Franchise Facts Report → brands → Cottage Inn
Cottage Inn franchise — is it worth it?
Low risk Growing network Item 19 disclosed
Cottage Inn Franchisor, LLC operates in the food & beverage sector, offering a franchise opportunity with an investment range of $216,000 to $550,000.
Everything below is free, read straight off Cottage Inn's registered filing, with where the numbers land against food & beverage peers. Weighing Cottage Inn against other options? Get a free shortlist of franchises that fit your budget.
Figures above are as disclosed in Cottage Inn's most recent FDD (registered 2025). Source: Wisconsin Dept. of Financial Institutions — Franchise Registration · filing 639716 — check it yourself. See every other Wisconsin-registered franchise.
Considering Cottage Inn? See what else fits your budget
Tell us your budget and the industries you're open to. We'll match you with 5–10 franchises whose own FDDs fit — ranked by earnings disclosure, growth and closure rate — and email you the list. Cottage Inn will be on it if it fits.
How much does a Cottage Inn franchise make?
Cottage Inn is one of the franchisors that answers this on the record: its most recent FDD makes an Item 19 financial performance representation — actual unit earnings figures, disclosed by the franchisor itself. The headline figure did not machine-read cleanly from this filing, so we don't print one; Item 19 of the source FDD has the tables. See every food & beverage brand that discloses earnings in the Food & beverage franchises with disclosed Item 19 earnings ranking.
Cottage Inn franchise profit vs. revenue
Revenue is not profit. An Item 19 almost always reports sales — what a location takes in — not what an owner keeps. Out of that number come Cottage Inn's 5% royalty, the ad fund, rent, payroll, supplies and debt service. No FDD tells you a Cottage Inn franchise's profit, because profit depends on your site, your rent and how you run it — so treat any "Cottage Inn franchise profit" figure quoted elsewhere as someone's estimate, not a disclosure.
Cottage Inn lawsuits & legal history (FDD Item 3)
Cottage Inn's most recently filed Franchise Disclosure Document (2025) discloses no litigation in Item 3. That is a real signal rather than a gap: the FTC Franchise Rule requires a franchisor to disclose material litigation involving itself, its predecessors, parents, affiliates and management, so an empty Item 3 in a current filing means there was nothing it was required to report. It is worth reading alongside the churn numbers — a system can have a clean Item 3 and still be losing franchisees, which is what Item 20 shows.
Cottage Inn closures & failure rate
Before you sign, Cottage Inn will hand you a list of current owners to call as references — and they choose who's on that list. It won't include the owners who quit, got bought out, or were forced out last year. The FDD does report that number, even though the reference list leaves those people off. Below is what Cottage Inn's most recent filing shows, and whether it's normal for a food & beverage of this kind.
The closest thing an FDD has to a failure rate is Item 20 — outlet openings, closures, terminations and non-renewals, reported by the franchisor. Cottage Inn's latest tables show a growing franchised network. Its franchised-outlet closure rate — closures, terminations and non-renewals against outlets — is 0%, against a food & beverage median of 3.3% — at or better than the category. Net franchised outlets moved +5 to 55 in the latest reported year.
Who owns Cottage Inn?
Cottage Inn's franchise is offered by Cottage Inn Franchisor, LLC — the franchisor named on the cover of its most recently filed Franchise Disclosure Document (2025), and the entity a franchisee actually signs with. That name comes straight off the filing at WI DFI; it identifies the franchisor, not necessarily the ultimate parent company behind it.
Food & beverage franchises at a similar investment level
Anyone weighing Cottage Inn is really weighing it against the other brands their money could go into. These are the closest by total initial investment (FDD Item 7), each with its own FDD-based page.
Cottage Inn franchise — frequently asked
Who owns Cottage Inn — who is the franchisor?
Cottage Inn's most recently filed FDD (2025) names Cottage Inn Franchisor, LLC as the franchisor — the entity you would actually sign the franchise agreement with, as stated on the disclosure document itself. A registry filing names the franchisor, not necessarily its ultimate parent company.
How much does a Cottage Inn franchise cost?
Cottage Inn's most recently filed FDD (Item 7) puts the total estimated initial investment at $216,000 – $550,000 and a 5% royalty. That price is the franchisor's own estimate of what it takes to open, not a quote. Against food & beverage peers it sits in the lower quartile (median $379,725).
How much profit does a Cottage Inn franchise make?
Cottage Inn discloses unit earnings in Item 19, but that figure is revenue — sales — not profit. Royalties (5% of gross for Cottage Inn), the ad fund, rent, payroll and supplies all come out of it, and no FDD discloses what an owner nets. Any Cottage Inn franchise profit number quoted elsewhere is an estimate.
Does Cottage Inn disclose financial performance (Item 19)?
Yes — Cottage Inn reports unit-level earnings in Item 19. The headline figure did not machine-read cleanly, so check Item 19 of the source FDD for the numbers.
Are there lawsuits against Cottage Inn?
No — Cottage Inn's most recently filed FDD (2025) discloses no litigation in Item 3. Franchisors must disclose material litigation involving themselves, their predecessors, parents, affiliates and management, so an empty Item 3 is a genuine signal rather than an omission.
Is Cottage Inn a good franchise to buy?
Nobody can answer that from Cottage Inn's numbers alone — it comes down to how its investment, earnings, litigation and franchisee churn stack up against food & beverage peers and against your own budget. Our read on this filing is low risk. Every figure behind that read is on this page for free. If you're comparing options, the free shortlist on this page matches you with 5–10 franchises that fit your budget and industry.
Get a free email when something changes on Cottage Inn or food & beverage: a new FDD registration, a new lawsuit, an outlet count that shifts, or Item 19 earnings going from undisclosed to disclosed. Pulled straight from the same state registries this page is built on.