Cost is the first thing anybody wants to know. It is also the thing a franchisor cannot properly answer in a first conversation, and the reason is worth understanding, because it tells you how to read every franchisor you talk to.
The rule, plainly
Under the FTC's Franchise Rule, a franchisor must deliver a Franchise Disclosure Document before it can sell you a franchise, and the fees and the estimated initial investment are disclosed inside it in a prescribed format. The FTC sets out the framework in its guidance for prospective franchise buyers (opens in a new tab).
The format is the point. Costs disclosed in the document are itemised, defined, and presented the same way by every franchisor in the country, which is what makes two systems comparable. A number given to you over the phone has none of that structure behind it.
Why this protects you rather than the franchisor
A single headline figure is the easiest thing in this category to mislead with, because almost every version of the question is ambiguous. Does it include working capital. Does it include the period before the business is covering its own costs. Does it include the things the brand requires you to buy from a specified supplier.
The disclosure format forces those apart into separate line items with defined assumptions. That is harder to read than one number and considerably more honest, and it is the only version you can hold a franchisor to.
What to do with a franchisor who quotes anyway
Some will. The useful response is not outrage, it is a question: ask whether that figure appears in their disclosure document, and if so, in which item.
If it does, you can check it. If it does not, you have learned that this franchisor is comfortable putting numbers in front of prospects that carry no substantiation requirement, which is worth knowing before you are inside the system. The rest of the due diligence follows the same logic.