Board and Brush Creative Studio
DIY Craft StudioShould you invest $65,000 to $90,000 in a DIY crafting studio franchise, or will seasonal slowdowns and discretionary spending sensitivity leave you holding the paintbrush on a money-losing venture? That question sits at the center of every serious due diligence conversation about the Board and Brush Creative Studio franchise, and it deserves a data-driven answer rather than promotional reassurance. Board and Brush Creative Studio was founded in March 2015 by Julie Selby in Hartland, Wisconsin, a small city roughly 30 miles west of Milwaukee, where Selby opened the first location to serve customers who wanted a guided, social, hands-on experience creating personalized wood signs and home decor. The concept proved immediately popular, prompting Selby to formalize the franchise infrastructure through the creation of Board and Brush Creative Studio Franchising LLC, incorporated on December 2, 2016, with Selby simultaneously serving as Founder and CEO of both the operating brand and the parent franchising entity. The franchise officially began offering opportunities to outside investors in January 2017, and the growth that followed was remarkable by any standard in the DIY entertainment space. Today the Board and Brush Creative Studio franchise system encompasses 228 total units across the United States, with 226 of those being franchisee-owned and 2 remaining company-owned, placing the brand firmly within the upper tier of independently operated creative studio concepts. The headquarters and Franchise Support Center remain at 117 Hill Street in Hartland, Wisconsin, the same community where Selby originally launched her vision. For franchise investors evaluating the experiential retail category, Board and Brush Creative Studio occupies a distinctive niche at the intersection of the craft industry, the experience economy, and the social entertainment market, sectors collectively representing tens of billions in annual consumer spending. This analysis is produced by PeerSense as an independent research profile and contains no promotional relationship with the brand.
The DIY craft industry in the United States generates over $40 billion in annual revenue, a market that has proven resilient through multiple economic cycles because of its deep roots in both hobbyist culture and the growing consumer preference for experiential activities over material goods. The experience economy framework, popularized by economists Pine and Gilmore, has become increasingly validated by consumer spending data showing that Americans, particularly millennials and Gen Z adults who represent a significant portion of Board and Brush Creative Studio's core customer demographic, are allocating more discretionary dollars to memorable activities rather than physical products. This macro trend creates a structural tailwind for the Board and Brush Creative Studio franchise model, which monetizes exactly that behavioral shift by converting studio time, creative instruction, and social gathering into a premium-priced experience. The do-it-yourself cultural movement has gained additional momentum in the years following 2020, as more consumers developed crafting skills and sought community-based creative outlets after extended periods of social isolation. Within the narrower DIY workshop sub-sector, which includes paint-and-sip concepts, pottery studios, candle-making workshops, and wood sign studios, the market remains relatively fragmented with no single dominant national player capturing more than a fraction of the total addressable market, creating genuine white space for well-executed regional and national expansion by franchised brands. Board and Brush Creative Studio sits within what Entrepreneur magazine classifies as the DIY and paint-and-sip studio category, a recreation sub-sector that attracts franchise investment because of low build-out requirements, lean inventory models, and the ability to serve multiple customer segments including private parties, corporate events, and youth programming simultaneously. The brand's susceptibility to seasonal fluctuation and discretionary spending sensitivity are real risks worth quantifying, but they exist within an industry that has demonstrated consistent long-term demand growth, particularly among adult women aged 25 to 55 who represent the primary customer base for wood sign and home decor workshops.
The Board and Brush Creative Studio franchise cost structure is notably accessible relative to the broader DIY workshop sub-sector, a positioning that has been central to the brand's rapid franchisee recruitment since 2017. The initial franchise fee is $25,000, payable upfront upon signing the Franchise Agreement, and covers the right to use the Board and Brush trademarks, trade name, and proprietary business systems. For military veterans, active-duty personnel, and spouses, as well as franchisees signing a second agreement, the fee drops to $20,000, representing a 20% discount that aligns with the brand's affiliation with Vetfran, the International Franchise Association's veteran support initiative. The total initial investment required to open a Board and Brush Creative Studio franchise ranges from $65,489 to $89,761, with a midpoint of approximately $77,625 that makes this one of the most accessible entry points in the experiential retail franchise category. To put that in context, the DIY workshop sub-sector average initial investment ranges from $141,068 to $265,151, meaning the Board and Brush Creative Studio franchise investment sits at roughly 55% of the sector floor and less than 35% of the sector ceiling, a meaningful cost advantage for first-time franchisees or investors diversifying a portfolio. The investment breakdown is detailed and transparent: the $25,000 franchise fee anchors the total, supplemented by training expenses of $1,439 to $4,586, leasehold improvements and construction costs of $5,500 to $9,000, furniture, fixtures, and equipment at $8,200 to $9,800, initial inventory of $8,400 to $12,000, and three months of operating expenses estimated at $8,900 to $15,825. Additional line items include signage at $800, grand opening advertising at $2,100, business licenses and permits ranging from $1,000 to $2,000, computer systems between $1,500 and $2,000, insurance at $400 to $500, professional fees of $1,000 to $3,000, premises lease deposits of $1,000 to $2,400, and office supplies of $250 to $500. Franchisees are required to maintain liquid assets between $50,000 and $75,000 to cover operational costs and unexpected expenses during the initial stages of operation, with the minimum cash required set at $65,489. Ongoing fees include a royalty rate of 6% of monthly gross revenue with a minimum floor payment of $400 per month, plus a national brand fund contribution equal to the greater of 1% of monthly gross revenue or $70 per month, with that brand fund rate subject to increase up to 3% over time. A local marketing and advertising fee of $250 per month applies but is waived for the first 90 days of studio operation, giving new franchisees a modest cushion during the launch phase. The brand is affiliated with Fran Fund and the U.S. Small Business Association, suggesting SBA loan pathways may be available to qualifying franchisees seeking financing support.
Daily operations at a Board and Brush Creative Studio franchise center on hosting instructor-led DIY workshops where customers select from a design library, receive stencils and materials, and create finished wood signs or home decor pieces under staff guidance. The business model is fundamentally experience-based rather than product-retail-based, meaning franchisees must staff workshops with instructors capable of guiding customers through paint application, staining techniques, and finishing processes while maintaining an engaging social atmosphere. The workshop-centric format requires hands-on management and creative operational competency, making this concept better suited to owner-operators who are present in the studio than to passive or absentee investors seeking a fully managed asset. Training for new franchisees takes place at the company's Franchise Support Center in Hartland, Wisconsin, where owners participate in hands-on instruction covering daily operations, workshop management, customer interaction protocols, workshop safety, tool usage, and the complete process of creating DIY wood signs from raw material to finished product. Franchisees are invited to visit the flagship studio in Hartland to gain firsthand understanding of the business model, meet the corporate support team, and participate in a workshop as a customer before opening their own location. Ongoing support is extensive by industry standards and includes access to a continuously expanding proprietary design library, a proprietary iPad application for customer-facing workshop management, a state-of-the-art booking website and registration system, national branding and marketing programs, and what the company describes as unmatched purchasing power for supplies and materials. Each franchisee receives an exclusive protected territory where no competing Board and Brush Creative Studio location will operate, with territory size and boundaries determined by population density, market potential, and geographical considerations specific to each market. The franchise support infrastructure also connects new owners with a peer network of existing franchise operators for guidance and best practices, supported by a comprehensive operations manual covering all aspects of studio management. The brand has diversified its revenue model beyond core in-person workshops to include virtual workshops, DIY at-home kits, private parties for both adults and children, corporate events, mobile events described as Board and Brush Brought to You, youth camps, gift certificates, premade projects, and food and beverage options, giving franchisees multiple parallel revenue channels to develop within their exclusive territories.
Item 19 financial performance data is not disclosed in the current Franchise Disclosure Document for Board and Brush Creative Studio, a fact that complicates precise unit economics modeling and warrants careful attention during due diligence. However, publicly available and independently reported data provide meaningful benchmarks for prospective franchisees to evaluate. Third-party franchise research sources report that the Board and Brush Creative Studio franchise revenue for a typical unit reflects a median gross sales figure of $116,588, representing a 15% year-over-year decline from the prior period and suggesting that the brand, like much of the experiential entertainment sector, has navigated post-pandemic normalization pressures. Historical average revenue per unit reached considerably higher levels in the brand's peak growth years, with reported figures of $199,544 in 2019 and $225,613 in 2018, data points that establish a useful ceiling for what well-performing units in high-traffic markets have demonstrated the concept can generate. One independently reported average unit volume figure of approximately $117,000 aligns closely with the median gross sales data, providing reasonable confidence that the $116,000 to $117,000 range represents the current central tendency of system-wide performance. At the reported median gross sales of $116,588, an owner-operator model with a 6% royalty obligation, a brand fund contribution, and local marketing fees would yield estimated annual earnings in the range of approximately $14,000, a figure that independent analysts describe as modest and that underscores the importance of revenue growth relative to fixed cost structure for this concept. For studios generating revenues closer to $200,000, independent analysis suggests a potential profit margin of 20% to 30% could apply, which would translate to owner earnings between $40,000 and $60,000 annually at that volume level. The spread between top-performing units that likely approached or exceeded $200,000 in peak years and current median performers near $116,000 reflects a combination of market maturation, increased unit count dilution in some geographies, and macroeconomic sensitivity inherent to discretionary spending categories. Prospective franchisees should engage directly with existing franchisees during the FDD validation process to develop location-specific revenue projections rather than relying solely on system-wide averages.
The Board and Brush Creative Studio franchise has demonstrated one of the more aggressive growth trajectories in the DIY entertainment segment since launching franchising in January 2017. Between 2018 and 2020 alone, the brand opened more than 130 new franchise locations, a pace that averaged more than 40 new units per year during that window and ranks among the fastest expansion rates ever recorded in the paint-and-sip and DIY studio category. The system experienced a net loss of 4 locations in 2020, which aligns with the broader hospitality and experiential entertainment sector contraction during the pandemic year, but the brand recovered to reach a system total of 228 units as of 2024, with some sources citing over 240 locations as active across the United States. The brand has received notable third-party validation for its franchise model, earning recognition from Entrepreneur magazine as the number one franchise in the DIY category in 2020, 2022, and 2023, appearing on Entrepreneur's Top Franchises Under $100,000 list in 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024, being named among Best of the Best Franchises and Recreation Franchises in 2023, and earning placement on Top Franchises for Veterans in 2022. These accolades represent external market validation that Board and Brush Creative Studio has built a franchise system that independent evaluators consistently rate highly relative to peers in its investment tier. The brand's competitive moat is constructed from several interlocking advantages: a proprietary iPad-based workshop management application, a continuously updated design library that gives each studio fresh programming to drive repeat customer visits, a customer loyalty and rewards program that incentivizes retention, and purchasing scale that reduces per-unit supply costs relative to independent studio competitors. The company has signaled interest in international market expansion as a future growth vector, though the current footprint remains concentrated in the United States. Revenue diversification through virtual workshops, DIY at-home kit sales, and mobile event services represents the brand's strategic response to the post-pandemic preference for optionality and flexibility in how customers engage with creative programming.
The ideal Board and Brush Creative Studio franchise candidate is not a passive investor seeking a hands-off income stream but rather an owner-operator who brings genuine enthusiasm for creative community programming and is prepared to be present and active in studio operations, particularly during the critical first 12 to 24 months of operation. Industry experience in crafting or woodworking is not a prerequisite, as the comprehensive training program delivered at the Hartland, Wisconsin headquarters is designed to bring franchisees up to operational competency regardless of prior craft background, but strong customer service instincts, event management sensibility, and community marketing skills are differentiating traits among top performers. Multi-unit ownership is structurally supported by the franchise system's infrastructure, and franchisees executing well in a single territory often explore second locations, which benefit from the reduced franchise fee of $20,000 applicable to second-agreement signings. Available territories exist across the United States with particular opportunity in markets where the 240-plus existing locations have not yet captured population clusters with demographics that match the brand's primary customer profile of creative-minded adult women in suburban communities. The brand's affiliation with Vetfran and its 20% veteran discount make Board and Brush Creative Studio franchise opportunities particularly relevant for transitioning military personnel seeking a community-anchored small business with a lower capital threshold than most franchise categories. The franchise agreement term length and renewal terms are defined within the Franchise Disclosure Document and should be reviewed with a qualified franchise attorney during the validation process. Timeline from signing to opening typically depends on lease negotiation and build-out complexity, with the leasehold improvement range of $5,500 to $9,000 suggesting modest studio customization requirements that can compress the pre-opening timeline relative to more capital-intensive franchise formats.
For investors conducting serious due diligence on the experiential entertainment and DIY crafting segment, the Board and Brush Creative Studio franchise presents a compelling combination of low entry cost, strong brand recognition within its category, and a diversified revenue model that extends well beyond the single-format workshop concept it launched with in 2015. The total investment range of $65,489 to $89,761 positions this brand at roughly half the cost of the DIY workshop sub-sector average, making it one of the most accessible franchise opportunities in any experiential recreation category, while the Entrepreneur magazine rankings across five consecutive years provide market-validated confidence in the franchise system's quality relative to peers. The key investment risks to model carefully are the discretionary spending sensitivity of the revenue base, the 15% median gross sales decline reported in the most recent available data, and the estimated owner-operator earnings of approximately $14,000 at median revenue levels, which require either above-median sales performance or multi-unit scale to generate meaningful total compensation. PeerSense provides exclusive due diligence data including SBA lending history, FPI score, location maps with Google ratings, FDD financial data, and side-by-side comparison tools that allow you to benchmark the Board and Brush Creative Studio franchise investment against every competitor in the DIY studio and experiential entertainment category using standardized, independently verified metrics. Whether your evaluation centers on territory availability in a specific market, historical unit performance trends, or fee structure comparisons against comparable franchise concepts, the PeerSense platform aggregates the data required to make a genuinely informed capital allocation decision. Explore the complete Board and Brush Creative Studio franchise profile on PeerSense to access the full suite of independent franchise intelligence data.
Investment
$75,489 – $99,761
