Stratus Building Solutions / Stratus Clean Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
- Investment
- $5K – $80K
- Disclosed sales
- partial, no system average
- SBA charge-off
- Not SBA-matched
Data from FDD filing
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Stratus Building Solutions is a commercial cleaning and janitorial franchise, with an eco-friendly focus, servicing offices and facilities under recurring contracts. Franchisees manage cleaning crews and client accounts, or at the master level sell and support unit franchises in a region.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Stratus Building Solutions / Stratus Clean franchise requires a total initial investment of $5K – $80K, including a $4K – $69K franchise fee and an ongoing 5.0% royalty[2]. The 2025 FDD on file does not yield a unit-revenue figure we can publish. FranchiseVerdict grade: B (Above average), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Sources, dates and evidence
FDD issued: · Data extracted: · Last cited check: · Staleness risk: medium - issued 12 to 24 months ago; a newer filing is likely on file
Evidence: strong✓ Investment (Item 7)✓ Item 19 status✓ Units and owners (Item 20)✗ SBA loan coverage✓ Litigation (Item 3)✓ Financial statements (Item 21)✓ Franchisor identityhow this is scored6 of 6 headline figures on this page cite a page of the filing.
Overview
- Investment
- $5K – $80K
- 1st pct Cleaning & Ma…
- Avg gross sales
- N/A
- Outlet subset
- Royalty
- 5.0%
- 8th pct Cleaning & Ma…
- Units
- 3,759
- 87th pct Cleaning & Ma…
- SBA charge-off
- N/A
Quick verdict · Cleaning & Maintenance · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Cleaning & Maintenance median · 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 $5K – $80K including a $4K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSItem 19 divides 99 of the 110 California unit franchisees open all of 2024 into eleven subsets by their original franchise plan (SBS-6 to SBS-300) and prints, for each, the number of franchisees and the average, low and high 2024 Actual Gross Billings. No average or median across all franchisees is printed, so none is shown; the highest figure in any subset is $346,225 and the lowest is a franchisee with no billings. Gross Billings are before expenses.
- RISKVerdict B (Above average), verdict score 54/100 (higher is better).
- GROWTHPositive: net +615 franchised outlets in the latest year (12 opened, 0 closed) (Item 20).
- GROWTHSystem growing at 41.3% CAGR over 3 years with 3759 total units. Strong expansion trajectory.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- SBS Franchising, LLC
- Ultimate parent
- Diversified Royalty Corp. (trademark owner/licensor, TSX-listed)
- FDD Item 1, page 7 of the 2025 FDD
- Predecessor
- Stratus Franchising, LLC
- Prior franchisor entity
- CEO title
- Chief Executive Officer
- Doug Flaig
- Incorporated in
- Delaware
- HQ
- 10530 Victory Blvd., North Hollywood, CA 91606
- Auditor
- Plante & Moran, PLLC
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $12.8M
- vs $12.0M prior year
Independent franchisee associations
- Franchise Advisory Council (FAC)
Franchisee-led councils or alliances disclosed in Item 20. Indicates operator voice.
Affiliated brands
- SBS Services Group
- Stratus Building Solutions Canada
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
Overview
About
- CEO
- Doug Flaig
- Headquarters
- CA
- Founded
- 2015
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 29
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 75% below the typical cleaning & maintenance franchise.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 5–7
Full Item 7 breakdown9 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Fee | $4K | $69K | |
| Brand Certification Program Expenses | $150 | $500 | |
| Professional Costs | $0 | $2K | |
| Real Estate | $0 | $750 | |
| Vehicle | $0 | $500 | |
| Insurance | $100 | $3K | |
| Equipment & Supply Starter Package | $650 | $2K | |
| Business Licenses | $75 | $500 | |
| Additional Funds (4 months) | $150 | $2K | |
| Total initial investment | $5K | $80K |
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
- $5K – $80K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $150 – $2K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $4K – $69K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Royalty
- 5.0%
- typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 1.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 5.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 5.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 1.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $700 |
| Transfer fee | $25K |
| Total fee load | 5.0% of rev |
What do units actually make?
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 19
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
No Item 19 revenue figure for Stratus Building Solutions / Stratus Clean is on file. The return models need a revenue figure to start from, and the operating costs that turn gross sales into a profit are in no FDD. Enter your own and the calculator runs on your assumptions — nothing here is modelled until you do.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one Stratus Building Solutions / Stratus Clean unit return on the cash you put in?
Illustrative category typicals — not sourced to any filing, survey or sample. Replace them with figures from franchisee validation calls before you rely on the output.
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Your modelled return on total invested capital, before any debt financing.
—
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for annual revenue, COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
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 divides 99 of the 110 California unit franchisees open all of 2024 into eleven subsets by their original franchise plan (SBS-6 to SBS-300) and prints, for each, the number of franchisees and the average, low and high 2024 Actual Gross Billings. No average or median across all franchisees is printed, so none is shown; the highest figure in any subset is $346,225 and the lowest is a franchisee with no billings. Gross Billings are before expenses.
Reported for a subset of outlets rather than the whole system
- Item 19 type
- Per-plan subsets of 99 California unit franchisees (2024 Actual Gross Billings by original franchise plan); no brand-level average or median printed; high $346,225
- Sample size
- 99 outlets
- vs category median 32 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $0→$346KCited, not corroborated — printed on page 43 of the 2025 FDD. Nothing else in our record independently restates or re-derives it.
- 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 191 Cleaning & Maintenance brands
Item 19 · by group
What the filing does disclose
Item 19 of this FDD reports performance in more than one group. We publish no single average for this brand; the groups the filing does disclose are listed below, quoted from its own Item 19 table.
Each row below is quoted from the FDD's own Item 19 table. Gross sales are not profit.
Outlet subsetItem 19 detail
Item 19 divides 99 of the 110 California unit franchisees open all of 2024 into eleven subsets by their original franchise plan (SBS-6 to SBS-300) and prints, for each, the number of franchisees and the average, low and high 2024 Actual Gross Billings. No average or median across all franchisees is printed, so none is shown; the highest figure in any subset is $346,225 and the lowest is a franchisee with no billings. Gross Billings are before expenses.
franchised
| Segment | Sample (outlets) | Avg |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 Franchised Regions | 58 outlets | $2.8M |
| 2024 Franchised Regions | 46 outlets | $3.3M |
| 2023 Franchised Regions | 44 outlets | $3.0M |
company owned
| Segment | Sample (outlets) | Avg |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 Affiliate-Owned Regions | 12 outlets | $4.0M |
| 2024 Affiliate-Owned Regions | 14 outlets | $3.5M |
| 2023 Affiliate-Owned Regions | 14 outlets | $3.2M |
total
| Segment | Sample (outlets) | Avg |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 Total Regions | 71 outlets | $3.0M |
| 2024 Total Regions | 60 outlets | $3.3M |
| 2023 Total Regions | 58 outlets | $3.1M |
tenure cohort
| Segment | Sample (outlets) | Avg |
|---|---|---|
| Years in Operation: 1-2 years | 12 outlets | $407K |
| Years in Operation: 2-3 years | 2 outlets | $817K |
| Years in Operation: 3-4 years | 2 outlets | $991K |
| Years in Operation: 4-5 years | 3 outlets | $1.1M |
| Years in Operation: 5+ years | 52 outlets | $3.9M |
performance tier
| Segment | Sample (outlets) | Avg |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 Start-Up Regions ($0-$100k/mo) | 23 outlets | $626K |
| Tier 2 Emerging Regions ($100k-$300k/mo) | 22 outlets | $2.4M |
| Tier 3 Established Regions ($300k-$600k/mo) | 21 outlets | $4.8M |
| Tier 4 Enterprise Regions ($600k+/mo) | 5 outlets | $9.4M |
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 5.0% — below the Cleaning & Maintenance median of 8.3%.
Disclosure
Item 19 reports outlet revenue, but not in a form that yields a per-outlet average we can compare across brands.
Operator retention
System expanding at 41.3% CAGR over 3 years across 3,759 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 medians
How Stratus Building Solutions / Stratus Clean Compares
Category median of published Cleaning & Maintenance brands that report the figure; the middle half spans the 25th to 75th percentile and n counts the brands behind it. Medians are used because a few very large systems pull an average far from the typical brand. Revenue is disclosed gross sales, not profit.
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 20
The unit FDD's system-wide Table No. 1 (p49) prints 3,759 franchised outlets at the end of 2024 (3,144 in 2023, 2,587 in 2022) and no company-owned outlets; its Total row prints 3,786, which does not equal its own components, so the components are shown. The same filing's corporate-territory block counts 899 unit franchises licensed by Stratus Group itself; the rest are licensed through regional master franchisees. Owner ruling R33.
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 3,759
- Opened
- 12
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 0
- Turnover rate
- N/A
- Company-owned
- 0
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 84%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (3-yr)
- +41.3%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 3-yr CAGR
- +41.3%
- Compounded over last 3 years
Last fiscal year · Item 20 exits and transfers
- Transferred
- 3
- Continuity rate
- 101.6%
- Units that stayed open
- Ceased ops
- 1.9%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 12 · 29 states reported
The Territory Map
FDD Item 12 reports the state count, but the specific list isn't in our current data. The map will appear once we re-extract from the FDD or enough franchisee contacts are available.
29
states with franchisees (per FDD Item 12)
Where the owners are · Item 20 owner list
1 current owner across 1 state.
- AL 1
Counts only, from the list the franchisor prints in Item 20. Names and phone numbers are for your own due diligence and are not shown here.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
No SBA loan data available for this brand.
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
Litigation (Item 3)
Subject: the franchisor is a named party (defendant).
Two pending PAGA wage-misclassification actions against SBS Franchising by existing unit franchisees in California (Vergara 2025, Solorio 2024, the latter on appeal after motion to compel arbitration denied); two historical actions against the predecessor entity Stratus Franchising, LLC (Virginia SCC settlement 2011, CA Dept. of Business Oversight order 2015) that did not involve current ownership.
Largest disclosed settlement: $15,000
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Plante & Moran, PLLC
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Item 21 attaches the audited financial statements of SBS Services Group, LLC (the affiliate issuing the unit FDD), fiscal year ended December 31, 2024 (Plante & Moran, PLLC; 2023 restated, previously audited by Grant Thornton LLP). 2024 total net sales $12,779,535; net loss $(1,332,536); members' deficit $(8,687,165); total assets $9,396,723; total liabilities $18,083,888. The cover's Special Risk 8 flags the franchisor's financial condition.
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: Yes
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: Yes
- Must buy proprietary products: No
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: Yes
Score breakdown · what drove the 54 / 100 verdict
- 01MINORNegative net worth -$1,234,518; net loss -$44,210
- 02HIGH4 litigation matters incl. 2 pending PAGA wage/misclassification suits in CA
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
Litigation case detail3 matters · Item 3
Litigation cases
Parent, affiliates and predecessor
Pending (1)
Zamarria Solorio, et al. vs. SBS Franchising LLC, et al
pendingBrought by a franchisee · SBS Franchising LLC, et al. · filed 2024-06-28 · Superior Court of California, San Diego County · 37-2024-00029829-CU-OE-CTL
“Zamarria Solorio, et al. vs. SBS Franchising LLC, et al, Case No. 37-2024-00029829-CU-OE- CTL, pending in the Superior Court of California, San Diego County (June 28, 2024). On June 28, 2024, plaintiffs Alma Rossio Zamarripa Solorio and Melissa Viviana Covarrubias, existing franchisees of SBS Services Group LLC”Page 16 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3
Concluded (2)
In re: Stratus Franchising, LLC, Peter Frese, and Dennis Jarrett
concludedGovernment or regulatory action · Stratus Franchising, LLC (predecessor of affiliate SBS Franchising), Peter Frese, and Dennis Jarrett · filed 2015-09-15 · California Department of Business Oversight · Org. ID: 84407
“In re: Stratus Franchising, LLC, Peter Frese, and Dennis Jarrett, California Department of Business Oversight, Org. ID: 84407 (September 15, 2015). In September of 2019, SBS Franchising first learned that a 2015 injunctive order had been issued against its predecessor, Stratus Franchising, LLC”Page 16 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3
Commonwealth of Virginia, ex rel., State Corporation Commission v. Pete Frese, Jr. and Stratus Franchising, LLC
settledGovernment or regulatory action · Stratus Franchising, LLC (predecessor of affiliate SBS Franchising) and Pete Frese, Jr. · filed 2011 · Commonwealth of Virginia, State Corporation Commission · SEC-2011-00008
“Case No. SEC-2011-00008 (2011). The Commission alleged that Stratus Franchising, LLC (the predecessor to our affiliate, SBS Franchising, in the ownership and operation of the Stratus Building Solutions franchise system) and Pete Frese, Jr., principal and officer of Stratus Franchising, LLC, violated §13.1-563 (2) of the Virginia Retail Franchising Act”Page 16 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3
Outcome:“On June 16, 2011, the defendants agreed to a Settlement Order under which they neither admitted nor denied the allegations but agreed to pay to the Treasurer of the Commonwealth of Virginia $15,000 in monetary penalties and $5,000 in costs, and agreed not to violate the Virginia Retail Franchise Act in the future.”
Item 3 lists the litigation the franchisor must disclose; a matter against a parent, an affiliate or a named officer is not a matter against the franchisor, and pending claims are allegations, not findings.
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 5.0% 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 | 15 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 15 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 2 |
| Territory type | Protected territory |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory population | 500,000 |
| 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 | 100 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 3 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | State where franchisee's Territory is located |
| Litigation count | 3 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
Two pending PAGA wage-misclassification actions against SBS Franchising by existing unit franchisees in California (Vergara 2025, Solorio 2024, the latter on appeal after motion to compel arbitration denied); two historical actions against the predecessor entity Stratus Franchising, LLC (Virginia SCC settlement 2011, CA Dept. of Business Oversight order 2015) that did not involve current ownership.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 133 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 55 hrs
- Training location
- Los Angeles, California
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Field support
- 160 hrs/yr
- On-site visits per year
- Site selection
- joint
- Franchisor financing
- Offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- Opus (ERP)
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Opus (ERP)
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
1 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Stratus Building Solutions / Stratus Clean franchise?
The total investment to open a Stratus Building Solutions / Stratus Clean franchise ranges from $5K – $80K, with an initial franchise fee of $4K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Stratus Building Solutions / Stratus Clean franchise owners earn?
Item 19 of the Stratus Building Solutions / Stratus Clean FDD discloses outlet figures from $0 to $346K but no single average across all outlets. These are gross sales figures, not profit; the Revenue section shows what the filing reports and on what basis. Item 20 of the FDD lists current and former franchisees; asking them directly is the standard way to fill this gap.
Who owns Stratus Building Solutions / Stratus Clean?
Stratus Building Solutions / Stratus Clean is franchised by SBS Franchising, LLC. The ultimate parent named in the FDD is Diversified Royalty Corp. (trademark owner/licensor, TSX-listed). Source: FDD Item 1, 2025 filing.
What is Item 19 in the Stratus Building Solutions / Stratus Clean 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 Stratus Building Solutions / Stratus Clean FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Stratus Building Solutions / Stratus Clean's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Stratus Building Solutions / Stratus Clean (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 Stratus Building Solutions / Stratus Clean franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Stratus Building Solutions / Stratus Clean has 3,759 total units in the United States, including 3,759 franchised units and 0 company-owned units. 12 new units were opened in the latest reporting year. The unit FDD's system-wide Table No. 1 (p49) prints 3,759 franchised outlets at the end of 2024 (3,144 in 2023, 2,587 in 2022) and no company-owned outlets; its Total row prints 3,786, which does not equal its own components, so the components are shown. The same filing's corporate-territory block counts 899 unit franchises licensed by Stratus Group itself; the rest are licensed through regional master franchisees. Owner ruling R33.
Is Stratus Building Solutions / Stratus Clean a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Stratus Building Solutions / Stratus Clean as a B-grade franchise with a verdict score of 54 out of 100 (higher is better). The grade is a deterministic score built from six weighted dimensions — financial health, unit economics, unit growth, scale, legal, and transparency — then calibrated against SBA loan charge-off rates and FDD age. Transparency is one of the six, so a filing that discloses less scores lower on that dimension than one that discloses more. 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
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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.