Mr. Handyman franchise
A van-based service business whose employed technicians perform repair, maintenance and improvement work for residential and commercial customers within an assigned territory.
Owner-operator required Disclosed
- Source
- 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document — Mr. Handyman SPV LLC
- Document
- FDD 2026, issued 2026-04-01
- Item
- Item 15
- Page
- PDF p. 67
- Obtained
- Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions — Franchise Registration Search, file 640769
If it does consent, a bona fide manager who has completed the training program must supervise directly; that manager needs no ownership stake. Where the franchisee is a company, on-site supervision must come from a designated principal owner who has completed training, again unless the franchisor agrees to a manager. Principal owners of an entity franchisee must sign a guaranty of all obligations, and if the franchisor finances any part of the deal it may require a spouse's guaranty as well. Franchisees may not hold an interest in a competing business while they own the franchise.
What stands out
- Total initial investment of $161,900–$215,000, including $72,500 payable to the franchisor at signing ($67,000 initial franchise fee plus a $5,500 initial package fee).
- Ongoing fees: 7% licence fee on weekly gross sales (3.5% on material and subcontractor revenue) plus a 2% marketing fund fee, with minimum weekly amounts due from week 40 regardless of sales.
- Required local marketing spend of $60,000 in year one, $75,000 in year two, then 8% of the prior year's gross sales — separate from the 2% marketing fund fee.
5 more observations
- Item 19 gives gross sales only: single-unit franchisees averaged $773,574 in 2025, median $580,422, with 30% at or above the average; no cost or profit data is disclosed.
- 341 of 357 U.S. businesses are represented in Item 19, but Table A groups results by franchisee, so only the single-unit row is a per-outlet figure.
- System grew from 308 to 357 franchised U.S. outlets over 2023–2025, with growth slowing to +10 in 2025 as terminations rose to 11 and transfers to 35.
- The territory is non-exclusive, and from the second full calendar year the business must meet minimum sales and customer-satisfaction standards or risk losing territory or the franchise.
- Ten-year term with one ten-year renewal at $5,000; entity owners must personally guarantee, and disputes are mediated then litigated in McLennan County, Texas.
Things to verify
- Ask how the single-unit average of $773,574 breaks down by unit age and market, since only 30% of single-unit franchisees reached it and the low end of that group was $208,200.
- Confirm whether vans will be leased or purchased — Item 7 budgets only three months of vehicle expense while stating a van costs $50,000–$60,000 to buy and outfit.
- Model the minimum weekly licence and MAP fees and the $60,000/$75,000 local marketing requirement against a realistic first- and second-year sales ramp.
5 more questions
- Ask what gross sales level currently sits at the bottom 10% of the system, since falling below it triggers the Minimum Performance Standards process.
- Ask why terminations rose from 4 in 2023 to 11 in 2025 and why transfers tripled to 35, and contact franchisees on the Exhibit F departure list.
- Ask about the status and subject matter of the two September 2025 suits against franchise owners, including the counterclaims over marketing-vendor lead routing.
- Verify total monthly technology cost — the $196.95 package fee excludes ServiceTitan user licences at $151–$241 per technician per month and the mandatory call centre at $349.99–$449.99 plus $25 per booked appointment.
- Check whether the franchisor will confirm in writing that a trained manager may supervise, since Item 15 otherwise requires the owner to perform or supervise personally.
Category cost placeholders, not a forecast. Owner operation is required; a manager-pay deduction does not make this an absentee model. 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 Mr. Handyman franchisee runs a van-based repair, maintenance and improvement service for homes and businesses inside an assigned territory of roughly 40,000 to 60,000 target households. The business starts with two vans and employed technicians rather than a storefront. The franchisor, Mr. Handyman SPV LLC of Waco, Texas, is part of the Neighborly group and is ultimately controlled by KKR-affiliated funds; the concept has been franchised since 2000.
Item 7 puts the total initial investment at $161,900 to $215,000, of which $72,500 goes to the franchisor at signing — a $67,000 initial franchise fee plus a $5,500 initial package fee. That table assumes leased or home premises and three months of working capital, and it excludes buying vans outright, which the same item says costs $50,000 to $60,000 each. Ongoing, the franchisee pays a 7% weekly licence fee on gross sales (3.5% on materials and subcontractor revenue), a 2% marketing fund fee, and roughly $197 a month for the technology package before ServiceTitan user licences. Minimum weekly licence and marketing fees kick in from week 40 whether sales support them or not, and local marketing spending of $60,000 in year one and $75,000 in year two — then 8% of prior-year sales — is required on top.
Item 19 reports gross sales only, and it reports them by franchisee rather than by outlet. Franchisees owning a single business averaged $773,574 in 2025 with a median of $580,422, and just 30% of them reached that average. The multi-unit rows, from about $1.06 million to $2.28 million, combine several outlets and are not unit figures. Sixteen units opened during 2025, ten transferred and twelve closed were all excluded. No cost, expense or profit information is disclosed in the reviewed source.
The system grew each of the last three years but more slowly: net additions of 18, 21 and then 10, as openings slipped from 27 to 22 and terminations climbed from 4 to 11. Transfers to new owners jumped to 35 in 2025 from 10 the year before. There are no company-owned outlets and none were reacquired. Item 3 discloses two suits the franchisor filed against franchise owners in September 2025 over marketing-vendor issues, one with counterclaims, plus an older consent order involving an affiliate's predecessor. Disputes are litigated in McLennan County, Texas under Texas law.
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 308 → 357 (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 $773,574 (disclosed) ÷ midpoint investment $188,450 = 4.10×
- 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 96% of franchised units, clearly described (+1)
- Franchisor Track Record
- Franchising 26 years (since 2000) · 357 outlets · Item 3: 3 matter(s) disclosed · Item 4: bankruptcy disclosure present
- Multi-Unit Scalability
- The document offers a single-unit franchise agreement and does not describe an area development or multi-unit agreement. Additional franchises may be granted… · Owner-operator required
- Operational Intensity
- Owner-operator required
Initial investment
FDD Items 5 and 7Format shown: Single-unit franchise, territory of roughly 40,000–60,000 target households
$161,900–$215,000 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) | $67,000 Disclosed
VetFran veterans get 15% off the $65,000 minimum, an Additional Concept Discount gives 10% off to 2+ year affiliate franchisees, and the fee scales at $0.70/household above 60,000 — none of these are the standard new-franchisee price. 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 | $72,500 Disclosed
Cover page: total investment of $215,000 'includes $72,500 that must be paid to the franchisor or affiliate.' |
| Total initial investment — low | $161,900 Disclosed
|
| Total initial investment — high | $215,000 Disclosed
|
| Midpoint of range | $188,450 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 — Mr. Handyman SPV LLC; we do not fill gaps with estimates or third-party figures. No minimum liquid-capital requirement appears on the cover pages or in Items 1, 5, 7 or 15 of the reviewed document. |
| 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 — Mr. Handyman SPV LLC; we do not fill gaps with estimates or third-party figures. No minimum net-worth requirement for franchisees appears in the reviewed document. |
The Item 7 table foots exactly to the disclosed $161,900–$215,000 total. It assumes a new franchisee buying a first franchise operating from a home or leased premises; no land or building purchase is contemplated, and only a deposit line for real estate and utilities appears. The business must begin with two vans; the table shows only three months of vehicle expense, while the disclosure separately states a van costs $50,000–$60,000 to buy and outfit, so a purchase rather than a lease would sit outside this range. Additional funds cover three months and exclude any owner compensation. Item 7 also describes two alternatives without giving separate totals: on renewal a $5,000 renewal fee replaces the initial franchise fee, and on a resale the buyer pays a transfer fee of the greater of $9,900 or 5% of the purchase price plus a $5,500 Transfer Initial Package Fee, in addition to the price negotiated with the selling franchisee.
Item 7 line items (13)
| Expenditure | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Fee — Paid to the franchisor on signing. | $67,000 | $67,000 |
| Initial Package Fee — Paid to the franchisor on signing; includes a $1,250 software enrollment fee. | $5,500 | $5,500 |
| Vehicle expenses — 3 months — Two vans required at opening; purchase and outfitting cost stated at $50,000–$60,000 per van. | $7,500 | $15,000 |
| Computer hardware package — Includes an iPad for each technician. | $3,500 | $6,000 |
| Real estate and utility deposits — 3 months | $1,000 | $1,500 |
| Furniture, fixtures and office equipment | $1,000 | $1,500 |
| Tools and equipment to equip two vans | $1,000 | $2,000 |
| Permits and licenses | $100 | $1,000 |
| Initial opening equipment, uniforms and marketing materials | $6,000 | $10,000 |
| Prepaid insurance premiums — 3 months | $4,500 | $6,500 |
| Training expenses: travel, food and lodging — May be avoided if training is delivered virtually. | $3,000 | $4,000 |
| Professional fees | $1,800 | $5,000 |
| Additional funds — 3 months — Excludes any owner salary or draw. | $60,000 | $90,000 |
Source for every row: the Item 7 estimated-initial-investment table of 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document — Mr. Handyman SPV LLC (table begins PDF p. 38) — rows inherit the table's citation rather than carrying fifteen identical ones.
Ongoing fees
FDD Item 6Royalty
7% of gross sales Disclosed
- Source
- 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document — Mr. Handyman SPV LLC
- Document
- FDD 2026, issued 2026-04-01
- Item
- Item 6
- Page
- PDF p. 25
- Obtained
- Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions — Franchise Registration Search, file 640769
Called the License Fee: 7% of weekly Gross Sales, drafted weekly. Revenue from materials and from subcontractors is charged at 3.5% instead, and 'roll in' sales are excluded. A minimum weekly License Fee applies regardless of sales once the business is past its first 39 weeks: $200 for weeks 40–78, $250 for weeks 79–130, $300 for weeks 131–182 and $350 from week 183 on (Fees Chart, PDF page 35). If the franchisee holds over after the term expires, the License Fee rises to 10% of Gross Sales on all products and services.
Brand advertising fund
2% of gross sales Disclosed
- Source
- 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document — Mr. Handyman SPV LLC
- Document
- FDD 2026, issued 2026-04-01
- Item
- Item 6
- Page
- PDF p. 25
- Obtained
- Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions — Franchise Registration Search, file 640769
Called the MAP Fee: 2% of weekly Gross Sales for national marketing, excluding 'roll in' sales. Minimum MAP Fees apply regardless of sales: $50 per week for weeks 40–78 and $75 per week from week 79 on. The fund may charge a 10% administrative fee.
Local marketing
8% of gross sales Disclosed
- Source
- 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document — Mr. Handyman SPV LLC
- Document
- FDD 2026, issued 2026-04-01
- Item
- Item 6
- Page
- PDF p. 25
- Obtained
- Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions — Franchise Registration Search, file 640769
It is in addition to the 2% MAP Fee. Payments to a local marketing group count toward it. If the franchisee underspends, the franchisor may collect the shortfall and spend it.
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 | 7% of gross sales Disclosed
Called the License Fee: 7% of weekly Gross Sales, drafted weekly. Revenue from materials and from subcontractors is charged at 3.5% instead, and 'roll in' sales are excluded. A minimum weekly License Fee applies regardless of sales once the business is past its first 39 weeks: $200 for weeks 40–78, $250 for weeks 79–130, $300 for weeks 131–182 and $350 from week 183 on (Fees Chart, PDF page 35). If the franchisee holds over after the term expires, the License Fee rises to 10% of Gross Sales on all products and services. Called the License Fee: 7% of weekly Gross Sales, drafted weekly. Revenue from materials and from subcontractors is charged at 3.5% instead, and 'roll in' sales are excluded. A minimum weekly License Fee applies regardless of sales once the business is past its first 39 weeks: $200 for weeks 40–78, $250 for weeks 79–130, $300 for weeks 131–182 and $350 from week 183 on (Fees Chart, PDF page 35). If the franchisee holds over after the term expires, the License Fee rises to 10% of Gross Sales on all products and services. |
|---|---|
| Advertising / brand fund | 2% of gross sales Disclosed
Called the MAP Fee: 2% of weekly Gross Sales for national marketing, excluding 'roll in' sales. Minimum MAP Fees apply regardless of sales: $50 per week for weeks 40–78 and $75 per week from week 79 on. The fund may charge a 10% administrative fee. Called the MAP Fee: 2% of weekly Gross Sales for national marketing, excluding 'roll in' sales. Minimum MAP Fees apply regardless of sales: $50 per week for weeks 40–78 and $75 per week from week 79 on. The fund may charge a 10% administrative fee. |
| Required local marketing | 8% of gross sales Disclosed
It is in addition to the 2% MAP Fee. Payments to a local marketing group count toward it. If the franchisee underspends, the franchisor may collect the shortfall and spend it. It is in addition to the 2% MAP Fee. Payments to a local marketing group count toward it. If the franchisee underspends, the franchisor may collect the shortfall and spend it. |
| Technology / software | $197/month Disclosed
$196.95 per month for the Technology Package (currently Qvinci, FranConnect, the Customer Engagement Platform, the Neighborly Franchise Portal and two Office 365 E1 email accounts), collected by affiliate ZorWare. The required business-management software, ServiceTitan, is billed separately by ServiceTitan, Inc. at $151–$241 per service-professional user per month depending on user count. Optional or additional items: QuickBooks Online through ZorWare $30–$220 per month, extra Franchise Portal users $20–$40 per month, extra email licenses $5.50–$30 per month, ServiceTitan support at $125 per hour. The franchisor states it does not currently expect these fees to rise more than 30% a year on top of vendor price increases. $196.95 per month for the Technology Package (currently Qvinci, FranConnect, the Customer Engagement Platform, the Neighborly Franchise Portal and two Office 365 E1 email accounts), collected by affiliate ZorWare. The required business-management software, ServiceTitan, is billed separately by ServiceTitan, Inc. at $151–$241 per service-professional user per month depending on user count. Optional or additional items: QuickBooks Online through ZorWare $30–$220 per month, extra Franchise Portal users $20–$40 per month, extra email licenses $5.50–$30 per month, ServiceTitan support at $125 per hour. The franchisor states it does not currently expect these fees to rise more than 30% a year on top of vendor price increases. |
| Advertising cooperative | 2%–3% of gross sales Disclosed
No advertising cooperatives existed at the issuance date. The franchisor may designate local marketing groups whose contributions cannot exceed 3% of Gross Sales, and states that it may currently require 2% of Gross Sales within that contribution to go toward Neighborly brand-awareness initiatives. Contributions count toward the Minimum Local Marketing Spending but that minimum is not a cap on them. Where cooperatives or local marketing groups exist, the franchisor sets the contribution rate. No advertising cooperatives existed at the issuance date. The franchisor may designate local marketing groups whose contributions cannot exceed 3% of Gross Sales, and states that it may currently require 2% of Gross Sales within that contribution to go toward Neighborly brand-awareness initiatives. Contributions count toward the Minimum Local Marketing Spending but that minimum is not a cap on them. Where cooperatives or local marketing groups exist, the franchisor sets the contribution rate. |
| Transfer fee | $9,900 one-time Disclosed
The greater of $9,900 or 5% of the sale price, plus a $5,500 Transfer Initial Package Fee paid by the buyer. Reduced to $500 for a transfer to an immediate family member. A $500 change-of-legal-entity fee applies to a second or later entity change. If the buyer trains before closing under a Buyer Commitment Agreement, a $14,900 training fee also applies. The greater of $9,900 or 5% of the sale price, plus a $5,500 Transfer Initial Package Fee paid by the buyer. Reduced to $500 for a transfer to an immediate family member. A $500 change-of-legal-entity fee applies to a second or later entity change. If the buyer trains before closing under a Buyer Commitment Agreement, a $14,900 training fee also applies. |
| Renewal fee | $5,000 one-time Disclosed
Payable per franchise agreement renewed, when the successor agreement is signed. The Initial Franchise Fee is waived on renewal. Payable per franchise agreement renewed, when the successor agreement is signed. The Initial Franchise Fee is waived on renewal. |
| Royalty + ad fund (% of sales) | 9% Derived
|
Fee schedule (33 fees; 18 verified against the source, 15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| License Fee | 7% of gross sales (min $350/weekly) | weekly | Yes | verified (2-pass) | Item 6, p. 25 | Calculator audit 2026-09-03: The record's `minimum` was hardcoded to the first post-ramp band ($200/week, weeks 40-78), which the engine annualizes into a permanent $10,400/yr floor every year of the model. The FDD's own Minimum License Fees table (p.35) ramps through five week-of-term bands, and the calculator represents a mature, established franchise (its own UI text excludes 'ramp-up losses in year one'), so the correct standing floor is the terminal $350/week band ($18,200/yr), not the early $200/week band — the old value understated the floor by ~$7,800/yr for any unit below the crossover revenue. (p. 35; "Type Fee Week 1-39 Week 40-78 Week 79-130 Week 131-182 Week 183-End; Standa") |
| MAP Fee | 2% of gross sales | weekly | Yes | verified (2-pass) | Item 6, p. 25 | Calculator audit 2026-09-03: Same defect as license-fee-royalty: `minimum` was hardcoded to the first post-ramp band ($50/week, weeks 40-78 = $2,600/yr) instead of the mature/terminal band the calculator's established-unit framing calls for ($75/week from week 79 on = $3,900/yr). (p. 36; "Type Fee Week 1-39 Week 40-78 Week 79-End; Standard N/A $50 $75") |
| Minimum Local Marketing Spending Requirement | Tiered (base 8%) | annual | Yes | verified (tie-break) | Item 6, p. 25 | Must be spent on approved local marketing with third parties; the franchisor may designate vendors, may collect the deficiency if the franchisee underspends, and may collect the amount monthly or quarterly and spend it itself. LMG contributions and certain other local advertising spending count toward it. Double-counting control: 'local-marketing-group-contribution' (2%, capped at 3% of Gross Sales) already carries overlaps_with = 'minimum-local-marketing-spending' and model_treatment 'requires_assumption', because Item 6 says the LMG contribution 'will count towards any required Minimum Local Marketing Spending'. Pass A pointed this entry back at the LMG entry, which would have made the reference circular; the total must not reference its own component, so overlaps_with is null here and this entry is the single percent_of_revenue side of the pair. Calculator audit 2026-09-03: The record carried `minimum: {amount:60000, period:'annual'}`, which the engine applies as a PERMANENT annual floor (`if floor > annual, annual = floor`) at every revenue level modeled — but the FDD's $60,000/$75,000 figures are explicitly a year-1/year-2-only requirement; 'thereafter' the obligation is simply 8% of |
| Local Marketing Groups (LMG) Contribution | 2%–3% of gross sales | varies | Conditional | verified (2-pass) | Item 6, p. 25 | Only applies if the franchisor designates an LMG in the franchisee's market; no LMGs existed as of the issuance date Calculator audit 2026-09-03: model_treatment was requires_assumption with mandatory left null (not false), which the engine does NOT auto-exclude via overlaps_with (that field only suppresses a line when model_treatment is included_elsewhere) — so this 2%-3% of Gross Sales was being modeled and summed as an independent cost line on top of the already-modeled 8% minimum-local-marketing-spending line, double counting an obligation the FDD explicitly says counts toward, not in addition to, that 8% requirement. Correcting model_treatment to included_elsewhere activates the engine's existing overlaps_with reference and removes the double count. (p. 33; "Amounts paid to an LMG and certain other amounts of local advertising spending w") |
| Software System Monthly Fees (Technology Package) | $197 | monthly | Yes | verified (2-pass) | Item 6, p. 26 | |
| ServiceTitan Business Management Software License | Tiered (base 228%) | monthly | Yes | verified (tie-break) | Item 6, p. 33 | Mandatory: 'You must use the business management software that we specify (currently ServiceTitan)'. Fees are subject to change. Franchisor support/maintenance on ServiceTitan is billed separately at then-current hourly rates (currently $125/hour). Not a separate line in the Item 6 fee table; it is disclosed inside Item 6 Note 1 (Fee Payment Information) and again in Item 11. Citation audit 2026-09-04: page corrected 32 -> 33. |
| QuickBooks Online License (through ZorWare) | $30–$220 | monthly | No | verified (tie-break) | Item 6, p. 26 | QuickBooks Online itself is required; the franchisee may license it directly from Intuit instead, in which case this ZorWare fee does not apply and Intuit's price is paid instead. QuickBooks add-ons (Payroll, W-2 processing) cost extra. Pass B listed the same fee under the id 'quickbooks-online-zorware'; the conflict file mis-paired that entry against Pass A's Paradox line. Keeping the canonical id 'quickbooks-online-monthly'. |
| Late Fee (Software System Monthly Fees) | $25 | monthly | No | single-pass | Item 6, p. 27 | Only if Software System Monthly Fees are unpaid more than 30 days after the invoice date [Listed by one verification pass only (A); not independently confirmed.] |
| Mr. Handyman Toll-Free Phone Number Usage | $0 | varies | Yes | verified (2-pass) | Item 6, p. 27 | |
| Regional Meetings Fee | $350–$550 | per event | No | verified (tie-break) | Item 6, p. 27 | Item 6 frames attendance as elective ('You may participate in regional meetings that we may organize'), but Item 11 (PDF page 51) lets the franchisor 'require you to attend' regional meetings or Reunion it deems necessary and charge a fee, and Item 11 (PDF page 60) requires some form of periodic training every two years. Travel, lodging and some meals are extra. The fee is a stated range at a then-current rate, so amount_type is 'variable', not 'fixed'; basis is per person, i.e. per_unit. |
| Reunion (convention) Registration Fee | Not stated | per event | Yes | verified (tie-break) | Item 6, p. 28 | Attendance is required at least once every two years. If the franchisee does not attend, the franchisor may debit $2,000, pro-rated by days missed (Item 6 page 28; confirmed in Item 11, PDF page 60). Travel, lodging and most meals are extra. Item 6's Due Date column reads 'As incurred. In no event more than once every two years', which is a per-event charge with a two-year frequency cap. |
| Call Center Program Fees | $350–$450 | monthly | Yes | verified (tie-break) | Item 6, p. 31 | Mandatory for rollover customer calls and calls outside business hours including weekends; the franchisor may extend it to all customer calls in the future and may change the fees on 30 days' notice. Paid to affiliate Neighborly Service Solutions SPV LLC. Neither pass's amount_type is right: there are no headcount or volume tiers (so not 'tiered', which Pass A used with an empty tiers array), and a $349.99-$449.99 range is not 'fixed' (Pass B). It is a variable monthly amount. |
| Key Accounts/Management Fee | Not stated | varies | Conditional | verified (2-pass) | Item 6, p. 32 | Only if the franchisee participates in / is assigned Key Account work |
| Paradox ATS Applicant Tracking Fee | $703 | annual | No | verified (tie-break) | Item 11, p. 56 | Expressly optional: Item 11 calls Paradox ATS 'an optional third-party web-based job applicant tracking system' and says 'You may opt out of using Paradox at any time.' Not listed in the Item 6 fee table. Appears only in Item 11, not in the Item 6 fee table. |
| Interest on Overdue Amounts | 12% of other | varies | No | single-pass | Item 6, p. 29 | Only applies to overdue amounts [Listed by one verification pass only (A); not independently confirmed.] |
| Late Fee (Franchise Agreement) | $10 | varies | No | single-pass | Item 6, p. 29 | Applies per day from the due date until overdue amounts are paid [Listed by one verification pass only (A); not independently confirmed.] |
| Dishonored Check or ACH Draft Fee | $50 | per event | No | single-pass | Item 6, p. 29 | Charged for each check returned or ACH draft refused for insufficient funds [Listed by one verification pass only (A); not independently confirmed.] |
| Audit Cost | Not stated | varies | No | single-pass | Item 6, p. 29 | Only if an audit finds a Gross Sales understatement of 2%+ or franchisee fails to provide requested info within 30 days [Listed by one verification pass only (A); not independently confirmed.] |
| Audit Noncompliance Fee | $500–$2,500 | varies | No | single-pass | Item 6, p. 29 | Only if franchisee fails to timely provide requested audit documents or causes an audit to be rescheduled [Listed by one verification pass only (A); not independently confirmed.] |
| Indemnification and Attorney's Fees and Costs | Not stated | varies | No | single-pass | Item 6, p. 29 | Only if franchisor must enforce its rights or is sued because of the franchisee's acts or omissions [Listed by one verification pass only (A); not independently confirmed.] |
| Territory Violation Penalty | 50%–100% of other | varies | No | single-pass | Item 6, p. 30 | Only if franchisee services a customer in another franchisee's territory without consent [Listed by one verification pass only (A); not independently confirmed.] |
| Amendment Fee | $300 | one time | No | single-pass | Item 6, p. 30 | Only when the franchisee requests a franchise agreement amendment [Listed by one verification pass only (A); not independently confirmed.] |
| Unapproved Suppliers Inspection/Testing Cost | Not stated | varies | No | single-pass | Item 6, p. 30 | Only if franchisee proposes an unapproved supplier requiring inspection or testing [Listed by one verification pass only (A); not independently confirmed.] |
| Tax Reimbursement | Not stated | varies | Yes | single-pass | Item 6, p. 30 | Only when such a tax is actually imposed [Listed by one verification pass only (A); not independently confirmed.] |
| Additional Training Fee | $500 | per event | No | verified (tie-break) | Item 6, p. 31 | Only if the franchisee requests training in addition to the initial training program; the franchisee also pays its own costs and expenses (training may be delivered remotely, avoiding travel). |
| Renewal Fee | $5,000 | one time | Yes | single-pass | Item 6, p. 28 | Paid once, when signing a successor Franchise Agreement [Listed by one verification pass only (A); not independently confirmed.] |
| Change of Legal Entity Fee | $500 | one time | No | single-pass | Item 6, p. 28 | Due only if franchisee changes the legal entity owning the franchise more than once [Listed by one verification pass only (A); not independently confirmed.] |
| Transfer Fee | $9,900 | one time | Yes | single-pass | Item 6, p. 28 | Only on transfer of an operating franchise to a new owner [Listed by one verification pass only (A); not independently confirmed.] |
| Training Fee as part of Buyer Commitment Agreement | $14,900 | one time | No | single-pass | Item 6, p. 28 | Only if the transferee buyer attends training before closing under a Buyer Commitment Agreement [Listed by one verification pass only (A); not independently confirmed.] |
| Minimum License Fee | Tiered (base $200) | weekly | Yes | verified (tie-break) | Item 6, p. 35 | Applies to Standard revenue only; N/A for Material Revenue and Subcontractor Revenue. On a renewal the week count restarts at week 1 of the renewal term but is calculated on cumulative months of service as a franchisee. Week bands for the Minimum License Fee (1-39 / 40-78 / 79-130 / 131-182 / 183-End) do not line up with the License Fee chart's bands (1-39 / 40-65 / 66-117 / 118-End) on the same page, though the License Fee is a flat 7% across all of its bands so nothing turns on the mismatch. |
| Additional Microsoft Office365 / Exchange Email Licenses | $6–$30 | monthly | No | verified (tie-break) | Item 6, p. 26 | Only for mailboxes beyond the two Office365 E1 accounts included in the Software System Monthly Fee. |
| Additional Franchise Portal User Accounts | $20–$40 | monthly | No | verified (tie-break) | Item 6, p. 26 | Only for accounts beyond those included in the Technology Package. |
| Minimum MAP Fee | Tiered (base $50) | weekly | Yes | verified (tie-break) | Item 6, p. 34 | Applies to Standard revenue only; N/A for Material Revenue and Subcontractor Revenue. Disclosed as its own table in the Fees Chart, alongside the Minimum License Fees table. Citation audit 2026-09-04: page corrected 35 -> 34 (value verified on p. 34). |
Fees are drafted automatically — License Fee and MAP Fee weekly, software fees monthly. Because minimum License Fees and minimum MAP Fees apply from week 40 onward, a franchisee owes those amounts whether or not sales support them; the cover page lists this as a state-required risk factor. Other charges disclosed in Item 6 include a $300 amendment fee, a $50 dishonoured payment fee, audit costs where an understatement of 2% or more is found, a $500 per document audit non-compliance fee capped at $2,500, $500 per day for additional training, and territory-violation penalties of 50% of the revenue from a wrongfully serviced customer for a first intentional breach and 100% for later breaches.
Financial performance (Item 19)
What the franchisor actually disclosedWho is represented: Tables A and D cover 341 of the 357 U.S. franchised businesses open at December 31, 2025, operated by 165 reporting franchisees. A business qualifies only if it reported sales for all twelve months of 2025, or reported part-year while its owner also ran a full-year reporting business. Excluded: 16 businesses opened during 2025, 10 transferred during the year, and 12 that closed (none open less than 12 months). There are no company-owned outlets. Table A reports Gross Sales per franchisee, not per outlet, grouped by how many businesses each owner holds; only the single-unit group of 57 franchisees yields a figure equal to one outlet's sales.
Qualifications: The figures are gross sales only. The franchisor states plainly that they do not reflect cost of sales, operating expenses or any other cost, so nothing here shows profit. The data are self-reported by franchisees through the required software system and franchisees are not required to use generally accepted accounting principles; the document does not say the figures were audited. Table A is organised by franchisee, not by outlet, so every row except the single-unit group blends two or more businesses into one number and cannot be read as a unit average. Sixteen units that opened in 2025, ten that transferred and twelve that closed during the year are all excluded, which removes the newest and the failing units from the population. The narrative refers to 'Tables A and B', but the reviewed text contains only Table A and Table D — no Table B or Table C appears.
View full Item 19 disclosure and tables
Mr. Handyman does make a financial performance representation, covering 341 of its 357 U.S. franchised businesses for calendar 2025. What it shows is revenue, grouped by how many businesses each owner runs. Franchisees who owned a single business averaged $773,574 in gross sales with a median of $580,422, and only 30% of them reached the average — a gap that says the mean is pulled up by a few very large operators, the highest of which billed $5.36 million. The multi-unit rows climb from about $1.06 million for two-business owners to about $2.28 million for those with five or six, but those are combined figures for several outlets, not per-outlet results. A second table gives an average ticket of $742 per job and a median of $721. What the disclosure does not provide is any cost, expense, margin or profit information, any breakdown by market or unit age, or any data on the units that opened, transferred or closed during the year.
| Metric | Subset | Value | Units | Period | Cite |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross sales — franchisees owning one franchised business 30% of units met or exceeded 57 franchisees operating 57 businesses; 17 of 57 met or exceeded the average. | Single-unit franchisees Average | $773,574 | 57 | CY2025 | FDD p.74 |
| Gross sales — franchisees owning one franchised business | Single-unit franchisees Median | $580,422 | 57 | CY2025 | FDD p.74 |
| Gross sales — highest single-unit franchisee | Single-unit franchisees High | $5,362,756 | 57 | CY2025 | FDD p.74 |
| Gross sales — lowest single-unit franchisee | Single-unit franchisees Low | $208,200 | 57 | CY2025 | FDD p.74 |
| Combined gross sales per franchisee — owners of two franchised businesses 36% of units met or exceeded Averaged over 67 franchisees who together operated 134 businesses, so this is roughly two outlets' combined sales, not one outlet's. 24 of 67 met or exceeded it. Range within the group: $144,589 to $4,097,674. | Two-unit franchisees Average | $1,057,118 | 67 | CY2025 | FDD p.74 |
| Combined gross sales per franchisee — owners of two franchised businesses 67 franchisees operating 134 businesses. | Two-unit franchisees Median | $972,424 | 67 | CY2025 | FDD p.74 |
| Combined gross sales per franchisee — owners of three franchised businesses 41% of units met or exceeded 22 franchisees operating 66 businesses; 9 of 22 met or exceeded it. Range within the group: $602,032 to $2,713,200. | Three-unit franchisees Average | $1,355,334 | 22 | CY2025 | FDD p.74 |
| Combined gross sales per franchisee — owners of three franchised businesses 22 franchisees operating 66 businesses. | Three-unit franchisees Median | $1,240,458 | 22 | CY2025 | FDD p.74 |
| Combined gross sales per franchisee — owners of four franchised businesses 42% of units met or exceeded 12 franchisees operating 48 businesses; 5 of 12 met or exceeded it. Range within the group: $744,918 to $4,631,236. | Four-unit franchisees Average | $1,794,704 | 12 | CY2025 | FDD p.74 |
| Combined gross sales per franchisee — owners of four franchised businesses 12 franchisees operating 48 businesses. | Four-unit franchisees Median | $1,593,538 | 12 | CY2025 | FDD p.74 |
| Combined gross sales per franchisee — owners of five or six franchised businesses 29% of units met or exceeded 7 franchisees operating 36 businesses; 2 of 7 met or exceeded it. Range within the group: $1,111,618 to $4,415,858. | Five- to six-unit franchisees Average | $2,275,602 | 7 | CY2025 | FDD p.74 |
| Combined gross sales per franchisee — owners of five or six franchised businesses 7 franchisees operating 36 businesses. | Five- to six-unit franchisees Median | $1,956,297 | 7 | CY2025 | FDD p.74 |
| Gross sales per job — all reporting franchisees 50.3% of units met or exceeded Average of each franchisee's own annual gross sales divided by its job count; 83 of 165 franchisees (50.3%) met or exceeded it. | All 165 reporting franchisees (341 businesses) Average | $742 | 165 | CY2025 | FDD p.75 |
| Gross sales per job — all reporting franchisees | All 165 reporting franchisees (341 businesses) Median | $721 | 165 | CY2025 | FDD p.75 |
| Gross sales per job — highest reporting franchisee | All 165 reporting franchisees (341 businesses) High | $2,054 | 165 | CY2025 | FDD p.75 |
| Gross sales per job — lowest reporting franchisee | All 165 reporting franchisees (341 businesses) Low | $297 | 165 | CY2025 | FDD p.75 |
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 | 308 | 26 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 326 | 20 | 0 |
| 2024 | 326 | 27 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 347 | 10 | 0 |
| 2025 | 347 | 22 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 357 | 35 | 0 |
Disclosed 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document — Mr. Handyman SPV LLC, Item 20, Tables 1–3 (PDF p. 76). All three tables foot: 308 + 26 − 8 = 326 for 2023, 326 + 27 − 6 = 347 for 2024 and 347 + 22 − 12 = 357 for 2025, matching Table No. 1. The system grew every year, but at a slowing rate — net +18, +21 and then +10 — as openings fell from 27 to 22 and terminations rose from 5 to 11. No outlet was reacquired by the franchisor and none went unrenewed in the three years. Transfers to new owners jumped from 10 in 2024 to 35 in 2025, with Maryland alone accounting for 6. Two footnotes to Table No. 3 explain that one owner's outlet was recounted from Maryland to the District of Columbia, and that a New York outlet terminated in 2023 had been left in the counts until this document corrected it.
Source data notes (13) — 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.
- [D/minor] Table 1 / Table 3 vs Item 1: Item 20's tables show 357 outlets at 12/31/2025, all U.S. Item 1 states 'a total of 357 Mr. Handyman franchises in the United States' (PDF page 10) but separately discloses that The Dwyer Group Canada, Inc. 'had 14 Mr. Handyman franchises' in Canada at 12/31/2025 (PDF page 15), which are outside Item 20. — Not an error. FTC Rule Item 20 tables cover U.S. outlets only, and Item 1's 357 figure is expressly the U.S. count, so the two agree. Worldwide Mr. Handyman units are 371; the site's unit counts should be labelled U.S.-only.
- [D/minor] Table 3 2023: Footnote A: 'Franchise Owner Strassberger was relocated in the count from Maryland to District of Columbia to reflect their current franchised territory.' The move is booked as a D.C. 2023 opening (0 -> 1, marked 'a') and a Maryland 2023 'ceased operation for other reason' (18 -> 17, marked 'a'). — A footnote explains it, so it is a definitional/bookkeeping move rather than an error. But note that it inflates the FY2023 TOTAL row's openings (26) and 'ceased for other reason' (4) by one each; the two offset, so start 308 + 26 - 4 - 4 = 326 still foots and the printed 326 is corroborated by Table 1. One unit is 0.32% of the 308 start-of-year franchised base, under the materiality threshold.
- [D/minor] Table 3 2023: Footnote B: 'one outlet in New York (operated by Eric Scott LaDouce) was terminated in 2023 but was inadvertently not removed from the applicable Item 20 counts until this ... Franchise Disclosure Document.' The NY 2023 terminations cell is printed as '4B' and carries all four of the system's 2023 terminations (14 start, 0 opened, 4 terminated, 10 end). — A disclosed prior-year restatement, explained by the footnote. This FDD's 2023 column is the corrected version and foots (308 + 26 - 4 - 4 = 326), matching Table 1 and the 2024 start-of-year figure. Comparisons against the prior FDD's 2023 numbers will not tie.
- [C/minor] Table 3 2024: The FY2024 TOTAL row does not agree with its own state rows. Printed TOTAL row: 'TOTAL 2024 326 27 5 0 0 1 347'. But the only FY2024 termination entries in the state rows are MI '13 0 4 0 0 0 9', NY '10 2 1 0 0 0 11' and OH '13 0 1 0 0 0 12' — six terminations, not five — and every state's FY2024 'ceased operation for other reason' cell is 0, not one. Verified on the rendered page image of PDF page 82, so this is not a text-layer artefact. — Genuine printed-document inconsistency, but the two errors offset exactly (one unit moved between the terminations and ceased-other columns), so total closures of 6 and the footing 326 + 27 - 5 - 1 = 347 are unaffected. The 347 TOTAL is corroborated by Table 1 (326 -> 347) and by the FY2025 start-of-year figure. Treat the FY2024 termination/other-closure split as unreliable; the FY2024 unit and closure totals are sound.
- [D/minor] Table 3: Pass B reported that every FY2023 and FY2025 column's state rows sum to the printed TOTAL and that all three years foot. — Confirmed independently by re-summing the state rows: FY2023 state sums are 308/26/4/0/0/4/326 and FY2025 are 347/22/11/0/0/1/357, both equal to the printed TOTAL rows; footing holds for all three years (308+26-4-4=326, 326+27-5-1=347, 347+22-11-1=357). No discrepancy.
- [D/minor] Table 1 vs Table 3: Pass B reported that Table 1 and Table 3 agree for all three years and that carry-forward is clean, with company-owned outlets 0 throughout. — Confirmed. Table 1 shows franchised 308->326, 326->347, 347->357, identical to Table 3's TOTAL rows, and each year's start equals the prior year's end. Table No. 4 shows 0 company-owned outlets in every cell, consistent with Item 1's statement that neither the franchisor nor its predecessor operates any businesses of the type franchised. No discrepancy.
- [D/minor] Table 2: Table No. 2 transfer counts foot (2023 = 20, 2024 = 10, 2025 = 35), but 35 transfers in 2025 is roughly 9.8% of the 357-unit system in one year, up from 10 in 2024; Maryland alone shows 6. — Arithmetically correct as printed — not an error. It is a substantive signal rather than a data problem: transfer churn tripled year over year while net growth fell to +10, and the site should surface the 2025 transfer rate alongside growth.
- [D/minor] Table 5 2026: Pass B reported that Table No. 5 columns foot: 9 franchise agreements signed but not opened, 21 projected new franchised outlets, 0 projected company-owned. — Confirmed by re-summing the state rows (9 / 21 / 0). The 21 projected 2026 openings sit just below the 22 actual 2025 openings and the 27 in 2024. No discrepancy.
- [C/minor] Table 3 footnote B 2023: Footnote B to Table No. 3 refers to 'this 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document', while the cover states 'Issuance date: April 1, 2026' and every page footer, including the footer on the same page as the footnote, reads 'MR. HANDYMAN - 2026 FDD'. — A stale label carried over from the prior year's document; the cover's April 1, 2026 issuance date and the page footers govern. No table figure is affected — the correction the footnote describes is reflected in this document's 2023 column either way.
- [D/minor] Item 19 vs Table 3 2025: Item 19 (PDF page 74) excludes '16 franchised businesses that opened in 2025 and therefore did not report data for the entire Reporting Period', while Table No. 3 reports 22 franchised outlets opened in 2025. — Definitional, not an error. Item 19's own definition also admits a business that reported sales at any time during 2025 if its franchisee owned at least one other full-year Reporting Business, so 6 of the 22 new 2025 openings qualified as Reporting Businesses and only 16 were excluded. Table 3's count of 22 openings stands, and Item 19's closure figure reconciles exactly: 12 closed = 11 terminations + 1 ceased for other reasons.
- [E/minor] Item 19 vs Table 2 / Table 3 2025: Item 19's populations do not fully reconcile to Item 20. Item 19 reports 341 Reporting Businesses and excludes 16 businesses opened in 2025 plus 10 that transferred and 'were not otherwise Reporting Businesses'; 341 + 16 = 357, the year-end total, leaving the 10 excluded transferred businesses with nowhere to sit. Separately, Item 19 counts 10 transferred businesses against Table No. 2's 35 transfers in 2025. — The 35-vs-10 gap is explainable (Item 19 excludes only transferred businesses that did not otherwise qualify, so the other 25 stayed in the 341), but the 341 + 16 + 10 = 367 vs 357 gap is not resolvable from the document: either the 10 transferred businesses are in fact inside the 341/16 despite the exclusion language, or 10 of the year-end 357 are unaccounted for. The Item 20 TOTAL of 357 itself is corroborated by Table 1 and Item 1, so only the Item 19 population arithmetic is in doubt.
- [D/minor] Item 19 Tables A and D: Pass B reported that Item 19's internal arithmetic reconciles: 341 Reporting Businesses = 57 + 134 + 66 + 48 + 36 and 165 Reporting Franchisees = 57 + 67 + 22 + 12 + 7. — Confirmed against Item 19 Table A (single-unit 57/57, 2-unit 67/134, 3-unit 22/66, 4-unit 12/48, 5-6-unit 7/36) and Table D's 165/341 header row. No discrepancy.
- [D/minor] Table 1 / Table 3: Net franchised unit growth is decelerating: +18 (2023), +21 (2024), +10 (2025), with 2025 openings down to 22 from 27 and terminations up to 11 from 5. No non-renewals and no franchisor reacquisitions in any year. — Arithmetically correct as printed — an interpretation point, not a data defect. Note that the FY2024 termination figure it cites (5) is the one the state rows contradict; the comparable state-row figure is 6, which does not change the direction of the trend.
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, 17Owner-operator required Disclosed
- Source
- 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document — Mr. Handyman SPV LLC
- Document
- FDD 2026, issued 2026-04-01
- Item
- Item 15
- Page
- PDF p. 67
- Obtained
- Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions — Franchise Registration Search, file 640769
If it does consent, a bona fide manager who has completed the training program must supervise directly; that manager needs no ownership stake. Where the franchisee is a company, on-site supervision must come from a designated principal owner who has completed training, again unless the franchisor agrees to a manager. Principal owners of an entity franchisee must sign a guaranty of all obligations, and if the franchisor finances any part of the deal it may require a spouse's guaranty as well. Franchisees may not hold an interest in a competing business while they own the franchise.
View operating requirements, territory and contract term
| Owner involvement (Item 15) | Owner-operator required Disclosed
If it does consent, a bona fide manager who has completed the training program must supervise directly; that manager needs no ownership stake. Where the franchisee is a company, on-site supervision must come from a designated principal owner who has completed training, again unless the franchisor agrees to a manager. Principal owners of an entity franchisee must sign a guaranty of all obligations, and if the franchisor finances any part of the deal it may require a spouse's guaranty as well. Franchisees may not hold an interest in a competing business while they own the franchise. If it does consent, a bona fide manager who has completed the training program must supervise directly; that manager needs no ownership stake. Where the franchisee is a company, on-site supervision must come from a designated principal owner who has completed training, again unless the franchisor agrees to a manager. Principal owners of an entity franchisee must sign a guaranty of all obligations, and if the franchisor finances any part of the deal it may require a spouse's guaranty as well. Franchisees may not hold an interest in a competing business while they own the franchise. |
|---|---|
| Initial training | Initial training must be completed within six months of signing and before opening. It begins with 'Sure Start', a six to eight week pre-opening program run in the franchisee's home market (or virtually) covering the financial plan, territory review, initial advertising, insurance, permits and vehicles. Then comes up to ten days of classroom training at the franchisor's Dallas, Texas offices or another designated location, which may instead be delivered virtually; the published curriculum totals 34–40 classroom hours across marketing, the Mr. Handyman system, customer service, software, employee relations and franchise support. Two days of training follow at the franchisee's own site, and the franchisor may require two to three days at a field training center plus two to three days of hands-on work at an existing franchisee's office. The franchisor trains the franchisee and one other person at no additional fee; travel and living costs fall on the franchisee. Attendance at some form of periodic training is required every two years. Disclosed
The Item 7 note on travel costs describes 'the Initial Training period of 5 days', which does not line up with the up-to-ten-days classroom program described in Item 11. Additional training beyond the initial program is charged at $500 per day. |
| Multi-unit / development options | The document offers a single-unit franchise agreement and does not describe an area development or multi-unit agreement. Additional franchises may be granted at the franchisor's discretion if the franchisee satisfies its Expansion Criteria, which it may change and which weigh system compliance, operational performance, leadership, financial stability and any cap on how many businesses one franchisee may own. There is no right of first refusal on additional territory. Multi-unit ownership is common in practice: Item 19 shows 108 of 165 reporting franchisees running two or more businesses, up to six. Someone who has been a franchisee of an affiliated Neighborly brand for at least two years receives a 10% discount on the Initial Franchise Fee, and a franchisee who has already completed initial training need not repeat it for an additional franchise. Disclosed
Franchisee counts by group are from Item 19 Table A (PDF page 74); the Expansion Criteria and absence of a right of first refusal are from Item 12. |
| Territory (Item 12) | The territory is not exclusive. It is defined by postal codes or physical or political boundaries and sized by target households meeting the franchisor's criteria: minimum 40,000, maximum 60,000, typically 60,000. While the franchisee is in full compliance, the franchisor will not operate or grant another Mr. Handyman franchise with rights to market inside the territory, but it reserves everything else — selling the same services under other brands or channels anywhere, servicing Key Accounts inside the territory, and authorising employees, other franchisees or third parties to work there if the franchisee is unable or unwilling, with no compensation owed. The franchisee may not solicit outside its territory except through the Preferred Lead Program with consent. From the second full calendar year the business must meet Minimum Performance Standards: annual gross sales within the top 90% of gross sales per franchised business systemwide, and an NPS no more than 10 points below the system average. Missing them triggers a performance improvement plan; failing that plan is a default with a 30-day cure, after which the franchisor may shrink the territory or terminate. Disclosed
Minimum Performance Standards appear later in Item 12 (PDF page 63) and are flagged as a state-required risk factor on the cover pages. |
| Initial term | 10 years Disclosed
|
| Renewal | One additional ten-year term is available, for a $5,000 renewal fee and by signing the then-current form of franchise agreement. The franchisee must not be in default, must have met its monetary and other material obligations on time and must be in good standing. After that single renewal there is no automatic right to renew; any further term is by mutual agreement on then-current terms. If the franchisee keeps operating past expiry, the franchisor may treat the agreement as expired or as continuing month to month, and during any such holdover the License Fee rises to 10% of Gross Sales with no reductions for material or subcontractor revenue. Disclosed
Item 6 also describes a transitional rule stepping a renewing franchisee's licence fee up by 0.25% a year toward the current standard rate where the old rate was materially lower. |
| Staffing | The business must begin operation with two vans meeting system standards, and the franchisor expects more vans to be added as the business grows. Each technician or vehicle requires a mobile device, and each technician an iPad. The Item 7 additional-funds line covers payroll for operations and customer-service employees over the first three months and explicitly excludes any owner salary or draw. Franchisees typically open about 45 days after finishing initial training. The document does not state a typical headcount or operating hours. Disclosed
|
Risk and legal observations
Items 3, 4, 8, 15, 17 — summarized neutrallyLitigation: 3 matter(s) disclosed Disclosed · Bankruptcy: Disclosure present Disclosed
View legal disclosures, restrictions and guarantees
| Litigation (Item 3) | 3 matter(s) disclosed Disclosed Item 3 discloses three matters. Two are suits the franchisor filed against franchise owners on the same day, September 17, 2025, in the District Court for the 170th Judicial District in McLennan County, Texas. In the first, against a current franchise owner, the franchisor seeks a declaration that it did not breach the franchise agreement or franchise law in connection with a third-party marketing vendor; the defendant answered with counterclaims for breach of the franchise agreement and breach of fiduciary duty, alleging the vendor mishandled his website and misrouted leads, and seeks actual damages and attorneys' fees. Mediation the same day did not settle it and the case is in discovery. The second, brought jointly with affiliate Mr. Electric, is described as a suit to confirm no franchisor breach of marketing obligations; no outcome is stated. The third is a 2017 California consent order that did not involve the franchisor: a predecessor of affiliate Window Genie and its then-president resolved allegations of failing to file two franchise advertisements with the state by paying a $5,000 penalty and completing franchise-law training, without admitting liability. The franchisor states no other litigation requires disclosure. |
|---|---|
| Bankruptcy (Item 4) | Disclosure present Disclosed Item 4 discloses six bankruptcy or insolvency proceedings, all involving portfolio companies controlled at the time by KKR, the franchisor's indirect controlling owner, and none involving the franchisor, its predecessor or its management. They are Marelli Holdings (Chapter 11, June 2025), The Collected Group (prepackaged Chapter 11 in 2021, emerged May 2021), Envision Healthcare (Chapter 11 in 2023, emerged November 2023), Genesis Care (Chapter 11 in 2023, emerged February 2024), IPI Legacy Liquidation Co. (Chapter 11 in 2023, emerged April 2024) and Café Coffee Day in India, whose 2024 insolvency order was set aside on appeal in February 2025. |
| Personal guaranty | Required Disclosed
Where the franchisee is a company, its principal shareholders, members or owners must sign a guaranty of all obligations under the franchise agreement (Schedule C). If the franchisor provides financing it may require the franchisee's spouse to guarantee as well, and the cover pages carry a state-required Spousal Liability risk factor warning that a non-owner spouse's personal and marital assets may be at risk. |
| Non-compete | During the term the franchisee — and its guarantors and owners if it is an entity, or the individual's spouse, children, parents and siblings if not — may not be involved in a Competitive Business, defined broadly as anything offering a product or service that forms part of the system, resembles what other franchisees offer, or otherwise competes directly or indirectly. After termination or expiry, the restriction runs for two years and covers the franchisee's territory, a 25-mile radius beyond its outer boundary, and the territory of any other Mr. Handyman business. Disclosed
|
| Transfer restrictions | Any sale, lease, pledge, management agreement, bequest or gift counts as a transfer, as does any change of 20% or more in direct or indirect ownership of a franchisee entity. The franchisor must approve, though it says it will not withhold approval unreasonably, and it holds a right of first refusal to buy on the same terms as a third-party offer. Conditions include no default, payment in full of everything owed to the franchisor, its affiliates and suppliers, all required reports filed, a qualified buyer, training arranged, a general release signed by the franchisee, its owners and guarantors, the transfer fee paid, the then-current franchise agreement signed by the buyer, and the buyer's assumption of outstanding warranty and service-plan obligations. On death or disability the personal representative has 120 days to tender the right of first refusal, seek consent, pay the transfer fee and satisfy the conditions; neither the right of first refusal nor the transfer fee applies where the transferee is a spouse or child. Disclosed
Fees are set out in Item 6: the greater of $9,900 or 5% of the sale price, plus a $5,500 Transfer Initial Package Fee, reduced to $500 for an immediate family member. |
| Termination / non-renewal | The franchisor cannot terminate without cause and states it may terminate only on default. Failure to pay amounts due or to submit required reports carries a 10-day cure period, subject to state law; other curable defaults carry 30 days. Non-curable defaults include material misrepresentation in the franchise application or in reports, abandonment (including failure to operate for seven or more consecutive days), closure by authorities for safety reasons, unauthorised use of confidential information or registration of a domain containing the marks, insolvency of the franchisee or a guarantor, conviction of a felony or of a misdemeanour that harms the marks, intentional understatement of gross sales or fees, a 2% variance found on a repeat audit within two years, and any transfer without consent. Separately, failing the Minimum Performance Standards leads to a performance improvement plan; not complying with that plan is a default with a 30-day cure, after which the franchisor may reduce the territory or terminate. A franchisee in that cure window may give notice of intent to sell and gain 90 further days to complete a transfer. Disclosed
Minimum Performance Standards and the related cure mechanics are in Item 12 (PDF page 63). |
| Supplier restrictions (Item 8) | The franchisor may require that only approved products, supplies, uniforms, tools, equipment, signs, telephone and internet services and advertising materials be used, and reserves the right to name a single source — which may be itself or an affiliate. It is the sole supplier of the Initial Package, and the required Technology Package must be bought from it and paid to affiliate ZorWare. Initial Opening Items must come from designated vendors and the business-management software, ServiceTitan, from the designated supplier. Participation in the affiliate call-centre program and, if established, the Key Accounts program is mandatory. Franchisees must sign the ProTradeNet buying-group agreement, though purchases through it are generally not required. Using an alternative supplier where one has been designated is not permitted; otherwise a franchisee may seek approval with 30 business days' notice and must pay any testing costs whether or not approval follows. Disclosed
Revenue from franchisee purchases for the year ended December 31, 2025: $296,917 to the franchisor, 1.67% of its total revenue of $17,792,899; $423,560 to ZorWare; $258,359 to ProTradeNet; $45,605 to Neighborly Service Solutions for call-centre fees. ProTradeNet rebates ranged from 1% to 25% of supplier billings and are typically split 25% to ProTradeNet, 25% to the franchisor and 50% to the franchisee. Supplier-approval mechanics are on PDF pages 40–41. No officer of the franchisor owns an interest in an approved supplier. |
| Dispute resolution | Most disputes must go to mediation first. If mediation fails, most disputes are settled by litigation rather than arbitration; arbitration applies only if a court invalidates the jury-trial waiver or the class-action waiver. Venue for mediation, arbitration and litigation is McLennan County, Texas, and Texas law governs, in each case unless state law supersedes the provision. The cover pages carry a state-required Out-of-State Dispute Resolution risk factor noting that resolving disputes in Texas may cost more and produce a less favourable settlement than proceeding in the franchisee's own state. Disclosed
|
- Minimum weekly License Fees ($200 rising to $350) and minimum MAP Fees ($50 rising to $75) are owed from week 40 onward regardless of sales; the cover pages list this as a Mandatory Minimum Payments risk factor.
- Minimum Local Marketing Spending of $60,000 in year one and $75,000 in year two, then 8% of the prior year's gross sales, is required on top of the 2% MAP Fee.
- Minimum Performance Standards apply from the second full calendar year and can cost the franchisee territory or the franchise itself; they are a state-required risk factor on the cover pages.
- Servicing a customer in another franchisee's territory without consent costs 50% of the cumulative revenue from that customer for a first intentional breach and 100% thereafter, with a right to terminate on a second breach.
- The territory is expressly non-exclusive, and the franchisor may authorise others to work inside it for Key Accounts or where the franchisee cannot serve a customer, with no compensation owed.
- The franchisor may assign the franchise agreement to any third party without notice or consent.
- Terminations of franchised outlets rose from 4 in 2023 to 11 in 2025 while openings fell from 27 to 22, and transfers rose to 35 in 2025.
- Item 20 states that some current and former franchisees have signed confidentiality provisions that may limit what they can say about their experience.
- An independent franchisee association, the Independent Handyman Franchise Owners Association, asked to be listed in Item 20.
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) | $618,859 | $773,574 | $889,610 |
| − Cost of goods / supplies assumption | $123,772 | $154,715 | $177,922 |
| − Payroll (excl. owner) assumption | $235,166 | $293,958 | $338,052 |
| − Occupancy assumption | $18,566 | $23,207 | $26,688 |
| − Other operating expenses assumption | $74,263 | $92,829 | $106,753 |
| − License Fee disclosed 7% of gross sales = $54,150 |
$43,320 | $54,150 | $62,273 |
| − MAP Fee disclosed 2% of gross sales = $15,471 |
$12,377 | $15,471 | $17,792 |
| − Minimum Local Marketing Spending Requirement disclosed 8% of gross sales = $61,886 |
$49,509 | $61,886 | $71,169 |
| − Software System Monthly Fees (Technology Package) disclosed $197/month × 12 = $2,363 |
$2,363 | $2,363 | $2,363 |
| = Modeled operating result before the items below (EBITDA-style) | $59,523 | $74,994 | $86,598 |
| − Manager compensation assumption | $65,000 | $65,000 | $65,000 |
| = Modeled result after manager compensation | −$5,477 | $9,994 | $21,598 |
| − Illustrative debt service assumption | $21,360 | $21,360 | $21,360 |
| = Illustrative pre-tax cash flow — before taxes, capital expenditures and unmodeled fees | −$26,837 | −$11,366 | $238 |
| Modeled operating margin | 9.6% | 9.7% | 9.7% |
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 6 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:
- ServiceTitan Business Management Software License (Item 6, p. 33) — Scales with technician headcount; two service professionals implies roughly $5,500-$5,800/year.
- Mr. Handyman Toll-Free Phone Number Usage (Item 6, p. 27) — requires an amount the FDD does not state — enter your own figure
- Reunion (convention) Registration Fee (Item 6, p. 28) — Only a current ceiling is disclosed; model at up to $1,000 every two years (about $500/year) plus travel, and note the larger $2,000 non-attendance exposure.
- Call Center Program Fees (Item 6, p. 31) — $4,200-$5,400/year of platform fees plus $25 per booked appointment; at Item 19 Table D's $742 average Gross Sales per job, the $25 is about 3.4% of the revenue on each booked job.
- Key Accounts/Management Fee (Item 6, p. 32) — amount not stated in the FDD (e.g. “then-current fee”)
- Tax Reimbursement (Item 6, p. 30) — amount not stated in the FDD (e.g. “then-current fee”)
Overlap control: Local Marketing Groups (LMG) Contribution is counted within “minimum-local-marketing-spending” — excluded to avoid double counting; Minimum MAP Fee is counted within “map-fee-national-ad” — excluded to avoid double counting; Minimum License Fee is a floor on “License Fee” ($10,400/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 — Mr. Handyman SPV 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 — Mr. Handyman SPV LLC Registry file 640769 · 372 pages Registration effective in Wisconsin 4/2/2026; status Registered. Financial and outlet data cover the fiscal year ended December 31, 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 2026-09-05. AI-assisted extraction independently machine-verified against the cited source document (2026-08-31): two independent AI reading passes plus tie-break re-inspection of every disagreement; 74 of 77 material fields confirmed (32 with the exact page citation re-confirmed), 2 corrected, 0 unresolved, 3 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 (4)
- item19.headline_auv — Table A is per franchisee, not per outlet; the value used is the single-unit group (57 of 341 businesses), the only per-outlet row. No systemwide per-unit average is disclosed.
- fees.cooperative — no cooperatives existed at the issuance date; the 2% (capped at 3%) is the local marketing group contribution the franchisor may direct to Neighborly brand awareness.
- fees.local_marketing — recorded as the year-one and year-two dollar minimums; from year three the requirement is 8% of prior-year gross sales, which no single unit code captures.
- operations.owner_involvement — recorded as owner_operator_required since personal supervision is the default, but the franchisor may consent to a trained bona fide manager instead.
Extraction notes (9)
- Item 19 narrative refers to 'Tables A and B', but the reviewed text contains only Table A and Table D; no Table B or Table C appears in the document as extracted.
- Item 20 Tables 1, 2 and 3 all foot and agree with each other; the Item 7 line items sum exactly to the disclosed $161,900–$215,000 total.
- Item 7 Note 12 describes 'the Initial Training period of 5 days', which conflicts with the up-to-ten-days classroom program and 34–40 classroom hours set out in Item 11.
- Item 20 counts U.S. outlets only. Item 1 separately reports 14 Mr. Handyman franchises operated in Canada by affiliate The Dwyer Group Canada at December 31, 2025.
- No minimum liquid capital or net worth requirement for franchisees is stated anywhere in the reviewed document, so both are recorded as not disclosed.
- The franchise fee facts use the sum of the two mandatory initial fees ($67,000 + $5,500 = $72,500), which the cover page independently confirms as the amount payable to the franchisor or an affiliate. VetFran and affiliate-brand discounts are described in the note rather than used as the low end.
- item19.population_share_of_system (95.5) is arithmetic on the disclosed 341 reporting businesses against 357 franchised outlets at December 31, 2025.
- Verification 2026-08-31: correct /fees/local_marketing {'value': 60000, 'unit': 'usd_year', 'range_high': 75000} → {'value': 8, 'unit': 'pct_gross_sales', 'range_high': None}
- Verification 2026-08-31: correct /item19/population_count 57 → 57
We do not host or redistribute FDD PDFs. Search the registry linked above by franchisor name to obtain the document. Found an error? Report a correction with the field and the primary source.
Compare Mr. Handyman
Other home services franchises: 1-800 WATER DAMAGE, 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, Budget Blinds, Merry Maids, Molly Maid, Mr. Rooter Plumbing. See all →