We publish the gap instead of estimating it.
| RoyaltyOngoing, % of sales | 20% |
|---|---|
| Ad fundOngoing, % of sales | Not disclosed |
| Initial termLength of the first franchise agreement | 5 years |
See the full BNI cost breakdown — what's in that number and what isn't
How BNI's cost compares
A dollar figure means more with a yardstick. Here is where BNI's disclosed cost sits against the Professional Services category:
- Minimum startup cost of $77,880 — about in line with the Professional Services median of $84,700.
- Initial franchise fee of $70,880 — about 1.8× the Professional Services median of $39,700.
Category medians are computed from the Professional Services brands in our data that disclosed each figure — a benchmark for scale, not a quality judgment. See all Professional Services franchises
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How BNI's units have held up
Openings and closures from FDD Item 20-style unit history, 2012–2022: began the window at 176 units; 8 units opened, 1 closed, ending at 106 units. (partial records: 2018 is not in the source data — totals span the reported years only.)
What about earnings?
We don't publish per-brand earnings figures — for BNI or anyone else. The only primary source is Item 19 of the brand's own franchise disclosure document (FDD), and no law requires a franchisor to publish one, so the "average owner income" numbers circulating elsewhere are usually unsourced or survivorship-biased. Ask BNI for its current FDD and read Item 19 yourself — and if there is no Item 19, that silence is information too.
What this data can't tell you
Everything on this page comes from disclosure filings — fees, ranges, and unit counts. Four questions that matter just as much are not in any filing we can source, so we say so instead of guessing:
- The hours and the labor
- No dataset field says whether BNI is a manage-from-a-laptop business or a 60-hour week in disguise. Item 15 of the FDD states whether you're obligated to run the business personally, and Item 11 lists what the franchisor actually does for you — then ask current owners what their week looks like (validation calls), not the sales team.
- How hands-on the ownership really is
- "Semi-absentee" is a pitch, not a filing field. Treat any hands-off claim as unverified until it's consistent with Item 15 and with what multiple current franchisees tell you — what absentee ownership actually means.
- Your territory — whether it's protected, and whether it's open
- Two territory questions sit outside our data. Whether BNI grants a protected or exclusive area is set in Item 12 of the FDD and varies brand to brand — some grant none, and the carve-outs (online sales, national accounts) matter as much as the map. And filing data can't say what's open in your market this month; only BNI can confirm current availability. Ask both before you inquire, and get the answer in writing.
- What owners earn
- Covered honestly above: our dataset has no earnings fields, the only primary source is the brand's own Item 19, and here is how to read that evidence.
About the BNI franchise
BNI is a professional services franchisor with 106 units at the end of 2022 (FDD Item 20-style unit history). Between 2012 and 2022, it began the window at 176 units; its filings record 8 unit openings and 1 closures, ending at 106 units (partial records: 2018 is not in the source data — totals span the reported years only). Its parent company is BNI Franchising, LLC.
No franchise-related lawsuits reported in the disclosure data we hold (FDD Item 3, as of 2026-05) — an absence in our sources, not a guarantee; confirm against the brand's current FDD.
From the franchisor's materials
You will open and operate a region consisting of referral groups composed of non-competing business professionals known as Chapters. Each of the Chapters will have members that are business professionals that your franchise will train and instruct as to how to grow each one’s own business through qualified referrals using the structure and format provided by us. If you or yourgroup members make referrals to broker-dealers or investment advisers, you or your group members may be subject to additional licensing requirements in certain states.
BNI franchise: quick answers
- How much does a BNI franchise cost?
- $77,880 – $104,780 all-in to open, per BNI's franchise disclosure filings (data as of 2026-05).
- How many BNI units are there?
- 106 units at the end of 2022 (FDD Item 20-style unit history).
- How have BNI's units held up?
- 100% of units at risk between 2020 and 2022 did not close, per our metric recomputed from FDD Item 20-style unit history (methodology published on our verification page).
- Is BNI SBA-eligible?
- BNI is flagged SBA-eligible in our dataset (as of 2026-05). Confirm current status on the SBA Franchise Directory before relying on it for financing.