Mechanical trades franchise finance
Averan read the 2026 FDDs of nine mechanical trades brands.
The median brand here reports average revenue of $1,561,361 an unit. Percentage fees at the median brand come to 13.5% of sales. The median cost to open runs $143,273 to $286,702.
Find a mechanical trades brand
9 brands in this guide, each from its own 2026 FDD. Open one, or pick two and compare them.
The brands in this group
Each brand has its own business model breakdown, with every figure set out against the brand’s disclosure document it comes from.
- Aire Serv Revenue by group · Minimums that exceed revenue at the bottom, plus an inverse license cliff worth 1% of each threshold
- Benjamin Franklin Plumbingquartile · Same population ranked by territory and by franchisee
- Mister Sparkyquartile · One franchisee holds a third of the system
- Mr. Electric Gross sales banded by TERRITORY POPULATION, each cut into top and bottom 10%, 25% and 50% plus an all-group row - read against a minimum license fee that is itself set by population band
- Mr. Rooter Revenue by group · Three charges summing to a flat 16% of sales above the marketing-minimum crossover
- One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning The same 88 franchisees ranked twice - by revenue per territory and by total revenue - showing that scale comes from territory count while yield per territory falls as count rises
- Plumbing Paramedics Per-outlet Gross Sales and Jobs, 3 businesses · The_job
- Roto-Rooter No financial performance representation · Priced_per_head
- Service Experts Full P&L · P&L split by general manager years open
The figures, brand by brand
| Measure | Median | Brands | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average sales per unit | $1,561,361 | 7 of 9 | Median of each brand’s disclosed average |
| Median sales per unit | $944,801 | 5 of 9 | Median of each brand’s disclosed median |
| Initial franchise fee | $42,500 | 8 of 9 | |
| Royalty | 6% | 8 of 9 | Headline rate |
| Brand or advertising fund | 1.8% | 8 of 9 | |
| Percentage fees, all in | 13.5% | 8 of 9 | Royalty, funds and local marketing set as a share of sales |
| Cost to open, low | $143,273 | 9 of 9 | |
| Cost to open, high | $286,702 | 9 of 9 | |
| Profit margin | Fewer than three disclose | 0 of 9 | Each brand’s own profit line; definitions differ |
| Labor, share of revenue | Fewer than three disclose | 0 of 9 | |
| Building costs, share of revenue | Fewer than three disclose | 0 of 9 | |
| Unit growth, 2025 | 10.6% | 7 of 9 | (End − start) ÷ start |
| Customers lost, 2025 | 5.6% | 6 of 9 | Terminated, non-renewed, reacquired and ceased, ÷ opening units; transfers excluded |
Each figure is the median of the brands that disclose it, and the Brands column counts them.
How we calculated this
Revenue is each brand's own reported figure on its own unit basis, so the median describes the group and no single brand. Growth and customers lost are our calculations from each brand's outlet table. Where fewer than three brands disclose a figure, no benchmark is shown.
The model
The business model the top performers in mechanical trades are running
What the top performers can do that others cannot
4 of the 9 brands here sell a call-out.
What the customer is buying
The customer buys a repair when something breaks. At 2 of them the model is different: the customer buys a job sold in the home, which asks something else of the owner. A location at the middle brand sells $1,561,361 a year; the top group sells $2,836,912. The offer is the same at both ends of that range, so the difference is volume rather than product.
Who the customer is, and how often they come back
This is an acquisition business. Each job is won again, so lead flow, the close rate and what the average job is worth decide the year. A median 33% of locations reach their own brand’s average, so most of the system is below the number the brand advertises, and the gap is usually a demand gap rather than an effort gap. The top group sells $2,836,912 against $163,663 at the bottom. Trade area and site set that range before an owner takes a booking.
How the money works
Opening costs $95,935 to $357,425 across the group, and inside one brand the top of the range is typically 2.0 times the bottom. At the middle brand the cost stack runs franchise fees 13.5% of sales.
Also disclosed across this group: $6,881,668, $656,635, 102.1.
Top performers
These are the things that separate top performers in mechanical trades
At the typical mechanical trades brand, the best group of locations sells $2,836,912 a year. The worst group sells $163,663. That is $2,673,249 more a year, 17.3 times over, for the same brand on the same agreement. Across these brands, a median of 33% of locations reach their own brand’s average. The average describes the top of a system, not the middle. 7 of the 9 brands here publish bands; the rest disclose no spread at all.
Decided before you open
- What it costs to open.Opening costs run $95,935 to $357,425 across the group, and the top of a single brand’s range is typically 2.0 times its bottom. The top group sells $2,836,912 a year against a build that tops out at $357,425, so at the heavy end of the range a location sells $7.94 for every dollar it cost to open. That build is recovered inside a year or two of sales at that end of the system.
- What a location sells.Average sales run $1,561,361 at the middle brand and $2,836,912 at the top group. Format and site decide most of that before an owner does anything, which is why the same operator produces different results in different trade areas.
Live operating levers
- 4 of the 9 brands here sell a call-out.A technician can only finish so many calls in a day, so the owner works on how many of those calls turn into paid work and what the average ticket is worth when it does. They are Aire Serv, Benjamin Franklin Plumbing, Mr. Rooter, One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning.
- 2 of the 9 brands here run a recurring plan.A plan turns a business that waits for the phone to ring into one that knows roughly what next month looks like, and that predictability is what lets an owner staff properly. It is built by asking the customer to book the next visit before they walk out, not by spending more on marketing afterwards. They are Benjamin Franklin Plumbing, Service Experts.
- What the brand charges. The line that works backwards.Fees run a median 13.5% of sales across 7 brands, from 10.0% to 16.0%. Where a minimum sits underneath the percentage, the weakest location pays the highest effective rate, so the fee line costs most exactly where it can least be afforded. The top performers clear the minimum early and stop thinking about it. At $2,836,912 the fees cost $382,983 a year; at $163,663 they cost $22,095. The percentage is the same and the burden is not.
- No brand here prices its cost lines.Not one of these 9 filings publishes wages, rent or cost of sales, so the operating gap between the top and the bottom cannot be read from the documents. The sales figures are all you are given, and everything that turns those sales into earnings has to come from owners you call. Ask three at each end of the system for wages as a share of sales, rent as a share of sales, and what is left at the end.
Context you underwrite around
- How many brands show a ramp.1 of 9 filings in this group show how a new location builds up. For the rest the first year has to be assumed, and the assumption is usually wrong in the same direction.
- What is not banded.2 brands publish no bands at all, so their spread is unknown rather than narrow. Read a single average as the upper-middle of a distribution you cannot see.
Operating levers
What each brand’s top performers actually work on
The levers the filing supports, brand by brand. Three to five each, read from that brand’s own 2026 FDD. Filter by type of business, or open a brand for the figures underneath.
9 brands
Aire Serv
Mechanical trades
- Service calls, the operating driver. This model bills on service calls. A technician finishes only so many calls a day, so the owner works on how many of them turn into paid work and what the average ticket is worth. 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 16.0% 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.
Benjamin Franklin Plumbing
Mechanical trades
- Service calls, the operating driver. This model bills on service calls. A technician finishes only so many calls a day, so the owner works on how many of them turn into paid work and what the average ticket is worth. It is worth watching every week, because by the time it turns up in a monthly close the quarter is half gone.
- Membership and rebooking. A recurring plan turns a high-fixed-cost business from an appointment book into a subscription, which smooths the utilisation that drives the wage line. Rebooking before the customer leaves is what builds it, not marketing spend afterwards.
- Fees, and where the minimum bites. Fees run about 13.5% 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.
Mister Sparky
Mechanical trades
- Members, the operating driver. This model bills on members. The owner watches how many people join, how many cancel, and what a member spends beyond the plan. 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 13.5% 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.
Mr. Electric
Mechanical trades
- 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.
- Fees, and where the minimum bites. Fees run about 10.0% 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.
Mr. Rooter
Mechanical trades
- Service calls, the operating driver. This model bills on service calls. A technician finishes only so many calls a day, so the owner works on how many of them turn into paid work and what the average ticket is worth. 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 16.0% 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.
One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning
Mechanical trades
- Service calls, the operating driver. This model bills on service calls. A technician finishes only so many calls a day, so the owner works on how many of them turn into paid work and what the average ticket is worth. 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 13.5% 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.
Plumbing Paramedics
Mechanical trades
- Jobs, the operating driver. This model bills on jobs. Every job is won again, so the owner works on how many quotes turn into work and what the average job is worth when it does. 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 12.4% 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.
Roto-Rooter
Mechanical trades
- What you can change after opening. This filing prices none of the operating lines. Across the Home Services brands in this library that do disclose them, the largest is the cost of what you sell at a median 43.8% of sales *
Service Experts
Mechanical trades
- 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.
- Membership and rebooking. A recurring plan turns a high-fixed-cost business from an appointment book into a subscription, which smooths the utilisation that drives the wage line. Rebooking before the customer leaves is what builds it, not marketing spend afterwards.
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.
- At what point do spreadsheets stop coping?What changes at around ten units, and why lenders care.
- I run several locations. Which ones actually make money?Location-level contribution, and what it takes to see it.
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 jobs did you run last week?
A structured review of your unit economics, cash forecast. Reporting, built around job count, a minimum fee your brand imposes. A chart of accounts mapped to the benchmark you are being measured against.
Request the reviewWhere these figures come from
Every figure here comes from the brands' 2026 FDDs and is unaudited by us. We are unaffiliated with the brands. The medians, growth and customers lost figures are our own calculations. The figures describe past performance at other businesses. They are not a projection of your results. This page is an educational summary and is not an offer to sell a franchise or financial, legal or tax advice. All trademarks belong to their owners. How Averan reads a Franchise Disclosure Document.