Color World PaintingFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A COLOR WORLD PAINTING franchise requires a total initial investment of $107K – $168K, including a $50K franchise fee and an ongoing 6.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2024 FDD, average unit revenue was $149K[2]. Verdict grade: B. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2024 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $107K – $168K
- 37th pct Home Services
- Avg gross sales
- $149K
- 2nd pct Home Services
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- 13th pct Home Services
- Units
- 46
- 40th pct Home Services
- SBA default
- N/A
Quick verdict · Home Services · color = vs category peers
Green = >15% above Home Services avg · No shading = within ±15% · Red = >15% below avg · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Franchised units fell from 56 to 45 over 3 years. Investigate why operators are leaving.
Bottom line
- Total investment $107K – $168K including a $50K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $149K/year (median $150K).
- Verdict B (Above Average) with a risk score of 55/100.
- System contracting at -19.6% 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
- Color World New Franchise Systems, LLC
- Parent company
- Authority Brands, Inc.
- Ultimate parent
- Apax Partners, LLP
- Predecessor
- Color World Franchise Systems
- Prior franchisor entity
- Incorporated in
- DE
- HQ
- 7120 Samuel Morse Drive, Suite 300, Columbia, MD 21046
- Auditor
- PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $291K
- vs $375K prior year
Affiliated brands
- Color World New Housepainting
- Color World Painting
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
Overview
About
COLOR WORLD PAINTING franchisees operate residential and commercial painting services, managing crews, scheduling jobs, coordinating with customers, and handling estimates and invoicing. Day-to-day activities include customer acquisition, job supervision, crew management, and maintaining service quality standards within their protected territory.
- CEO
- Stewart Vernon
- Headquarters
- MD
- Founded
- 1998
- FDD year
- 2024
- States available
- 11
FDD Item 7 · 2024 filing · 14 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Franchise Feenot refundable | $50K | $50K | |
| Start-Up Business Outfitting Feenot refundable | $8K | $8K | |
| Holiday Outfitting Feenot refundable | $15K | $15K | |
| Pre-Opening/Grand-Opening Marketing Feenot refundable | $7K | $7K | |
| Business Licenses and Permits | $0 | $2K | |
| Office and Computer Equipment; Hardware and Software | $1K | $4K | |
| Vehicle | $0 | $8K | |
| Vehicle Wrap | $1K | $5K | |
| Initial Technology Feesnot refundable | $2K | $2K | |
| Travel and Living Expenses to Attend Training | $1K | $5K | |
| Travel Reimbursement for Onsite Trainingnot refundable | $0 | $3K | |
| Insurance | $2K | $7K | |
| Office Rent and Set-up; Deposits | $0 | $4K | |
| Additional Funds | $20K | $50K | |
| Total initial investment | $107K | $168K |
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.
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
$16K
11.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
10%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
10.5 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $107K – $168K
- Better than avg vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $20K – $50K
- Near category avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $50K – $50K
- Better than avg vs category
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- Gross Revenue · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 2.0%
- 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 | 2.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $2K |
| Training fee | $300 |
| Transfer fee | $10K |
| Renewal fee | $5K |
| Total fee load | 8.0% of rev |
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $149K
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $150K
- Item 19 type
- Historical
- Sample size
- 11 units
- vs category median 25 · small
- Range (low → high)
- $27K→$390K
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Quartile band
- $172K→$996K
- Bottom 25% → top 25%
- Transparency tier
- full
- Categorical assessment of disclosure depth
- Reporting year
- 2023
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Transparency
- 6 / 5
- vs category median 4 / 5 · above
Compared against 349 Home Services brands
vs Home Services averages
How Color World Painting Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 46
- Opened
- 12
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 17
- Turnover rate
- 37.0%
- Company-owned
- 1
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 98%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (yr3)
- -10.0%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- -19.6%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Closed (3yr)
- 0
- Terminated (3yr)
- 14
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 14
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Termination rate
- 0.7%
- Franchisor-initiated terminations
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 11 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.
Available to sell in · Item 12
- California
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- New York
- North Dakota
- Rhode Island
- South Dakota
- Wisconsin
States where the franchisor is registered to sell new franchises (FDD registration filings).
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.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Contracting franchise system with undisclosed profitability metrics and high relative fees creates elevated risk despite no litigation history.
Litigation (Item 3)
0 case reference(s): 0 pending, 0 settled.
Largest disclosed settlement: $49,500
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: Yes
- Must buy proprietary products: No
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
Score breakdown · what drove the 55 / 100 rating
- 01MINORUnit count declining 10% YoY (46 units) indicates system contraction and potential franchisee dissatisfaction
- 02MEDNet income not disclosed in Item 19 — inability to assess actual profitability despite $149K avg revenue
- 03MINORHigh minimum royalty structure (6% or minimum) creates cash flow risk for lower-revenue locations
- 04MINORFranchise fee of $49,500 represents 33% of average revenue in first year, requiring significant ramp time
- 05HIGHNo going concern statement suggests franchisor financial stability concerns
- 06MINORSmall system size (46 units) limits brand recognition and support infrastructure scalability
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 1 |
| Territory type | Population-based (Single-Family Dwelling Units) |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Territory population | 75,000 |
| Online sales rights | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Termination groundsℹ | 1 |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 2 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Maryland |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
0 case reference(s): 0 pending, 0 settled.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 36 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 40 hrs
- Training location
- On-site and corporate
- Site selection
- franchisee
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- QuickBooks online and designated CRM software
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: QuickBooks online and designated CRM software
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
26 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
COLOR WORLD PAINTING · FDD (2024) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a COLOR WORLD PAINTING franchise?
The total investment to open a COLOR WORLD PAINTING franchise ranges from $107K – $168K, 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 COLOR WORLD PAINTING franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the COLOR WORLD PAINTING FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $149K. The median is $150K. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is COLOR WORLD PAINTING's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for COLOR WORLD PAINTING (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 COLOR WORLD PAINTING franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, COLOR WORLD PAINTING has 46 total units in the United States, including 56 franchised units and 1 company-owned units. 12 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is COLOR WORLD PAINTING a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates COLOR WORLD PAINTING as a B-grade franchise with a risk score of 55 out of 100, 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.