FranchiseVerdict
Lighting Squad logo
FV-01498·CAUTIONExcellent81

Lighting Squad

OtherFranchising since 2024Website
Investment
$34K – $119K
9th pct Other
Avg revenue
50th pct Other
Royalty
7.0%
33rd pct Other
Units
1
7th pct Other
SBA default

Bottom line

  • Total investment $34K – $119K including a $25K franchise fee, 7.0% ongoing royalty.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated CAUTION with a risk score of 75/100.
  • No Item 19 financial performance representation. Without franchisor-disclosed revenue data, you'll need to gather unit economics directly from existing franchisees.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Lighting Squad, LLC
Incorporated in
Minnesota
HQ
3508 West 22nd Street, Minneapolis, MN. 55416
Auditor
Naper CPA Group
Audited financials

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 Lighting Squad 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: generic
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $34K–$119K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $5K–$20K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

8%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$8K
EBITDA margin
1.0%
Total invested
$89K
Payback
142 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

Franchisees operate as lighting design and installation service providers, likely serving residential and/or commercial clients with consultative sales, product specification, and installation services. Day-to-day activities typically include client consultations, site surveys, quoting, procurement, installation/project management, and service callbacks.

CEO
Travis Piepho
Founded
2024
FDD year
2024
States available
1

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$34K – $119K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$5K – $20K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$25K
Royalty
7.0%
Percentage of Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
15.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
22.0%
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
1
Opened
0
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Turnover rate
0.0%
Company-owned
1
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
0%
vs corporate-owned
2022
0+1
Franchised units
2023
0
Franchised units
2024
0
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 3 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 · 3 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.

No SBA loan data available for this brand.

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

Risk & Legal

75
Risk · 0-100
CAUTION75 / 100

Lighting Squad presents extreme risk: single operating unit, undisclosed financials, going concern issues, and no validated revenue/profit data make this a pre-revenue or distressed franchise system.

Score breakdown · what drove the 75 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINOROnly 1 operating unit despite franchise model — indicates system is pre-revenue or collapsing
  2. 02HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE — franchisor may be insolvent or financially unstable
  3. 03MEDNo Item 19 financial disclosure (Avg Revenue/Net Income not disclosed) — impossible to validate ROI claims
  4. 04MINORHigh franchise fee ($25,000) + wide investment range ($33,650–$119,000) suggests undefined cost structure
  5. 05MED7% royalty on undisclosed revenue baseline — franchisee has no benchmark for profitability
  6. 06MINORSingle unit with unknown growth trajectory — no proof of concept or replicable model

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Population
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
5 years
Online sales rights
Restricted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
0
Right of first refusal
Yes
Franchisor can buy back on resale
Mandatory arbitration
Yes
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Required
Governing law
Minnesota

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
52 hrs
On-the-job training
24 hrs
POS system
QuickBooks
Operating tech stack

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

14 numbers

Locked
(360) 902-••••
RI
(804) 371-••••
RI
(808) 586-••••
CA

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Lighting Squad · FDD (2024) PDF

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