From the filings
Software purchasing at Best Brains centers on its Director and Secretary, Anil Uppalapati, with a mandated internet portal already in place. The franchise counts 164 total units (162 franchised, 2 company-owned) and grew units 32.8% year-over-year, signaling a small but expanding addressable market for complementary tools.
For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.
Live signals
Ongoing fee load
The recurring percentage of gross sales named in this filing. It is a floor, not a total — the filing discloses one of the two headline fees.
14%+of gross sales (FY2025)
15% reference
Franchisor behaviours
22 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 3 explicit no's; 9 questions the text does not settle, which is not a no.
Accounting
Must the franchisee use an accounting or bookkeeping system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
You shall use the bookkeeping, accounting, and record keeping system we prescribe and submit to us such periodic reports, forms, and records as specified, and in the manner and at the time specified, in the Operations Manual.
Does the franchisor have direct or independent electronic access to the franchisee's financial, sales or customer records?
YesItem 11
We have independent access to the information and data you maintain, which is customer and operational data; and there are no contractual limitations on our right to access the information and data.
Must the franchisee submit periodic financial statements (monthly, quarterly or annual) to the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
You shall furnish to us the following reports among others: (i) On the 10th of each month, an electronic or other report (as we designate) of the Gross Sales of the Franchised Business for the period of the 11th of the previous month to the 10th of the current month; (ii) On the 10th of each month, a copy of your…
How the franchisor buys
Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?
YesItem 8
We are an approved supplier of advertising material, instructional materials, certain inventory, equipment, and center décor, and training services, and the only approved supplier of instructional materials, certain inventory, equipment, center décor, and training services.
Is there a franchisee advisory council, association or committee?
YesFranchise agreement
You shall participate actively in a Regional Advisory Franchisee Council (“Council”) and participate in all of your Council’s programs.
How much revenue did the franchisor and its affiliates earn from franchisee purchases in the last fiscal year?
2824687Item 8
In the fiscal year ending December 31, 2024, our revenues from selling Training Services, Abacuses and Student Worksheets and Instructional Materials to franchisees was $2,824,687 or 32.3% of our total revenue of $8,746,534.
Item 8 gives this proportion in one of two shapes: separate percentages for establishing the business and for operating it, or one figure covering "establishing and operating" together. Where they are separate, answer with the operating percentage; where the passage gives only the combined figure, answer with that. What percentage of the franchisee's purchases must come from designated or approved suppliers?
25Item 8
We estimate your required purchases and leases will represent 25-50% of your overall purchases and leases in establishing and operating the Franchised Business.
Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?
YesItem 8
To have an alternate supplier approved, you must first notify us in writing, submit sufficient specifications, samples and information, along with $500 per day for each person we provide for this determination plus reasonable expenses.
Communications
Does the franchisor own or control the business telephone numbers, or take them over when the agreement ends?
YesFranchise agreement
You acknowledge that we shall have the sole rights to and interest in all such telephone numbers.
Franchise management
Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?
YesFranchise agreement
We shall have the right to review the operation and administration of the Franchised Business by quality control testing, periodic field reviews and such other tests, reviews and inspections and other reasonable actions deemed desirable by us
Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?
YesFranchise agreement
You shall operate the Franchised Business in accordance with the Company's Operations Manual, which may be amended from time to time.
Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?
YesItem 11
You must obtain our approval of the site location and the lease.
Marketing
Is the franchisee prohibited from operating its own website or social media accounts, or required to use pages the franchisor provides?
YesItem 11
You are not allowed to create or manage their own websites or domains associated with their Best Brains business.
Is a minimum grand opening advertising spend required?
YesItem 11
Before opening your Franchised Business, you must spend a minimum of $14,000 on local advertising and promotion of the opening of the Franchised Business in accordance with an opening marketing plan approved by us.
Is the franchisee required to spend a minimum amount on local advertising or marketing, as a percentage of sales or a fixed amount?
YesItem 11
You must spend quarterly for local advertising and promotion of the Franchised Business and the Marks at least $250 per month.
Operations
Must the franchisee buy products from a designated distributor?
YesItem 8
You may contract only with suppliers whom we have approved.
Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
You must purchase the computer hardware and software that we specify.
Payments
Are royalties and other fees collected by automatic bank debit (ACH or electronic funds transfer) from the franchisee's account?
YesItem 6
All fees are uniformly imposed by, collected by and payable to us via EFT and are non-refundable.
People
Must employees wear uniforms specified by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
You agree to use only those architects and items of equipment, inventory, decor, computer hardware and software, supplies, apparel and signs that we have approved and to purchase or lease them only from us, our affiliates or suppliers approved by us.
Point of sale
Does the franchisor have independent access to the data in the franchisee's POS or computer system?
YesItem 11
We have independent access to the information and data you maintain, which is customer and operational data; and there are no contractual limitations on our right to access the information and data.
Training
Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?
YesItem 11
Currently, we do not charge a fee, but you must pay all travel and living expenses to attend training.
Is attendance at an annual convention or conference mandatory for the franchisee?
YesFranchise agreement
You shall attend annual training conferences and seminars as we specify.
Best Brains is an education franchise with 164 total units, of which 162 are franchised and 2 are company-owned. The system is small but growing fast: year-over-year unit growth clocked at 32.787%. For a software vendor, the immediate addressable market is those 164 locations, heavily concentrated in Illinois, where 4 units are mapped. The franchise is independently owned, with no parent company on file. Average unit volume (AUV) is not disclosed in the 2025 FDD. Royalty stands at 14.0%, and the initial franchise term is 5 years. Two multi-unit operators control roughly 4 located units, with no operators in the 10+ unit bands, meaning the operator base is lean and likely responsive to HQ direction.
Software purchasing authority at Best Brains appears centralized. The 2025 FDD Item 1 names a single executive: Anil Uppalapati, Director and Secretary. In a system of this size, that individual likely functions as the de facto buyer or gatekeeper for technology decisions. There is no CIO, CTO, or separate procurement officer listed. Vendors should direct outreach to Mr. Uppalapati, framing value propositions around the franchisor’s operational control and the mandated tech environment. Because the franchisee base is small and concentrated, a top-down adoption model is the most plausible path to system-wide penetration.
The 2025 FDD mandates one technology system: the BEST BRAINS Educational Assistant internet portal, referred to as the BEA Portal. No other POS, CRM, LMS, or operational software is named as mandatory or recommended in the filing. This means the tech stack beyond the BEA Portal is either open or unspecified. For vendors selling complementary tools—such as scheduling, billing, communications, or analytics—there may be whitespace, but you will need to confirm during discovery whether franchisees are free to adopt tools independently or must seek franchisor approval. The absence of a named POS or back-office mandate is notable and worth probing in a first call.
Item 8 of the 2025 FDD does not include an extract describing procurement obligations, designated suppliers, or approved vendor programs. This suggests either an open procurement environment or that such details are handled outside the FDD. Vendors should clarify directly with HQ whether there is a formal vendor review process. On renewals, Item 17 states that a franchisee in substantial compliance may renew for another 5-year term by signing a new franchise agreement, providing written notice, paying a renewal fee, and refurbishing the premises and equipment to then-current standards. The new agreement may contain materially different terms, including fees and territorial rights. These renewal events—every 5 years—create natural windows when franchisees must reassess their operations and technology, making them potential trigger points for software evaluation. With 32.8% unit growth, new location openings also represent fresh greenfield opportunities.
The full 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document is embedded below. It contains the legal and operational disclosures that govern the franchise relationship, including Item 1 (executives), Item 8 (procurement), Item 11 (mandated systems), and Item 17 (renewal). For software vendors, the FDD is the starting point to understand who controls purchasing, what tech is already locked in, and when contract cycles may open. Review it to validate the facts on this page and to identify gaps your product can fill. When you are ready to build a ranked target list of franchise systems that match your ideal customer profile, FranCloud can help.
Questions vendors ask
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FDD alert
We’ll email you the moment Best Brains files a new annual FDD, usually the freshest signal of a vendor change.
Operator footprint
4 operators run 6 mapped locations. 2 of them are multi-unit. Aggregate counts from the filing; no names.
Operators by units owned
Top states by locations
| IL | 6 |
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Related Education brands
Primary franchise filings · updated June 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.