FirstLight Home CareFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A FirstLight Home Care franchise requires a total initial investment of $151K – $256K, including a $52K franchise fee and an ongoing 5.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2026 FDD, average unit revenue was $1.5M[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 4.8% charge-off rate across 63 loans[1]. Verdict grade: A. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2026 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $151K – $256K
- 81st pct Senior Care
- Avg gross sales
- $1.5M
- 49th pct Senior Care
- Royalty
- 5.0%
- 7th pct Senior Care
- Units
- 284
- 88th pct Senior Care
- SBA default
- 4.8%
- system-wide median varies by category
Quick verdict · Senior Care · color = vs category peers
Green = >15% above Senior Care 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
Each dollar invested generates 7.6x in gross revenue, well above the typical 1.5-2.5x range.
The system grew 19% year-over-year. Fast growth means demand, but can strain support.
Bottom line
- Total investment $151K – $256K including a $52K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $1.5M/year (median $1.2M).
- Verdict A (Top Quintile) with a risk score of 5/100. SBA loan charge-off rate of 4.8% across 63 loans (well below the franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2024).
- System growing at 39.9% CAGR over 3 years with 284 total units. Strong expansion trajectory.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- FirstLight HomeCare Franchising, LLC
- Parent company
- Cornerstone Franchise Brands, LLC
- Incorporated in
- DE
- HQ
- 7870 East Kemper Road, Suite 400, Cincinnati, Ohio 45249
- Auditor
- Douglas Corey & Associates, P.C.
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $19.4M
- vs $22.5M prior year
Affiliated brands
- Cornerstone Franchise Finance
- and shares our pr
- Surv Franchisor
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
Overview
About
FirstLight franchisees operate in-home care services, managing caregiver scheduling, client acquisition, and service delivery (personal care, companionship, medication reminders). Day-to-day operations involve caregiver recruitment/training, client care management, regulatory compliance, and billing/collections in a geographically protected territory.
- CEO
- Glee McAnanly
- Headquarters
- OH
- Founded
- 2009
- FDD year
- 2026
- States available
- 37
FDD Item 7 · 2026 filing · 14 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Feenot refundable | $52K | $52K | |
| Training Feenot refundable | $5K | $5K | |
| Travel and Training Expensesnot refundable | $3K | $5K | |
| Business Premisesnot refundable | $900 | $4K | |
| Start-Up Supplies and Inventorynot refundable | $300 | $900 | |
| Employment Screeningnot refundable | $300 | $1K | |
| Equipment, Signage, Graphicsnot refundable | $250 | $2K | |
| Marketing, Advertising and Promotionsnot refundable | $5K | $9K | |
| Grand Opening Marketingnot refundable | $3K | $8K | |
| Other Paid Expensesnot refundable | $6K | $8K | |
| Business Permits, Licenses and Feesnot refundable | $200 | $9K | |
| Insurancenot refundable | $8K | $18K | |
| Computer Equipmentnot refundable | $3K | $5K | |
| Additional Funds: 3 to 6 Monthsnot refundable | $66K | $129K | |
| Total initial investment | $151K | $256K |
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
$263K
17.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
87%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
14 mo
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $151K – $256K
- Below avg, review vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $66K – $129K
- Below avg, review vs category
- Franchise fee
- $40K – $52K
- Near category avg vs category
- Royalty
- 5.0%
- percentage_of_gross · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- The greater of 1% of Gross Revenues received per month or…
- Total fee load
- 6.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 5.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $195 |
| Transfer fee | $10K |
| Renewal fee | $8K |
| Total fee load | 6.0% of rev |
A 6.0% total fee load is unusually lean. More of each revenue dollar stays with the franchisee.
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $1.5M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $1.2M
- Item 19 type
- gross_sales
- Sample size
- 194 units
- vs category median 22 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $152K→$11.3M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Reporting year
- 2025
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Transparency
- 4 / 5
- vs category median 4 / 5 · typical
Compared against 70 Senior Care brands
Revenue is 7.6x the investment midpoint. At typical franchise margins, this suggests a payback under 3 years.
vs Senior Care averages
How FirstLight Home Care Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 284
- Opened
- 52
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 6
- Turnover rate
- 2.1%
- Company-owned
- 0
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 100%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (yr3)
- +19.3%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- +39.9%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Closed (3yr)
- 4
- Terminated (3yr)
- 0
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 9
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Transfer rate
- 4.4%
- Owners selling to other franchisees
- Continuity rate
- 97.9%
- Units that stayed open
- Ceased ops
- 3.0%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 10 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
- 63
- Loan volume
- $13.9M
- Median loan
- $150K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- 4.8%
- 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)
- 89.3%
- 5-yr charge-off
- 12.5%
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 22
- Defaults
- 3
Vintage analysis
FirstLight Home Care charge-off rate by loan vintage
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
FirstLight presents moderate-to-cautionary risk due to undisclosed profitability metrics, ambiguous royalty terms, and rapid growth that lacks corresponding financial transparency.
Litigation (Item 3)
0 case reference(s): 0 pending, 0 settled.
Largest disclosed settlement: $52,000
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Douglas Corey & Associates, P.C.
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: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 5 / 100 rating
- 01MEDNet income not disclosed in FDD Item 19 — unable to verify actual profitability despite $1.55M average revenue claims
- 02MINORRoyalty structure includes undefined 'Minimum Performance Standard' threshold that could trigger higher payments regardless of actual gross revenue
- 03HIGHNo litigation disclosed but home care industry faces inherent regulatory and liability risks (caregiver background checks, client safety, wage/labor compliance)
- 04MINOR19.3% YoY unit growth may indicate aggressive recruitment masking underlying franchisee satisfaction or retention issues
- 05MEDInitial investment range ($151K-$256K) is substantial with no disclosed net income baseline to evaluate ROI timeline
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 | Zip codes |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Territory sizeℹ | 200,000 residents |
| Online sales rights | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Termination groundsℹ | 1 |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 3 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Ohio |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
0 case reference(s): 0 pending, 0 settled.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 40 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 62 hrs
- Training location
- On-site and corporate
- Franchisor financing
- Offered
- Item 10
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
63 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
FirstLight Home Care · FDD (2026) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a FirstLight Home Care franchise?
The total investment to open a FirstLight Home Care franchise ranges from $151K – $256K, with an initial franchise fee of $52K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do FirstLight Home Care franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the FirstLight Home Care FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $1.5M. The median is $1.2M. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is FirstLight Home Care's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, FirstLight Home Care has a charge-off rate of 4.8% across 63 loans, meaning 4.8% 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 FirstLight Home Care franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, FirstLight Home Care has 284 total units in the United States, including 203 franchised units and 0 company-owned units. 52 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is FirstLight Home Care a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates FirstLight Home Care as a A-grade franchise with a risk score of 5 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.
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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.