Seven franchise brands run a pest control. 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 pest control: $300k to $1.3M in sales, and the owner keeps 20% to 35% 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 9.5% 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 pest control and each brand, side by side
The independent version
Your own pest control
Built and run under your own name
Cost to open
$68k to $233k
Annual sales
$620ktypical
Franchise fee
None
Royalty + ad fund
Noneall marketing is yours
$173,600
The owner keeps in a year, after about $59k of marketing
Taking new owners
Pest Authority
General pest control
Total investment
$26k to $106k
Avg. annual sales
Ask the brand
Franchise fee
$13k
Royalty + ad fund
7.5% + 2% to 3% of sales
$127k
The owner keeps in a year at $620k in sales (your sales), after $59k to $65k to the brand
$47k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners
Mosquito Authority
Mosquito and tick control
Total investment
$39k to $129k
Avg. annual sales
$437k
Franchise fee
$25k
Royalty + ad fund
10% + 2% to 3% of sales
$79k
The owner keeps in a year at $437k in sales (what it reports), after $52k to $57k to the brand
$95k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners
Truly Nolen
Pest and termite control
Total investment
$50k to $122k
Avg. annual sales
Ask the brand
Franchise fee
$35k
Royalty + ad fund
7% of sales
$130k
The owner keeps in a year at $620k in sales (your sales), after $43k to the brand
$43k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners
Critter Control
Wildlife and nuisance animal control
Total investment
$84k to $240k
Avg. annual sales
Ask the brand
Franchise fee
$65k
Royalty + ad fund
In the details
The fee is not a simple share of sales, so it is not worked out in dollars. The details show it as the brand words it.
Taking new owners
Mosquito Shield
Mosquito and tick control
Total investment
$121k to $162k
Avg. annual sales
Franchise fee
$55k
Royalty + ad fund
8% + 2% of sales
$124k
The owner keeps in a year at $620k in sales (your sales), after $62k to the brand
$50k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners
Mosquito Joe
Mosquito control
Total investment
$150k to $192k
Avg. annual sales
Franchise fee
$43k
Royalty + ad fund
10% of sales
$112k
The owner keeps in a year at $620k in sales (your sales), after $62k to the brand
$62k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners
Mosquito Squad
Mosquito and tick control
Total investment
$162k to $220k
Avg. annual sales
Franchise fee
$50k
Royalty + ad fund
8% to 10% of sales
$112k to $124k
The owner keeps in a year at $620k in sales (your sales), after $50k to $62k to the brand
$50k to $62k less a year than on your own
Free account
See all 7 pest control 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