CMIT Solutions Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
CMIT Solutions is a B2B franchise providing outsourced and managed IT services and support to small and mid-size businesses. Franchisees run a local MSP managing networks, security, and recurring service contracts.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A CMIT Solutions franchise requires a total initial investment of $106K – $159K, including a $50K – $55K franchise fee and an ongoing 6.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2026 FDD, average unit revenue was $517K[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 5.8% charge-off rate across 52 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
- $106K – $159K
- 35th pct Business Serv…
- Avg gross sales
- $517K
- Outlet subset7th pct Business Serv…
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- 8th pct Business Serv…
- Units
- 304
- 60th pct Business Serv…
- SBA charge-off
- 5.8%
- % of SBA 7(a) loans not repaid · median varies by category
Quick verdict · Business Services · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Business 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 $106K – $159K including a $50K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $517K/year (median $310K) (reported for a subset of outlets rather than the whole system).
- RISKVerdict A (Strongest tier), verdict score 83/100 (higher is better). SBA loan charge-off rate of 5.8% across 52 loans (near or below the 16% franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2025).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- CMIT Solutions, LLC
- Parent company
- Encore Acquisition Corp.
- Ultimate parent
- Hammond, Kennedy, Whitney & Company, Inc. (HKW)
- Predecessor
- CMIT Operating, Inc.
- Prior franchisor entity
- CEO title
- President and Chief Executive Officer
- Roger Lewis
- Incorporated in
- Texas
- HQ
- 9433 Bee Caves Road, Building 3, Suite 210, Austin, Texas 78733
- Auditor
- Calvetti Ferguson
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $37.8M
- vs $30.4M prior year
Independent franchisee associations
- Franchise Advisory Council (FAC)
Franchisee-led councils or alliances disclosed in Item 20. Indicates operator voice.
Affiliated brands
- CMIT Solutions Marketing Fund
- CMIT Solutions of Canada
- CMIT Solutions National
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
Overview
About
- CEO
- Roger Lewis
- Headquarters
- Texas
- Founded
- 2009
- FDD year
- 2026
- States available
- 39
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 52% 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 Fee and Territory Feenot refundable | $50K | $60K | |
| Training expenses | $3K | $4K | |
| Real property and leasehold improvements | — | — | |
| Initial marketing | $12K | $12K | |
| Business management and technology system | $2K | $3K | |
| Accounting set-up | $2K | $2K | |
| Additional funds - 6 months | $39K | $79K | |
| Total initial investment | $106K | $159K |
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
- $106K – $159K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $39K – $79K
- Middle of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $50K – $55K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- formula · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 1.5%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 8.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 6.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 1.5% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $84 |
| Transfer fee | $15K |
| Renewal fee | $5K |
| Inventory (initial) | $0 – $0 |
| Total fee load | 8.0% of rev |
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 65% below the business 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
$80K
15.5% margin
Unlevered ROIC
42%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
29 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 CMIT Solutions unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Estimated return on your total franchise investment, before any debt financing.
42%
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 CMIT Solutions units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$879K
on $4.4M purchase
Total debt
$3.5M
SBA $2.2M + 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
- $517K
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $310K
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 sales
- Sample size
- 74 franchisees
- vs category median 35 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $11K→$2.9M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Reporting year
- 2025
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2026
- Disclosed in the 2026 filing, covering 2025
- Transparency
- 7 / 10
- vs category median 3 / 10 · above
Compared against 296 Business Services brands
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 $517K/year in gross sales. Median is $310K — top performers pull the average up, so a typical unit earns less. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 3.9x. Reported for a subset of outlets rather than the whole system.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 8.0% — below the Business Services average of 11.9%.
Disclosure
Transparency score 7/10 — this franchisor discloses detailed breakdowns (quartiles, segments, or cohort data). Buyers can model unit economics with higher confidence.
Operator retention
System expanding at 7.9% CAGR over 3 years across 304 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 averages
How CMIT Solutions Compares
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2026 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 304
- Opened
- 29
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 0
- Terminated
- 1
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 0.3%
- Company-owned
- 7
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 98%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (3-yr)
- +7.9%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 3-yr CAGR
- +7.9%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 29
- Closed (3yr)
- 0
- Terminated (3yr)
- 1
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 10
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 4
- Franchisor bought back
- Projected new
- 15
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
- Transfer rate
- 4.4%
- Owners selling to other franchisees
- Termination rate
- 2.8%
- Franchisor-initiated terminations
- Ceased ops
- 2.8%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 12 · 39 states reported
The Territory Map
FDD Item 12 reports the state count, but the specific list isn't in our current data. The map will appear once we re-extract from the FDD or enough franchisee contacts are available.
39
states with franchisees (per FDD Item 12)
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
- Total loans
- 52
- Loan volume
- $7.7M
- Median loan
- $125K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- 5.8%
- 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)
- 94.2%
- 5-yr charge-off
- 0.0%
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 25
- Defaults
- 3
- Typical loan rate
- 8.1%
- avg rate to borrowers
- Franchised industry avg
- 19.7%
- brand beats franchise avg ↓
- Jobs supported
- 209
- 2.7 per loan
- Lender concentration
- 17%
- top lender's share
Borrower mix: 66% went to startups / new businesses, 34% to established operators
Franchise vs independent — in other computer related services, franchised businesses charge off at 19.7% vs 12.7% for independents — franchising is associated with 55% higher SBA default risk in this category.
Top lenders financing CMIT Solutions franchisees
Showing 3 of 25 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 CMIT Solutions'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
- 18-year lending trend
Instant access. No subscription.
What could kill this investment?
SBA loans charge off at 5.8% — 64% 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
CMIT Solutions presents moderate-to-cautious risk due to lack of financial transparency (no Item 19), modest unit growth, and absence of disclosed net income data needed to validate ROI claims.
Litigation (Item 3)
No litigation required to be disclosed in Item 3.
Largest disclosed settlement: $54,950
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Calvetti Ferguson
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: No
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 83 / 100 verdict
- 01MEDAverage net income not disclosed — unable to assess actual franchisee profitability after royalties (6%), operating expenses, and debt service on $106K-$159K investment
- 02MINORSlow unit growth of 6.7% YoY with 278 units — suggests market saturation, competitive pressure, or franchisee satisfaction issues in a mature 10-year-old system
- 03MINORHigh initial investment ($106K-$159K) combined with 6% royalty creates break-even risk if revenue underperforms or customer acquisition costs rise
- 04MED10-year franchise term is longer than industry average (5-7 years) — locks franchisees into relationship with limited exit flexibility
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 8.0% 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 | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 1 |
| Territory type | exclusive |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | Yes |
| Territory sizeℹ | 3000-4500 SBEs (typical ~3500) |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| 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 |
| Termination groundsℹ | 1 |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 3 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Austin, Texas |
| Jury trial waiver | No |
| Governing law | Texas |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation required to be disclosed in Item 3.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 72 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 0 hrs
- Training location
- Austin, Texas (headquarters) plus virtual training
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 4 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- franchisee
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- Autotask
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Autotask
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a CMIT Solutions franchise?
The total investment to open a CMIT Solutions franchise ranges from $106K – $159K, 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 CMIT Solutions franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the CMIT Solutions FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $517K. The median is $310K. 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 CMIT Solutions 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 CMIT Solutions FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is CMIT Solutions's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, CMIT Solutions has a charge-off rate of 5.8% across 52 loans, meaning 5.8% 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 CMIT Solutions franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, CMIT Solutions has 304 total units in the United States, including 297 franchised units and 7 company-owned units. 29 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is CMIT Solutions a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates CMIT Solutions as a A-grade franchise with a verdict score of 83 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.