Goldfish Swim School

The vendor opportunity at Goldfish Swim School

Goldfish Swim School operates 199 locations, 192 of which are franchised and 7 company-owned. The brand posted an average unit volume of $1,994,169 in its 2026 FDD and grew units by 11.6% year-over-year. For software vendors, that means a base of 199 existing units plus a pipeline of new openings each year — all of which must comply with franchisor technology mandates. The royalty rate is 6%, and the initial franchise term runs 15 years, giving technology deployments a long tail within each location.

Who controls software purchasing

The 2026 FDD lists three employees with authority at the franchisor level: Christopher McCuiston, Jennifer McCuiston, and Andrew McCuiston. No separate CIO, CTO, or VP of Technology is named in the filing, so software purchasing decisions appear to sit with this executive group. The operator footprint shows 10 mapped operators, all single-unit, across roughly 10 located units. No multi-unit operators appear in the data, meaning franchisees are unlikely to run independent technology evaluations at scale. Vendors should expect a top-down, HQ-driven procurement process.

Mandated and current tech stack

Goldfish Swim School mandates two categories of software. The first is customer relationship management software, and the second is a customer scheduling, billing, and payment platform. Both are listed as mandatory in the FDD, which means every franchised and company-owned unit must use the systems the franchisor designates. The specific vendor names for these mandated systems are not disclosed in the 2026 filing. No other operational or back-office software mandates appear in the available data.

Procurement, renewals, and timing

The FDD does not include an Item 8 procurement extract, so the brand’s supplier model — whether designated, approved, or open — is not publicly disclosed. Renewal terms are clearer: franchisees can renew for an additional 5 years provided they meet compliance, training, and capital-expenditure conditions and pay a $10,000 renewal fee. The renewal agreement may differ materially from the original, which creates potential re-evaluation points for technology. Combined with 11.6% unit growth, new-unit openings and renewal cycles both offer windows for software vendors to engage.

How to read the Goldfish Swim School FDD

The 2026 Goldfish Swim School FDD is embedded below. It is filed with state franchise regulators and contains the full legal and operational disclosures, including Item 11 technology mandates, Item 17 renewal conditions, and Item 1 executive listings. For software vendors, the key sections are Item 11 (what tech is required), Item 8 (supplier rules, when present), and Item 17 (contract cycle timing). Reviewing these sections alongside the unit economics and operator footprint will help you qualify the account before outreach.

For a ranked target list of franchise systems matched to your software category, reach out to FranCloud.