FranchiseVerdict
Lush Lawn® logo
FV-01529·MODERATEExcellent86

Lush Lawn®

Home Services - Lawn & LandscapingFranchising since 2024Website
Investment
$167K – $322K
83rd pct Lawn & Landsc…
Avg revenue
$2.1M
54th pct Lawn & Landsc…
Royalty
8.0%
29th pct Lawn & Landsc…
Units
5
21st pct Lawn & Landsc…
SBA default

Bottom line

  • Total investment $167K – $322K including a $38K franchise fee, 8.0% ongoing royalty.
  • Average unit revenue of $2.1M/year (median $2.2M).
  • Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 60/100.
  • Emerging franchise — only 2 years of franchising with 5 units. Early-stage systems carry higher risk but may offer better territory availability.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Lush Lawn Franchising, LLC
Incorporated in
Michigan
HQ
4345 Meigs Avenue, Suite 200, Waterford, MI 48329
Auditor
Bultynck & Co., P.L.L.C.
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$0
Most recent fiscal year

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 Lush Lawn® unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
FDD Item 19 reports $2,056,145
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: $167K–$322K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $10K–$20K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

63%

Above typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$164K
EBITDA margin
8.0%
Total invested
$259K
Payback
19 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.

Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing

What would 25 Lush Lawn® units return on equity?

Edit assumptions

Equity IRR · 5-yr

49.9%

7.57× MOIC

Year-1 DSCR

1.88×

EBITDA ÷ debt service

Equity required

$411K

on $2.1M purchase

Total debt

$1.6M

SBA $1.0M + senior + seller note

Overview

About

Franchisees operate lawn care and landscaping service businesses, managing recurring residential and commercial client accounts. Day-to-day activities include crew supervision, equipment maintenance, scheduling service routes, client communication, and performance of grounds maintenance services (mowing, fertilization, pest control, seasonal cleanup).

CEO
Aaron Samson
Founded
2011
FDD year
2025
States available
1

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$167K – $322K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$10K – $20K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$38K
Royalty
8.0%
Percentage of Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
3.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
26.0%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

Avg gross sales
$2.1M
Per unit, per year
Median gross sales
$2.2M
Item 19 type
Affiliate-owned branch locations
Sample size
5 units
vs category median 12 · small
Range (low → high)
$486K$2.7M
Cohort dispersion
Transparency
6 / 5
vs category median 6 / 5 · typical
Revenue rank54th
vs Home Services - Lawn & Landscaping peers
Investment cost rank83th
Lower investment ranks lower (better)
Royalty rate rank29th
Lower royalty = lower percentile (better)
Unit count rank21th
vs Home Services - Lawn & Landscaping peers
Risk score rank71th
Lower risk = lower percentile (better)

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
5
Opened
0
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Turnover rate
0.0%
Company-owned
5
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
0%
vs corporate-owned
2023
0±0
Franchised units
2024
0
Franchised units
2025
0
Franchised units

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

Item 12 · 1 state reported

The Territory Map

FDD Item 12 reports the state count, but the specific list isn't in our current data. The map will appear once we re-extract from the FDD or enough franchisee contacts are available.

1

states with franchisees (per FDD Item 12)

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

60
Risk · 0-100
MODERATE60 / 100

Lush Lawn presents elevated risk due to micro-scale system (5 units), absent profitability disclosure, corporate going concern issues, and inability to validate ROI claims through comparable franchisee performance data.

Score breakdown · what drove the 60 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINOROnly 5 units in system with unknown growth trajectory indicates minimal scale and potentially stagnant development
  2. 02MINORNo net income disclosure (Item 19) prevents accurate ROI validation and profitability assessment
  3. 03HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE, suggesting potential financial instability or viability questions at corporate level
  4. 04MINORHigh initial investment range ($167k-$321.5k) against only 5 comparable units limits benchmarking and peer validation
  5. 05MINOR8% royalty on reported $2.056M average revenue equals ~$164k annual corporate take, which may be insufficient to support franchise operations with only 5 units

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Geographic Area
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
7 years
Renewal term
5 years
Online sales rights
Granted
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
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Required
Governing law
Michigan

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
36 hrs
On-the-job training
124 hrs
POS system
Hubspot and RealGreen
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.

No franchisee contacts available for Lush Lawn®. This brand's FDD Item 20 did not include a contactable franchisee list.

FDD download

Lush Lawn® · FDD (2025) PDF

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