Bottom line
- Total investment $44K – $64K including a $20K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 67/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 4 loans (below the industry average).
- System contracting at -13.6% CAGR over 3 years. Investigate whether closures are franchisor-driven (consolidation) or franchisee-driven (economics).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
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 Foliage Design Systems unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
201%
Above typical band (30–60%)
Overview
About
Foliage Design Systems franchisees provide interior and exterior plant design, installation, and maintenance services to commercial and residential clients. Day-to-day work typically involves client consultations, plant selection and sourcing, installation/landscaping work, and ongoing maintenance scheduling. The business model is service-based, requiring local marketing, client relationship management, and hands-on horticultural or design labor.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
Item 19
Financial Performance
This franchisor did not disclose financial performance representations in Item 19, or our extractor could not parse them.
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 24 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 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.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Foliage Design Systems presents CAUTION-level risk due to unit contraction, absence of financial disclosure (Item 19), minimal system size, and opacity around actual franchisee profitability—making it difficult to validate investment merit.
Score breakdown · what drove the 67 / 100 rating
- 01MEDUnit decline of 5.0% YoY suggests system contraction and potential franchisee struggles
- 02MINORNo average revenue or net income disclosure (Item 19) prevents ROI validation and profitability assessment
- 03MED22 total units is extremely small—limited peer network, higher operational risk, and questions about franchisor viability
- 04MED6% royalty on undisclosed revenue creates uncertainty; franchisees cannot model break-even scenarios
- 05MINORInvestment range of $44.4K–$64.4K is wide ($20K spread), indicating inconsistent startup cost tracking
- 06MINOR10-year term locks franchisees into relationship with a contracting system with no performance guarantees
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
Item 11
Training & Operations
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
31 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Foliage Design Systems · FDD (2023) PDF