FranchiseVerdict
Jani-King logo
FV-01333·CAUTIONExcellent81

Jani-King

Formerly known as Focus Brands

Cleaning - Commercial & JanitorialFranchising since 2013Website
Investment
$13K – $218K
3rd pct Commercial & …
Avg revenue
65th pct Commercial & …
Royalty
10.0%
54th pct Commercial & …
Units
4,872
99th pct Commercial & …
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $13K – $218K including a $10K franchise fee, 10.0% ongoing royalty.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated CAUTION with a risk score of 71/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 3 loans (below the industry average).
  • Auditor disclosed a going-concern note — flagged doubt about the franchisor's ability to continue operations. Verify against the latest FDD.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Focus Franchising, Inc. and Forward Franchising, Inc.
Parent company
Jani-King International, Inc.
Incorporated in
Wisconsin
HQ
6472 Ronald Reagan Avenue, Madison, WI 53704
Auditor
BDO USA, P.C.
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$174.2M
vs $167.2M prior year
⚠ Going-concern note
Disclosed in FDD 2025
Auditor flagged doubt about continued operations. Verify against the latest FDD before deciding.

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 Jani-King unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
Item 19 not disclosed — typing your own estimate
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: restoration
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $13K–$218K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $800–$9K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

47%

In Yale's "attractive" band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$56K
EBITDA margin
7.5%
Total invested
$120K
Payback
26 mo
Unit-level only. A multi-unit portfolio gives up roughly 5–15% of this to shared services (corporate G&A) before reaching the ~10-unit break-even Yale describes.

Overview

About

Jani-King franchisees operate commercial cleaning contracts for office buildings, retail spaces, and industrial facilities. Day-to-day work involves managing cleaning crews (or performing work themselves), scheduling service routes, maintaining equipment, and billing clients. Revenue scales with customer acquisition and retention, while profitability depends on labor cost management and operational efficiency.

CEO
Jeffrey Weyker
Founded
2013
FDD year
2025
States available
41

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$13K – $218K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$800 – $9K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$10K
Royalty
10.0%
Gross Revenue · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
1.5%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
12.5%
vs 9–13% typical

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

Total units
4,872
Opened
403
Last reporting year
Closed
140
Turnover rate
2.9%
Company-owned
13
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
100%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
-1.2%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
-2.4%
Compounded over last 3 years
2023
4,859-56
Franchised units
2024
4,916
Franchised units
2025
4,980
Franchised units

Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.

Item 20 · 7 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).

AK
ME
VT
NH
MA
RI
CT
NY
NJ
PA
DE
MD
DC
WA
OR
CA
NV
ID
MT
WY
UT
CO
AZ
NM
ND
SD
NE
KS
OK
TX
MN
IA
MO
AR
LA
WI
IL
MS
TN
MI
IN
KY
AL
OH
WV
GA
VA
NC
SC
FL
HI
Registered · 7 states
Not registered

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.

Total loans
3
Loan volume
Avg loan
Default rate
0.0%
vs <3% typical · system-wide
5-yr default

FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17

Risk & Legal

71
Risk · 0-100
CAUTION71 / 100

Jani-King presents high risk due to shrinking franchisee base, unresolved litigation over worker classification, opaque financials, and parent company financial distress.

Score breakdown · what drove the 71 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINORDeclining unit count (-1.2% YoY) suggests system contraction and potential franchisee attrition
  2. 02MINORMultiple class action lawsuits alleging worker misclassification and wage/hour violations create legal and operational risk
  3. 03MINORWide investment range ($12,955–$218,100) indicates inconsistent unit economics and unclear cost structure
  4. 04MEDNo disclosed average revenue or net income prevents ROI validation and masks profitability concerns
  5. 05MINORUnprotected territory creates direct competition risk and revenue cannibalization within the system
  6. 06MINOR10% royalty on gross revenue (not net) penalizes franchisees during low-margin periods
  7. 07HIGHGoing concern status suggests parent company financial instability despite 4,872-unit system size

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Non-exclusive territory
Protected territory
No
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
10 years
Online sales rights
Restricted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
17
Right of first refusal
Yes
Franchisor can buy back on resale
Mandatory arbitration
Yes
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
1 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Required
Governing law
Texas

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
22 hrs
On-the-job training
8 hrs

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

69 numbers

Locked
(608) 446-••••
WI
(608) 225-••••
WI
(608) 886-••••
WI

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Jani-King · FDD (2025) PDF

Single-page checkout · instant download · CSV export of contacts available separately above