Budget Blinds Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Budget Blinds is a mobile home-services franchise selling and installing window coverings, blinds, shades, shutters, and drapes, through in-home consultations. Franchisees run a branded van operation serving residential and commercial customers in an assigned territory.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A BUDGET BLINDS franchise requires a total initial investment of $101K – $211K, including a $20K franchise fee and an ongoing 3.5% royalty[2]. Per the 2026 FDD, average unit revenue was $775K[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 7.9% charge-off rate across 366 loans[1]. FranchiseVerdict grade: A (Strongest tier), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified · figures per the 2026 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $101K – $211K
- 35th pct Home Services
- Avg gross sales
- $775K
- Outlet subset19th pct Home Services
- Royalty
- 3.5%
- 3rd pct Home Services
- Units
- 1,355
- 89th pct Home Services
- SBA charge-off
- 7.9%
- % of SBA 7(a) loans not repaid · median varies by category
Quick verdict · Home Services · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Home Services avg · 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 $101K – $211K including a $20K franchise fee, 3.5% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $775K/year (median $523K) (reported for a subset of outlets rather than the whole system).
- RISKVerdict A (Strongest tier), verdict score 74/100 (higher is better). SBA loan charge-off rate of 7.9% across 366 loans (near or below the 16% franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2025).
- SCALEEstablished system with 1,355 units across 32 years of franchising. Strong brand recognition and operational playbook.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Budget Blinds, LLC
- Parent company
- Home Franchise Concepts, LLC
- Ultimate parent
- JM Family Enterprises, Inc.
- Predecessor
- Budget Blinds, Inc.
- Prior franchisor entity
- CEO title
- President
- Heather Nykolaychuk
- Incorporated in
- California
- HQ
- 19000 MacArthur Boulevard, Suite 100, Irvine, California 92612
- Auditor
- PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $145.5M
- vs $143.3M prior year
Overview
About
- CEO
- Heather Nykolaychuk
- Headquarters
- California
- Founded
- 1992
- FDD year
- 2026
- States available
- 51
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 31% below the typical home services franchise.
Source: FDD 2026 · Items 5–7
FDD Item 7 · 2026 filing
Initial investment breakdown
| Cost component | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $20K | $20K |
| Working capital (3–6 mo) | $25K | $40K |
| Equipment, build-out, other | $56K | $151K |
| Total initial investment | $101K | $211K |
Source: BUDGET BLINDS 2026 FDD, Items 5 and 7[2]. “Equipment, build-out, other” is computed as total minus disclosed line items above.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $101K – $211K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $25K – $40K
- Middle of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $20K – $20K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Royalty
- 3.5%
- formula · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- Flat monthly National Advertising Fund payment: $1,000 (T…
- Total fee load
- 3.5%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 3.5% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $600 |
| Transfer fee | $5K |
| Renewal fee | $5K |
| Total fee load | 3.5% of rev |
A 3.5% total fee load is unusually lean. More of each revenue dollar stays with the franchisee.
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 37% below the home services norm.
Reported for a subset of outlets rather than the whole system
Source: FDD 2026 · Item 19
Single-unit · estimated
Returns at a glance
Indicative numbers using FDD Item 7 / Item 19 inputs and category-benchmarked cost ratios. Full single-unit, 25-unit portfolio, and LBO models (with every input editable to stress-test your own scenario) live on the financials page.
Store EBITDA · annual
$97K
12.5% margin
Unlevered ROIC
51%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
23 mo
cash-on-cash, unlevered
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
What one unit earns on your invested capital
Model A · Single-Unit Return
Computes unlevered return on invested capital (ROIC) for a single franchise unit. The target band for an attractive franchise is 30–60% ROIC. Below that and a passive index fund likely outperforms; above that and the franchisor has pricing power you're subsidizing.
Note: Item 19 revenue is what the franchisor discloses. It's the top line only. Operating costs below are category estimates. Override them to match your real lease quote, labor market, and build-out budget.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one BUDGET BLINDS unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Estimated return on your total franchise investment, before any debt financing.
51%
Within the 30–60% "attractive franchise" band
What 25 units return when you use SBA financing
Model B · Return on Equity: Debt-Financed Acquisition
Models a 25-unit portfolio acquisition financed with an SBA 7(a) loan. Shows equity IRR (your return on cash invested), DSCR (how safely the cash flow covers debt service), and the capital stack (SBA + seller + equity breakdown).
This is the “search fund” or “entrepreneurship through acquisition” scenario: you buy an existing multi-unit operator, use leverage to amplify returns, and either operate or hire management. The 25-unit size is the typical minimum for an SBA-backed franchise portfolio acquisition to pencil as a full-time income.
What “return on equity” means here: if you put in $500K of your own cash and the business generates enough EBITDA to pay down debt and grow, your equity IRR is the annual return on that $500K, including the value created when you eventually sell. Target IRR for a search fund is typically 25–35%.
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 BUDGET BLINDS units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$852K
on $4.3M purchase
Total debt
$3.4M
SBA $2.1M + senior + seller note
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
Reported for a subset of outlets rather than the whole system
- Avg gross sales
- $775K
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $523K
Gross sales are revenue before expenses — not profit. Actual owner earnings depend on rent, labor, royalties, marketing fees, and debt service.
- Item 19 type
- historical actual gross sales by territory-count cohort (average, median, 25th/75th percentile, middle-50% average), FY2025 vs FY2024
- Sample size
- 282 territories
- vs category median 32 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $53K→$9.3M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Quartile band
- $341K→$921K
- Bottom 25% → top 25%
- Reporting year
- 2025
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2026
- Disclosed in the 2026 filing, covering 2025
- Transparency
- 4 / 10
- vs category median 4 / 10 · typical
Compared against 321 Home Services brands
Revenue is 5.0x the investment midpoint. At typical franchise margins, this suggests a payback under 3 years.
Operator outlook
What the numbers say
Data-driven interpretation of this brand's financial disclosures, fee structure, and system trajectory.
Unit economics
Average unit generates $775K/year in gross sales. Median is $523K — top performers pull the average up, so a typical unit earns less. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 5.0x. Reported for a subset of outlets rather than the whole system.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 3.5% — below the Home Services average of 8.9%.
Disclosure
Transparency score 4/10 — this franchisor discloses detailed breakdowns (quartiles, segments, or cohort data). Buyers can model unit economics with higher confidence.
Operator retention
System expanding at 13.5% CAGR over 3 years across 1,355 units — operators are staying and new ones are joining.
Multi-unit rate
54% of franchisees own multiple units — high repeat-buyer rate signals strong unit economics and operator satisfaction.
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 Home Services averages
How Budget Blinds Compares
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2026 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 1,355
- Opened
- 16
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 6
- Terminated
- 15
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 6
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 2.0%
- Company-owned
- 0
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 100%
- vs corporate-owned
- Multi-unit owners
- 54.0%
- Net growth (3-yr)
- -0.8%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 3-yr CAGR
- +13.5%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 16
- Closed (3yr)
- 6
- Terminated (3yr)
- 15
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 6
- Transfers (3yr)
- 97
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 51 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.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
- Total loans
- 366
- Loan volume
- $114.3M
- Median loan
- $150K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- 7.9%
- rates vary by category · see methodology
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- 92.1%
- 5-yr charge-off
- 3.6%
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 102
- Defaults
- 29
- Typical loan rate
- 7.5%
- avg rate to borrowers
- Franchised industry avg
- 16.1%
- brand beats franchise avg ↓
- Jobs supported
- 1,968
- 1.7 per loan
- Lender concentration
- 22%
- top lender's share
Borrower mix: 51% went to startups / new businesses, 49% to established operators
Franchise vs independent — in window treatment stores, franchised businesses charge off at 16.1% vs 29.1% for independents — franchising is associated with 45% lower SBA default risk in this category.
Vintage analysis
Budget Blinds charge-off rate by loan vintage
Top lenders financing Budget Blinds franchisees
Showing 3 of 102 lenders. The full breakdown — every lender, state distribution, interest rates & risk ratings — is in the SBA Lending Report below.
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Premium insight
SBA Lending Report
Deep-dive into Budget Blinds's SBA lending history: lender network, geographic footprint, interest rates, and more.
SBA Lending Report
- Principal loss rate and NAICS industry benchmark
- 10 lenders with concentration factor
- Per-state charge-off rates across 15 states
- Startup risk premium and job creation velocity
- 28-year lending trend
- SBA 504 real estate/equipment data
Instant access. No subscription.
What could kill this investment?
SBA loans charge off at 7.9% — 51% below the 16.0% national norm, i.e. lower lender-observed risk.
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 4, 8, 16, 21
Risk & Legal
Budget Blinds presents moderate-to-caution risk: a mature, slow-growing system with undisclosed profitability, active litigation, and high entry costs that limit visibility into realistic unit economics and franchisee satisfaction.
Litigation (Item 3)
One administrative consent order (2006, affiliate Aussie Pet Mobile, no monetary sanctions, Maryland franchise law violation) plus three franchisor suits against franchisees in the last fiscal year to collect royalty payments and fees (Michigan, Texas, Wisconsin, filed Jan-Nov 2025).
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
ⓘ These are the parent company's consolidated financials (the parent guarantees the franchisor), not this brand's standalone results — the figure reflects the whole corporate group, not this brand alone.
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: No
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: Yes
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 74 / 100 verdict
- 01MINORStagnant unit growth (0.3% YoY) suggests market saturation or franchisee dissatisfaction in mature 1,366-unit system
- 02MINORTiered royalty structure with fixed fees ($1,250–$2,500/mo) creates burden for lower-revenue locations; breakeven analysis unclear
- 03HIGHActive litigation including franchisor collection suit against franchisee (GTHI, LLC) indicates payment/compliance disputes
- 04MINORHigh initial investment range ($100,500–$211,250) combined with lack of Item 19 net income data prevents ROI validation
- 05MINORProtected territory offers competitive advantage but does not offset opaque profitability metrics
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 3.5% 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 | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 5 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 2 |
| Territory type | protected |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory population | 30,000 |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 25 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Termination groundsℹ | 16 |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 2 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Orange County, California |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | California |
| Litigation count | 4 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
One administrative consent order (2006, affiliate Aussie Pet Mobile, no monetary sanctions, Maryland franchise law violation) plus three franchisor suits against franchisees in the last fiscal year to collect royalty payments and fees (Michigan, Texas, Wisconsin, filed Jan-Nov 2025).
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 81 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 0 hrs
- Training location
- Coppell, Texas (HFC Experience Center) plus virtual/HFCU online modules
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 1 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- franchisee
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- CRM System (proprietary, provided free of charge)
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: CRM System (proprietary, provided free of charge)
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
938 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
BUDGET BLINDS · FDD (2026) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a BUDGET BLINDS franchise?
The total investment to open a BUDGET BLINDS franchise ranges from $101K – $211K, with an initial franchise fee of $20K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do BUDGET BLINDS franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the BUDGET BLINDS FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $775K. The median is $523K. Important context: Reported for a subset of outlets rather than the whole system. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Item 19 in the BUDGET BLINDS 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 BUDGET BLINDS FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is BUDGET BLINDS's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, BUDGET BLINDS has a charge-off rate of 7.9% across 366 loans, meaning 7.9% of franchise loans were charged off. Charge-off rates are one proxy for franchise risk, though they do not capture all closures. This data comes from FOIA-sourced SBA lending records.
How many BUDGET BLINDS franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, BUDGET BLINDS has 1,355 total units in the United States, including 1,355 franchised units and 0 company-owned units. 16 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is BUDGET BLINDS a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates BUDGET BLINDS as a A-grade franchise with a verdict score of 74 out of 100 (higher is better), based on our analysis of investment costs, revenue data, SBA loan performance, and growth trends. 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.