QuickBooksIntuit
MandatoryIn addition to QuickBooks Online for bookkeeping, which currently ranges from $195-$365 per location per month. If you operate more than one Franchised Business, you must utilize QuickBooks 49 | P a g
From the filings
HQ-led decisions
Hello Sugar
Personal servicesSoftware purchasing at Hello Sugar is controlled at the corporate level, with mandates flowing from the Arizona headquarters. The 194-unit personal-services franchise (176 franchised, 18 company-owned) requires franchisees to use Hello Brands Media for marketing and review management, QuickBooks Online for accounting, and a designated studio management and POS system. For vendors, this means a single, concentrated buying center and an addressable market of 176 franchised locations.
For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.
Live signals
Total units
194
176 franchised
Unit growth YoY
—
vs prior filing
AUV
$646K
Item 19, 2026
Royalty
6%
of gross sales
Ad fund
0%
national + local
Initial fee
$50K
per unit
Investment range
$265K–$735K
all-in, Item 7
Procurement
Approved supplier
from the filing
Item 19
Claims
from the filing
Ongoing fee load
What the operator pays every month
The recurring percentage of gross sales named in this filing, before rent, labour or any technology fee.
6%of gross sales (FY2026)
15% reference
Mandated & recommended tech
The systems vendors compete with
2 of these are mandated in the franchise agreement. Each is named in Item 11 of the filing, the incumbents a challenger must displace or integrate with.
QuickBooks OnlineIntuit
Mandatoryank account. Interest and late fees will apply to any late payments or electronic funds transfer requests denied to insufficient funds. You are required to grant us access to your QuickBooks Online ac
FacebookMeta
u must furnish us with a quarterly report and documentation of local advertising expenditures during the previous calendar quarter. You may not use social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, I
InstagramMeta
ith a quarterly report and documentation of local advertising expenditures during the previous calendar quarter. You may not use social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn,
LinkedInLinkedIn
erly report and documentation of local advertising expenditures during the previous calendar quarter. You may not use social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google, bl
TwitterX
nish us with a quarterly report and documentation of local advertising expenditures during the previous calendar quarter. You may not use social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,
YouTubeGoogle
with other Hello Sugar franchisees in your area, with our prior written approval. You may not maintain any business 47 | P a g e profile on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube or any other
Franchisor behaviours
What the franchisor requires
26 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 3 explicit no's; 5 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?
YesItem 11
You must purchase the hardware, software, system tools and processes as stated 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 reserve the right to have remote and independent access to your revenue information and client data generated by and stored in your computer system.
Must the franchisee submit periodic financial statements (monthly, quarterly or annual) to the franchisor?
YesItem 6
You are required to submit to us on or before the fifth (5th) day of the month following the close of each calendar month, a report showing your Gross Revenue from the Franchised Business for the prior month (the “Gross Revenue Report”).
How the franchisor buys
Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?
YesItem 8
You are required to purchase certain proprietary inventory items (including swag and merchandise), as well as certain furniture, fixtures, and equipment and products and services in connection with the build-out of your Franchised Business, which may be purchased from us and/or our affiliate, Hello Brands Supplies…
How much revenue did the franchisor and its affiliates earn from franchisee purchases in the last fiscal year?
3635497Item 8
In the fiscal year ending December 31, 2025, Hello Brands Media received $3,635,497 in revenue from purchases by franchisees.
Does the franchisor or an affiliate receive rebates, commissions or other revenue from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
We also receive a rebate from our 401(k) provider that ranges from $1 - $2 per participant, depending on the number of participants.
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?
30Item 8
We estimate that your purchase or lease of products, supplies, and services from approved suppliers (or those which meet our specifications) will represent approximately 70%-85% of your total purchases to establish your Franchised Business and approximately 30%-45% of your total purchases for ongoing operation.
Does the franchisor charge a fee to evaluate a proposed supplier?
YesItem 8
If you request that we approve a proposed item or supplier, we may charge you for our actual costs of product testing and evaluation.
Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?
YesItem 8
If you would like us to consider another item or supplier, you must make such request in writing to us and have the supplier give us samples of its product or service and other information that we may require.
Communications
Does the franchisor own or control the business telephone numbers, or take them over when the agreement ends?
YesFranchise agreement
transfer, disconnect, forward, or assign all telephone numbers, domain names, and social media pages used in connection with the Franchised Business.
Data and IT
Must the franchisee comply with PCI, data-security or cybersecurity standards set by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee is solely and completely responsible for the acquisition, operation, maintenance, updates, and upgrading of the Computer System, including compliance with the Payment Card Industry standards that Franchisor periodically requires.
Franchise management
Must the franchisee participate in a customer-satisfaction or net-promoter survey program?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee agrees to present to its customers the evaluation forms that Franchisor periodically prescribes and to participate and/or request its customers to participate in any surveys performed by or for Franchisor.
Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?
YesItem 11
conduct inspections of your Franchised Business, at the frequency and duration that we deem advisable.
Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisor may modify the contents of the Operations Manual from time to time to maintain the integrity of Franchisor’s brand and the proper operation of the Franchise System.
Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?
YesItem 11
approve or disapprove a location for your Franchised Business.
Marketing
Is the franchisee prohibited from operating its own website or social media accounts, or required to use pages the franchisor provides?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee is prohibited from establishing a separate Website without prior written consent from Franchisor.
Is the franchisee required to spend a minimum amount on local advertising or marketing, as a percentage of sales or a fixed amount?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee shall spend monthly, starting one month before Opening Day, and throughout the Term of this Agreement, not less than Three Hundred and Fifty Dollars ($350.00) per month on advertising for the Franchised Business in the Territory set forth in Exhibit 1 (“Local Marketing and Advertising”).
Operations
Must the franchisee buy products from a designated distributor?
YesItem 8
You must purchase all equipment, fixtures, products, construction management services, supplies, retail items furnishings, décor, uniforms, marketing materials, marketing services, inventory, supplies and services, including computer systems and certain software, from our designated suppliers and contractors or in…
Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
You must purchase all equipment, fixtures, products, construction management services, supplies, retail items furnishings, décor, uniforms, marketing materials, marketing services, inventory, supplies and services, including computer systems and certain software, from our designated suppliers and contractors or in…
Payments
Are royalties and other fees collected by automatic bank debit (ACH or electronic funds transfer) from the franchisee's account?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee must use ACH (automatically debited) payments.
People
Does the franchisor require minimum staffing levels or specific roles?
YesItem 15
If you are a business entity, you must designate and retain (subject to our approval) at all times an individual to serve as the “Operating Principal” who will be primarily responsible for your Franchised Business and exercise decision making authority on behalf of the Franchised Business.
Must employees wear uniforms specified by the franchisor?
YesItem 8
You must purchase all equipment, fixtures, products, construction management services, supplies, retail items furnishings, décor, uniforms, marketing materials, marketing services, inventory, supplies and services, including computer systems and certain software, from our designated suppliers and contractors or in…
Point of sale
Must the franchisee use a specific point-of-sale system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
In operating the Franchised Business, Franchisee must use computer hardware and software specified by Franchisor, including a point-of-sale system, software, and communications equipment (“Computer System”).
Does the franchisor have independent access to the data in the franchisee's POS or computer system?
YesItem 11
We reserve the right to have remote and independent access to your revenue information and client data generated by and stored in your computer system.
Training
Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?
YesItem 6
We reserve the right to impose a reasonable fee for all additional training programs, including the national 24 | P a g e business meeting or annual convention, or any recertification training programs.
Is attendance at an annual convention or conference mandatory for the franchisee?
YesItem 11
If we require it, you must attend mandatory training programs that we offer and/or an annual conference, national business meeting, at a location we designate.
The filing answers no to 3 questions
- Is there a franchisee advisory council, association or committee?Item 11
- Is a minimum grand opening advertising spend required?Item 7
- Must the franchisee participate in a regional advertising cooperative when one exists?Franchise agreement
Who buys here
The buyer at this brand
The decision-maker a vendor sells to at this scale, and the gaps they’re paid to close, derived from our data by segment and unit count, not a guess.
HQ leadership: CEO/President + VP Ops/Franchise + a first dedicated IT/systems owner.
VP SalesHead of SalesCROSales Director
- With 298 active personal services brands, I can't see which ones are growing or have the tech gaps my product fills, so I waste weeks chasing the wrong targets.A rep burning 10 hours/week on manual research at $50/hr loses $26,000/year. FranCloud's fit_scoring and corpus_search surface high-fit brands in seconds, reclaiming that time for selling.
- 63.5% of personal services brands mandate no POS system, but I can't identify the 108 that do without digging through hundreds of FDDs.Manually reviewing one FDD takes 3+ hours. At 108 targets, that's 324 hours. FranCloud's tech_landscape reveals POS mandates instantly, turning a $16,200 research slog into a single query.
- 91.6% of brands don't mandate a CRM, but the 25 that do are hidden in static reports, delaying my outreach to high-intent prospects.Landing one CRM-displacing deal in this segment can yield $30k+ ARR. FranCloud's find_lookalikes pinpoints those 25 brands and their peers, accelerating pipeline by months.
The vendor opportunity at Hello Sugar
Hello Sugar is a personal-services franchise with 194 total units, of which 176 are franchised and 18 are company-owned. The brand reported average unit volume of $646,405 in its 2026 FDD, with a 6.0% royalty rate. For software vendors, the addressable market is those 176 franchised locations, all of which must comply with technology mandates set by the franchisor. The initial term length and year-over-year unit growth are not disclosed in the most recent FDD.
Who controls software purchasing
Technology decisions at Hello Sugar are centralized at the corporate level. The 2026 FDD lists five key executives in Item 1: Brigham Dallas (Founder & Chief Executive Officer), Keaton Wall (Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer), Austin Towns (Chief Technology Officer), Jacob Parry (Executive Vice President), and Ana Ferlan (VP of Franchise Sales). For a software vendor, the primary buyer is Austin Towns, whose CTO title signals direct ownership of the tech stack. CEO Brigham Dallas and COO Keaton Wall are likely involved in strategic vendor approvals. There are no multi-unit operators mapped in our corpus, which further concentrates purchasing power at HQ.
Mandated and current tech stack
Hello Sugar mandates a specific set of systems. The Hello Brands Media platform is required and covers marketing, review software, and social platform management. QuickBooks Online by Intuit Inc. is mandated for accounting. The FDD also requires a studio management and point of sale software, referred to as the “POS System.” The specific vendor for the POS is not named in the extract, but the mandate itself is explicit. Any vendor selling adjacent operational, HR, scheduling, or analytics tools must integrate with or displace components of this mandated stack.
Procurement, renewals, and timing
The 2026 FDD does not include an Item 8 extract, so the formal procurement model—whether Hello Sugar designates specific suppliers, maintains an approved vendor list, or allows franchisees to choose freely—is not publicly disclosed. Similarly, Item 17 renewal terms are absent, and the initial franchise term is listed as “n/a” years. Without term or renewal data, it is not possible to estimate when contract windows might open. Vendors should monitor executive changes or new FDD filings for signals.
How to read the Hello Sugar FDD
The Hello Sugar Franchise Disclosure Document for 2026 is embedded below. It was filed with state franchise regulators and contains the full legal and operational disclosures, including Item 1 executives, Item 11 tech mandates, and financial performance representations. Reviewing the complete FDD is the most reliable way to understand the franchisor’s requirements and identify gaps in the current tech stack.
For a ranked target list of franchise systems matched to your software category, FranCloud can help.
Questions vendors ask
Hello Sugar, answered from the filing
The C-suite controls technology mandates. Austin Towns, Chief Technology Officer, is the most likely buyer for operational software, with Founder & CEO Brigham Dallas and COO Keaton Wall setting strategic direction.
The 2026 FDD mandates a studio management and point of sale system (the 'POS System'), QuickBooks Online by Intuit Inc., and the Hello Brands Media platform covering marketing, reviews, and social.
Hello Sugar operates 194 total units: 176 franchised and 18 company-owned. The brand is headquartered in Arizona and focuses on personal services.
The most recent FDD does not include an Item 8 procurement extract, so whether suppliers must be designated, approved, or open is not publicly disclosed in that filing.
The FDD does not disclose initial term length or Item 17 renewal timing, so contract windows cannot be estimated from public filings alone.
The Hello Sugar Franchise Disclosure Document was filed with state franchise regulators in 2026. You can read the full FDD using the embedded PDF viewer below.
Source
Read the filing itself
Every number on this page traces back to this document. Read it in full, page by page. Buy the original PDF to download, search, and annotate it.
View only A one-time purchase: the original filing, yours to keep.
FDD alert
Tell me when this brand refiles.
We’ll email you the moment Hello Sugar files a new annual FDD, usually the freshest signal of a vendor change.
Operator footprint
Hello Sugar’s FDD on file does not disclose a franchisee directory.
Related Personal services brands
Primary franchise filings · updated June 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.