Smash My Trash Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Smash My Trash is a B2B franchise that sends a specialized truck to compact commercial dumpster waste on site, cutting haul-away costs and pickups. Franchisees run a route-based service selling to businesses and operating the smasher truck.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Smash My Trash franchise requires a total initial investment of $372K – $492K, including a $30K – $50K franchise fee and an ongoing 8.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $876K[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 0.0% charge-off rate across 101 loans[1]. FranchiseVerdict grade: A (Strongest tier), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $372K – $492K
- 81st pct Cleaning & Ma…
- Avg gross sales
- $876K
- 25th pct Cleaning & Ma…
- Royalty
- 8.0%
- 42nd pct Cleaning & Ma…
- Units
- 520
- 84th pct Cleaning & Ma…
- SBA charge-off
- 0.0%
- % of SBA 7(a) loans not repaid · median varies by category
Quick verdict · Cleaning & Maintenance · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Cleaning & Maintenance 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
- COSTTotal investment $372K – $492K including a $50K franchise fee, 8.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $876K/year (median $705K).
- RISKVerdict A (Strongest tier), verdict score 61/100 (higher is better). SBA loan charge-off rate of 0.0% across 101 loans (well below the franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2025).
- GROWTHSystem growing at 5550.0% CAGR over 3 years with 520 total units. Strong expansion trajectory.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Smash Franchise Partners, LLC
- Parent company
- SMT Holdings, LLC
- CEO title
- President
- Justin Haskin
- Incorporated in
- Indiana
- HQ
- 17437 Carey Road, Suite 164, Westfield, IN 46074
- Auditor
- Citrin Cooperman & Company, LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $15.3M
- vs $15.0M prior year
Overview
About
- CEO
- Justin Haskin
- Headquarters
- IN
- Founded
- 2018
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 37
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 38% above the typical cleaning & maintenance franchise.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 5–7
FDD Item 7 · 2025 filing
Initial investment breakdown
| Cost component | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $50K | $50K |
| Working capital (3–6 mo) | $30K | $50K |
| Equipment, build-out, other | $293K | $393K |
| Total initial investment | $372K | $492K |
Source: Smash My Trash 2025 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
- $372K – $492K
- Bottom third — review vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $30K – $50K
- Middle of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $30K – $50K
- Middle of category vs category
- Royalty
- 8.0%
- percentage_of_gross · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 1.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 9.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 8.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 1.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $700 |
| Transfer fee | $10K |
| Renewal fee | $10K |
| Total fee load | 9.0% of rev |
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales land near the cleaning & maintenance norm.
Source: FDD 2025 · 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
$88K
10.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
19%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
5.4 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
What one unit earns on your invested capital
Model A · Single-Unit Return
Computes unlevered return on invested capital (ROIC) for a single franchise unit. The target band for an attractive franchise is 30–60% ROIC. Below that and a passive index fund likely outperforms; above that and the franchisor has pricing power you're subsidizing.
Note: Item 19 revenue is what the franchisor discloses. It's the top line only. Operating costs below are category estimates. Override them to match your real lease quote, labor market, and build-out budget.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one Smash My Trash unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Estimated return on your total franchise investment, before any debt financing.
19%
Below the 30–60% attractive-franchise band
What 25 units return when you use SBA financing
Model B · Return on Equity: Debt-Financed Acquisition
Models a 25-unit portfolio acquisition financed with an SBA 7(a) loan. Shows equity IRR (your return on cash invested), DSCR (how safely the cash flow covers debt service), and the capital stack (SBA + seller + equity breakdown).
This is the “search fund” or “entrepreneurship through acquisition” scenario: you buy an existing multi-unit operator, use leverage to amplify returns, and either operate or hire management. The 25-unit size is the typical minimum for an SBA-backed franchise portfolio acquisition to pencil as a full-time income.
What “return on equity” means here: if you put in $500K of your own cash and the business generates enough EBITDA to pay down debt and grow, your equity IRR is the annual return on that $500K, including the value created when you eventually sell. Target IRR for a search fund is typically 25–35%.
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Smash My Trash units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$526K
on $2.6M purchase
Total debt
$2.1M
SBA $1.3M + senior + seller note
These models are for research and scenario planning only. Not investment advice. Actual results depend on your specific location, management, and market conditions. Consult a franchise attorney and accountant before signing any franchise agreement.
Item 19 · Source: 2025 FDD
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $876K
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $705K
Gross sales are revenue before expenses — not profit. Actual owner earnings depend on rent, labor, royalties, marketing fees, and debt service.
- Item 19 type
- historical financial performance (Gross Sales, Fuel Costs, Maintenance/Repair Costs, Payroll Costs, Adjusted EBITDA, Profit Margin) segmented by tenure, operating model, and territory count
- Sample size
- 110 franchisees
- vs category median 32 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $55K→$6.6M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Reporting year
- 2024
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2025
- Disclosed in the 2025 filing, covering 2024
- Transparency
- 4 / 10
- vs category median 4 / 10 · typical
Compared against 192 Cleaning & Maintenance brands
Operator outlook
What the numbers say
Data-driven interpretation of this brand's financial disclosures, fee structure, and system trajectory.
Unit economics
Average unit generates $876K/year in gross sales. Median is $705K — top performers pull the average up, so a typical unit earns less. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 2.0x.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 9.0% (near the Cleaning & Maintenance average).
Disclosure
Transparency score 4/10 — this franchisor discloses detailed breakdowns (quartiles, segments, or cohort data). Buyers can model unit economics with higher confidence.
Operator retention
System expanding at 5550.0% CAGR over 3 years across 520 units — operators are staying and new ones are joining.
Source: FDD Item 19 financial performance representations and publicly filed FDD data. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Verify all figures with the franchisor and current franchisees before making any investment decision.
vs Cleaning & Maintenance averages
How Smash My Trash Compares
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 520
- Opened
- 58
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 6
- Terminated
- 4
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 8.8%
- Company-owned
- 16
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 1%
- vs corporate-owned
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 58
- Closed (3yr)
- 6
- Terminated (3yr)
- 4
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 5
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 2
- Franchisor bought back
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 35 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
- 101
- Loan volume
- $38.3M
- Median loan
- $325K
- 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
- 0.0%
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 42
- Defaults
- 0
- Typical loan rate
- 5.8%
- avg rate to borrowers
- Franchised industry avg
- 3.3%
- brand beats franchise avg ↓
- Jobs supported
- 672
- 1.8 per loan
- Lender concentration
- 13%
- top lender's share
Borrower mix: 93% went to startups / new businesses, 7% to established operators
Franchise vs independent — in solid waste collection, franchised businesses charge off at 3.3% vs 7.4% for independents — franchising is associated with 55% lower SBA default risk in this category.
Vintage analysis
Smash My Trash charge-off rate by loan vintage
Top lenders financing Smash My Trash franchisees
Showing 3 of 42 lenders. The full breakdown — every lender, state distribution, interest rates & risk ratings — is in the SBA Lending Report below.
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Premium insight
SBA Lending Report
Deep-dive into Smash My Trash's SBA lending history: lender network, geographic footprint, interest rates, and more.
SBA Lending Report
- Principal loss rate and NAICS industry benchmark
- 10 lenders with concentration factor
- Per-state charge-off rates across 15 states
- Startup risk premium and job creation velocity
- 6-year lending trend
Instant access. No subscription.
With a 0.0% charge-off rate across 101 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
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Citrin Cooperman & Company, LLP
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Score breakdown · what drove the 61 / 100 verdict
- 01MINORFranchisee misrepresentation award $2,875,182.51 against franchisor
- 02HIGH4 litigation cases including refund settlement
- 03MINORfinancial_distress=true
- 04MEDOffsetting: audited, Item 19 disclosed, 115-unit system
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 9.0% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 5 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 1 |
| Territory type | Geographic boundaries and population |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Online sales rights | Granted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 3 years |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Delaware |
| Litigation count | 6 |
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 7 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 32 hrs
- POS system
- Vonigo
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Vonigo
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
109 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Smash My Trash · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Smash My Trash franchise?
The total investment to open a Smash My Trash franchise ranges from $372K – $492K, 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 Smash My Trash franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Smash My Trash FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $876K. The median is $705K. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Item 19 in the Smash My Trash FDD?
The FDD section where a franchisor may disclose financial performance of its outlets. Disclosure is optional and formats vary; figures are typically gross sales, which is revenue before expenses, not profit. FranchiseVerdict extracts these figures directly from the Smash My Trash FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Smash My Trash's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, Smash My Trash has a charge-off rate of 0.0% across 101 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 Smash My Trash franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Smash My Trash has 520 total units in the United States, including 504 franchised units and 16 company-owned units. 58 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Smash My Trash a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Smash My Trash as a A-grade franchise with a verdict score of 61 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.