GriswoldFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Griswold franchise requires a total initial investment of $100K – $181K, including a $50K franchise fee and an ongoing 4.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $2.1M[2]. Verdict grade: A. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $100K – $181K
- 51st pct Senior Care
- Avg gross sales
- $2.1M
- 61st pct Senior Care
- Royalty
- 4.0%
- 4th pct Senior Care
- Units
- 125
- 67th pct Senior Care
- SBA default
- N/A
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 15.2x in gross revenue, well above the typical 1.5-2.5x range.
Franchising since 1984. Systems this mature have refined operations and brand recognition.
The system grew 20% year-over-year. Fast growth means demand, but can strain support.
Bottom line
- Total investment $100K – $181K including a $50K franchise fee, 4.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $2.1M/year (median $1.7M).
- Verdict A (Top Quintile) with a risk score of 5/100.
- System growing at 20.0% CAGR over 3 years with 125 total units. Strong expansion trajectory.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- Griswold International, LLC
- Parent company
- Griswold Investors, LLC
- Predecessor
- companies were
- Prior franchisor entity
- Incorporated in
- DE
- HQ
- 510 East Township Line Road, Suite 210, Blue Bell, Pennsylvania 19422
- Auditor
- RSM US LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $21.6M
- vs $23.0M prior year
Independent franchisee associations
- Franchise Advisory Council (FAC)
- Franchisee Advisory Board
Franchisee-led councils or alliances disclosed in Item 20. Indicates operator voice.
Overview
About
Griswold franchisees typically operate as service-based businesses (likely senior care, home services, or security monitoring based on brand name). Day-to-day operations involve managing service technicians or caregivers, scheduling client appointments, handling billing and collections on the $2.1M average revenue base, and responding to corporate compliance and reporting requirements.
- CEO
- Michael Slupecki
- Headquarters
- PA
- Founded
- 1982
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 26
FDD Item 7 · 2025 filing · 12 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Feenot refundable | $50K | $55K | |
| Living Expenses While Trainingnot refundable | $3K | $5K | |
| Office Leasenot refundable | $10K | $15K | |
| Office Equipmentnot refundable | $3K | $4K | |
| First Year Computer Software Fee and Installation Feenot refundable | $2K | $2K | |
| Other Technologynot refundable | — | — | |
| Signagenot refundable | $50 | $1K | |
| Opening Office Supplies and Inventorynot refundable | $50 | $750 | |
| Insurance (6 months of general liability and worker's comp premiums)not refundable | $4K | $5K | |
| Printed Materials and Shippingnot refundable | $1K | $2K | |
| License, Permit Registration or Certificate Costsnot refundable | $0 | $8K | |
| Working Capital: Additional Funds (6 months)not refundable | $27K | $81K | |
| Total initial investment | $98K | $177K |
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
$384K
18.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
198%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
6 mo
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $100K – $181K
- Near category avg vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $27K – $81K
- Near category avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $50K – $55K
- Better than avg vs category
- Royalty
- 4.0%
- Gross Receipts · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- Greater of $75 or 0.5% of Gross Receipts
- Total fee load
- 4.5%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 4.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $2K |
| Transfer fee | $15K |
| Renewal fee | $0 |
| Total fee load | 4.5% of rev |
A 4.5% total fee load is unusually lean. More of each revenue dollar stays with the franchisee.
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $2.1M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $1.7M
- Item 19 type
- Historical Gross Receipts
- Sample size
- 48 units
- vs category median 22 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $662K→$7.5M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Quartile band
- $617K→$4.5M
- Bottom 25% → top 25%
- Transparency
- 4 / 5
- vs category median 4 / 5 · typical
Compared against 70 Senior Care brands
Revenue is 15.2x the investment midpoint. At typical franchise margins, this suggests a payback under 3 years.
vs Senior Care averages
How Griswold Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 125
- Opened
- 20
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 0
- Terminated
- 1
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 0.0%
- Company-owned
- 11
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 91%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (yr3)
- +20.0%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- +20.0%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Closed (3yr)
- 5
- Terminated (3yr)
- 0
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 3
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Transfer rate
- 3.2%
- Owners selling to other franchisees
- Continuity rate
- 99.1%
- Units that stayed open
- Termination rate
- 1.0%
- Franchisor-initiated terminations
- Ceased ops
- 5.3%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 31 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
- 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
- 28
- Loan volume
- N/A
- Amount data pending
- Median loan
- N/A
- Charge-off rate
- N/A
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- N/A
- 5-yr charge-off
- N/A
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 0
- Defaults
- 0
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
Griswold presents elevated risk due to undisclosed profitability data, active multi-jurisdictional litigation, and documented franchisee disputes, despite healthy unit growth that may mask operational or compliance problems.
Litigation (Item 3)
3 case reference(s): 1 pending, 4 settled.
Largest disclosed settlement: $10,000
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · RSM US LLP
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: No
- Must buy proprietary products: No
- Restricted to system-approved products: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 5 / 100 rating
- 01HIGHMultiple active litigation cases including state regulatory investigations (Virginia, Indiana) and collective action wage claims—suggests systemic compliance or labor practice issues
- 02MEDNet income not disclosed in FDD despite $2.1M average revenue—inability or unwillingness to provide Item 19 profitability data is a major transparency red flag
- 03MINORPattern of franchisee disputes (Mull, Life Call Systems, Baton Rouge arbitration, MacPhee negligence claim)—indicates potential misrepresentation, breach, or operational support failures
- 04MINORStrong unit growth (20% YoY to 125 units) combined with hidden profitability metrics suggests aggressive recruitment possibly outpacing sustainable support
- 05MINORFranchise fee of $49,500 plus startup costs up to $180,600 represent significant capital at risk with unproven unit economics
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 | 5 years |
| Territory type | Population-based delineated by zip codes or geographic boundaries |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Territory sizeℹ | 250,000 people |
| 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 |
| Termination groundsℹ | 1 |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 3 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Pennsylvania |
| Litigation count | 7 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
3 case reference(s): 1 pending, 4 settled.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 71 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 0 hrs
- Training location
- On-site and corporate
- POS system
- ClearCare
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: ClearCare
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
126 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Griswold · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Griswold franchise?
The total investment to open a Griswold franchise ranges from $100K – $181K, 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 Griswold franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Griswold FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $2.1M. The median is $1.7M. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Griswold's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Griswold (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 Griswold franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Griswold has 125 total units in the United States, including 95 franchised units and 11 company-owned units. 20 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Griswold a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Griswold 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.