Gotcha Covered franchise unit economics
Gotcha Covered franchisees sell and install window treatments from home, and the design appointment is the whole business. Across the 123 businesses reporting a full year of 2025 the average was $589,659 against a median of $395,105, on an average sale of $4,529 closed from 51.32% of appointments. Revenue rises 3.30 times between the second year and the sixth, and almost all of that is more appointments.
- Primary source
- Gotcha Covered Franchising, LLC, 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document
- Items read
- Items 5 and 6 for fees; Item 7 for cost to open; Item 19 for sales and any profit figure; Item 20 for the location count
- Population
- 123 of 172 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.
Revenue climbs from $232,273 in the second year to $766,756 at five years and beyond, a factor of 3.30. Over that same stretch the close ratio moves 0.79 of a point and the average sale falls 12.9%. So the entire growth curve is appointments. Is the one number an owner controls directly.
- Revenue triples with years open while the close ratio moves 0.79 of a point. $232,273 at 12 to 24 months against $766,756 at 61 months and beyond, on close ratios of 50.55% and 51.34% *. The selling is already as good as it gets in year two.
- The average sale actually falls as the business matures. $5,124 in the second year against $4,463 beyond three years, a drop of 12.9% *, so growth arrives as more jobs at a slightly smaller ticket.
- The gap between a second-year business and a mature one is four appointments a week. 1.72 a week against 5.79 *, which at a 51.32% close and $4,529 a sale is where the extra $457,592 of revenue comes from.
- The royalty is a flat dollar ladder ending at $2,250 a month. $350 in month one rising to $2,250 from month 37, plus $1,000 of marketing fund, which is $39,000 a year *, 5.09% of revenue for a mature business and 16.79% for one still at the second-year average.
- 82 openings and 63 exits in three years produced 19 more businesses. 153 to 172 across 2023 to 2025, on terminations of 17, 23 and 18 *, 4.3 openings for every net addition, with 3 agreements signed and unopened at year end.
How much does a Gotcha Covered franchise make?
The average Gotcha Covered unit reported $589,659 of revenue in the 2026 FDD, and the median reported $395,105. 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 6.6% 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 Gotcha Covered performers
Gotcha Covered splits its locations into groups instead of publishing one average. The best group averaged $766,756 a year. The worst averaged $232,273. Both run the same brand, on the same agreement, paying the same fees. The middle location sold $395,105. The average was $589,659. More than half the system is below the number the brand quotes.
Decided before you open
- Trade area and site.A 3.3× 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 $122,760 to $166,500, a 1.4× 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
- Visits, the operating driver.This model bills on visits. The owner watches how many visits happen, what each one is worth, and how many customers book the next one before they leave. It is worth watching every week, because by the time it turns up in a monthly close the quarter is half gone.
- Fees, and where the minimum bites.Fees run about 6.6% 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.
- The first year.This filing shows how a new location builds up, so the ramp can be underwritten from the document rather than assumed. Read two things out of it: the month sales cross the point where costs are covered, and how much cash you fund before that month arrives. Everything before break-even is paid for by you.
Context you underwrite around
- The reporting screen.123 of 172 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.
What years open buys
Five years of compounding, published year by year.
| Opened | Months trading | Average | Median | Range | Businesses | Step on the year before * |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 12 to 24 | $232,273 | $164,682 | $90,361 to $759,987 | 15 | n/a |
| 2023 | 25 to 36 | $348,519 | $311,263 | $162,934 to $853,074 | 16 | +50.0% |
| 2022 | 37 to 48 | $419,257 | $372,467 | $177,852 to $665,944 | 14 | +20.3% |
| 2021 | 49 to 60 | $650,494 | $504,101 | $183,700 to $1,574,426 | 19 | +55.2% |
| 2020 and before | 61 and up | $766,756 | $512,962 | $109,985 to $3,401,581 | 59 | +17.9% |
| All businesses | n/a | $589,659 | $395,105 | $90,361 to $3,401,581 | 123 | n/a |
Every column apart from the step is as the brand reported it; the step is marked *.
A business at five years bills 3.30 times what a business at eighteen months bills. $766,756 against $232,273 *, and the median in that oldest group is $512,962. So half of those businesses sit above roughly twice the second-year average.
The curve is steepest between years two and three and again between four and five. Steps of 50.0% and 55.2% against 20.3% and 17.9% in the years either side *, so the climb arrives in two pushes.
The oldest group holds both the widest range and the lowest minimum of any group. $109,985 to $3,401,581 across 59 businesses *, a business trading five years or more can sit below a second-year one. That is what a book built on appointments looks like when the appointments stop.
The median is 67.0% of the average across the whole system. $395,105 against $589,659 *, and in the second-year group it falls to 70.9%, so the planning number for a new business is the median.
What one appointment is worth
Appointments times close ratio times ticket.
| Years open | Close ratio | Average sale | Average sale margin | Jobs a year * | Appointments a week * |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 to 24 months | 50.55% | $5,124 | 58.00% | 45 | 1.72 |
| 25 to 36 months | 53.27% | $4,231 | 63.02% | 82 | 2.97 |
| 37 months and beyond | 51.34% | $4,463 | 61.52% | 155 | 5.79 |
| All businesses | 51.32% | $4,529 | 60.81% | 130 | 4.88 |
Close ratio, average sale and average sale margin are as the brand reported it. The jobs and appointment columns are marked *, dividing each group’s average revenue by its average sale and then by its close ratio.
Everything in this business is appointment count. 1.72 a week in the second year against 5.79 beyond three years *, on a close ratio 0.79 of a point apart. The difference between a lower-selling business and a mature one is roughly four more design appointments a week.
One appointment a week is worth $120,863 a year. 52 appointments at a 51.32% close and a $4,529 average sale *, which is the number to hold in mind before spending on lead generation.
Raising a close ratio from 50.55% to 60% is worth a third of one extra appointment a week. $43,422 against $120,863 * at second-year volumes, an useful gain, and 2.78 times smaller than what the same effort put into booking produces.
Half the system closes better than 51.16% and half of it closes worse. A median almost identical to the 51.32% average, across a range running the full 0.00% to 100.00% *, so a business sitting near 51% is squarely typical and has its growth elsewhere.
The fees in dollars
The brand charges dollars, so growth is free. (Items 5 and 6)
| Stage | Royalty a month | Marketing fund a month | The year’s total * |
|---|---|---|---|
| Months 1 to 12 | $350 rising to $1,400 | $125 rising to $550 | $14,275 |
| Months 13 to 24 | $1,400 | $550 rising to $1,000 | $25,725 |
| Months 25 to 36 | $1,400 | $1,000 | $28,800 |
| Month 37 onward | $2,250 | $1,000 | $39,000 |
The monthly amounts are as the brand reported it; the annual column is marked *, summing each month of the schedule.
| Business | Annual sales | $39,000 as a share * | With the 5% local minimum * |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highest in the system | $3,401,581 | 1.15% | 6.15% |
| 61 months and beyond | $766,756 | 5.09% | 10.09% |
| System average | $589,659 | 6.61% | 11.61% |
| System median | $395,105 | 9.87% | 14.87% |
| 12 to 24 months | $232,273 | 16.79% | 21.79% |
| Lowest in the system | $90,361 | 43.16% | 48.16% |
Revenue figures are as the brand reported it; both share columns are marked *, applying the month-37 fee level of $39,000 a year to each.
Every extra dollar of revenue is free of brand fees. $39,000 whether the business bills $90,361 or $3,401,581 *, so the 130th job of the year costs the same in royalty as the first, which is zero.
A business at the system median pays 9.87% of revenue in fixed fees, and the largest pays 1.15%. The same $39,000 *, an 8.72 point range created entirely by denominator, which is the mirror image of how a percentage royalty behaves.
The step from month 36 to month 37 costs $10,200 a year. $2,250 a month against $1,400 *. That is 2.9% of the third-year group’s average revenue landing in a single month. It arrives whether the business grew or held flat.
The 5% local marketing minimum is larger than the royalty at the system average. $29,483 against $27,000 *, and since any shortfall is payable to the national fund, it is a spend an owner makes either way. So the only question is whether it buys appointments.
The network of locations
Heavy customers lost under steady growth.
| Year | At start | Opened | Terminations | Other exits | At end | Openings as a share * | Exits as a share * |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 153 | 29 | 17 | 2 | 163 | 19.0% | 12.4% |
| 2024 | 163 | 29 | 23 | 0 | 169 | 17.8% | 14.1% |
| 2025 | 169 | 24 | 18 | 3 | 172 | 14.2% | 12.4% |
Counts are as the brand reported it and combine United States and Canadian businesses; the two right-hand columns are marked *.
| Year | System-wide revenue | Change * | Businesses at year end | Revenue a business * |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | $64,473,766 | +13.5% | 163 | $395,545 |
| 2024 | $69,294,235 | +7.5% | 169 | $410,025 |
| 2025 | $77,129,718 | +11.3% | 172 | $448,429 |
System-wide revenue and the outlet counts are as the brand reported it; the change and per-business columns are marked *.
It took 82 openings to add 19 businesses. 153 to 172 across three years against 63 exits *, 4.3 openings for every net addition, and terminations peaked at 23 in 2024.
Revenue for each business in the system rose 9.37% last year. $410,025 to $448,429 *, so of the 11.3% system growth, most came from existing businesses instead of from the 3 net new ones.
The reporting group bills 29.4% more than the system-wide figure implies. $580,224 against $448,429 *. The difference is the businesses trading part of a year, reporting incompletely or closing. That is the gap between the published average and what a randomly chosen territory produced.
Entry runs a fifth to just over a quarter of what an average business bills. $122,760 to $166,500 for a single territory against $589,659 *, with the franchise fee at $62,910 to $69,900 and a $22,500 starter package on top, light, because the business runs from home with samples. A two-territory opening has a franchise fee of $108,000 to $120,000 and a published high of $216,600. Its published low repeats the single-territory figure of $122,760 while its own components add to $167,850 *, so that one number is best set aside.
Questions we get asked
Questions owners ask.
What does a Gotcha Covered business bill?
The 123 businesses reporting a full year of 2025 averaged $589,659 against a median of $395,105, with a range running $90,361 to $3,401,581. 40 of them, 33%, reached the average.
How long does it take to get there?
Groups of shops opened in the same year by group. A business at 12 to 24 months averaged $232,273, at 25 to 36 months $348,519, at 37 to 48 months $419,257, at 49 to 60 months $650,494. At 61 months and beyond $766,756.
Where does the growth come from?
Appointments. Across the same span the close ratio moves from 50.55% to 51.34% and the average sale falls from $5,124 to $4,463. So the extra revenue is jobs, on our reading, roughly 1.7 appointments a week in the second year against 5.8 beyond three years.
What does the brand take?
Fixed dollars. The royalty steps from $350 a month at the start to $1,400 by month 12, holds there through month 36 and rises to $2,250 from month 37. The marketing fund climbs from $125 to $1,000 a month by month 24. That is $39,000 a year at maturity, plus $0.06 for each household in the territory above 30,000, plus a minimum local marketing spend of 5% of sales.
What does a flat royalty mean for me?
The marginal cost of growth in brand fees is zero, and the burden falls hardest on the smallest businesses. $39,000 is 1.15% of revenue for the largest business in the system, 6.61% at the average, 9.87% at the median and 43.16% at the smallest.
What does it cost to open?
$122,760 to $166,500 for a single territory, including a franchise fee of $62,910 to $69,900 and a $22,500 starter package. A two-territory opening has a franchise fee of $108,000 to $120,000 and a published high of $216,600.
How stable is the system?
It grew from 153 to 172 businesses across three years, on 82 openings and 63 exits. Terminations ran 17, 23 and 18. Three agreements were signed and unopened at the end of 2025, with zero openings projected for the following year.
- 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 Gotcha Covered
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 Gotcha Covered 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 →How many appointments are you booking a week?
A structured review of your unit economics, cash forecast. Reporting, built around booked appointments against the system’s 4.88 a week, your close ratio against 51.32%, and your average sale against $4,529.
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
Gotcha Covered reads against the rest of the window coverings group: Budget Blinds.
Questions owners ask next
The figures above raise these, and each one is answered on its own page.
- 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.
- My payroll percentage keeps climbing. Is that a payroll problem?Usually it is a revenue problem wearing a payroll costume.
- Revenue was the highest it has been. Why did profit not move?Where the extra revenue went, line by line.
- At what point do spreadsheets stop coping?What changes at around ten units, and why lenders care.