Seniors Blue BookFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Seniors Blue Book franchise requires a total initial investment of $78K – $165K, including a $50K franchise fee and an ongoing 6.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2026 FDD, average unit revenue was $261K[2]. Verdict grade: A. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2026 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $78K – $165K
- 21st pct Business Serv…
- Avg gross sales
- $261K
- 5th pct Business Serv…
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- 9th pct Business Serv…
- Units
- 19
- 21st pct Business Serv…
- SBA default
- N/A
Quick verdict · Business Services · color = vs category peers
Green = >15% above Business Services avg · No shading = within ±15% · Red = >15% below avg · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Franchised units fell from 14 to 12 over 3 years. Investigate why operators are leaving.
Bottom line
- Total investment $78K – $165K including a $50K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $261K/year.
- Verdict A (Top Quintile) with a risk score of 14/100.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- Seniors Blue Book Franchising LLC
- Parent company
- Seniors Blue Book Inc. ("SBBI")
- Ultimate parent
- Marathon Management Services II, LLC
- CEO title
- President
- Oliver Hersch
- Incorporated in
- CO
- HQ
- 12228 South 1840 East, Draper, Utah 84020
- Auditor
- Kezos & Dunlavy
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $181K
- vs $237K prior year
- Management churn noted
- Frequent turnover
- Item 2 disclosed frequent executive changes
Independent franchisee associations
- Franchise Advisory Council (FAC)
Franchisee-led councils or alliances disclosed in Item 20. Indicates operator voice.
Overview
About
Seniors Blue Book franchisees operate a senior care referral and directory service, connecting elderly clients with local vetted service providers (home care, assisted living, medical services, etc.). Day-to-day work involves local marketing to seniors and families, managing client relationships, vetting provider partners, and earning referral commissions while paying 6% royalties to the franchisor.
- CEO
- Oliver Hersch
- Headquarters
- UT
- Founded
- 2012
- FDD year
- 2026
- States available
- 11
FDD Item 7 · 2026 filing · 12 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Feenot refundable | $50K | $80K | |
| Distribution and Mailing for First Editionnot refundable | $1K | $10K | |
| Printing for First Editionnot refundable | $15K | $40K | |
| Graphics for First Editionnot refundable | $5K | $10K | |
| Printing and Graphics for Prototype Guidenot refundable | $4K | $6K | |
| Computer Equipmentnot refundable | $0 | $3K | |
| Marketing Materialsnot refundable | $1K | $5K | |
| Business Licenses and Permitsnot refundable | $250 | $2K | |
| Professional Feesnot refundable | $0 | $1K | |
| Insurancenot refundable | $450 | $900 | |
| Training Expensesnot refundable | $0 | $4K | |
| Additional Funds - 3 to 6 Months | $914 | $4K | |
| Total initial investment | $78K | $165K |
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.
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
$42K
16.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
34%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
36 mo
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $78K – $165K
- Better than avg vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $914 – $4K
- Better than avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $50K – $80K
- Better than avg vs category
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- Gross Revenues · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 1.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 7.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 6.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 1.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $138 |
| Transfer fee | $10K |
| Renewal fee | $12K |
| Total fee load | 7.0% of rev |
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $261K
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- N/A
- Item 19 type
- Adjusted Gross Margin
- Sample size
- 18 units
- vs category median 32
- Range (low → high)
- $55K→$466K
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Transparency tier
- limited
- Categorical assessment of disclosure depth
- Transparency
- 0 / 5
- vs category median 3 / 5 · below
Compared against 360 Business Services brands
vs Business Services averages
How Seniors Blue Book Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 19
- Opened
- 2
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 2
- Terminated
- 2
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 1
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 10.5%
- Company-owned
- 7
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 63%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (yr3)
- +0.0%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- -14.3%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Transfers (3yr)
- 0
- Transfer rate
- 0.2%
- Owners selling to other franchisees
- Continuity rate
- 100.0%
- Units that stayed open
- Termination rate
- 0.2%
- Franchisor-initiated terminations
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 13 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.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
- Total loans
- 12
- Loan volume
- N/A
- Amount data pending
- Median loan
- N/A
- Charge-off rate
- N/A
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- N/A
- 5-yr charge-off
- N/A
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 0
- Defaults
- 0
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Seniors Blue Book presents caution-level risk due to lack of financial transparency (no Item 19), micro-scale system (19 units), unclear franchisor viability, and substantial upfront costs without disclosed revenue/profit benchmarks.
Litigation (Item 3)
0 case reference(s): 0 pending, 0 settled.
Largest disclosed settlement: $80,000
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Kezos & Dunlavy
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
Score breakdown · what drove the 14 / 100 rating
- 01MEDNo Item 19 (Average Revenue/Net Income) disclosed — impossible to assess ROI on $77,614-$165,116 investment
- 02MINOROnly 19 units across entire system indicates minimal scale and network effects; growth trajectory unknown
- 03HIGHGoing Concern = False suggests potential financial instability or operational challenges at franchisor level
- 04MINORHigh initial investment ($50,000 franchise fee + $27,614-$115,116 startup costs) with no performance benchmarks to validate payback period
- 05MED6% royalty on undisclosed revenue makes it difficult to model actual franchise profitability
- 06MINOR7-year term is relatively short for service-based franchise; renewal risk unknown
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 7 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 1 |
| Territory type | Population-based (individuals aged 65+) |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Territory population | 1 |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 50 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 30 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 3 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Cleveland, Ohio |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Colorado |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
0 case reference(s): 0 pending, 0 settled.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 61 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 15 hrs
- Training location
- Salida, Colorado
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 2 mo
- From signing to launch
- POS system
- Computer System (proprietary software/Sugar CRM)
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Computer System (proprietary software/Sugar CRM)
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
13 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Seniors Blue Book · FDD (2026) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Seniors Blue Book franchise?
The total investment to open a Seniors Blue Book franchise ranges from $78K – $165K, with an initial franchise fee of $50K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Seniors Blue Book franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Seniors Blue Book FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $261K. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Seniors Blue Book's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Seniors Blue Book (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 Seniors Blue Book franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Seniors Blue Book has 19 total units in the United States, including 14 franchised units and 7 company-owned units. 2 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Seniors Blue Book a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Seniors Blue Book as a A-grade franchise with a risk score of 14 out of 100, 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?
If you represent Seniors Blue Book, you can request corrections or provide updated information.
Claim this brandOther Business Services franchises
Compare similar franchise opportunities in the Business Services category
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.