Fish Window CleaningFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A FISH WINDOW CLEANING franchise requires a total initial investment of $107K – $173K, including a $50K franchise fee and an ongoing 5.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $1.3M[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 21.4% charge-off rate across 49 loans[1]. Verdict grade: B. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $107K – $173K
- 37th pct Cleaning & Ma…
- Avg gross sales
- $1.3M
- 41st pct Cleaning & Ma…
- Royalty
- 5.0%
- 6th pct Cleaning & Ma…
- Units
- 270
- 74th pct Cleaning & Ma…
- SBA default
- 21.4%
- system-wide median varies by category
Quick verdict · Cleaning & Maintenance · color = vs category peers
Green = >15% above Cleaning & Maintenance 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 9.6x in gross revenue, well above the typical 1.5-2.5x range.
21.4% of SBA loans charged off across 49 loans, above the 16% franchise average.
Franchising since 1998. Systems this mature have refined operations and brand recognition.
Franchised units fell from 269 to 264 over 3 years. Investigate why operators are leaving.
Bottom line
- Total investment $107K – $173K including a $50K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $1.3M/year (median $671K).
- Verdict B (Above Average) with a risk score of 55/100. SBA loan charge-off rate of 21.4% across 49 loans (well above the 16% franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2024).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- Fish Window Cleaning Services, Inc.
- CEO title
- Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Board Director
- S. Michael Merrick
- CEO experience
- 1998 yrs
- Years in role or industry
- Founder active
- Yes
- Original founder still leading the business
- Incorporated in
- MO
- HQ
- 217 Chesterfield Towne Centre, Chesterfield, Missouri 63005
- Auditor
- Fine + Associates, P.C.
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $12.0M
- vs $12.8M prior year
- Management churn noted
- Frequent turnover
- Item 2 disclosed frequent executive changes
Independent franchisee associations
- Franchise Advisory Council (FAC)
Franchisee-led councils or alliances disclosed in Item 20. Indicates operator voice.
Overview
About
Franchisees operate a residential and commercial window cleaning service, managing crews to provide scheduled cleaning, pressure washing, and gutter services to recurring customers. Day-to-day operations involve crew scheduling, customer acquisition/retention, quality assurance, equipment maintenance, and direct service delivery or crew supervision in a defined protected territory.
- CEO
- S. Michael Merrick
- Headquarters
- MO
- Founded
- 1998
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 44
FDD Item 7 · 2025 filing · 12 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Feenot refundable | $50K | $75K | |
| Travel and Living Expenses to Attend Training | $2K | $3K | |
| Equipment Package | $9K | $11K | |
| Office Package | $11K | $13K | |
| Initial Business Development and Marketing | $11K | $17K | |
| Vehicle | $1K | $2K | |
| Vehicle Modification | $4K | $4K | |
| Attorneys' Fees | $500 | $2K | |
| Office Space - 3 Months | $5K | $6K | |
| Insurance Premiums | $2K | $5K | |
| Business Licenses, and Membership Dues | $100 | $900 | |
| Additional Funds - 3 Months | $14K | $36K | |
| Total initial investment | $107K | $173K |
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
$175K
13.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
106%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
11 mo
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $107K – $173K
- Better than avg vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $14K – $36K
- Better than avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $50K – $75K
- Near category avg vs category
- Royalty
- 5.0%
- Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 1.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 6.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 5.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 1.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $100 |
| Transfer fee | $10K |
| Renewal fee | $5K |
| 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
- $1.3M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $671K
- Item 19 type
- Actual Revenues
- Sample size
- 252 units
- vs category median 31 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $39K→$2.7M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Quartile band
- $125K→$1.4M
- Bottom 25% → top 25%
- Reporting year
- 2024
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Transparency
- 1 / 5
- vs category median 4 / 5 · below
Compared against 204 Cleaning & Maintenance brands
Revenue is 9.6x the investment midpoint. At typical franchise margins, this suggests a payback under 3 years.
vs Cleaning & Maintenance averages
How Fish Window Cleaning Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 270
- Opened
- 16
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 11
- Turnover rate
- 4.1%
- Company-owned
- 1
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 100%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (yr3)
- +1.9%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- +1.9%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 6
- Transfers (3yr)
- 17
- Transfer rate
- 6.3%
- Owners selling to other franchisees
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 22 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
- Illinois
- Michigan
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.
- Total loans
- 49
- Loan volume
- $4.8M
- Median loan
- $95K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- 21.4%
- 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)
- 78.6%
- 5-yr charge-off
- N/A
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 28
- Defaults
- 9
Vintage analysis
Fish Window Cleaning charge-off rate by loan vintage
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Premium insight
SBA Lending Report
Deep-dive into Fish Window Cleaning'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
- 15-year lending trend
Instant access. No subscription.
A 21.4% charge-off rate means roughly 1 in 5 franchisees failed to repay their SBA loan. Investigate what changed.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Fish Window Cleaning presents moderate-to-caution risk: sluggish unit growth, undisclosed financials preventing due diligence, employment litigation exposure, and a punitive royalty floor that could strain marginal performers.
Litigation (Item 3)
Pope et al. v. Fish Window Cleaning, Inc., et al., Case No. 15-CV-486, United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin. Putative collective action under FLSA and class action under Wisconsin state law for alleged failures to pay minimum wage and overtime. Franchisor dismissed via summary judgment on January 11, 2017. Settled October 2017 with payments totaling $14,200.
Largest disclosed settlement: $14,200
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Fine + Associates, P.C.
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: Yes
- 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 55 / 100 rating
- 01MINORStagnant unit growth of only 1.9% YoY suggests mature or declining system momentum with 270 units showing minimal expansion
- 02MEDNo Item 19 financial performance disclosure (Avg Revenue and Net Income not disclosed) prevents validation of ROI claims and franchisee profitability benchmarks
- 03HIGHJoint employment and wage violation litigation (Pope et al.) indicates potential labor classification mismanagement or compliance issues that could expose franchisees to liability
- 04MINORHigh initial investment range ($107,200–$172,700) combined with 5–8% royalty on minimum performance standards creates leverage risk if sales underperform
- 05MINORRoyalty structure based on 'greater of Gross Sales or Applicable Minimum Performance Standard' is punitive—franchisees pay minimums even if revenue lags, reducing flexibility
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 |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory population | 75,000 |
| Online sales rights | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 1 year |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 3 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Missouri |
| Litigation count | 1 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
Pope et al. v. Fish Window Cleaning, Inc., et al., Case No. 15-CV-486, United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin. Putative collective action under FLSA and class action under Wisconsin state law for alleged failures to pay minimum wage and overtime. Franchisor dismissed via summary judgment on January 11, 2017. Settled October 2017 with payments totaling $14,200.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 43 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 47 hrs
- Training location
- On-site and at franchisor location
- Ongoing training
- Required
- POS system
- Fish Proprietary System
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Fish Proprietary System
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
97 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
FISH WINDOW CLEANING · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a FISH WINDOW CLEANING franchise?
The total investment to open a FISH WINDOW CLEANING franchise ranges from $107K – $173K, 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 FISH WINDOW CLEANING franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the FISH WINDOW CLEANING FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $1.3M. The median is $671K. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is FISH WINDOW CLEANING's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, FISH WINDOW CLEANING has a charge-off rate of 21.4% across 49 loans, meaning 21.4% 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 FISH WINDOW CLEANING franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, FISH WINDOW CLEANING has 270 total units in the United States, including 269 franchised units and 1 company-owned units. 16 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is FISH WINDOW CLEANING a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates FISH WINDOW CLEANING 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.
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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.