What is the recommended minimum local advertising spend for a Boulder Designs franchise?
Boulder_Designs Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
| Name of Fee | Amount1 | Due Date | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Technology Fee5 | Currently $65 per month, but up to $175 per month. We reserve the right to increase each calendar year by an amount not to exceed 10% of the prior year's fee. | Monthly | For the development and use of online and System technology, including but not limited to internet, website, email, intranet/extranet, and communications technologies, some of which may be implemented in the future. |
| Recommended Local Advertising Spend | 10% of Annual Gross Revenues | As invoiced | We highly recommend you spend a minimum of 10% of annual gross revenues on local advertising. After you have begun operations, by the 31st of January of each year, you must furnish us an accurate accounting of your expenditures on local advertising for the preceding one-year period regardless of the amount spent. |
| Marketing Fee | Currently $0 per month | Monthly | We anticipate charging an amount no greater than $200 per month once implemented. We will provide you with prior notice before any increases in the monthly Marketing Fee are imposed. Once this fee is implemented the fee cap will increase each calendar year by an amount not to exceed 10% of the prior year's cap. |
| Late Fees | $100 per incident | 11th day of each month | Applies to all overdue Royalty Fees, and other amounts due to us. Also applies to any understatement in amounts due revealed by an audit. Late fees will continue to accrue each month when balances due from previous months carry over into the current month. |
| Insufficient Funds Fee | $100 per incident | Upon demand | Applies to all non-approved (ACH Debit) or returned payments made by you that do not fund or clear you bank for any reason whatsoever. |
Source: Item 6 — OTHER FEES (FDD pages 11–16)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Boulder Designs' 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, franchisees are highly recommended to spend a minimum of 10% of their annual gross revenues on local advertising. This expenditure is considered important for promoting the franchise at the local level and attracting customers within the franchisee's territory. Boulder Designs requires franchisees to furnish an accurate accounting of their local advertising expenditures for the preceding year by January 31st of each year, regardless of the amount spent. This reporting ensures that Boulder Designs can monitor advertising efforts across its franchise network.
The advertising spend is calculated based on the franchisee's annual gross revenues, which, as defined in the FDD, includes all income received from customers for goods and services related to the franchised business. This encompasses various forms of payment, such as cash, checks, and credit card transactions. However, certain items are excluded from gross revenues, such as insurance payments, refunds made in good faith, sales taxes collected and remitted to governmental authorities, and rebates received from manufacturers or suppliers.
While Boulder Designs "highly recommends" a minimum spend, the language suggests this is not strictly enforced as a contractual obligation. However, franchisees should consider the potential impact of not meeting this recommendation on their business performance and relationship with the franchisor. It is common practice in franchising for franchisors to mandate or strongly encourage local advertising spending to maintain brand visibility and support local market penetration. Prospective franchisees should discuss with Boulder Designs the flexibility around this recommendation and the potential consequences of not adhering to it.