Budget Blinds franchise
A primarily mobile, van-based business that sells and installs interior and exterior window coverings for residential and commercial customers inside an assigned ZIP-code territory.
Manager-run permitted Disclosed
- Source
- 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document — Budget Blinds, LLC
- Document
- FDD 2026, issued 2026-04-01
- Item
- Item 15
- Page
- PDF p. 43
- Obtained
- Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions — Franchise Registration Search, file 640856
If you do not operate the Franchised Business yourself, you must employ at least one manager on a full time basis.
Item 15 says the franchisor prefers franchisees who participate actively and does not want passive investors, but permits a franchisee who does not operate the business personally to employ at least one full-time manager. That manager needs no equity interest, must be identified to the franchisor, must complete the initial training program, must devote their entire time during normal business hours to the business, and is bound by the confidentiality and non-compete covenants. Item 12 separately obliges the franchisee to devote full time and attention to promoting and developing the territory, which sits in tension with a fully absentee arrangement.
What stands out
- Mobile, van-based window-coverings business; total initial investment $100,500 to $211,250 for one territory, excluding optional office or workspace costs.
- Fees to the franchisor at signing total $49,950 to $89,950 — a $19,950 franchise fee plus a $30,000/$45,000/$70,000 territory fee set by household count; veterans receive 15% off both.
- Ongoing: greater of 3.5% of gross revenue or a $1,250-$2,500 monthly royalty minimum, a flat $500-$1,000 monthly advertising payment, and a $600 monthly technology fee — the minimums apply whatever sales are.
5 more observations
- Item 19 gives gross sales only: $774,915 average and $522,826 median for 282 single-territory franchisees in 2025, both down from 2024, with only 31% reaching the average and no cost or profit data at all.
- Multi-territory figures in Item 19 are combined totals across all of a franchisee's territories and are not comparable to the single-territory column.
- Franchised outlets fell from 1,366 to 1,355 in 2025 — 16 openings against 27 closures — after openings dropped from 78 in 2023 to 35 in 2024 to 16 in 2025.
- Transfers rose each year to 97 in 2025, about 7% of the system and roughly six times the number of new openings.
- Territory is protected but not exclusive; the franchisor reserves online and direct-marketing sales, other brands, and Key Account contracts inside it.
Things to verify
- Ask which territory tier is on offer and how many households it contains: tier drives the $30,000-$70,000 territory fee, the $1,250-$2,500 royalty minimum and the $500-$1,000 advertising payment, and can be reclassified at renewal.
- Item 19 shows no costs. Ask existing franchisees what gross margin survives supplier pricing, vehicle costs, installation labour and the fixed monthly minimums before drawing any conclusion about earnings.
- Probe the 2025 decline: openings fell to 16 while terminations reached 15 and non-renewals 6. Ask the franchisor what drove the terminations and whether the trend has continued in 2026.
5 more questions
- Transfers reached 97 in 2025. Ask how many were healthy exits at a good price versus distressed sales, and check Exhibit D against the current franchisee list.
- The franchisor estimates 90-95% of purchases must go through it or approved suppliers, and it kept $35.9 million of supplier allowances in 2025, 38.9% of its total revenue. Ask how that affects the prices franchisees pay.
- Reconcile Item 12's full-time-attention obligation with Item 15's allowance for a full-time manager if you are considering anything other than owner-operation.
- Confirm whether your state requires a contractor's license; Item 7 notes some California franchisees paid up to $2,000 a month for up to three years for a supervising contractor, a cost not in the investment range.
- All controlling owners must guarantee the agreement, and a married franchisee's spouse must sign even with no ownership interest. Review that with counsel alongside the California arbitration venue.
Category cost placeholders, not a forecast. This snapshot uses the default inputs; the calculator below updates when you edit them.
Evidence confidence: High. This describes source support, not investment quality. AI-extracted and machine-verified where stated; no human line-by-line review. Source and review record.
Read the full research overview
A Budget Blinds franchisee runs a primarily mobile business selling and installing interior and exterior window coverings for residential and commercial customers, working from a branded cargo van within a territory defined by ZIP codes. Product is ordered from approved vendors and shipped to the franchisee, who installs it. The franchisor, Budget Blinds, LLC of Irvine, California, is part of Home Franchise Concepts and ultimately of JM Family Enterprises; it has franchised this concept since March 1994.
Item 7 puts the total initial investment for a single territory at $100,500 to $211,250, excluding office or workspace costs, which are shown only as 'Varies'. Of that, $49,950 to $89,950 is paid to the franchisor at signing as two mandatory components: a $19,950 initial franchise fee plus a territory fee of $30,000, $45,000 or $70,000 depending on the tier of the territory, with a 15% discount for veterans and their spouses. Continuing fees are the greater of 3.5% of gross revenue or a monthly royalty minimum of $1,250 to $2,500 by tier, a flat national advertising payment of $500 to $1,000 a month that rises once the system reaches 1,500 U.S. territories, and a $600 monthly technology fee. Both the royalty minimum and the advertising payment are owed regardless of sales. The FDD states no liquidity or net-worth requirement, though it recommends $100,000 of working capital for year one.
Item 19 reports unaudited gross sales only, grouped by how many territories a franchisee holds. For the 282 franchisees who ran a single territory throughout 2025, average sales were $774,915 and the median $522,826, with a quarter below $340,525 and a quarter above $921,140; only 31% reached the average, and reported results in that group ranged from $53,370 to $9,336,975. Both the average and the median were lower than in 2024. The two-territory and three-or-more-territory averages are combined totals across all of a franchisee's territories, not per-territory figures. The sample covers 82% of franchisees open the whole year, and no cost, margin or profit information is disclosed anywhere in Item 19.
Item 20 shows the system flattening and then shrinking. Franchised outlets went from 1,298 at the start of 2023 to 1,362, then 1,366, then 1,355 at the end of 2025 — a net gain of 57 over three years but a loss of 11 in the most recent one. Openings fell from 78 to 35 to 16, while 2025 brought 15 terminations, 6 non-renewals and 6 other closures. Transfers to new owners rose every year, reaching 97 in 2025, roughly six times the number of new openings. There are no company-owned outlets. Item 3 discloses three 2025 suits the franchisor brought against franchisees to collect fees and one 2006 regulatory consent order involving an affiliate under prior ownership; Item 4 discloses no bankruptcy. All controlling owners and a married franchisee's spouse must personally guarantee the agreement, and disputes are resolved in Orange County, California.
View ratings and their supporting evidence
Transparent ratings
How these are computedEach dimension is scored 1–5 from published formulas. Missing data yields “Not enough evidence to rate”, never a low score. There is no composite score by design.
How the system has performed, computed from the disclosed Items 7, 19 and 20. Figures a documented material source inconsistency puts in doubt are excluded, and the dimension shows “Not rated”.
Inputs
- Franchised outlets 1298 → 1355 (Item 20, Table 3)
- Thresholds: ≥15% → 5; 5–15% → 4; 0–5% → 3; −5–0% → 2; below −5% → 1
Inputs
- Attrition = (terminations + non-renewals + reacquisitions + ceased-other) ÷ start-of-year franchised units, averaged over 3 fiscal years
- Thresholds: <2% → 5; 2–4% → 4; 4–6% → 3; 6–10% → 2; >10% → 1
Inputs
- AUV $774,915 (disclosed) ÷ midpoint investment $155,875 = 4.97×
- Thresholds: ≥2.0 → 5; 1.5–2.0 → 4; 1.0–1.5 → 3; 0.7–1.0 → 2; <0.7 → 1
How much this brand’s FDD discloses, and how well-supported our data on it is. This measures transparency, not business performance — a strong business that discloses little scores low here and stays unrated above.
Inputs
- Item 19 present (+1)
- Average plus median or a distribution (+1)
- Population 82% of franchised units, clearly described (+1)
- Multi-year or cohort data (+1)
- Franchisor Track Record
- Franchising 32 years (since 1994) · 1,355 outlets · Item 3: 4 matter(s) disclosed · Item 4: none disclosed
- Multi-Unit Scalability
- Additional territories are available only at the franchisor's discretion and only to franchisees who meet its then-current multi-territory criteria, are not … · Manager-run permitted
- Operational Intensity
- Manager-run permitted
Initial investment
FDD Items 5 and 7Format shown: Single territory, primarily mobile (van-based) business
$100,500–$211,250 total initial investment. Excludes real estate purchase. Includes 3 months of additional funds.
View full investment breakdown — Items 5 & 7
| Initial franchise fee (the named Item 5 fee only) | $19,950 Disclosed
Flat standard fee for a first franchise. The 15% veteran/spouse discount ($16,958) is excluded from the standard low end per instructions. Other required Item 5 payments to the franchisor are listed separately below — this figure is the named fee only. |
|---|---|
| Other required initial payments to the franchisor (Item 5) |
|
| Total Item 5 payments to franchisor/affiliates | $49,950 Derived
$89,950 Derived
|
| Total initial investment — low | $100,500 Disclosed
Low end assumes a Tier 3 Territory. The itemised rows sum exactly to $100,500. |
| Total initial investment — high | $211,250 Disclosed
High end assumes a Tier 1 Territory and one additional training attendee. The itemised rows sum exactly to $211,250. |
| Midpoint of range | $155,875 Derived
|
| Real estate purchase included? | No — assumes a leased site |
| Additional funds assumed | 3 months |
| Required liquid capital | Not disclosed in the reviewed source Not disclosedNot disclosed in the reviewed source. We did not find this value in 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document — Budget Blinds, LLC; we do not fill gaps with estimates or third-party figures. The FDD states no minimum liquid capital requirement. Item 7 footnote 13 says the franchisor recommends $100,000 in working capital for the first year of operation, but that is described as a recommendation rather than a qualification threshold, so it is not recorded as a requirement. |
| Required net worth | Not disclosed in the reviewed source Not disclosedNot disclosed in the reviewed source. We did not find this value in 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document — Budget Blinds, LLC; we do not fill gaps with estimates or third-party figures. No minimum net worth is stated on the cover pages or in Items 1, 5, 7 or 15 of the reviewed document. |
The Item 7 table covers a single territory and explicitly excludes office/workspace costs and the cost of a business address, both shown as 'Varies'. No real estate purchase is contemplated: the business is primarily mobile and normally home-based, with a branded van rather than a store. Additional funds cover three months. Item 7 footnote 11 warns that franchisees in California without the experience to hold a contractor's license have paid as much as $2,000 a month for up to three years for a supervising contractor, a cost not included in the range. Item 7 footnote 13 records a recommendation to hold $100,000 in working capital for the first year, which exceeds the additional-funds line. No fees paid to the franchisor are refundable, and the franchisor does not offer direct or indirect financing except as described in Item 10.
Item 7 line items (16)
| Expenditure | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Fee — Payable only with the first franchise agreement; includes initial training and the Start-up package. | $19,950 | $19,950 |
| Initial Territory Fee — Tier 3 $30,000, Tier 2 $45,000, Tier 1 $70,000. | $30,000 | $70,000 |
| Travel and living expenses while training — Amounts in excess of a $1,000 travel voucher provided by the franchisor. | $1,500 | $2,500 |
| In-person training for additional personnel (per person) — High estimate assumes one additional attendee. | $0 | $1,500 |
| Office/work space — Stated as 'Varies' and excluded from the total; typical space 500-1,200 sq ft if not home-based. | — | — |
| Business address — Stated as 'Varies'; a non-residential address is needed for a Google Business Profile. | — | — |
| Vehicle — New or used commercial-grade cargo or extended van, wrapped in brand livery; may be leased or financed. | $10,000 | $48,000 |
| Computer equipment and software | $1,500 | $2,500 |
| Credit card processing technology | $50 | $500 |
| Auto insurance — Minimum $1,000,000 combined single limit. | $750 | $2,400 |
| Commercial general liability insurance — Minimum $2,000,000 combined single limit. | $750 | $2,400 |
| Contractor's license and bond — Only where state law requires a contractor's license. | $0 | $1,500 |
| Professional fees | $750 | $3,500 |
| Initial marketing — Spent during the first three months. | $10,000 | $15,000 |
| Additional tools and supplies | $250 | $1,500 |
| Additional funds - before opening and first 3 months — Cash reserve for the first three months of operation. | $25,000 | $40,000 |
Source for every row: the Item 7 estimated-initial-investment table of 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document — Budget Blinds, LLC (table begins PDF p. 23) — rows inherit the table's citation rather than carrying fifteen identical ones.
Ongoing fees
FDD Item 6Royalty
3.5% of gross sales Disclosed
- Source
- 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document — Budget Blinds, LLC
- Document
- FDD 2026, issued 2026-04-01
- Item
- Item 6
- Page
- PDF p. 16
- Obtained
- Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions — Franchise Registration Search, file 640856
you must pay us the greater of 3.5% of your Gross Revenue for the immediately preceding month or $2,500 for a Tier 1 Territory
For sales inside the contracted territory the franchisee pays the greater of 3.5% of the prior month's Gross Revenue or a monthly minimum of $2,500 (Tier 1), $1,875 (Tier 2) or $1,250 (Tier 3). Sales in unassigned 'Gray Area' are charged at 3.5% with no minimum. The minimum may be raised each April 1 by up to the increase in the Consumer Price Index. Gross Revenue is recognised at the earlier of 90 days after the product is ordered or installation, and excludes refunds, sales taxes remitted and authorised coupons.
Brand advertising fund
$500–$1,000/month Disclosed
- Source
- 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document — Budget Blinds, LLC
- Document
- FDD 2026, issued 2026-04-01
- Item
- Item 6
- Page
- PDF p. 16
- Obtained
- Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions — Franchise Registration Search, file 640856
A flat monthly National Advertising Fund payment set by territory tier, not a percentage: $500 (Tier 3), $750 (Tier 2), $1,000 (Tier 1). Once the franchisor has 1,500 U.S. territories these rise to $750, $1,125 and $1,500 respectively. The payment may also be increased each April 1 by up to the increase in the Consumer Price Index. The fund is administered by the franchisor, is not held in trust and is not separately audited; franchisees receive an annual accounting by March 31. Franchisees under prior offerings may contribute at a different rate or not at all.
Local marketing
Not disclosed in the reviewed source Not disclosed
Not disclosed in the reviewed source. We did not find this value in 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document — Budget Blinds, LLC; we do not fill gaps with estimates or third-party figures.
No required minimum local advertising spend is stated. Item 11 says the franchisee will place its own local advertising and that the franchisor may in future require an amount specified in the Manual and franchise agreement. Item 7 separately estimates $10,000-$15,000 of initial marketing during the first three months.
Core requirements shown separately; caps, credits and conditions may overlap. Check the full schedule for technology, cooperative, transfer and other charges.
View all recurring fees and conditions
| Royalty | 3.5% of gross sales Disclosed
For sales inside the contracted territory the franchisee pays the greater of 3.5% of the prior month's Gross Revenue or a monthly minimum of $2,500 (Tier 1), $1,875 (Tier 2) or $1,250 (Tier 3). Sales in unassigned 'Gray Area' are charged at 3.5% with no minimum. The minimum may be raised each April 1 by up to the increase in the Consumer Price Index. Gross Revenue is recognised at the earlier of 90 days after the product is ordered or installation, and excludes refunds, sales taxes remitted and authorised coupons. For sales inside the contracted territory the franchisee pays the greater of 3.5% of the prior month's Gross Revenue or a monthly minimum of $2,500 (Tier 1), $1,875 (Tier 2) or $1,250 (Tier 3). Sales in unassigned 'Gray Area' are charged at 3.5% with no minimum. The minimum may be raised each April 1 by up to the increase in the Consumer Price Index. Gross Revenue is recognised at the earlier of 90 days after the product is ordered or installation, and excludes refunds, sales taxes remitted and authorised coupons. |
|---|---|
| Advertising / brand fund | $500–$1,000/month Disclosed
A flat monthly National Advertising Fund payment set by territory tier, not a percentage: $500 (Tier 3), $750 (Tier 2), $1,000 (Tier 1). Once the franchisor has 1,500 U.S. territories these rise to $750, $1,125 and $1,500 respectively. The payment may also be increased each April 1 by up to the increase in the Consumer Price Index. The fund is administered by the franchisor, is not held in trust and is not separately audited; franchisees receive an annual accounting by March 31. Franchisees under prior offerings may contribute at a different rate or not at all. A flat monthly National Advertising Fund payment set by territory tier, not a percentage: $500 (Tier 3), $750 (Tier 2), $1,000 (Tier 1). Once the franchisor has 1,500 U.S. territories these rise to $750, $1,125 and $1,500 respectively. The payment may also be increased each April 1 by up to the increase in the Consumer Price Index. The fund is administered by the franchisor, is not held in trust and is not separately audited; franchisees receive an annual accounting by March 31. Franchisees under prior offerings may contribute at a different rate or not at all. |
| Required local marketing | Not disclosed in the reviewed source Not disclosedNot disclosed in the reviewed source. We did not find this value in 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document — Budget Blinds, LLC; we do not fill gaps with estimates or third-party figures. No required minimum local advertising spend is stated. Item 11 says the franchisee will place its own local advertising and that the franchisor may in future require an amount specified in the Manual and franchise agreement. Item 7 separately estimates $10,000-$15,000 of initial marketing during the first three months. |
| Technology / software | $600/month Disclosed
Currently $600 per month for the first territory plus $300 per month for each additional territory. Covers technology platforms and technical support and may increase by up to 3% annually. Currently $600 per month for the first territory plus $300 per month for each additional territory. Covers technology platforms and technical support and may increase by up to 3% annually. |
| Advertising cooperative | Not disclosed in the reviewed source Not disclosedNot disclosed in the reviewed source. We did not find this value in 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document — Budget Blinds, LLC; we do not fill gaps with estimates or third-party figures. No cooperative contribution is currently charged. Item 11 states that no advertising cooperatives exist at present, but the franchisor can require cooperatives to be formed, changed, merged or dissolved, with voting at one vote per territory and equal contribution rates within a cooperative area. |
| Transfer fee | $5,000–$50,000 one-time Disclosed
On a sale to a new franchisee the fee is the greater of $5,000 per territory or 6% of the sale price, capped at $50,000 per transaction. On a sale to an existing franchisee it is $5,000 per territory, also capped at $50,000. No charge applies if the franchise is assigned to an entity the franchisee controls. A separate transfer lead referral fee, currently $15,000, is payable if the buyer came from the franchisor's own marketing. On a sale to a new franchisee the fee is the greater of $5,000 per territory or 6% of the sale price, capped at $50,000 per transaction. On a sale to an existing franchisee it is $5,000 per territory, also capped at $50,000. No charge applies if the franchise is assigned to an entity the franchisee controls. A separate transfer lead referral fee, currently $15,000, is payable if the buyer came from the franchisor's own marketing. |
| Renewal fee | $5,000 one-time Disclosed
$5,000 per territory, payable on signing a renewal franchise agreement. $5,000 per territory, payable on signing a renewal franchise agreement. |
| Royalty + ad fund (% of sales) | Not comparable — royalty 3.5%; the other fee is not a percent of sales Not disclosedNot disclosed in the reviewed source. We did not find this value in 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document — Budget Blinds, LLC; we do not fill gaps with estimates or third-party figures. |
Fee schedule (25 fees; 24 verified against the source, 1 single-pass)
Every recurring, conditional and one-time fee found in this FDD's Item 6 table (plus mandatory recurring costs disclosed in Items 7/11), each cited to its page and carrying its verification status: verified means two independent readings agreed or a tie-break re-inspection of the page decided it; single-pass means one reading captured it and it has not been independently confirmed (permitted only for fees that cannot move modeled economics — see the materiality rule). Amounts marked “not stated” are charged at then-current rates the FDD does not quantify and are never modeled as $0.
| Fee | Amount | Frequency | Mandatory | Verification | Cite | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royalty | 3.5% of gross sales | monthly | Yes | verified (2-pass) | Item 6, p. 16 | Minimum royalty may be increased each April 1 by up to the increase in the Consumer Price Index. |
| National Advertising Fund Payment | Tiered (base $500) | monthly | Yes | verified (2-pass) | Item 6, p. 16 | May also increase each April 1 by up to the increase in the Consumer Price Index. |
| Technology Fee | $600 | monthly | Yes | verified (2-pass) | Item 6, p. 16 | May increase by up to 3% annually; additional $300/month per additional territory owned. |
| Training for Additional Personnel | $1,500 | per event | No | verified (2-pass) | Item 6, p. 17 | Second free seat is forfeited if unused within 12 months of the Operating Date, after which the then-current $1,500 fee applies. |
| Additional Territory Fee | Not stated | one time | No | verified (tie-break) | Item 6, p. 17 | Only when you buy an additional territory; availability of additional territories is at the franchisor's discretion. |
| Encroachment Payment | Not stated | per event | No | verified (tie-break) | Item 6, p. 17 | Only if you sell outside your territory without authorisation; imposed at the franchisor's discretion as an alternative to terminating your franchise. |
| Fees on Transfer | $5,000–$50,000 | one time | No | verified (tie-break) | Item 6, p. 17 | Payable before transfer when you sell your franchise. No charge if the franchise is assigned to a corporation or similar entity that you control. Footnote 3 to the Item 6 table: 'Upper estimate contemplates the sale of multiple territories as part of the same transaction.' |
| Transfer Lead Referral Fee | $15,000 | one time | No | verified (2-pass) | Item 6, p. 17 | No fee if the franchisee finds their own buyer; a third party's own lead fee applies if the buyer came from a third party. |
| Renewal Fee | $5,000 | per event | No | verified (tie-break) | Item 6, p. 18 | Payable per territory when you sign a renewal franchise agreement at the end of the 10-year initial term (Item 17). |
| Insufficient Funds or Late Payment Fee | $300–$500 | per event | No | single-pass | Item 6, p. 18 | Charged only if a Royalty, National Advertising or Technology Fee payment fails or is late. [Listed by one verification pass only (A); not independently confirmed.] |
| Late Reporting Administrative Fee | $300–$500 | per event | No | verified (tie-break) | Item 6, p. 18 | Charged if Gross Revenue is not reported by midnight Pacific time on the 5th calendar day after the end of the month. |
| Convention Fee | Not stated | annual | Yes | verified (tie-break) | Item 6, p. 18 | Attendance at Convention is mandatory. The franchisor may in future collect the Convention Fee in monthly instalments, on notice. |
| Optional Meetings and Trainings | $100–$1,500 | per event | No | verified (tie-break) | Item 6, p. 18 | Payable by registration date only if you choose to attend; the Item 6 row is headed 'Optional'. |
| Additional Training Requested by You | $500–$1,500 | per event | No | verified (tie-break) | Item 6, p. 19 | Only if you ask the franchisor to send a staff member to the Franchised Business for further assistance. |
| Audit | Not stated | per event | No | verified (tie-break) | Item 6, p. 19 | Payable on demand only if the audit is required because you failed to report or your records and procedures are insufficient to determine your revenues or Product purchases. |
| Insurance | Not stated | per event | No | verified (tie-break) | Item 6, p. 19 | Only if you fail to obtain the required insurance and the franchisor buys it for you. |
| Costs and Attorneys' Fees | Not stated | per event | No | verified (tie-break) | Item 6, p. 19 | Payable on demand if you breach the franchise agreement and the franchisor prevails in arbitration or litigation. |
| Indemnification | Not stated | per event | No | verified (tie-break) | Item 6, p. 19 | Payable on demand when an indemnified claim arises. |
| Liquidated Damages | Not stated | one time | No | verified (2-pass) | Item 6, p. 19 | Payable only if the franchisee ceases operating or abandons the business before term expiration without the franchisor's consent. |
| Required Local Advertising Spend (future) | Not stated | varies | No | verified (2-pass) | Item 11, p. 33 | Not currently imposed. |
| Antivirus Software Subscription | Not stated | varies | Yes | verified (tie-break) | Item 11, p. 34 | Required for the mandated computer system; bought from a third party, not from the franchisor. |
| Minimum royalty (tier floor) | Tiered (base $1,250) (min $1,250/monthly) | monthly | Yes | verified (tie-break) | Item 6, p. 16 | Bites whenever 3.5% of the preceding month's Gross Revenue is below the tier floor. The floor may be increased each April 1 by up to the increase in the Consumer Price Index. |
| CRM System (required operating software) | $0 | monthly | Yes | verified (tie-break) | Item 11, p. 36 | Mandatory for leads, scheduling, proposals, invoicing, inventory and reporting. No contractual limit on the frequency or cost of mandated upgrades, and the franchisor may require additional cloud software at any time. Citation audit 2026-09-04: page corrected 34 -> 36 (value verified on p. 36). |
| Advertising cooperative contribution | Not stated | varies | No | verified (tie-break) | Item 11, p. 34 | No advertising cooperatives exist at the issuance date. If the franchisor designates a cooperative area you are required to participate; franchisor outlets in the area contribute on the same basis. |
| CareerPlug recruiting application | $45 | monthly | No | verified (tie-break) | Item 11, p. 35 | Recommended, not required. Paid to a third party, not to the franchisor. |
All fees are imposed by and payable to the franchisor, are non-refundable, and are collected by direct debit from the franchisee's bank account. Two recurring charges carry contractual minimums independent of sales: the royalty monthly minimum and the flat National Advertising Fund payment. Item 6 also provides for liquidated damages on abandonment equal to the average monthly royalty and advertising fund contributions over the preceding 12 months multiplied by the months remaining in the term, plus reimbursement of the franchisor's costs and attorneys' fees if the franchisee breaches and the franchisor prevails.
Financial performance (Item 19)
What the franchisor actually disclosedWho is represented: Franchisees who reported gross sales and were open all of calendar 2025, grouped by territory count: 282 with one territory, 202 with two (404 territories) and 128 with three or more (506 territories) — 612 franchisees holding 1,192 territories. The franchisor states this is 82% of franchisees open the full year; non-reporters and anyone not open all year are excluded. Two- and three-plus-territory figures are combined totals across all of a franchisee's territories, not per-territory averages, and a territory opened during 2025 contributes a partial year. There are no company-owned outlets, so all figures are franchisee results. Sales are not adjusted for territory size, which varies across the system.
Qualifications: The figures are unaudited gross sales reported to the franchisor by franchisees, not verified by the franchisor. They cover only franchisees who both reported sales and were open for all of calendar 2025 — 82% of franchisees open the whole year — so the roughly 18% who did not report, plus every franchisee that opened, closed or transferred during the year, are excluded. Results are grouped by the number of territories a franchisee holds, and the two-territory and three-or-more-territory figures are combined totals across all of that franchisee's territories rather than per-territory averages; where an additional territory opened during 2025 the total covers less than a full year for that territory. Territory sizes are not uniform, so gross sales are not size-adjusted. Fewer than 40% of franchisees in each group reached the mean for their group, and the spread within groups is very wide (single-territory results ran from $53,370 to $9,336,975). No cost, expense, margin, EBITDA or profit information is disclosed anywhere in Item 19, and the franchisor makes no other financial performance representation.
View full Item 19 disclosure and tables
Item 19 discloses gross sales only. It reports mean, median, 25th and 75th percentile, middle-50% mean, and high and low annual gross sales for calendar 2025, with 2024 comparatives, split into three groups: franchisees running one territory, two territories, and three or more. For the 282 franchisees who ran a single territory all year, average gross sales were $774,915 and the median was $522,826, with a quarter below $340,525 and a quarter above $921,140. Only 31% of that group reached the average, which is a sign that a small number of very large results pull the mean up. Averages for multi-territory franchisees are larger because they combine every territory a franchisee holds — they are not per-territory figures and cannot be compared directly with the single-territory column. The single-territory average and median both fell year over year, from $853,650 and $556,955 in 2024. Nothing in Item 19 speaks to costs, owner compensation or profit, so these figures cannot be read as earnings, and roughly 18% of franchisees open the full year are missing from the sample.
| Metric | Subset | Value | Units | Period | Cite |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross sales — franchisees with one territory, open all year 31% of units met or exceeded 88 of 282 franchisees equalled or exceeded this figure. | Single territory Average | $774,915 | 282 | CY2025 | FDD p.49 |
| Gross sales — franchisees with one territory, open all year | Single territory Median | $522,826 | 282 | CY2025 | FDD p.49 |
| Gross sales at the 75th percentile — franchisees with one territory 25% of units met or exceeded The franchisor states only 25% of franchisees in this group reported higher sales. | Single territory, 75th percentile Percentile | $921,140 | 282 | CY2025 | FDD p.49 |
| Gross sales at the 25th percentile — franchisees with one territory The franchisor states only 25% of franchisees in this group reported lower sales. | Single territory, 25th percentile Percentile | $340,525 | 282 | CY2025 | FDD p.49 |
| Gross sales — middle 50% of franchisees with one territory Mean of the single-territory franchisees between the 25th and 75th percentiles; the FDD does not state how many franchisees this covers. | Single territory, middle 50% Quartile avg. | $565,256 | n/s | CY2025 | FDD p.49 |
| Highest gross sales reported — franchisee with one territory | Single territory High | $9,336,975 | 282 | CY2025 | FDD p.49 |
| Lowest gross sales reported — franchisee with one territory | Single territory Low | $53,370 | 282 | CY2025 | FDD p.49 |
| Gross sales — franchisees with two territories, open all year (combined across both) 39% of units met or exceeded Total sales across both territories, not per territory. 78 of 202 franchisees equalled or exceeded this figure. | Two territories Average | $1,201,857 | 202 | CY2025 | FDD p.49 |
| Gross sales — franchisees with two territories, open all year (combined across both) | Two territories Median | $967,557 | 202 | CY2025 | FDD p.49 |
| Gross sales at the 75th percentile — franchisees with two territories 25% of units met or exceeded | Two territories, 75th percentile Percentile | $1,442,552 | 202 | CY2025 | FDD p.49 |
| Gross sales at the 25th percentile — franchisees with two territories | Two territories, 25th percentile Percentile | $658,841 | 202 | CY2025 | FDD p.49 |
| Gross sales — middle 50% of franchisees with two territories The FDD does not state how many franchisees fall in this band. | Two territories, middle 50% Quartile avg. | $995,854 | n/s | CY2025 | FDD p.49 |
| Highest gross sales reported — franchisee with two territories | Two territories High | $9,044,089 | 202 | CY2025 | FDD p.49 |
| Lowest gross sales reported — franchisee with two territories | Two territories Low | $76,111 | 202 | CY2025 | FDD p.49 |
| Gross sales — franchisees with three or more territories, open all year (combined) 35% of units met or exceeded Combined sales across all territories held; this group averaged 4 territories each. 45 of 128 franchisees equalled or exceeded this figure. | Three or more territories Average | $2,594,079 | 128 | CY2025 | FDD p.49 |
| Gross sales — franchisees with three or more territories, open all year (combined) | Three or more territories Median | $1,823,078 | 128 | CY2025 | FDD p.49 |
| Gross sales at the 75th percentile — franchisees with three or more territories 25% of units met or exceeded | Three or more territories, 75th percentile Percentile | $3,178,585 | 128 | CY2025 | FDD p.49 |
| Gross sales at the 25th percentile — franchisees with three or more territories | Three or more territories, 25th percentile Percentile | $1,195,398 | 128 | CY2025 | FDD p.49 |
| Gross sales — middle 50% of franchisees with three or more territories The FDD does not state how many franchisees fall in this band. | Three or more territories, middle 50% Quartile avg. | $2,024,073 | n/s | CY2025 | FDD p.49 |
| Highest gross sales reported — franchisee with three or more territories | Three or more territories High | $18,753,237 | 128 | CY2025 | FDD p.49 |
| Lowest gross sales reported — franchisee with three or more territories | Three or more territories Low | $412,200 | 128 | CY2025 | FDD p.49 |
| Gross sales — franchisees with one territory, prior-year comparative The FDD shows 2024 as a comparative column but does not state how many franchisees reported for 2024, so the population is unknown. The single-territory mean fell about 9% from 2024 to 2025. | Single territory Average | $853,650 | n/s | CY2024 | FDD p.49 |
| Gross sales — franchisees with one territory, prior-year comparative The 2024 reporting population is not stated in the FDD. | Single territory Median | $556,955 | n/s | CY2024 | FDD p.49 |
System health (Item 20)
Outlets, openings, exits and transfers by fiscal year · U.S. onlyView detailed Item 20 tables and source notes
| Fiscal year | Start | Opened | Terminated | Not renewed | Reacquired | Ceased — other | End | Transfers | Company-owned (end) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 1,298 | 78 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 1,362 | 69 | 0 |
| 2024 | 1,362 | 35 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 1,366 | 87 | 0 |
| 2025 | 1,366 | 16 | 15 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 1,355 | 97 | 0 |
Disclosed 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document — Budget Blinds, LLC, Item 20, Tables 1–3 (PDF p. 51). All three status tables foot exactly, and Table 1 franchised end-of-year counts equal the Table 3 Totals row in every year. There were no company-owned outlets in the period. Openings fell from 78 in 2023 to 35 in 2024 and 16 in 2025 while closures of all kinds rose to 27 in 2025, producing the first net decline (-11). Franchised outlets went from 1,298 at the start of 2023 to 1,355 at the end of 2025, a net gain of 57. Transfers rose every year — 69, 87, 97 — so 2025 transfers were about 7% of the system and roughly six times new openings. Exhibit D lists 27 terminated and 97 transferred franchises, and Item 20 notes some franchisees signed confidentiality provisions limiting what they can say. Three territories were relocated between states. The cover flags a significant number of signed but unopened franchises; Table No. 5 reports six.
Source data notes (11) — inconsistencies found in the FDD itself during verification
Our verification re-reads every table. Where the FDD's own printed tables disagree, we document the discrepancy rather than silently "fixing" it. Classes: B = arithmetic error in the source's derived column; C = the printed tables genuinely disagree; D = a legitimate definitional difference (e.g., transfers netted, explained by a footnote); E = unresolved ambiguity. Figures a material C/E issue puts in doubt are excluded from our derived metrics, scores and rankings.
- [A/minor] Table 3 2025: Pass A reported that footnotes 1-3 (Colorado->Florida; North Carolina->South Carolina; two Virginia->District of Columbia) are all reflected in the 2025 rows. Footnote 1 is actually carried on the FY2023 rows: CO 2023 runs 33 with no closures and ends 32(1), while FL 2023 runs 95+7-1=101 and ends 102(1). Footnotes 2 and 3 are on 2025 rows (NC 45 -> 44(2), SC 23+1-1=23 -> 24(2), VA 39 -> 37(3)). — Correct reading, page 61: the Colorado/Florida relocation sits in FY2023, the NC/SC and VA/DC relocations in FY2025. Every relocation is offsetting, so no Totals row moves; Table 3 Totals foot in all three years (1298+78-6-2-0-6=1362; 1362+35-7-1-0-23=1366; 1366+16-15-6-0-6=1355) and match Table 1.
- [D/minor] Table 1 vs Table 3: Pass B observation: Table 1 and Table 3 agree exactly in all three years (franchised 1,298->1,362, 1,362->1,366, 1,366->1,355) and every Table 3 TOTAL row foots; carry-forward across years is clean. — Re-verified on pages 51 and 61 - no defect. Table 1 net change (+64, +4, -11) equals the Table 3 Totals arithmetic. The totals the site uses are corroborated twice over.
- [D/minor] Table 2: Pass B observation: Table 2 state rows sum exactly to the printed totals (2023: 69, 2024: 87, 2025: 97) and the 2025 total matches the narrative after Table 5. — Re-verified: Table 2 total row on page 56 reads 69 / 87 / 97, and the Exhibit D narrative on page 63 says '97 transferred franchises'. No defect.
- [D/minor] Table 3 vs Exhibit D 2025: Pass B observation: the 27 terminated franchises named in Exhibit D reconcile to FY2025 attrition in Table 3 (15 terminations + 6 non-renewals + 6 ceased-other = 27). — Re-verified: page 61 Totals row 2025 gives 15 + 6 + 0 + 6 = 27, and page 63 states 'Exhibit D lists 27 terminated franchises'. The attrition figure is externally corroborated inside the document.
- [D/minor] Item 20 vs Item 19: Definitional quirk: an 'outlet' in Item 20 is a territory, not a franchisee. Item 19 (page 47) counts 282 single-territory + 202 two-territory (404 territories) + 128 three-or-more-territory franchisees representing 506 territories, i.e. 612 reporting franchisees holding 1,192 territories. The 1,355 system count is therefore a territory count. — Legitimate definitional difference, not an error: Item 20 counts territories throughout (Item 11 even votes cooperatives 'one vote per territory'). The printed totals are right as territory counts, but unit counts for this brand are not comparable to franchisee counts at other brands and should be labelled as territories.
- [D/minor] Table 3 2025: Several Table 3 state rows do not foot on their face because territories were relocated between states; footnotes 1-3 disclose each move. Examples: NC 2025 starts at 45 with no openings or closures and ends at 44(2); SC 2025 runs 23+1-1=23 and ends at 24(2); VA 2025 starts at 39 with no activity and ends at 37(3). — Explained by the printed footnotes on page 61 and offsetting in every case, so the Totals row is unaffected and continues to foot. Only state-level rows are affected; the site's TOTAL-row figures are sound.
- [D/minor] Cover page vs Table 5: Cover-page Special Risk (iii) on page 4 says 'The franchisor has signed a significant number of franchise agreements with franchisees who have not yet opened their outlets', while Table 5 (page 62) reports only 6 franchise agreements signed but not opened against a 1,355-territory system (0.4%). — Not a table-to-table contradiction: the cover page carries prescribed narrative risk-factor language, not an Item 20 data point. Table 5's figure is internally corroborated - its 14 state rows sum to exactly 6 signed-but-unopened and 15 projected new openings. The Item 20 figure (6) is the reliable one; the cover language should not be read as a unit count.
- [D/minor] Table 3 and Table 5: Pass B observation on direction of travel: openings fell 78 (2023) -> 35 (2024) -> 16 (2025) while terminations rose 6 -> 7 -> 15 and non-renewals 2 -> 1 -> 6; net change ran +64, +4, -11. Table 5 nonetheless projects 15 new franchised openings for FY2026. — No inconsistency - the FY2026 projection of 15 is essentially the FY2025 actual of 16, so the forecast is consistent with the latest run rate rather than with the 2023 peak. The trend is real and correctly extracted; it belongs in editorial commentary, not in the data-quality log.
- [D/minor] Table 4: Pass B observation: Table 4 (company-owned outlets) is all zeros for all three years, consistent with Table 1. — Re-verified on page 61 - all zeros, matching Table 1's company-owned rows and Table 5's zero projected company-owned openings. No defect; the franchisor operates no outlets.
- [D/minor] Table 2 2025: Pass B observation: transfers are high relative to system size - 97 transfers in 2025 against 1,355 territories (~7%), rising 69 -> 87 -> 97 while the system shrank. — The figures are correctly extracted and corroborated by the Exhibit D narrative; this is a substantive signal about the brand, not a data defect. Note the denominator caveat: transfers are counted per territory, matching the territory-based unit count.
- [A/minor] Table 3 2025: Text-layer artifact: in the extracted text several 2025 state rows of Table 3 wrap across lines (WA, DC, NC, NM, RI, SD, TX, VA and others), so state-level 2025 columns cannot be summed reliably from the text alone. Superscript footnote markers also merge into the adjacent figure (FL 2023 end reads '1021' for 102(1); NC 2025 end reads '442' for 44(2); VA 2025 end reads '373' for 37(3)). — Extraction artifact only, with no effect on the figures the site uses. The TOTAL rows on page 61 are on single unwrapped lines and were read directly: 2023 1298/78/6/2/0/6/1362, 2024 1362/35/7/1/0/23/1366, 2025 1366/16/15/6/0/6/1355. Any future state-level extraction must be re-read from the page image rather than the text layer.
Company-owned outlets (Table 4)
| Year | Start | Opened | Reacquired from franchisee | Closed | Sold to franchisee | End |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Read: How to read Item 20.
Ownership and operations
Items 11, 12, 15, 17Manager-run permitted Disclosed
- Source
- 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document — Budget Blinds, LLC
- Document
- FDD 2026, issued 2026-04-01
- Item
- Item 15
- Page
- PDF p. 43
- Obtained
- Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions — Franchise Registration Search, file 640856
If you do not operate the Franchised Business yourself, you must employ at least one manager on a full time basis.
Item 15 says the franchisor prefers franchisees who participate actively and does not want passive investors, but permits a franchisee who does not operate the business personally to employ at least one full-time manager. That manager needs no equity interest, must be identified to the franchisor, must complete the initial training program, must devote their entire time during normal business hours to the business, and is bound by the confidentiality and non-compete covenants. Item 12 separately obliges the franchisee to devote full time and attention to promoting and developing the territory, which sits in tension with a fully absentee arrangement.
View operating requirements, territory and contract term
| Owner involvement (Item 15) | Manager-run permitted Disclosed
Item 15 says the franchisor prefers franchisees who participate actively and does not want passive investors, but permits a franchisee who does not operate the business personally to employ at least one full-time manager. That manager needs no equity interest, must be identified to the franchisor, must complete the initial training program, must devote their entire time during normal business hours to the business, and is bound by the confidentiality and non-compete covenants. Item 12 separately obliges the franchisee to devote full time and attention to promoting and developing the territory, which sits in tension with a fully absentee arrangement. Item 15 says the franchisor prefers franchisees who participate actively and does not want passive investors, but permits a franchisee who does not operate the business personally to employ at least one full-time manager. That manager needs no equity interest, must be identified to the franchisor, must complete the initial training program, must devote their entire time during normal business hours to the business, and is bound by the confidentiality and non-compete covenants. Item 12 separately obliges the franchisee to devote full time and attention to promoting and developing the territory, which sits in tension with a fully absentee arrangement. |
|---|---|
| Initial training | A hybrid program of roughly six weeks. Pre-Academy modules are delivered through the franchisor's learning system (HFCU) and virtual sessions, followed by five days of in-person Academy training at the HFC Experience Center in Coppell, Texas, then three weeks of Post-Academy virtual and self-paced work. The published curriculum totals 81.5 hours of classroom, HFCU or virtual instruction and zero hours of on-the-job training. Principals must personally complete the program to the franchisor's satisfaction before opening, although an approved designee may attend in their place; any manager running the business must also complete it. Training for up to two people is included with the first franchise agreement, with the second seat forfeited if unused within 12 months; additional attendees cost $1,500 each. Sessions are run as needed, usually every other month. No initial training is required for subsequent franchise agreements. Disclosed
Hours are taken from the curriculum table's TOTAL row. The franchisor states the curriculum is subject to change at any time without notice. |
| Multi-unit / development options | Additional territories are available only at the franchisor's discretion and only to franchisees who meet its then-current multi-territory criteria, are not in default and have been in substantial compliance. Additional territory must generally be contiguous or close to the first. No initial franchise fee is charged on a subsequent franchise agreement; the Additional Territory Fee equals the then-current Initial Territory Fee, except that a second Tier 1 Territory bought at the same time as the first is discounted to $60,000, making $130,000 for two Tier 1 territories. Franchisees have no options, rights of first refusal or right to acquire additional Budget Blinds franchises anywhere. Multi-territory ownership is common in practice: of the 612 franchisees reporting in Item 19, 330 held two or more territories. Disclosed
Drawn from Item 5 (fees), Item 6 (Additional Territory Fee), Item 12 (conditions and absence of rights of first refusal) and Item 19 (observed distribution of territory counts). |
| Territory (Item 12) | Not exclusive. The agreement grants a 'protected' territory defined by U.S. Postal Service ZIP codes: the franchisor will not establish another franchised window-coverings business using its system and marks there, and will not compete there from outlets it owns. Territories are tiered by household count — Tier 1 at 36,000 or more, Tier 2 at 25,000 to 36,000, Tier 3 below 25,000 — and the ZIP codes do not change even if boundaries or population do. Protection does not depend on sales volume or market penetration. The reservations are broad: the franchisor may sell under its principal mark inside the territory through online channels or direct marketing without compensation, may operate a similar business there under different marks, and may negotiate Key Account contracts spanning territories and charge for referrals. Franchisees may not use the internet or other remote channels to generate sales without installation, need written approval for a retail showroom or to work in unassigned Gray Area, and the territory may be reclassified to a different tier on renewal. Disclosed
|
| Initial term | 10 years Disclosed
Initial term of the franchise agreement. |
| Renewal | Two consecutive five-year renewal terms. The franchisor gives notice at least 180 days before expiry. To renew, the franchisee must sign the then-current form of franchise agreement at least 30 days before expiration, pay the $5,000-per-territory renewal fee, not be in default, and bring the business into full compliance with the standards then applied to new franchisees. The FDD states the new agreement may contain materially different terms and conditions, and the franchisor may reclassify the territory as Tier 1, 2 or 3 under its then-current criteria, which can change the territory fee basis and the royalty and advertising minimums. Disclosed
|
Risk and legal observations
Items 3, 4, 8, 15, 17 — summarized neutrallyLitigation: 4 matter(s) disclosed Disclosed · Bankruptcy: None disclosed Disclosed
View legal disclosures, restrictions and guarantees
| Litigation (Item 3) | 4 matter(s) disclosed Disclosed Item 3 lists four matters. One is a historic regulatory action against an affiliate rather than the franchisor: Aussie Pet Mobile, Inc., under previous ownership, entered a Consent Order with the Maryland Securities Division in January 2006 requiring it to cease and desist from offering or selling franchises in violation of Maryland franchise law, to rescind agreements with a former franchisee found not to have received proper disclosure, and to confirm new compliance procedures; no monetary sanctions were imposed. The other three are suits the franchisor filed against its own franchisees during the last fiscal year to collect royalties and fees, filed in January, April and November 2025 in Oakland County, Michigan; Hidalgo County, Texas; and Polk County, Wisconsin. Outcomes are not stated. The FDD discloses no franchisee-initiated litigation against the franchisor. |
|---|---|
| Bankruptcy (Item 4) | None disclosed Disclosed Item 4 states that no bankruptcy is required to be disclosed. |
| Personal guaranty | Required Disclosed
The franchisee must be a corporate entity by the time business commences. Everyone with direct or indirect control of, or a direct or indirect beneficial interest in, that entity must sign the Personal Covenant and Guarantee attached to the franchise agreement. A married franchisee's spouse must also sign, even without an ownership interest; the cover pages carry a state-required risk factor stating that this puts marital and personal assets at risk. |
| Non-compete | During the term, and subject to state law, the franchisee may have no involvement in a competing business anywhere in the United States or in any other country where the franchisor has applied to register its trademarks. After termination or expiry, and subject to state law, the franchisee may not engage in a competing business for two years within the former territory or within 25 miles of any other Budget Blinds territory, and must fully de-identify. The manager, if one is employed, is bound by the same covenants. Disclosed
Item 17 row w states that the law of the franchisee's own state governs post-termination non-competition issues. |
| Transfer restrictions | The franchisor must approve all transfers, and 'transfer' is defined broadly to include a transfer of the contract or assets or any change in ownership. Conditions for approval include a qualified buyer, payment of the transfer fee, franchisor approval of the purchase agreement, training arranged for the buyer, a release signed by the seller, all money owed to the franchisor paid, and the buyer signing the then-current franchise agreement. The franchisor holds a right of first refusal and can match any offer for the business. The transfer fee is the greater of $5,000 per territory or 6% of the sale price on a sale to a new franchisee, capped at $50,000 per transaction, or $5,000 per territory (same cap) on a sale to an existing franchisee; a transfer lead referral fee, currently $15,000, applies if the buyer came from the franchisor's own marketing. On death or disability, an heir or successor must complete initial training within 30 days of the transfer date. Disclosed
Transfer fee amounts come from Item 6. Item 20 shows 97 transfers in 2025 on a base of about 1,360 outlets. |
| Termination / non-renewal | The franchisee may terminate on any grounds permitted by law. The franchisor has no right to terminate without cause but may terminate for material default or on the occurrence of a condition whose non-occurrence was presumed. Curable defaults carry 30 days, except service-mark violations, which must be cured within 7 days with the cure beginning within 24 hours of notice. Non-curable grounds are extensive: insolvency or bankruptcy, abandonment, material misrepresentation in acquiring the business, failure to comply with applicable law within 10 days of notice, repeated breaches whether or not corrected, an unsatisfied final judgment after 30 days, conviction of a felony or moral-turpitude misdemeanor, failure to pay fees within 5 days of written notice, and termination of any other franchise agreement between the parties. Abandonment triggers liquidated damages equal to average monthly royalty and advertising contributions over the prior 12 months times the months remaining in the term. On termination the franchisee must de-identify, pay amounts owed and assign business telephone numbers to the franchisor. Disclosed
Liquidated damages formula is from Item 6. |
| Supplier restrictions (Item 8) | Window coverings and all required components must be bought only from the franchisor, its affiliates or approved suppliers, and branded material other than stationery and business cards only from the franchisor or an approved source. The franchisor estimates 90% to 95% of total purchases and leases are subject to these restrictions and reserves the right to require that specified items be bought solely from it. Supplier approval is granted only where there is a system-wide need; review runs six months or longer, and the franchisor may charge an evaluation fee and condition approval on discounts or advertising contributions. Neither the franchisor nor its affiliates currently supplies window coverings, but ultimate parent JM Family Enterprises owns an interest in one approved supplier. On 2025 total revenue of $92,244,249 the franchisor reported $542,722 (0.6%) from selling branded advertising materials to franchisees, $819,231 (0.9%) from supplier transaction fees, and $35,893,343 (38.9%) from supplier rebates and allowances of generally 4% to 13% of purchase price, which it may keep for any purpose. No purchasing cooperative exists. Disclosed
|
| Dispute resolution | Except for certain claims and subject to state law, all disputes must be mediated or arbitrated in Orange County, California, and claims for equitable or injunctive relief must be brought in California. The cover pages carry a state-required risk factor warning that out-of-state dispute resolution may increase cost and pressure toward a less favourable settlement. Federal law governs arbitration and trademark issues; the franchisee's own state law governs amendment of the agreement, maximum interest rate and post-termination non-competition; California law governs everything else except where applicable law requires otherwise. The agreement contains an integration clause under which only the disclosure document, franchise agreement and Manual are binding. Disclosed
|
- Royalty and National Advertising Fund payments carry fixed monthly minimums ($1,250-$2,500 royalty and $500-$1,000 advertising by tier) that are owed regardless of sales; the cover page flags mandatory minimum payments as a state-required risk.
- The territory is protected but expressly not exclusive: the franchisor reserves online sales, direct marketing, different-brand operations and Key Account contracts inside the territory, in some cases without compensating the franchisee.
- Item 12 requires the franchisee to devote full time and attention to developing the territory, while Item 15 permits a full-time manager to run the business — a prospective buyer should reconcile these before assuming a semi-absentee model.
- Item 6 provides for an encroachment payment of 100% of gross sales made in another franchisee's territory, offered at the franchisor's discretion as an alternative to termination.
- Some current and former franchisees have signed confidentiality provisions restricting what they can say about their experience, which limits the value of franchisee reference calls (Item 20).
- In 2025 the system recorded 16 openings against 15 terminations, 6 non-renewals and 6 other closures, and 97 transfers — the first net decline in outlets in the three years disclosed.
- Territory tier can be reclassified on renewal, which can change the territory fee, the royalty minimum and the advertising fund payment for the next term.
Summaries are neutral paraphrases of the cited document and are not legal advice. Read the full Items in the current FDD and consult a franchise attorney.
Illustrative unit economics
Model estimateModel estimate — not disclosed by the franchisor, not a forecast. Fee lines below come from this brand's verified FDD fee schedule and are computed exactly as disclosed (each line shows its arithmetic). Operating-cost ratios are category placeholders we chose — every one is editable and labeled assumption. Results are illustrative arithmetic, not expected returns. Every figure here belongs to one of five labeled categories — disclosed inputs, model assumptions, unmodeled mandatory fees, user-editable assumptions, and exclusions — defined in our methodology.
| Line (annual) | Downside | Base | Upside |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue (AUV basis) | $619,932 | $774,915 | $891,152 |
| − Cost of goods / supplies assumption | $123,986 | $154,983 | $178,230 |
| − Payroll (excl. owner) assumption | $235,574 | $294,468 | $338,638 |
| − Occupancy assumption | $18,598 | $23,247 | $26,735 |
| − Other operating expenses assumption | $74,392 | $92,990 | $106,938 |
| − Royalty disclosed 3.5% of gross sales = $27,122 |
$21,698 | $27,122 | $31,190 |
| − Technology Fee disclosed $600/month × 12 = $7,200 |
$7,200 | $7,200 | $7,200 |
| = Modeled operating result before the items below (EBITDA-style) | $138,484 | $174,905 | $202,221 |
| − Manager compensation assumption | $65,000 | $65,000 | $65,000 |
| = Modeled result after manager compensation | $73,484 | $109,905 | $137,221 |
| − Illustrative debt service assumption | $17,668 | $17,668 | $17,668 |
| = Illustrative pre-tax cash flow — before taxes, capital expenditures and unmodeled fees | $55,816 | $92,237 | $119,553 |
| Modeled operating margin | 22.3% | 22.6% | 22.7% |
This modeled result is not owner income. It excludes: income taxes; capital expenditures and equipment-replacement reserves; working-capital needs; ramp-up losses; owner-specific costs; one-time and per-event fees (transfer, renewal, audit); and 3 mandatory fee(s) whose amounts the FDD does not state (listed below — real outflows are higher by these amounts). It is illustrative arithmetic on stated assumptions, not a promise or forecast of what a franchisee earns.
Mandatory fees disclosed but not quantified — not included in the modeled result: the FDD requires these but states no amount (e.g. billed at "then-current" rates). They are never modeled as $0. If you have a quote or estimate, enter an annual amount to include it as your own assumption:
- National Advertising Fund Payment (Item 6, p. 16) — Amount depends on the franchisee's territory tier and current U.S. territory count; model must assume a tier.
- Convention Fee (Item 6, p. 18) — Amount not fixed by the FDD; assume up to the $2,000/yr cap plus unquantified travel and lodging.
- Antivirus Software Subscription (Item 11, p. 34) — Item 11 estimates the whole computer system at $1,500-$2,500 but prices the antivirus subscription separately nowhere in the FDD.
Overlap control: CRM System (required operating software) is counted within “technology-fee” — excluded to avoid double counting; Minimum royalty (tier floor) is a floor on “Royalty” ($15,000/yr) — already exceeded at this revenue, so not an additional charge.
Every figure in this table is a model estimate built on the disclosed fee schedule plus labeled assumptions. Excluded: income taxes, owner draw, working-capital swings, capital expenditures, ramp-up losses in year one, one-time and per-event fees (transfer, renewal, audit), and the undisclosed-amount fees listed above. Read AUV vs. EBITDA vs. owner income before using this.
Sources and provenance
Primary source: 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document — Budget Blinds, LLC · issued 2026-04-01. Find the FDD at Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions — Franchise Registration Search. We cite source pages and do not redistribute PDFs.
View all sources, provenance and verification notes
| Document | Obtained from | Dates | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document — Budget Blinds, LLC Registry file 640856 · 318 pages Issuance date April 1, 2026; Wisconsin registration effective April 7, 2026, status Registered. Financial and outlet data cover fiscal years ended December 31, 2023-2025. | Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions — Franchise Registration Search | Issued 2026-04-01 Retrieved 2026-08-29 | Newest available at retrieval |
AI-assisted extraction from the archived FDD text, independently machine-verified against the cited source (two passes plus tie-break); not human-reviewed. Extracted 2026-08-29. Last updated 2026-09-04. AI-assisted extraction independently machine-verified against the cited source document (2026-09-01): two independent AI reading passes plus tie-break re-inspection of every disagreement; 72 of 77 material fields confirmed (67 with the exact page citation re-confirmed), 1 corrected, 0 unresolved, 5 confirmed not disclosed. No human has reviewed this profile. Fiscal year covered: FY2025 (Dec 31, 2025). See how we use AI and verify data.
Fields flagged as uncertain (3)
- franchisor.business_since — Item 1 gives only the Oct 5, 1992 incorporation of predecessor Budget Blinds, Inc.; it does not state when the concept began operating.
- investment.franchise_fee_low/high — derived as Initial Franchise Fee plus Initial Territory Fee (Tier 3 low, Tier 1 high); Item 5 gives no single combined figure.
- item19.population_count — 612 reporting franchisees (282+202+128), the unit the statistics use; those franchisees hold 1,192 territories, so a territory count would be higher.
Extraction notes (12)
- Item 7 line items sum exactly to the disclosed totals of $100,500 (low) and $211,250 (high). Two rows, Office/Work Space and Business Address, are stated only as 'Varies' and are excluded from the total by the franchisor.
- Item 20 Tables 1, 3 and 4 all foot, and Table 1 franchised end-of-year counts equal the Table 3 Totals row in every year, so no reconciliation warnings were expected or raised.
- Item 19 discloses no all-outlet or all-franchisee average. headline_auv uses the single-territory mean, the only figure that is genuinely per territory; multi-territory means are combined totals across each franchisee's territories.
- The 2024 comparative column in Item 19 is reported without a stated population, so those two metrics carry population_count null.
- fees.local_marketing and fees.cooperative are null/not_disclosed by design: the FDD requires the franchisee to place its own local advertising but sets no minimum spend, and states that no advertising cooperatives currently exist.
- investment.liquidity_required is null although Item 7 footnote 13 recommends $100,000 of first-year working capital; the FDD frames that as a recommendation, not a stated requirement, and gives no net-worth figure.
- The cover page carries a state-required risk factor about a significant number of signed but unopened franchise agreements, while Item 20 Table No. 5 reports only six such agreements. The discrepancy is noted rather than resolved.
- Item 3's first matter concerns affiliate Aussie Pet Mobile, Inc. under previous ownership rather than Budget Blinds, LLC; it is counted in litigation.count but excluded from franchisor_initiated_count.
- Counts are treated as U.S. only because Item 20 Tables 2, 3 and 5 are broken out by U.S. state and the District of Columbia, and Item 6 refers to a threshold of 1,500 U.S. territories.
- Verification 2026-09-01: fix_page /investment/franchise_fee_low 14 → 15
- Verification 2026-09-01: correct /item19/population_count 612 → 282
- Verification 2026-09-01: fix_page /risk/noncompete 47 → 45
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