Budget Blinds franchise unit economics
Budget Blinds franchisees sell and install window coverings from a home or small office across a territory measured in households, running a mobile showroom. Across 282 single-territory franchisees the 2025 average was $774,915 of gross sales with a median of $522,826. The royalty reads 3.5%, but a top-tier territory has a $30,000 a yearly minimum that binds until $857,143 of sales.
- Primary source
- Budget Blinds, LLC, 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document
- Items read
- Items 5 and 6 for fees; Item 19 for sales and any profit figure; Item 20 for the location count
- Population
- 612 of 1355 locations
- Our calculations
- Marked on the page with an asterisk. Method
- Last reviewed
- 26 September 2026
Disclosure-based. Not a forecast, not an offer to sell a franchise, and not advice.
The royalty reads 3.5%, which is among the lowest anywhere, and a top-tier territory pays a $30,000 minimum instead until sales reach $857,143. The single-territory median is $522,826, so the median owner in a Tier 1 territory hands over 9.41% against 3.5%, and every point of the single-territory distribution fell in 2025.
- A Tier 1 territory pays a $30,000 minimum royalty until $857,143 of sales. The single-territory median is $522,826, where 3.5% would be $18,299 *, so the minimum costs $11,701 more, and three quarters of single-territory owners sit under the crossover.
- Brand charges take 9.41% of a median Tier 1 single-territory owner. $49,200 on $522,826 *, a $30,000 minimum royalty, $12,000 of flat national advertising and $7,200 of technology, against a 3.5% headline.
- Single-territory sales fell right across the distribution. The average dropped 9.2% to $774,915, the median 6.1% to $522,826, the 75th percentile 4.7% and the 25th percentile 16.4% to $340,525 *, the bottom quarter fell hardest.
- The largest owners pulled apart from each other. Among franchisees with three or more territories the average rose 3.4% to $2,594,079 while the median fell 4.9% to $1,823,078 *, the top of that group grew and its middle shrank.
- The national advertising fee rises 50% at 1,500 territories. $1,000 a month becomes $1,500 for a Tier 1 territory, and the system stood at 1,355 at the end of 2025, 145 away *, which is a $6,000 a year step for a single-territory owner.
How much does a Budget Blinds franchise make?
The average Budget Blinds unit reported $774,915 of revenue in the 2026 FDD, and the median reported $522,826. The brand’s disclosure document discloses revenue and not profit, so what an owner keeps depends on the cost structure set out below. Fees come off the top first, at about 9.4% of sales across royalty, brand fund and the rest of the stack. Revenue is not income. Rent, wages, cost of goods and the franchise fees all come out before an owner is paid. The figures for the highest-selling and lowest-selling businesses are below.
Top performers
What separates the top Budget Blinds performers
Budget Blinds splits its locations into groups instead of publishing one average. The best group averaged $921,140 a year. The worst averaged $340,525. Both run the same brand, on the same agreement, paying the same fees. The middle location sold $522,826. The average was $774,915. More than half the system is below the number the brand quotes.
Decided before you open
- Trade area and site.A 2.7× gap between bands is not an operating gap. Catchment, daytime population and what sits next door set the ceiling before the first customer arrives.
- Territory, and how much of it is real.This model sells from a territory rather than a building. Two owners with the same brand and different ground are running different businesses, and density decides how much driving sits between jobs.
- What you spend to open.Opening costs $100,500 to $211,250, a 2.1× range inside one brand. The high end usually buys more capacity, so the cheapest build is not always the cheapest route to the top band.
Live operating levers
- Installations, the operating driver.This model bills on installations. The sale happens in the customer’s home, so the owner works on how many appointments are booked, how many close, and what the average install is worth. It is worth watching every week, because by the time it turns up in a monthly close the quarter is half gone.
- The gift card book.Gift cards are sold before the service is delivered. The top performers are not selling more of them by accident, they are running a deliberate seasonal push into the holidays and out of it again. The accounting follows: a gift card is deferred revenue until it is redeemed, so cash and earned revenue arrive in different periods.
- Fees, and where the minimum bites.Fees run about 9.4% of sales. A minimum sits underneath the percentage, so the low-volume location pays the higher effective rate. The brand charges the weakest locations the most. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum and know which side of it you are on, because the answer changes what an extra dollar of sales is worth.
Context you underwrite around
- The reporting screen.612 of 1355 locations are behind these figures. Locations open less than the full year, brand-owned, or not meeting the reporting criteria are excluded, so the numbers describe locations that cleared that screen, not the system as a whole.
- What the disclosure leaves out.Item 19 publishes no profit or cost data for franchised locations. Anything below the sales line has to come from the franchisor or from owners you call.
Every location, lowest to highest
Five points on the curve, for each size of owner.
| Measure | One territory | Two territories | Three or more |
|---|---|---|---|
| Franchisees reporting | 282 | 202 | 128 |
| Highest | $9,336,975 | $9,044,089 | $18,753,237 |
| 75th percentile | $921,140 | $1,442,552 | $3,178,585 |
| Average | $774,915 | $1,201,857 | $2,594,079 |
| Average of the middle half | $565,256 | $995,854 | $2,024,073 |
| Median | $522,826 | $967,557 | $1,823,078 |
| 25th percentile | $340,525 | $658,841 | $1,195,398 |
| Lowest | $53,370 | $76,111 | $412,200 |
| At or above their own average | 88, 31% | 78, 39% | 45, 35% |
Every figure is as the brand reported it, covering 612 franchisees who traded all of 2025 and reported. The brand puts at 82% of those open all year, with multi-territory figures being totals across all of an owner's territories.
The single-territory average is 1.48 times its own median. $774,915 against $522,826 *, and only 88 of 282 reach the average, so an owner planning against it is planning against the top third.
The middle half of single-territory owners averages $565,256. Stripping out the top and bottom quarters, $209,659 below the headline average *, which is the most honest single number on this page for a first territory.
A second territory adds $426,942 of average sales, and a third adds less. $774,915 to $1,201,857 to $2,594,079 across groups averaging one, two and four territories, so per territory that runs $774,915, $600,929 and $648,520 *.
A single-territory owner reported $9,336,975. Against a $774,915 group average and a $53,370 minimum *, a 175-fold range inside one territory count, which is what a mobile showroom with an open ceiling on capacity allows at both ends.
The three-or-more group starts at $412,200. Its lowest-selling owner runs at least three territories and bills less than the single-territory median across all of them, so territory count buys reach.
What 2025 did
Every point of the single-territory curve went backwards.
| Measure | 2024 | 2025 | Change * |
|---|---|---|---|
| One territory, 75th percentile | $966,358 | $921,140 | −4.7% |
| One territory, average | $853,650 | $774,915 | −9.2% |
| One territory, median | $556,955 | $522,826 | −6.1% |
| One territory, 25th percentile | $407,517 | $340,525 | −16.4% |
| Two territories, average | $1,252,032 | $1,201,857 | −4.0% |
| Two territories, median | $968,124 | $967,557 | −0.1% |
| Three or more, average | $2,508,917 | $2,594,079 | +3.4% |
| Three or more, median | $1,917,040 | $1,823,078 | −4.9% |
Both years are as the brand reported it and the change column is marked *.
The bottom quarter of single-territory owners lost $66,992 of sales. $407,517 down to $340,525, a 16.4% fall *, three and a half times the drop the 75th percentile took, so the damage concentrated at the bottom.
The single-territory average fell further than its median. 9.2% against 6.1% *, which means the highest-selling single-territory owners gave up more dollars than the middle did, even as the bottom gave up more percentage.
Two-territory owners held their middle almost exactly. $968,124 to $967,557, a $567 move, the steadiest line in the whole table, while the same group’s average slipped 4.0% *.
The largest group grew its average and shrank its middle. Up 3.4% to $2,594,079 against down 4.9% to $1,823,078, a gap of $771,001 between mean and median *, widened by a year in which the very top grew and everyone else in the group gave ground.
On today’s minimum fees, the $66,992 the bottom quarter lost saves them zero royalty. A Tier 1 owner at $407,517 and one at $340,525 both pay the same $30,000 *, which is the clearest statement of what a dollar minimum does in a down year.
The minimums and the tiers
A 3.5% royalty that behaves like a fixed cost. (Items 5 and 6)
| Tier | Households | minimum royalty a month | minimum a year * | 3.5% overtakes at * | National advertising a year * | Technology a year * |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | 36,000 or more | $2,500 | $30,000 | $857,143 | $12,000 | $7,200 |
| Tier 2 | 25,000 to 36,000 | $1,875 | $22,500 | $642,857 | $9,000 | $7,200 |
| Tier 3 | Under 25,000 | $1,250 | $15,000 | $428,571 | $6,000 | $7,200 |
Household groups, monthly minimums, the flat national advertising fee and the $600 monthly technology charge are as the brand reported it. The annual totals and crossover points are marked *.
At the single-territory median a Tier 1 owner pays 9.41% and a Tier 3 owner 6.02%. $49,200 against $31,499 on the same $522,826 *, so the tier an owner buys into is worth $17,701 a year at the middle of the system.
At the 25th percentile the Tier 1 load reaches 14.45%. $49,200 on $340,525 *, more than four times the headline rate, and the point at which a low-percentage royalty stops being a low-cost one.
Three quarters of single-territory owners sit below the Tier 1 crossover. The 75th percentile is $921,140 and the crossover is $857,143 *, so only the top quarter of single-territory owners has a royalty that moves with sales at all.
National advertising is a flat dollar figure. $1,000 a month for a Tier 1 territory, rising to $1,500 once the system reaches 1,500 US territories. A franchisee has zero claim on that money being spent in their own territory.
Local marketing has zero required spend today. The franchisor may impose one through the manual up to 8% of sales. The only concrete figure anywhere is $10,000 to $15,000 of initial marketing in the first three months. So the marketing obligation is a reserved right.
Openings and resales
Sixteen opened, twenty-seven left, ninety-seven sold on.
| Year | At start | Opened | Terminations | Non-renewals | Ceased, other | At end | Net * | Transfers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 1,298 | 78 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 1,362 | +64 | 69 |
| 2024 | 1,362 | 35 | 7 | 1 | 23 | 1,366 | +4 | 87 |
| 2025 | 1,366 | 16 | 15 | 6 | 6 | 1,355 | −11 | 97 |
Every figure is as the brand reported it and the net column is marked *, with the brand owning zero outlets itself in all three years.
Openings fell 79% in two years while departures more than doubled. 78 to 35 to 16, against 14 to 31 to 27 *, and 2025 is the first net decline, at 11 territories.
253 territories changed hands in three years. Against 72 departures *, so an owner leaving this system has been three and a half times likelier to sell than to shut. The resale count rose every year while openings collapsed.
Selling costs $5,000 a territory or 6% of the price, capped at $50,000. Plus $15,000 if the brand’s own marketing produced the buyer, so on a $500,000 sale the transfer bill reaches $45,000 * if the buyer came from the brand’s database.
The pipeline is 6 signed and 15 projected. Against 16 opened in 2025 and 1,355 standing, so the system is now being renewed almost entirely through resales.
Territory is a fixed list of zip codes that stays fixed. The codes stay the same even as postal boundaries and populations move. Though the brand may reclassify the tier at renewal. Is the one place a territory’s minimum fees can change without the territory changing.
Questions we get asked
Questions an owner asks.
What does a Budget Blinds territory bill?
For the 282 single-territory franchisees reporting a full 2025, the average was $774,915 and the median $522,826, with a 75th percentile of $921,140 and a 25th of $340,525. The middle half averaged $565,256. Two-territory owners averaged $1,201,857 across both territories and three-or-more owners $2,594,079 across an average of four.
What does the brand take?
3.5% of sales or a monthly minimum by territory tier, whichever is greater, $2,500 for Tier 1, $1,875 for Tier 2 and $1,250 for Tier 3. Plus a flat national advertising fee of $1,000, $750 or $500 a month by the same tiers. Technology at $600 a month for the first territory plus $300 for each additional one.
When does 3.5% overtake the minimum?
At $857,143 of annual sales in a Tier 1 territory, $642,857 in Tier 2 and $428,571 in Tier 3. The single-territory median is $522,826 and the 75th percentile $921,140. So in a Tier 1 territory only the top quarter of single-territory owners has a royalty that moves with sales.
What is the real load?
On our reading, a Tier 1 single-territory owner at the median pays $49,200 (9.41% of $522,826) and at the 25th percentile 14.45%. The same owner in a Tier 3 territory pays $31,499 and $28,200, or 6.02% and 8.28%. The headline rate of 3.5% applies only above the crossover.
Is there a local marketing requirement?
Zero today. The franchise agreement reserves the right to require local marketing up to 8% of sales through the manual. The only concrete figure disclosed is $10,000 to $15,000 of initial marketing in the first three months. National advertising is the flat monthly fee, and the brand is free to spend it anywhere it chooses.
What does it cost to open?
$100,500 to $211,250 for a single territory, excluding office or workspace costs. That is a $19,950 franchise fee plus a territory fee of $30,000, $45,000 or $70,000 by tier, a vehicle at $10,000 to $48,000, initial marketing of $10,000 to $15,000 and $25,000 to $40,000 of additional funds. Veterans get 15% off both the franchise fee and the first territory fee.
How stable is the system?
1,355 territories at the end of 2025, down from 1,366. Across 2023 to 2025, 129 opened and 72 left, 28 terminations, 9 non-renewals and 35 that ceased for other reasons. Over the same period 253 territories transferred to new owners. The brand owns zero outlets itself.
Which two numbers should run monthly?
Sales against $71,429 a month, which is where 3.5% overtakes the Tier 1 minimum, and against $35,714 in a Tier 3 territory. And sold jobs against quoted jobs, because with the royalty fixed below the crossover, every point of close rate falls straight through to the owner.
- No profit figure. The filing reports sales and not earnings, so what an owner keeps is not disclosed.
- No cost lines. Wages, rent and cost of goods are not broken out, so margin cannot be rebuilt from the document.
Questions worth putting to Budget Blinds
The filing answers what it answers. These are the gaps an owner or a buyer should close directly.
- What do locations at the median spend on wages and rent as a share of sales? The filing reports sales only.
- What separates the highest-selling locations from the lowest: trade area, years open, size, or the owner?
- How long does a new location take to reach the average you publish, and what does the build-up look like month by month?
- At what level of sales do the minimum charges stop applying and the percentage take over?
- How many Budget Blinds locations closed, were sold, or changed hands last year, and why?
Run your own numbers.
The Franchise Finance Diagnostic runs the same checks on your own numbers. It scores where you stand and compares you with Item 19 of your brand’s FDD. It works out what one location earns and spends, and builds a 13-week cash forecast. Checks whether you are ready to open another one. It is free and it runs in your browser.
Launch the diagnostic →Is your royalty a rate or a minimum?
A structured review of your unit economics, cash forecast. Reporting, built around the crossover point for your tier, the real load at your sales level. What your close rate is worth once the royalty stops moving.
Request the reviewthe franchise library, all 243 brands · how franchise unit economics work · running the books across several locations · what Averan does for franchise owners
Budget Blinds reads against the rest of the window coverings group: Gotcha Covered.
Questions owners ask next
The figures above raise these, and each one is answered on its own page.
- Money arrives before the service does. How should that be booked?Deferred revenue, and why the bank balance and the profit line disagree.
- At what level of sales does a minimum fee stop costing me more than the percentage?How royalty, ad fund and minimums actually work on a monthly statement.
- How much cash do I fund before a new location covers its own costs?A 13-week forecast for the months before break-even.
- Do I need a bookkeeper, a controller, or a CFO?What each one owns, and the point at which the next one pays for itself.
- Revenue was the highest it has been. Why did profit not move?Where the extra revenue went, line by line.