Mi-box Mobile Storage & Moving Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Mi-box Mobile Storage & Moving franchise requires a total initial investment of $228K – $787K, including a $30K franchise fee. Per the latest FDD, average unit revenue was $426K[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 0.0% charge-off rate across 17 loans[1]. FranchiseVerdict grade: A (Strongest tier), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified
Overview
- Investment
- $228K – $787K
- 77th pct Real Estate
- Avg gross sales
- $426K
- 16th pct Real Estate
- Royalty
- N/A
- Units
- 11
- 14th pct Real Estate
- SBA charge-off
- 0.0%
- % of SBA 7(a) loans not repaid · median varies by category
Quick verdict · Real Estate · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Real Estate 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
- Total investment $228K – $787K including a $30K franchise fee.
- Average unit revenue of $426K/year.
- Verdict A (Strongest tier), verdict score 60/100 (higher is better). SBA loan charge-off rate of 0.0% across 17 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
- MI-BOX L.L.C.
- Parent company
- MI-BOX Holding Group LLC
- CEO title
- President
- Brian C. Born
- Incorporated in
- Illinois
- HQ
- 511 Oak Leaf Court, Suite B, Joliet, IL 60436
- Auditor
- Muhammad Zubairy, CPA PC
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $267K
- vs $279K prior year
Overview
About
Franchisor of mobile/portable storage container rental, moving and storage services under the MI-BOX brand, using proprietary system containers and a proprietary Lift System mounted on an approved vehicle.
- CEO
- Brian C. Born
- Headquarters
- Illinois
- Founded
- 2019
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 137% above the typical real estate franchise.
Source: FDD · Items 5–7
FDD Item 7
Initial investment breakdown
| Cost component | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $30K | $30K |
| Working capital (3–6 mo) | $44K | $227K |
| Equipment, build-out, other | $155K | $530K |
| Total initial investment | $228K | $787K |
Source: Mi-box Mobile Storage & Moving 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
- $228K – $787K
- Bottom third — review vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $44K – $227K
- Bottom third — review vs category
- Franchise fee
- $30K
- Middle of category vs category
- Royalty
- Container Royalty Fee: $10 per container per month for ea…
- Ad fund
- No national/brand marketing fund. Local Advertising Requi…
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty (flat) | Monthly Recurring Fees: Trademark License Fee $400; General Maintenance Fee $600; Website Maintenance Fee $200; Software Fee $250; Administrative Fee $250; plus Container Royalty Fee $10/container above 86 containers. |
| Technology fee | $250 |
| Training fee | $18K |
| Transfer fee | $10K |
| Renewal fee | $8K |
| Inventory (initial) | $50K – $102K |
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 55% below the real estate norm.
Source: FDD · 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
$60K
14.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
9%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
10.8 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $426K
- Per unit/yr · from the Item 19 franchised-cohort breakdown (no single system-wide average disclosed)
- Median gross sales
- N/A
Gross sales are revenue before expenses — not profit. Actual owner earnings depend on rent, labor, royalties, marketing fees, and debt service.
- Item 19 type
- per-container average monthly gross revenue (not whole-unit revenue)
- Sample size
- 6 units
- vs category median 46 · small
- Reporting year
- 2026
- Fiscal year the figures cover
Compared against 121 Real Estate brands
Revenue is only 0.8x the investment. This means each unit may take 5+ years to recoup the initial outlay at typical margins.
vs Real Estate averages
How Mi-box Mobile Storage & Moving Compares
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 11
- Opened
- 3
- 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
- 0.0%
- Company-owned
- 1
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 91%
- vs corporate-owned
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 1
- Closed (3yr)
- 0
- Terminated (3yr)
- 0
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 0
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
Last reporting year only, multi-year history not disclosed in this brand's FDD.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
- Total loans
- 17
- Loan volume
- $17.6M
- Median loan
- $1.1M
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- 0.0%
- 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)
- 100.0%
- 5-yr charge-off
- N/A
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 3
- Defaults
- 0
- Typical loan rate
- 6.1%
- avg rate to borrowers
- vs industry
- N/A
- NAICS 5311
- Jobs supported
- 78
- 0.4 per loan
- Lender concentration
- 88%
- top lender's share
Borrower mix: 0% went to startups / new businesses, 100% to established operators
Top lenders financing Mi-box Mobile Storage & Moving franchisees
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
With a 0.0% charge-off rate across 17 loans, banks have historically viewed this brand favorably for lending.
What could kill this investment?
SBA loans charge off at 0.0% — 100% 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
Litigation (Item 3)
DFPI (CA) order/consent order re: unregistered franchise offer/sale by affiliate MHC ($5,000 payment); Minnesota Commerce Dept civil penalty ($1,000) for unregistered offer/sale; four active civil lawsuits involving affiliate MI-BOX Holding Company brought by former dealers/master dealers alleging franchise law violations, breach of contract, trademark infringement, and related claims - franchisor believes claims are without merit.
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Muhammad Zubairy, CPA PC
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
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: Yes
What are you signing up for?
Source: FDD · 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 |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory population | 300,000 |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 25 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 30 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Termination groundsℹ | 21 |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 7 |
| Mandatory arbitration | No |
| Governing law | Illinois |
| Litigation count | 6 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
DFPI (CA) order/consent order re: unregistered franchise offer/sale by affiliate MHC ($5,000 payment); Minnesota Commerce Dept civil penalty ($1,000) for unregistered offer/sale; four active civil lawsuits involving affiliate MI-BOX Holding Company brought by former dealers/master dealers alleging franchise law violations, breach of contract, trademark infringement, and related claims - franchisor believes claims are without merit.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 20 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 16 hrs
- Training location
- Joliet, IL Corporate Office (phone/webinar/video)
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Site selection
- Franchisee (with franchisor approval)
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- e-CCM (proprietary CRM)
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: e-CCM (proprietary CRM)
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Mi-box Mobile Storage & Moving franchise?
The total investment to open a Mi-box Mobile Storage & Moving franchise ranges from $228K – $787K, with an initial franchise fee of $30K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Mi-box Mobile Storage & Moving franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Mi-box Mobile Storage & Moving FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $426K. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Mi-box Mobile Storage & Moving's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, Mi-box Mobile Storage & Moving has a charge-off rate of 0.0% across 17 loans, meaning 0.0% 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 Mi-box Mobile Storage & Moving franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Mi-box Mobile Storage & Moving has 11 total units in the United States. 3 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Mi-box Mobile Storage & Moving a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Mi-box Mobile Storage & Moving as a A-grade franchise with a verdict score of 60 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?
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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.