Kitchen Guard Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
- Investment
- $198K – $264K
- Disclosed sales
- partial, no system average
- SBA charge-off
- Limited · 13 loans
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Kitchen Guard is a commercial kitchen services franchise providing exhaust hood cleaning and fire-safety compliance for restaurants. Franchisees run local operations, managing technicians and recurring accounts.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Kitchen Guard franchise requires a total initial investment of $198K – $264K, including a $49K franchise fee and an ongoing 8.0% royalty[2]. The 2025 FDD on file does not yield a unit-revenue figure we can publish. FranchiseVerdict grade: B (Above average), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Sources, dates and evidence
FDD issued: · Data extracted: · Last cited check: · Staleness risk: medium - issued 12 to 24 months ago; a newer filing is likely on file
Evidence: strong✓ Investment (Item 7)✓ Item 19 status✓ Units and owners (Item 20)✓ SBA loan coverage✓ Litigation (Item 3)✓ Financial statements (Item 21)✓ Franchisor identityhow this is scored5 of 5 headline figures on this page cite a page of the filing.
Overview
- Investment
- $198K – $264K
- 71st pct Cleaning & Ma…
- Avg gross sales
- N/A
- Company-owned only1 outlet
- Royalty
- 8.0%
- 56th pct Cleaning & Ma…
- Units
- 6
- 16th pct Cleaning & Ma…
- SBA charge-off
- N/A
Quick verdict · Cleaning & Maintenance · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Cleaning & Maintenance median · 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 $198K – $264K including a $49K franchise fee, 8.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSNo franchised average is disclosed. The FDD states (printed p.50) that 'none of our franchised locations have completed a full fiscal year of operation', and the only franchised data is average MONTHLY gross billings by month of operation — $13,321 by month seven, across three territories. The figure previously shown was the affiliate's total 2024 gross billings for a Primary Service Area the FDD describes as 'three times as large as the territory offered in this disclosure document'.
- RISKVerdict B (Above average), verdict score 49/100 (higher is better).
- GROWTHNegative, pipeline stalled: 39 agreements signed but not yet open against 6 open outlets (Item 20).
- DATAItem 19 does not yield a per-outlet annual revenue figure we can compare across brands. Ask franchisees directly for full unit-level revenue.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Kitchen Guard Franchising, Inc.
- Parent company
- Clintar, Inc. d/b/a EverSmith Brands
- Ultimate parent
- EverSmith Brands Holding Company (f/k/a Clintar Holding Company)
- CEO title
- Chief Executive Officer and Director
- Ken Hutcheson
- Incorporated in
- DE
- HQ
- 6700 Forum Drive, Suite 150, Orlando, FL 32821
- Auditor
- BDO USA, P.C.
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $35.0M
- vs $22.2M prior year
- Management churn noted
- Frequent turnover
- Item 2 disclosed frequent executive changes
Same owner · FDD Item 1
3 other brands on this site name EverSmith Brands Holding Company (f/k/a Clintar Holding Company) as parent or ultimate parent in their own FDD.
Grouped by the owner's name as each filing prints it (this page: the 2025 FDD). Spelling variants of the same group may be listed apart; a brand is never grouped with an owner its filing does not name.
Overview
About
- CEO
- Ken Hutcheson
- Headquarters
- FL
- Founded
- 2023
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 5
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 36% above the typical cleaning & maintenance franchise.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 5–7
Full Item 7 breakdown10 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Feenot refundable | $49K | $49K | |
| Trainingnot refundable | $1K | $4K | |
| Equipment, Inventory, and Supplies, marketing suppliesnot refundable | $53K | $77K | |
| Rent - 3 monthsnot refundable | $4K | $18K | |
| Tenant improvementsnot refundable | $1K | $7K | |
| Vehicle Expensesnot refundable | $3K | $6K | |
| Computer equipment, phones, and Technology Feesnot refundable | $3K | $5K | |
| Miscellaneousnot refundable | $6K | $9K | |
| Local Marketingnot refundable | $5K | $5K | |
| Additional Fundsnot refundable | $74K | $84K | |
| Total initial investment | $198K | $264K |
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.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $198K – $264K
- Bottom third — review vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $74K – $84K
- Bottom third — review vs category
- Franchise fee
- $49K – $49K
- Middle of category vs category
- Royalty
- 8.0%
- Tiered by sales volume · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 2.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 10.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 8.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 2.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $499 |
| Training fee | $1K |
| Transfer fee | $15K |
| Renewal fee | $5K |
| Inventory (initial) | $53K – $77K |
| Total fee load | 10.0% of rev |
What do units actually make?
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 19
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
No Item 19 revenue figure for Kitchen Guard is on file. The return models need a revenue figure to start from, and the operating costs that turn gross sales into a profit are in no FDD. Enter your own and the calculator runs on your assumptions — nothing here is modelled until you do.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one Kitchen Guard unit return on the cash you put in?
Illustrative category typicals — not sourced to any filing, survey or sample. Replace them with figures from franchisee validation calls before you rely on the output.
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Your modelled return on total invested capital, before any debt financing.
—
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for annual revenue, COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
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: 2025 FDD
Financial Performance
No franchised average is disclosed. The FDD states (printed p.50) that 'none of our franchised locations have completed a full fiscal year of operation', and the only franchised data is average MONTHLY gross billings by month of operation — $13,321 by month seven, across three territories. The figure previously shown was the affiliate's total 2024 gross billings for a Primary Service Area the FDD describes as 'three times as large as the territory offered in this disclosure document'.
Company-owned outlets only - not franchisee performance
Based on a single outlet - not a system average
- Item 19 type
- affiliate historical plus franchisee ramp
- Sample size
- 1 outlet
- vs category median 32 · small
- Reporting year
- 2024
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2025
- Disclosed in the 2025 filing, covering 2024
- Transparency
- 6 / 10
- vs category median 4 / 10 · above
Compared against 191 Cleaning & Maintenance brands
Operator outlook
What the numbers say
Data-driven interpretation of this brand's financial disclosures, fee structure, and system trajectory.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 10.0% — above the Cleaning & Maintenance median of 8.3%.
Disclosure
Item 19 does not yield a per-outlet annual revenue figure we can compare across brands.
Multi-unit rate
29% of franchisees own multiple units, a moderate multi-unit rate.
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 medians
How Kitchen Guard Compares
Category median of published Cleaning & Maintenance brands that report the figure; the middle half spans the 25th to 75th percentile and n counts the brands behind it. Medians are used because a few very large systems pull an average far from the typical brand. Revenue is disclosed gross sales, not profit.
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 6
- Opened
- 5
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 0
- Terminated
- 0
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- N/A
- Company-owned
- 1
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 83%
- vs corporate-owned
- Multi-unit owners
- 28.6%
Last fiscal year · Item 20 exits and transfers
- Terminated
- 0
- Not renewed
- 0
- Transferred
- 0
- Reacquired
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Signed, not yet open
- 39
- 6.50 per open outlet · Item 20 Table 5
- Projected new
- 30
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 14 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.
Where the owners are · Item 20 owner list
18 current owners across 14 states.
- FL 3
- CA 2
- TX 2
- AL 1
- AR 1
- AZ 1
- CO 1
- IL 1
- MI 1
- NC 1
- NV 1
- OH 1
- +2 more states
Counts only, from the list the franchisor prints in Item 20. Names and phone numbers are for your own due diligence and are not shown here.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
- Total loans
- 13
- Loan volume
- $4.2M
- Median loan
- $321K
- average
- Charge-off rate
- Limited · 13 loans
- Limited SBA coverage: 13 loans, rate hidden until 10 have resolved and loans reach 2% of franchised units
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- Limited · 13 loans
- 5-yr charge-off
- Limited · 13 loans
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 7
- Defaults
- 0
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
What could kill this investment?
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 4, 8, 16, 21
Risk & Legal
Litigation (Item 3)
Subject: officers or affiliates. The franchisor is not a named party in these cases.
No litigation required to be disclosed
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
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: Yes
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 49 / 100 verdict
- 01MINOROnly 6 units in system with unknown growth trajectory suggests minimal scale and potential stagnation
- 02MINORHigh initial investment ($197,950-$264,150) relative to system size creates liquidity risk if franchisor fails
- 03MED8-10% royalty on gross billings (not net) is aggressive and leaves limited margin for underperforming units
- 04MINOR10-year term is lengthy for a micro-franchise system with unproven longevity and no growth data
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 10.0% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 2 |
| Territory type | Protected territory |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory sizeℹ | 1,000-2,000 retail food service locations |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 25 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 5 days |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 3 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Orlando, Florida |
| Jury trial waiver | No |
| Governing law | FL |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation required to be disclosed
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 10 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 64 hrs
- Training location
- Online (modules 1-5), then in-person at Escondido, CA or other locations chosen by Franchisor
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 6 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- Franchisor approval required
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- Microsoft Office 365, plus a franchise management software program
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Microsoft Office 365, plus a franchise management software program
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
18 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Kitchen Guard franchise?
The total investment to open a Kitchen Guard franchise ranges from $198K – $264K, with an initial franchise fee of $49K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Kitchen Guard franchise owners earn?
Item 19 of the Kitchen Guard FDD discloses figures for part of the system but no single average across all outlets. These are gross sales figures, not profit; the Revenue section shows what the filing reports and on what basis. Item 20 of the FDD lists current and former franchisees; asking them directly is the standard way to fill this gap.
Who owns Kitchen Guard?
Kitchen Guard is franchised by Kitchen Guard Franchising, Inc.. Its parent company is Clintar, Inc. d/b/a EverSmith Brands. The ultimate parent named in the FDD is EverSmith Brands Holding Company (f/k/a Clintar Holding Company). Source: FDD Item 1, 2025 filing.
What is Item 19 in the Kitchen Guard 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 Kitchen Guard FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Kitchen Guard's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Kitchen Guard (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 Kitchen Guard franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Kitchen Guard has 6 total units in the United States, including 5 franchised units and 1 company-owned units. 5 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Kitchen Guard a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Kitchen Guard as a B-grade franchise with a verdict score of 49 out of 100 (higher is better). The grade is a deterministic score built from six weighted dimensions — financial health, unit economics, unit growth, scale, legal, and transparency — then calibrated against SBA loan charge-off rates and FDD age. Transparency is one of the six, so a filing that discloses less scores lower on that dimension than one that discloses more. 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?
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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.