FranchiseVerdict
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FV-01785·CAUTIONExcellent86

NiteLites

Home Services - Lawn & LandscapingFranchising since 2004Website
Investment
$66K – $111K
8th pct Lawn & Landsc…
Avg revenue
79th pct Lawn & Landsc…
Royalty
5.0%
0th pct Lawn & Landsc…
Units
13
33rd pct Lawn & Landsc…
SBA default

Bottom line

  • Total investment $66K – $111K including a $20K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated CAUTION with a risk score of 72/100.
  • 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
NITELITES FRANCHISE SYSTEMS, INC.
Incorporated in
Ohio
HQ
6107 Market Avenue, Franklin, Ohio 45005
Auditor
Brady Ware & Schoenfeld
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$307K
vs $277K prior 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 NiteLites 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: $66K–$111K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $10K–$10K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

91%

Above typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$90K
EBITDA margin
12.0%
Total invested
$99K
Payback
13 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

NiteLites franchisees appear to operate in outdoor/decorative lighting (nighttime illumination products/services). Day-to-day operations likely involve design consultation, installation, maintenance, and customer service for residential or commercial lighting systems. Franchisees would manage local sales, crew scheduling, inventory, and customer relationships within their protected territory.

CEO
Thomas A. Frederick
Founded
2004
FDD year
2026
States available
5

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$66K – $111K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$10K – $10K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$20K
Royalty
5.0%
Gross Sales based or Minimum Royalty · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
2.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
7.0%
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
13
Opened
0
Last reporting year
Closed
3
Turnover rate
23.1%
Company-owned
6
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
54%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
-30.0%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
-30.0%
Compounded over last 3 years
2024
7-3
Franchised units
2025
10
Franchised units
2026
10
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 15 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 · 15 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

72
Risk · 0-100
CAUTION72 / 100

NiteLites presents HIGH RISK due to collapsing unit count, absence of financial disclosures, going concern uncertainties, and litigation history in a micro-franchise system with minimal scale.

Score breakdown · what drove the 72 / 100 rating

  1. 01MEDSevere unit decline of 30% YoY (from ~18.6 to 13 units) indicates systemic business model or market problems
  2. 02MEDNo Item 19 financial disclosure (Avg Revenue and Net Income not disclosed) prevents realistic ROI evaluation
  3. 03HIGHGoing Concern status is False, suggesting potential franchisor financial distress or viability questions
  4. 04HIGHLitigation history shows material breach judgment against franchisee in 2013; indicates enforcement aggressiveness and/or franchisee failure patterns
  5. 05MEDMinimum royalty fee structure with undisclosed revenue benchmarks creates opaque cost burden and cash flow risk
  6. 06MINORSmall system size (13 units) with rapid contraction limits support infrastructure, purchasing power, and brand recognition
  7. 07MINOR5-year term is relatively short, limiting franchisee ability to recoup $66K-$111K investment plus working capital

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

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
15 hrs
On-the-job training
20 hrs
POS system
QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions
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

15 numbers

Locked
(401) 462-••••
RI
(410) 576-••••
MD
(608) 266-••••
WI

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

NiteLites · FDD (2026) PDF

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