Four franchise brands run a junk removal. Here they are beside the independent version of the same business, with each brand’s fees as it publishes them and worked out in dollars. A brand can bring customers an independent has to earn one by one. The question is whether it brings in more than it costs.
Typical for a junk removal: $300k to $1.5M in sales, and the owner keeps 15% to 25% after paying for its own marketing. Change either to your own numbers.
Work each brand out at
How the two sides are counted
Sales. A brand’s name brings customers an independent wins one at a time, so each brand is worked out at the sales it reports where we have them, and at yours where we don’t.
Marketing. On your own you pay for all of it, about 14% of sales here. The ad fund does part of that job, so it is counted once, not twice.
Survival. New franchised businesses were about 5 to 6 points more likely to make it through their first two years in Census data, and about half of all new businesses close within five years. It is not in the dollars; each brand’s details give the sources.
Your own junk removal and each brand, side by side
The independent version
Your own junk removal
Built and run under your own name
Cost to open
$91k to $186k
Annual sales
$670ktypical
Franchise fee
None
Royalty + ad fund
Noneall marketing is yours
$134,000
The owner keeps in a year, after about $94k of marketing
Selective
JDog Junk Removal & Hauling
Junk removal and hauling
Sold to military veterans and their families
Total investment
$30k to $110k
Avg. annual sales
Undisclosed
Franchise fee
$10k
Royalty + ad fund
In the details
$110k to $129k
The owner keeps in a year at $670k in sales (your sales), after $5k to $24k to the brand
$5k to $24k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners
The Junkluggers
Eco-friendly junk removal
Total investment
$96k to $359k
Avg. annual sales
$263k to $389k
Franchise fee
$50k
Royalty + ad fund
7% + 2% of sales
$42k
The owner keeps in a year at $326k in sales (what it reports), after $29k to the brand
$92k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners
Junk King
Junk removal and hauling
Total investment
$121k to $236k
Avg. annual sales
$436k to $554k
Franchise fee
$55k
Royalty + ad fund
8% + 2% of sales
$59k
The owner keeps in a year at $495k in sales (what it reports), after $50k to the brand
$75k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners
College HUNKS Hauling Junk & Moving
Junk removal and local moving
Total investment
$193k to $346k
Avg. annual sales
Franchise fee
$65k
Royalty + ad fund
7% + 2% of sales
$87k
The owner keeps in a year at $670k in sales (your sales), after $60k to the brand
$47k less a year than on your own
Free account
See all 4 junk removal brands side by side
Every brand’s investment and fees, and what the owner keeps against running your own
The yearly sales the first 3 report, and a plus to add brands to your comparison and benchmark them in your account
Members see the sales every franchisor reports, for every brand
Free, no card. A new account accepts the Terms and the Privacy Policy. smbnest is a self-assessment tool and never takes a cut of your deal or a fee from a franchisor.
Before you sign: what to read in the disclosure document
Every franchisor must give you its Franchise Disclosure Document at least 14 days before you sign or pay. These are the parts that answer the questions above.
Items 5 to 7, the fees and the investment. The franchise fee, every other fee (technology, training, transfer, renewal), and the full opening budget, including working capital.
Item 19, what owners earn. Whether the brand states owner sales or earnings at all, and for which units. Put its figures in the boxes above in place of the typical ones.
Item 20, units opened, closed and sold. How many owners left in each of the last three years, and a list of current and former owners you can call.
Item 12, the territory. Whether you get a protected area, and what the brand can open or sell inside it.
Item 21, the franchisor’s own finances. Whether the company behind the brand is in good health.
smbnest is a self-assessment tool, not individualized advice. Fees are as each brand publishes them on its franchising page and in its disclosure document, reviewed in the month shown, and change; the figures in dollars are worked out at the sales you enter and are not a forecast. We never take a cut of your deal or a fee from a franchisor. Before you sign, speak with a franchise attorney and a qualified financial adviser, and call owners from the disclosure document.
Your guidesmbnest
The guide is an automated assistant. Answers come from this business’s model, its sources and your plan; they are general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Talk to a person