Bottom line
- Total investment $72K – $200K including a $49K franchise fee.
- Average unit revenue of $1.4M/year (median $976K).
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 46/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 100 loans (below the industry average).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
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 U.S. Lawns unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
77%
Above typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 U.S. Lawns units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$1.1M
on $5.6M purchase
Total debt
$4.5M
SBA $2.8M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
U.S. Lawns franchisees operate residential and commercial lawn maintenance and landscaping services, handling mowing, trimming, chemical applications, and seasonal cleanup. Day-to-day operations involve crew scheduling, equipment maintenance, customer billing and service quality control, and managing seasonal staffing fluctuations typical of outdoor service businesses.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
Item 19
Financial Performance
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 27 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 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.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
U.S. Lawns presents caution-level risk due to stagnant system growth, missing profitability disclosures, and the inherent seasonality and margin pressure of lawn care services.
Score breakdown · what drove the 46 / 100 rating
- 01MINORSystem stagnation: Only 1.0% YoY unit growth over 210 locations indicates mature/declining system with minimal expansion
- 02MEDNo Item 19 financial disclosure: Average net income not disclosed prevents accurate ROI validation and suggests weak franchisee profitability
- 03MINORHigh initial investment-to-average-revenue ratio: $71,500-$200,000 investment against $1.39M average revenue raises questions about capital efficiency and payback period
- 04MINORSeasonal business model risk: Landscaping/lawn care is highly weather and seasonality dependent with cash flow volatility
- 05MINORCompetitive intensity: Low barriers to entry in lawn care market create pricing pressure and customer acquisition challenges
- 06MINORRoyalty structure concern: Sliding scale rewards scale but 6% on lower volumes erodes margins for struggling locations
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
Item 11
Training & Operations
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
81 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
U.S. Lawns · FDD (2025) PDF