Canopy Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
- Investment
- $98K – $188K
- Disclosed sales
- $103K
- gross sales, not profit
- SBA charge-off
- Not SBA-matched
Data from FDD filing
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Canopy Lawn Care is a lawn treatment franchise offering fertilization, weed control, and lawn health programs. Franchisees run route-based operations, managing technicians, scheduling, and recurring residential accounts.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A CANOPY franchise requires a total initial investment of $98K – $188K, including a $50K franchise fee and an ongoing 8.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2026 FDD, average revenue per franchisee was $103K. This franchisor reports Item 19 per franchisee rather than per outlet, so the figure is not comparable with per-outlet averages[2]. 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 scored7 of 8 headline figures on this page cite a page of the filing; the rest are marked “Not cited” beside the figure.
Overview
- Investment
- $98K – $188K
- 33rd pct Home Services
- Avg gross sales
- $103K
- Per franchisee, not per outlet
- Royalty
- 8.0%
- 66th pct Home Services
- Units
- 46
- 43rd pct Home Services
- SBA charge-off
- N/A
Quick verdict · Home Services · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Home 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 $98K – $188K including a $50K franchise fee, 8.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage revenue per franchisee of $103K/year (median $100K). Averaged per franchisee, not per outlet - not comparable with per-outlet figures.
- RISKVerdict B (Above average), verdict score 66/100 (higher is better).
- GROWTHPositive: net +4 franchised outlets in the latest year (8 opened, 4 closed) (Item 20).
- FLAG4 units terminated last reporting year (8.7% of the system). Ask existing franchisees why.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Canopy Franchise Corporation
- Parent company
- Outdoor Living Brands Holdco, LLC
- FDD Item 1, page 8 of the 2026 FDD
- Ultimate parent
- Empower Brands Franchising, LLC
- FDD Item 1, page 8 of the 2026 FDD
- Predecessor
- Conserva Irrigation Franchising
- Prior franchisor entity
- CEO title
- Founder and Chief Executive Officer
- Hunt Davis
- Incorporated in
- DE
- HQ
- 2426 Old Brick Road, Glen Allen, VA 23060
- Auditor
- Smith-Howard
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $96.8M
- vs $102.2M prior year
Affiliated brands
- CanopyNC Ventures
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
Same owner · FDD Item 1, page 8
10 other brands on this site name Empower Brands Franchising, LLC as parent or ultimate parent in their own FDD.
- ArchadeckB
- Bumble RoofingA
- Conserva IrrigationA
- FRSTeamA
- JAN-PRO Cleaning & DisinfectingB
- Jan-Pro Franchise DevelopmentA
- Koala InsulationD
- Outdoor Lighting PerspectivesD
- Superior Fence & RailA
- Wallaby WindowsB
Portfolio: Empower Brands
Grouped by the owner's name as each filing prints it (this page: the 2026 FDD). Spelling variants of the same group may be listed apart; a brand is never grouped with an owner its filing does not name.
Overview
About
- CEO
- Hunt Davis
- Headquarters
- VA
- Founded
- 2022
- FDD year
- 2026
- States available
- 13
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 15% below the typical home services franchise.
Source: FDD 2026 · Items 5–7
Full Item 7 breakdown13 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Feenot refundable | $50K | $50K | |
| Grand Opening Marketing Spend | $5K | $50K | |
| Service Vehicle Down Payment and Lease Payments | $8K | $10K | |
| Aftermarket Vehicle Items | $15K | $40K | |
| Rent | $0 | $1K | |
| Construction, Leasehold Improvements, Furniture and Fixtures | — | — | |
| Supplies, Uniforms, and Inventory | $1K | $3K | |
| Computer Systems | $2K | $6K | |
| Insurance Deposits and Premiums | $900 | $2K | |
| Travel and Living Expenses While Training | $1K | $5K | |
| Professional Fees and Business Licenses | $500 | $1K | |
| Office Equipment and Supplies | $500 | $1K | |
| Additional Funds - 3 months | $15K | $20K | |
| Total initial investment | $98K | $188K |
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
- $98K – $188K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $15K – $20K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $50K – $50K
- Middle of category vs category
- Royalty
- 8.0%
- Set by a formula · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 1.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 11.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 8.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 1.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $0 |
| Transfer fee | $10K |
| Renewal fee | $10K |
| Inventory (initial) | $1K – $3K |
| Total fee load | 11.0% of rev |
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 82% below the home services norm.
Averaged per franchisee, not per outlet - not comparable with per-outlet figures
Source: FDD 2026 · Item 19
Single-unit · not modelled
Returns at a glance
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit, and the operating costs that turn one into the other are in no filing. We publish no modelled return for CANOPY until someone supplies them — yours, in the models below.
—
Not modelled yet
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for 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.
Total invested capital · disclosed
$161K
Item 7 initial investment plus working capital, as filed — the one figure here that needs no assumption.
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, read against the 30–60% reference band · Yale SOM, Post-MBA Path Exhibit 2 (2023). Below that band a passive index fund likely outperforms; above it the franchisor has pricing power you're subsidizing.
Note: Item 19 revenue is what the franchisor discloses, and it is the top line only — gross sales are not profit. No FDD discloses the operating costs that turn one into the other, so those fields start empty and nothing is modelled until you supply them from your own lease quote, labor market and build-out budget.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one CANOPY 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 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.
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%.
Not modelled yet
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for 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.
A 25-unit return is built on a per-unit EBITDA. Fill in the operating costs in Model A above and this model runs on that figure, or take the whole scenario to the full ROI workbench, where the portfolio and LBO models accept your own per-unit economics directly.
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
Averaged per franchisee, not per outlet - not comparable with per-outlet figures
- Avg gross sales
- $103K
- Per franchisee, per year — not per outlet
- Median gross sales
- $100K
- Per franchisee, not per outlet
Gross sales are revenue before expenses — not profit. Actual owner earnings depend on rent, labor, royalties, marketing fees, and debt service.
- Item 19 type
- gross revenue and pnl
- Sample size
- 8 franchisees
- vs category median 32 · small
- Range (low → high)
- $26K→$241KCited, not corroborated — printed on page 49 of the 2026 FDD. Nothing else in our record independently restates or re-derives it.
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Reporting year
- 2025
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2026
- Disclosed in the 2026 filing, covering 2025
- Transparency
- 6 / 10
- vs category median 4 / 10 · above
Compared against 319 Home Services brands
Operator outlook
What the numbers say
Data-driven interpretation of this brand's financial disclosures, fee structure, and system trajectory.
Unit economics
The average franchisee generates $103K/year in gross sales.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 11.0% — above the Home Services median of 8.0%.
Disclosure
Transparency score 6/10 — this franchisor discloses detailed breakdowns (quartiles, segments, or cohort data). Buyers can model unit economics with higher confidence.
Operator retention
Net unit growth of +10.8% over 3 years (8 opened, 4 closed).
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 medians
How Canopy Compares
Per franchisee, not per outlet - the category median is per-outlet only, so no comparison is shown
Category median of published Home 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
- 46
- Opened
- 8
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 4
- Terminated
- 4
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 8.7%
- Company-owned
- 5
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 89%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (3-yr)
- +10.8%
- Net unit change over 3 years
Last fiscal year · Item 20 exits and transfers
- Terminated
- 4
- Not renewed
- 0
- Transferred
- 0
- Reacquired
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Signed, not yet open
- 0
- 0.00 per open outlet · Item 20 Table 5
- Projected new
- 11
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
- Termination rate
- 0.1%
- Franchisor-initiated terminations
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 9 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
11 current owners across 9 states.
- TX 2
- VA 2
- IL 1
- KY 1
- MI 1
- NJ 1
- NY 1
- OK 1
- UT 1
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.
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
Canopy presents moderate-to-cautious risk due to missing financial documentation, implausible profitability claims, undisclosed royalty minimums, and slow unit growth that limits validation of franchisee success.
Litigation (Item 3)
Subject: officers or affiliates. The franchisor is not a named party in these cases.
0 case reference(s): 0 pending, 0 settled.
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Smith-Howard
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: Yes
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: Yes
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
Score breakdown · what drove the 66 / 100 verdict
- 01MEDMassive profitability gap: $103k avg revenue but $317k avg net income suggests data inconsistency, survivorship bias, or undisclosed costs
- 02MEDMinimum Royalty structure not disclosed — could create cash flow pressure on lower-performing locations
- 03MEDSlow unit growth (10.8% YoY) with only 46 units indicates limited brand momentum or saturation concerns
- 04MEDHigh initial investment range ($98k-$188k) relative to disclosed average revenue raises ROI and break-even timeline concerns
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 11.0% 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 | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 5 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 2 |
| Territory type | Protected territory |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory population | 45,000 |
| 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 | 10 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 6 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Virginia |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | VA |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
0 case reference(s): 0 pending, 0 settled.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 42 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 20 hrs
- Training location
- Raleigh, NC or Richmond, VA (virtual for some modules)
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 3 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- Franchisee (home office recommended; warehouse requires franchisor approval)
- Franchisor financing
- Offered
- Item 10
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
11 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 CANOPY franchise?
The total investment to open a CANOPY franchise ranges from $98K – $188K, with an initial franchise fee of $50K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do CANOPY franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the CANOPY FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $103K. The median is $100K. Important context: Averaged per franchisee, not per outlet - not comparable with per-outlet figures. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
Who owns CANOPY?
CANOPY is franchised by Canopy Franchise Corporation. Its parent company is Outdoor Living Brands Holdco, LLC. The ultimate parent named in the FDD is Empower Brands Franchising, LLC. Source: FDD Item 1, 2026 filing.
What is Item 19 in the CANOPY 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 CANOPY FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is CANOPY's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for CANOPY (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 CANOPY franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, CANOPY has 46 total units in the United States, including 41 franchised units and 5 company-owned units. 8 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is CANOPY a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates CANOPY as a B-grade franchise with a verdict score of 66 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.