Square Cow Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Square Cow is a moving franchise providing residential and commercial local and long-distance moving services. Franchisees run local operations, managing crews, trucks, scheduling, and customer service.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Square Cow franchise requires a total initial investment of $167K – $233K, including a $60K franchise fee and an ongoing 7.0% royalty[2]. The 2025 FDD does not disclose unit-level revenue (no Item 19). 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
- $167K – $233K
- 51st pct Business Serv…
- Avg gross sales
- N/A
- Company-owned only
- Royalty
- 7.0%
- 16th pct Business Serv…
- Units
- 9
- 17th pct Business Serv…
- SBA charge-off
- N/A
Quick verdict · Business Services · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Business Services 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 $167K – $233K including a $60K franchise fee, 7.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSItem 19 covers seven COMPANY-owned Texas locations (Table 3, printed p.43). The one franchised location, in Atlanta, opened May 2023 and ceased operating in March 2024. The FDD also notes the company locations 'generally represent two to three franchised territories'.
- RISKVerdict A (Strongest tier), verdict score 59/100 (higher is better).
- DATAItem 19 reports historic financial performance information rather than annual gross sales, so unit revenue is not directly comparable. Ask franchisees directly for full unit-level revenue.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Square Cow Franchise Family, LLC
- CEO title
- Chief Financial Officer of Square Cow Franchise Family, LLC (also CEO of affiliate Square Cow Moovers, LLC); Cole Strong serves as President
- Derek Mills
- Founder active
- Yes
- Original founder still leading the business
- Incorporated in
- Texas
- HQ
- 2500 Brushy Creek Loop, Cedar Park, Texas 78613
- Auditor
- A. Andrew Gianiodis
- Audited financials
- Management churn noted
- Frequent turnover
- Item 2 disclosed frequent executive changes
Overview
About
- CEO
- Derek Mills
- Headquarters
- TX
- Founded
- 2022
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 3
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 28% below the typical business services franchise.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 5–7
Full Item 7 breakdown17 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Fee | $60K | $60K | |
| Lease, Utility and Security Deposits | $1K | $5K | |
| Business Licenses and Permits | $1K | $2K | |
| Construction/Leasehold Improvements | $2K | $5K | |
| Vehicles and Vehicle Signage | $33K | $45K | |
| Signage | $500 | $3K | |
| Furniture and Fixtures | $2K | $3K | |
| Business Software | $500 | $2K | |
| Office Equipment, Computers and Office Supplies | $4K | $5K | |
| Truck Equipment | $4K | $5K | |
| Professional Services | $1K | $3K | |
| Initial Inventory | $4K | $4K | |
| Business and Vehicle Insurance | $7K | $10K | |
| Training Expenses | $3K | $4K | |
| Marketing Fee and Initial Launch Advertising | $8K | $10K | |
| Grand Opening Assistance Fee | $10K | $10K | |
| Additional Funds - Initial 3 months | $30K | $60K | |
| Total initial investment | $167K | $233K |
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.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $167K – $233K
- Middle of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $30K – $60K
- Middle of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $60K – $60K
- Middle of category vs category
- Royalty
- 7.0%
- percentage · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 1.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 8.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 7.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 1.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $200 |
| Transfer fee | $15K |
| Renewal fee | $5K |
| Total fee load | 8.0% of rev |
What do units actually make?
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 19
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
Square Cow did not disclose financial performance in FDD Item 19. The ROIC and return models require Item 19 revenue. Without it all inputs are estimates. You can still run the calculator with your own assumptions by entering an expected revenue figure.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one Square Cow unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Estimated return on your total franchise investment, before any debt financing.
46%
Within the 30–60% "attractive franchise" band
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
Item 19 covers seven COMPANY-owned Texas locations (Table 3, printed p.43). The one franchised location, in Atlanta, opened May 2023 and ceased operating in March 2024. The FDD also notes the company locations 'generally represent two to three franchised territories'.
Company-owned outlets only - not franchisee performance
- Item 19 type
- historic financial performance information
- Sample size
- 5
- vs category median 35 · small
- Range (low → high)
- $1.1M→$3.1M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Reporting year
- 2024
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2025
- Disclosed in the 2025 filing, covering 2024
- Transparency
- 6 / 10
- vs category median 3 / 10 · above
Compared against 296 Business Services brands
Operator outlook
What the numbers say
Data-driven interpretation of this brand's financial disclosures, fee structure, and system trajectory.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 8.0% — below the Business Services average of 11.9%.
Disclosure
Item 19 reports historic financial performance information rather than annual gross sales, so unit revenue is not directly comparable.
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 Business Services averages
How Square Cow Compares
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 9
- Opened
- 3
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 0
- Terminated
- 1
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 33.3%
- Company-owned
- 6
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 33%
- vs corporate-owned
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 3
- Closed (3yr)
- 0
- Terminated (3yr)
- 1
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 0
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Projected new
- 25
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
- Termination rate
- 11.1%
- Franchisor-initiated terminations
- Ceased ops
- 22.2%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 4 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 loan disclosures. This brand has only 2 7(a) loans on file; statistical reliability is limited below 10 loans.
- Total loans
- 2
- Loan volume
- $300K
- Median loan
- $150K
- average
- Charge-off rate
- N/A
- limited sample (2 loans) — rate not shown below 10
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
- N/A
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
What could kill this investment?
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 4, 8, 16, 21
Risk & Legal
Duplicate of the same 2022 moving franchisor showing negative net worth of -$180,773 but positive net income of $28,431 on $154,712 revenue. No litigation or bankruptcy; audited with Item 19. Small 9-unit system, 3 franchised, 33% turnover.
Litigation (Item 3)
No litigation required to be disclosed
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · A. Andrew Gianiodis
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: Yes
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: No
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 59 / 100 verdict
- 01MINORNegative net worth -$180,773
- 02MINORPositive net income $28,431
- 03MINORNo litigation/bankruptcy, audited
- 04MINORSmall early system, turnover 33.3%
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 8.0% 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 | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 1 |
| Territory type | zip codes |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory population | 350,000 |
| 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 |
| Mandatory arbitration | No |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Texas |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation required to be disclosed
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 18 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 9 hrs
- Field support
- 16 hrs/yr
- On-site visits per year
- Time to open
- 4 mo
- From signing to launch
- POS system
- Supermove
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Supermove
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
4 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Square Cow · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Square Cow franchise?
The total investment to open a Square Cow franchise ranges from $167K – $233K, with an initial franchise fee of $60K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Square Cow franchise owners earn?
Square Cow does not disclose average franchise owner earnings in their FDD Item 19. Not all franchisors are required to make financial performance representations. We recommend asking existing franchisees directly about their financial experience.
What is Item 19 in the Square Cow 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 Square Cow FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Square Cow's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Square Cow (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 Square Cow franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Square Cow has 9 total units in the United States, including 3 franchised units and 6 company-owned units. 3 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Square Cow a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Square Cow as a A-grade franchise with a verdict score of 59 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?
If you represent Square Cow, you can request corrections or provide updated information.
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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.