FranchiseVerdict
FV-00488·STRONGExcellent95

CertaPro Painters

Home Services - PaintingFranchising since 1992
Investment
$171K – $321K
90th pct Painting
Avg revenue
$2.1M
52nd pct Painting
Royalty
Units
307
100th pct Painting
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $171K – $321K including a $65K franchise fee.
  • Average unit revenue of $2.1M/year (median $1.4M). Estimated payback in 0.4 years.
  • Rated STRONG with a risk score of 42/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 221 loans (below the industry average).
  • System contracting at -8.2% CAGR over 3 years. Investigate whether closures are franchisor-driven (consolidation) or franchisee-driven (economics).

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Certa ProPainters, Ltd.
Parent company
FS Brands, Inc.
Incorporated in
Massachusetts
HQ
2621 Van Buren Avenue, Suite 550A, Audubon, PA 19403
Auditor
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$782.2M
vs $850.4M prior year

Yale framework · single-unit ROIC

Returns Analysis

Pulls Item 7 (investment) and Item 19 (revenue) from this brand's FDD into the Yale unlevered-ROIC formula. Override any input to stress-test it against your own assumptions.

The model · Yale framework

What would one CertaPro Painters unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
FDD Item 19 reports $2,134,130
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: restoration
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $171K–$321K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $20K–$75K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

73%

Above typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$213K
EBITDA margin
10.0%
Total invested
$293K
Payback
16 mo
Unit-level only. A multi-unit portfolio gives up roughly 5–15% of this to shared services (corporate G&A) before reaching the ~10-unit break-even Yale describes.

Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing

What would 25 CertaPro Painters units return on equity?

Edit assumptions

Equity IRR · 5-yr

49.9%

7.57× MOIC

Year-1 DSCR

1.88×

EBITDA ÷ debt service

Equity required

$1.3M

on $6.4M purchase

Total debt

$5.1M

SBA $3.2M + senior + seller note

Overview

About

CertaPro Painters franchisees operate residential and commercial interior/exterior painting services. Day-to-day operations include managing crews, scheduling jobs, coordinating with customers, sourcing materials, and ensuring quality control across paint application projects. Franchisees are responsible for local marketing, customer acquisition, staff hiring/training, and profitability within their protected territory.

CEO
Michael Stone
Founded
1971
FDD year
2025
States available
44

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$171K – $321K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$20K – $75K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$65K
Royalty
greater of 6%/5%/4% of Gross Sales or Minimum Royalty
Ad fund
3.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
9.3%
vs 9–13% typical
Payback period
0.4 yrs
From v3 / Item 19

Item 19

Financial Performance

Avg gross sales
$2.1M
Per unit, per year
Median gross sales
$1.4M
Item 19 type
Gross Sales
Sample size
292 units
vs category median 16 · large
Range (low → high)
$167K$18.4M
Cohort dispersion
Transparency
9 / 5
vs category median 4 / 5 · above
Revenue rank52th
vs Home Services - Painting peers
Investment cost rank90th
Lower investment ranks lower (better)
Royalty rate rank76th
Lower royalty = lower percentile (better)
Unit count rank100th
vs Home Services - Painting peers
Risk score rank14th
Lower risk = lower percentile (better)

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
307
Opened
3
Last reporting year
Closed
24
Turnover rate
7.8%
Company-owned
4
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
99%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
-6.5%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
-8.2%
Compounded over last 3 years
2023
303-21
Franchised units
2024
324
Franchised units
2025
330
Franchised units

Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.

Item 20 · 14 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).

AK
ME
VT
NH
MA
RI
CT
NY
NJ
PA
DE
MD
DC
WA
OR
CA
NV
ID
MT
WY
UT
CO
AZ
NM
ND
SD
NE
KS
OK
TX
MN
IA
MO
AR
LA
WI
IL
MS
TN
MI
IN
KY
AL
OH
WV
GA
VA
NC
SC
FL
HI
Registered · 14 states
Not registered

States derived from franchisee phone area codes (Item 20). Approximate — ported numbers may show the original state, not the franchisee's current location.

Government records

SBA Loan Data

Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.

Total loans
221
Loan volume
Avg loan
Default rate
0.0%
vs <3% typical · system-wide
5-yr default

FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17

Risk & Legal

42
Risk · 0-100
STRONG42 / 100

Declining franchise network, active litigation over covenant enforcement, lack of disclosed financial metrics, and high capital requirements create material execution and financial risks for new franchisees.

Score breakdown · what drove the 42 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINORUnit count declining 6.5% YoY (307 units) signals system contraction and potential market saturation or franchisee dissatisfaction
  2. 02HIGHPending federal litigation (2024) against former franchisee for financial damages and covenant enforcement indicates enforcement challenges and potential franchisor-franchisee conflict
  3. 03HIGHNo Item 19 financial performance representation (Going Concern: False) means prospective franchisees lack verified average revenue/profit benchmarks to validate the $591K avg net income claim
  4. 04MINORTiered royalty structure (6%/5%/4% declining, or minimum) with no specified minimum amount creates unpredictable cash flow obligation; high gross sales requirement implies significant working capital needs
  5. 05MINORInitial investment range of $171K–$320.5K is substantial with $65K franchise fee; ROI timeline unclear without Item 19 data or cost-of-acquisition benchmarks

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Zip Codes
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
10 years
Online sales rights
Restricted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Not allowed
Litigation count
2
Right of first refusal
Yes
Franchisor can buy back on resale
Mandatory arbitration
Yes
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Required
Governing law
Pennsylvania

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
60 hrs
On-the-job training
40 hrs
POS system
CertaOne
Operating tech stack

Item 20

Franchisee Contacts

Phone numbers extracted directly from this brand's FDD Item 20. After purchase, you'll also receive a list of validation questions tailored to this brand.

Franchisee contacts

100 numbers

Locked
(941) 225-••••
Roy Jaime
FL
(352) 209-••••
Michael Fetch
FL
(678) 895-••••
Anne Marie Siegel
GA

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

CertaPro Painters · FDD (2025) PDF

Single-page checkout · instant download · CSV export of contacts available separately above