Hoodz Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
HOODZ is a B2B franchise providing commercial kitchen exhaust-hood cleaning and related maintenance for restaurants and foodservice operators. Franchisees run a route-based service scheduling recurring cleanings and inspections in a territory.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A HOODZ franchise requires a total initial investment of $201K – $247K, including a $30K – $60K franchise fee and an ongoing 10.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2026 FDD, average unit revenue was $737K[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 4.5% charge-off rate across 22 loans[1]. FranchiseVerdict grade: A (Strongest tier), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified · figures per the 2026 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $201K – $247K
- 72nd pct Cleaning & Ma…
- Avg gross sales
- $737K
- Outlet subset23rd pct Cleaning & Ma…
- Royalty
- 10.0%
- 55th pct Cleaning & Ma…
- Units
- 142
- 69th pct Cleaning & Ma…
- SBA charge-off
- 4.5%
- % of SBA 7(a) loans not repaid · median varies by category
Quick verdict · Cleaning & Maintenance · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Cleaning & Maintenance avg · No shading = within ±10% · Red = unfavorable by >10% · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Bottom line
- COSTTotal investment $201K – $247K including a $60K franchise fee, 10.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $737K/year (median $508K) (reported for a subset of outlets rather than the whole system).
- RISKVerdict A (Strongest tier), verdict score 88/100 (higher is better). SBA loan charge-off rate of 4.5% across 22 loans (well below the franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2025).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- HOODZ International, LLC
- Parent company
- BELFOR Franchise Group, LLC
- Ultimate parent
- BELFOR Holdings, Inc.
- CEO title
- Chief Executive Officer
- Sheldon Yellen
- Incorporated in
- DE
- HQ
- 5405 Data Court, Ann Arbor, MI 48108
- Auditor
- BDO USA, P.C.
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $30.1M
- vs $29.5M prior year
Independent franchisee associations
- Independent Franchisee Association
Franchisee-led councils or alliances disclosed in Item 20. Indicates operator voice.
Overview
About
- CEO
- Sheldon Yellen
- Headquarters
- MI
- Founded
- 2008
- FDD year
- 2026
- States available
- 34
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 28% below the typical cleaning & maintenance franchise.
Source: FDD 2026 · Items 5–7
FDD Item 7 · 2026 filing
Initial investment breakdown
| Cost component | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $60K | $60K |
| Working capital (3–6 mo) | $10K | $30K |
| Equipment, build-out, other | $131K | $157K |
| Total initial investment | $201K | $247K |
Source: HOODZ 2026 FDD, Items 5 and 7[2]. “Equipment, build-out, other” is computed as total minus disclosed line items above.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $201K – $247K
- Bottom third — review vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $10K – $30K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $30K – $60K
- Bottom third — review vs category
- Royalty
- 10.0%
- tiered · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 1.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 11.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 10.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 1.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $3K |
| Transfer fee | $10K |
| Renewal fee | $6K |
| Total fee load | 11.0% of rev |
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 18% below the cleaning & maintenance norm.
Reported for a subset of outlets rather than the whole system
Source: FDD 2026 · Item 19
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
$59K
8.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
24%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
4.1 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
What one unit earns on your invested capital
Model A · Single-Unit Return
Computes unlevered return on invested capital (ROIC) for a single franchise unit. The target band for an attractive franchise is 30–60% ROIC. Below that and a passive index fund likely outperforms; above that and the franchisor has pricing power you're subsidizing.
Note: Item 19 revenue is what the franchisor discloses. It's the top line only. Operating costs below are category estimates. Override them to match your real lease quote, labor market, and build-out budget.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one HOODZ unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Estimated return on your total franchise investment, before any debt financing.
24%
Below the 30–60% attractive-franchise band
What 25 units return when you use SBA financing
Model B · Return on Equity: Debt-Financed Acquisition
Models a 25-unit portfolio acquisition financed with an SBA 7(a) loan. Shows equity IRR (your return on cash invested), DSCR (how safely the cash flow covers debt service), and the capital stack (SBA + seller + equity breakdown).
This is the “search fund” or “entrepreneurship through acquisition” scenario: you buy an existing multi-unit operator, use leverage to amplify returns, and either operate or hire management. The 25-unit size is the typical minimum for an SBA-backed franchise portfolio acquisition to pencil as a full-time income.
What “return on equity” means here: if you put in $500K of your own cash and the business generates enough EBITDA to pay down debt and grow, your equity IRR is the annual return on that $500K, including the value created when you eventually sell. Target IRR for a search fund is typically 25–35%.
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 HOODZ units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$147K
on $737K purchase
Total debt
$590K
SBA $0.4M + senior + seller note
These models are for research and scenario planning only. Not investment advice. Actual results depend on your specific location, management, and market conditions. Consult a franchise attorney and accountant before signing any franchise agreement.
Item 19 · Source: 2026 FDD
Financial Performance
Reported for a subset of outlets rather than the whole system
- Avg gross sales
- $737K
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $508K
Gross sales are revenue before expenses — not profit. Actual owner earnings depend on rent, labor, royalties, marketing fees, and debt service.
- Item 19 type
- gross sales
- Sample size
- 30 franchisees
- vs category median 32
- Range (low → high)
- $193K→$2.6M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Reporting year
- 2025
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2026
- Disclosed in the 2026 filing, covering 2025
- Transparency
- 4 / 10
- vs category median 4 / 10 · typical
Compared against 192 Cleaning & Maintenance brands
Operator outlook
What the numbers say
Data-driven interpretation of this brand's financial disclosures, fee structure, and system trajectory.
Unit economics
Average unit generates $737K/year in gross sales. Median is $508K — top performers pull the average up, so a typical unit earns less. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 3.3x. Reported for a subset of outlets rather than the whole system.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 11.0% (near the Cleaning & Maintenance average).
Disclosure
Transparency score 4/10 — this franchisor discloses detailed breakdowns (quartiles, segments, or cohort data). Buyers can model unit economics with higher confidence.
Operator retention
System roughly stable (+4.7% 3-year CAGR) with 142 units.
Source: FDD Item 19 financial performance representations and publicly filed FDD data. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Verify all figures with the franchisor and current franchisees before making any investment decision.
vs Cleaning & Maintenance averages
How Hoodz Compares
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2026 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 142
- Opened
- 5
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 1
- Terminated
- 1
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 2.2%
- Company-owned
- 7
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 95%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (3-yr)
- +4.7%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 3-yr CAGR
- +4.7%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 10
- Closed (3yr)
- 0
- Terminated (3yr)
- 3
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 16
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Termination rate
- 22.2%
- Franchisor-initiated terminations
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 34 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
- 22
- Loan volume
- $6.7M
- Median loan
- $150K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- 4.5%
- 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)
- 95.5%
- 5-yr charge-off
- N/A
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 14
- Defaults
- 1
- Typical loan rate
- 7.9%
- avg rate to borrowers
- Franchised industry avg
- 15.4%
- brand beats franchise avg ↓
- Jobs supported
- 143
- 2.1 per loan
- Lender concentration
- 14%
- top lender's share
Borrower mix: 62% went to startups / new businesses, 38% to established operators
Franchise vs independent — in janitorial services, franchised businesses charge off at 15.4% vs 22.8% for independents — franchising is associated with 32% lower SBA default risk in this category.
Top lenders financing Hoodz franchisees
Showing 3 of 14 lenders. The full breakdown — every lender, state distribution, interest rates & risk ratings — is in the SBA Lending Report below.
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Premium insight
SBA Lending Report
Deep-dive into Hoodz'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 14 states
- Startup risk premium and job creation velocity
- 11-year lending trend
- SBA 504 real estate/equipment data
Instant access. No subscription.
What could kill this investment?
SBA loans charge off at 4.5% — 72% below the 16.0% national norm, i.e. lower lender-observed risk.
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 4, 8, 16, 21
Risk & Legal
HOODZ presents meaningful caution due to active litigation alleging franchisor misconduct, missing profitability data, and stagnant unit growth, warranting deep validation before $200k+ investment.
Litigation (Item 3)
Zhu Elite Enterprises, Inc. v. HOODZ International, LLC – adversary proceeding in bankruptcy court (N.D. Texas); franchisee defaulted for out-of-territory conduct asserting declaratory relief, breach of implied covenant, Michigan Investment Law violations, and other claims. HOODZ contesting.
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · BDO USA, P.C.
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
ⓘ These are the parent company's consolidated financials (the parent guarantees the franchisor), not this brand's standalone results — the figure reflects the whole corporate group, not this brand alone.
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: Yes
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
Score breakdown · what drove the 88 / 100 verdict
- 01HIGHActive litigation from defaulted franchisee alleging breach of good faith, Michigan Investment Law violations, and tortious interference—suggests potential franchisor conduct issues
- 02MEDNet income not disclosed in Item 19—inability to verify actual profitability against $737k average revenue claim
- 03MINORMinimal unit growth of 3.1% YoY with only 142 units indicates stagnant system expansion and possible market saturation
- 04MEDHigh royalty rate (10% at entry) combined with undisclosed net income creates uncertainty about true unit economics
- 05HIGHGoing concern status is False but litigation risk and slow growth suggest financial stability questions
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 11.0% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2026 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 5 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 5 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 2 |
| Territory type | protected |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | Yes |
| Online sales rights | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 1 year |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 50 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 30 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 15 days |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 15 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Jury trial waiver | No |
| Governing law | MI |
| Litigation count | 1 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
Zhu Elite Enterprises, Inc. v. HOODZ International, LLC – adversary proceeding in bankruptcy court (N.D. Texas); franchisee defaulted for out-of-territory conduct asserting declaratory relief, breach of implied covenant, Michigan Investment Law violations, and other claims. HOODZ contesting.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 78 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 11 hrs
- Training location
- Ann Arbor Training Center / Onsite in Field
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 3 mo
- From signing to launch
- Franchisor financing
- Offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- HOODZ Software
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: HOODZ Software
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
69 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
HOODZ · FDD (2026) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a HOODZ franchise?
The total investment to open a HOODZ franchise ranges from $201K – $247K, with an initial franchise fee of $60K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do HOODZ franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the HOODZ FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $737K. The median is $508K. Important context: Reported for a subset of outlets rather than the whole system. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Item 19 in the HOODZ FDD?
The FDD section where a franchisor may disclose financial performance of its outlets. Disclosure is optional and formats vary; figures are typically gross sales, which is revenue before expenses, not profit. FranchiseVerdict extracts these figures directly from the HOODZ FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is HOODZ's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, HOODZ has a charge-off rate of 4.5% across 22 loans, meaning 4.5% 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 HOODZ franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, HOODZ has 142 total units in the United States, including 135 franchised units and 7 company-owned units. 5 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is HOODZ a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates HOODZ as a A-grade franchise with a verdict score of 88 out of 100 (higher is better), 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
Are you the franchisor?
If you represent HOODZ, you can request corrections or provide updated information.
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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.