Blue Nose Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
- Investment
- $16K – $56K
- Disclosed sales
- not disclosed
- SBA charge-off
- Not SBA-matched
Data from FDD filing
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Blue Nose Aerial Imaging is a drone services franchise providing aerial photography, mapping, and inspection for real estate, construction, and other industries. Franchisees run local operations, flying jobs and managing clients and imagery delivery.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Blue Nose franchise requires a total initial investment of $16K – $56K, including a $9K franchise fee and an ongoing 4.0% royalty[2]. This franchisor makes no financial performance representation in Item 19 of its FDD. Item 19 is voluntary under the FTC Franchise Rule, and this filing states that it makes none, so no revenue or earnings figures are disclosed. Declining to publish one is lawful and is not evidence of how the outlets perform. It does mean that less about this brand can be verified from its filing, and the FranchiseVerdict grade - an editorial assessment, not investment advice - reflects that. FranchiseVerdict grade: B (Above average), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Sources, dates and evidence
FDD issued: · Data extracted: · Last cited check: · Staleness risk: low - issued within the last 12 months
Evidence: strong✓ Investment (Item 7)✓ Item 19 status✓ Units and owners (Item 20)✗ SBA loan coverage✓ Litigation (Item 3)✓ Financial statements (Item 21)✓ Franchisor identityhow this is scored5 of 5 headline figures on this page cite a page of the filing.
Overview
- Investment
- $16K – $56K
- 5th pct Business Serv…
- Avg gross sales
- N/A
- Royalty
- 4.0%
- 2nd pct Business Serv…
- Units
- 50
- 36th pct Business Serv…
- SBA charge-off
- N/A
Quick verdict · Business Services · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Business Services median · No shading = within ±10% · Red = unfavorable by >10% · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Bottom line
- COSTTotal investment $16K – $56K including a $9K franchise fee, 4.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSThis franchisor makes no financial performance representation in Item 19 of its FDD. Item 19 is voluntary under the FTC Franchise Rule, and this filing states that it makes none, so no revenue or earnings figures are disclosed. Declining to publish one is lawful and is not evidence of how the outlets perform. It does mean that less about this brand can be verified from its filing, and the FranchiseVerdict grade - an editorial assessment, not investment advice - reflects that.
- RISKVerdict B (Above average), verdict score 64/100 (higher is better).
- GROWTHPositive: net +10 franchised outlets in the latest year (20 opened, 10 closed); 7 signed but not yet open (Item 20).
- GROWTHSystem growing at 145.0% CAGR over 3 years with 50 total units. Strong expansion trajectory.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Blue Nose Franchising, LLC
- CEO title
- Founder and Managing Member
- Tanner Harris
- Incorporated in
- CO
- HQ
- 2548 Akron Street, Denver, Colorado 80238
- Auditor
- Naper CPA Group
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $291K
- vs $245K prior year
Affiliated brands
- Blue Nose
- that does
- is not offering
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
Overview
About
- CEO
- Tanner Harris
- Headquarters
- CO
- Founded
- 2020
- FDD year
- 2026
- States available
- 20
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 73% below the typical business services franchise.
Source: FDD 2026 · Items 5–7
Full Item 7 breakdown7 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Feenot refundable | $9K | $9K | |
| Drone Equipment | $6K | $42K | |
| Licenses, Permits, and Certifications | $75 | $200 | |
| Computer System | $500 | $1K | |
| Optional Accountant and Attorney Fees | $0 | $2K | |
| Insurance | $65 | $100 | |
| Additional Funds (3 months) | $0 | $3K | |
| Total initial investment | $16K | $56K |
Line items extracted from FDD Item 7. Ranges reflect the franchisor's stated low and high per line. Total is the sum of line-item lows / highs — actual costs may fall outside this range depending on market and build-out scope.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $16K – $56K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $0 – $3K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $9K – $9K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Royalty
- 4.0%
- typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 2.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 6.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 4.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 2.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $295 |
| Transfer fee | $0 |
| Renewal fee | $0 |
| Total fee load | 6.0% of rev |
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
Blue Nose makes no financial performance representation in Item 19 of its FDD - a voluntary item under the FTC Franchise Rule - so no unit revenue figures are disclosed. The return models need a revenue figure to start from, and the operating costs that turn gross sales into a profit are in no FDD. Enter your own and the calculator runs on your assumptions — nothing here is modelled until you do.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one Blue Nose unit return on the cash you put in?
Illustrative category typicals — not sourced to any filing, survey or sample. Replace them with figures from franchisee validation calls before you rely on the output.
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Your modelled return on total invested capital, before any debt financing.
—
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for annual revenue, COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
These models are for research and scenario planning only. Not investment advice. Actual results depend on your specific location, management, and market conditions. Consult a franchise attorney and accountant before signing any franchise agreement.
Item 19 · Source: 2026 FDD
Financial Performance
No financial performance representation
This franchisor makes no financial performance representation in Item 19 of its FDD. Item 19 is voluntary under the FTC Franchise Rule, and this filing states that it makes none, so no revenue or earnings figures are disclosed. Declining to publish one is lawful and is not evidence of how the outlets perform. It does mean that less about this brand can be verified from its filing, and the FranchiseVerdict grade - an editorial assessment, not investment advice - reflects that.
Item 20 of the FDD lists current and former franchisees; asking them directly is the standard way to fill this gap.
Operator outlook
What the numbers say
Data-driven interpretation of this brand's financial disclosures, fee structure, and system trajectory.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 6.0% — below the Business Services median of 9.0%.
Disclosure
This franchisor makes no financial performance representation in Item 19 of its FDD. Item 19 is voluntary under the FTC Franchise Rule, and this filing states that it makes none, so no revenue or earnings figures are disclosed. Declining to publish one is lawful and is not evidence of how the outlets perform. It does mean that less about this brand can be verified from its filing, and the FranchiseVerdict grade - an editorial assessment, not investment advice - reflects that. Item 20 of the FDD lists current and former franchisees; asking them directly is the standard way to fill this gap.
Operator retention
System expanding at 145.0% CAGR over 3 years across 50 units — operators are staying and new ones are joining.
Source: FDD Item 19 financial performance representations and publicly filed FDD data. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Verify all figures with the franchisor and current franchisees before making any investment decision.
vs Business Services medians
How Blue Nose Compares
Category median of published Business Services brands that report the figure; the middle half spans the 25th to 75th percentile and n counts the brands behind it. Medians are used because a few very large systems pull an average far from the typical brand. Revenue is disclosed gross sales, not profit.
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2026 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 50
- Opened
- 20
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 10
- Terminated
- 2
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 1
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 20.0%
- Company-owned
- 1
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 98%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (3-yr)
- +145.0%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 3-yr CAGR
- +145.0%
- Compounded over last 3 years
Last fiscal year · Item 20 exits and transfers
- Terminated
- 2
- Not renewed
- 1
- Transferred
- 0
- Reacquired
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Signed, not yet open
- 7
- 0.14 per open outlet · Item 20 Table 5
- Projected new
- 0
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 23 states with active franchisees
The Territory Map
Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator. Not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).
States derived from franchisee contact records (FDD Item 20). Shows states with at least one current operator on file. Full state registration data (Item 12) will appear on a future FDD refresh.
Where the owners are · Item 20 owner list
59 current owners across 23 states.
- TX 10
- FL 6
- CO 5
- GA 4
- IL 4
- NC 3
- TN 3
- WA 3
- CA 2
- MO 2
- MS 2
- NE 2
- +11 more states
Counts only, from the list the franchisor prints in Item 20. Names and phone numbers are for your own due diligence and are not shown here.
Fast growth in a small system. Newer franchisors expanding quickly may not yet have the support infrastructure of larger systems.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
No SBA loan data available for this brand.
What could kill this investment?
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 4, 8, 16, 21
Risk & Legal
Blue Nose presents moderate-to-elevated risk due to lack of financial transparency, active franchisee litigation, small system size, and unclear cost drivers—unsuitable for passive investors requiring clear ROI benchmarks.
Why this reads harsher than the B grade: the grade weighs financial health, unit economics, unit growth, scale, legal, and transparency across the whole filing, while this summary lists individual flags without that weighting. The flags are worth checking with current owners; neither is investment advice.
Litigation (Item 3)
Subject: the franchisor is a named party (plaintiff).
Blue Nose Franchising, LLC v. Matthew Letterman, AAA Case No. 01-25-0005-5246. Commenced November 2025 against a former franchisee for failing to pay required fees and costs. Final Hearing scheduled May 2026.
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Naper CPA Group
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Item 21 references audited financial statements for FYE Dec 31 2025/2024/2023 attached as Exhibit E, but the Exhibit E pages (PDF pages 65-81) contain no extractable text in this OCR file (scanned/image statements). No balance sheet, income statement, or auditor figures recoverable from the text.
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: Yes
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: Yes
- Must buy proprietary products: No
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: Yes
Score breakdown · what drove the 64 / 100 verdict
- 01MEDNo Item 19 financial disclosure (average revenue and net income not disclosed) — impossible to validate ROI claims
- 02HIGHActive litigation against franchisee for non-payment of fees suggests collection and/or profitability issues within the system
- 03MINOR50-unit system is relatively small; 25.6% YoY growth is healthy but base is thin, limiting data reliability and support infrastructure
- 04MINORWide investment range ($15,590–$56,250) with no clarification on what drives cost variance raises transparency concerns
- 05MINOR4% royalty appears low, potentially indicating franchisor underfunding support, training, and marketing resources
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 6.0% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2026 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 5 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 5 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 3 |
| Territory type | Protected territory |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory population | 250,000 |
| Online sales rights | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 100 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 180 days |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 1 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Denver, Colorado |
| Jury trial waiver | No |
| Governing law | CO |
| Litigation count | 1 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
Blue Nose Franchising, LLC v. Matthew Letterman, AAA Case No. 01-25-0005-5246. Commenced November 2025 against a former franchisee for failing to pay required fees and costs. Final Hearing scheduled May 2026.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 13 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 0 hrs
- Training location
- Virtual (online)
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 3 mo
- From signing to launch
- Franchisor financing
- Offered
- Item 10
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
59 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Blue Nose franchise?
The total investment to open a Blue Nose franchise ranges from $16K – $56K, with an initial franchise fee of $9K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Blue Nose franchise owners earn?
Blue Nose makes no financial performance representation in Item 19 of its FDD - a voluntary item under the FTC Franchise Rule - so no unit revenue figures are disclosed. Declining to publish one is lawful and is not evidence of how the outlets perform. It does mean that less about this brand can be verified from its filing, and the FranchiseVerdict grade - an editorial assessment, not investment advice - reflects that. Item 20 of the FDD lists current and former franchisees; asking them directly is the standard way to fill this gap.
Who owns Blue Nose?
Blue Nose is franchised by Blue Nose Franchising, LLC. Source: FDD Item 1, 2026 filing.
What is Item 19 in the Blue Nose FDD?
The FDD section where a franchisor may disclose financial performance of its outlets. Disclosure is optional and formats vary; figures are typically gross sales, which is revenue before expenses, not profit. FranchiseVerdict extracts these figures directly from the Blue Nose FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Blue Nose's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Blue Nose (fewer than 10 loans on file). Charge-off rates are one way to gauge franchise risk, but not all franchise loans go through the SBA program. We recommend reviewing turnover and closure data in the FDD and speaking with current franchisees.
How many Blue Nose franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Blue Nose has 50 total units in the United States, including 49 franchised units and 1 company-owned units. 20 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Blue Nose a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Blue Nose as a B-grade franchise with a verdict score of 64 out of 100 (higher is better). The grade is a deterministic score built from six weighted dimensions — financial health, unit economics, unit growth, scale, legal, and transparency — then calibrated against SBA loan charge-off rates and FDD age. Transparency is one of the six, so a filing that discloses less scores lower on that dimension than one that discloses more. Our rating is based solely on publicly available FDD and government data; we recommend speaking with current franchisees before making any investment decision. This is not investment advice.
Data sourced from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) FOIA records. Not financial advice.
For franchisors
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Data extracted from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) loan disclosures (FOIA). This information is provided for research purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Verify all figures with the franchisor's current Franchise Disclosure Document before making any investment decision.