OpenWorks franchise unit economics
OpenWorks franchisees buy packages of commercial cleaning accounts and run cleaning businesses that serve them, while the brand bills those customers and remits what it collects after its deductions.
OpenWorks franchise at a glance
OpenWorks’ 2026 FDD, issued 9 April 2026, makes no financial performance representation in Item 19, so it gives no sales or profit figure. An OpenWorks franchise costs $4,250 to $134,480 to open, including a $24,850 initial franchise fee. OpenWorks charges a royalty of 15% of sales and a 2.5% brand fund contribution.
- On Averan's reading, OpenWorks's franchise fees come to about 21.6% of sales.
- OpenWorks reported 402 franchised locations in its 2026 FDD.
- Work out OpenWorks's fees at your own sales with the minimum fee calculator.
These figures come from OpenWorks's 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, as the brand reported them, and were read by Averan Advisors.
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Talk to Averan → Move your books and accounting to Averan →- Twenty-one point six percent is deducted before remittance. 15% royalty, 2.5% advertising, 0.5% technology and 3.6% insurance *, and the stated caps would take it to 23.6% *.
- The largest package delivers accounts over as many as 780 days. That is two years and seven weeks *, against 240 days for the smallest, so $72,000 can buy accounts that arrive across two years.
- Accounts cost 24 to 29.6 cents a dollar of annual billing *. The largest package at 24 cents undercuts the 25 cents charged for adding accounts later *.
- A $25,000-a-month book nets $235,200 a year after the deduction. That comes from $300,000 of billing *, before wages, supplies or vehicle.
- Four hundred and forty-eight outlets were terminated in three years against 198 opened. That is a 38.5% fall in the franchised count *, with 257 of those terminations in 2024 alone.
How much does an OpenWorks franchise make?
The 2026 FDD for OpenWorks does not publish unit revenue in a form that answers this directly. What it does publish is set out below, starting with Deducted before remittance: 21.6% of billing; Accounts cost: 24¢ to 29.6¢ a dollar of annual billing; Delivery window: 240 to 780 days; Franchised outlets, end 2025: 402.
Top performers
What separates the top OpenWorks performers
OpenWorks publishes no revenue figures, so neither the average nor the spread between locations is disclosed.
Decided before you open
- Territory.This model sells from a territory, with no storefront. Population density sets how much driving sits between jobs.
- Opening cost range.Opening costs $4,250 to $134,480, a 31.6× range inside one brand.
- Fees and the minimum.Fees run about 21.6% of sales. A minimum fee also applies, so lower-selling locations pay a higher effective rate. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum.
Live operating levers
- Accounts.Accounts bill year after year. Track how many you keep as well as how many you win.
Context you underwrite around
- What the filing does not include.Item 19 publishes no profit or cost data for franchised locations, no median, no performance bands, no attainment figure. Ask the franchisor or current owners for cost and profit figures.
- Sales spread in the category.Across 66 Home Services brands in this library, the top group sells 8.9× the bottom at the typical brand, and a median 35% of locations reach their own average *. Ask the franchisor for this brand’s spread.
Discounts available
- OpenWorks takes 10% off the initial franchise fee for veterans, deducted from the amount financed.
- OpenWorks runs temporary promotions, such as for the first franchisees in a new state, usually $2,000 to $5,000 off the initial franchise fee.
From Item 5 of the OpenWorks 2026 FDD. The costs on this page use the full initial franchise fee for one unit, before any discount.
Buying work from the brand
The five packages and their prices
| Package | Monthly billing bought | Fee | Times one month * | Cents a dollar of annual billing * | Veteran price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OW P | Zero | $2,500 | n/a | n/a | $2,250 |
| OW GrOW | Zero | $6,000 | n/a | n/a | $5,400 |
| OW 7 | $7,000 | $24,850 | 3.55 | 29.6¢ | $22,365 |
| OW 10 | $10,000 | $33,000 | 3.30 | 27.5¢ | $29,700 |
| OW 25 | $25,000 | $72,000 | 2.88 | 24.0¢ | $64,800 |
The volumes, fees and 10% veteran discount are as the brand reported it and the multiple and cents columns divide the fee by one month's and by a year's billing, marked *.
Adding accounts later costs three times one month’s billing. That is 25 cents a dollar of annual billing *, more than the OW 25 package and less than either smaller one.
Volume above $25,000 is priced at the same three times. The price is $72,000 plus $3 for each dollar of monthly increase, so $30,000 a month costs $87,000. The pricing is linear from there on.
Two packages include no accounts at all. OW P at $2,500 and OW GrOW at $6,000, for owners who intend to find their own work. Those two have a territory of the whole continental United States.
Discounts in 2025 ran $500 to $5,000 off the fee. OpenWorks awarded them at its discretion through departmental promotions, so the schedule is a list price.
The whole business opens for $4,250 to $134,480. The package itself is nearly all of it. The work is home-based with no premises requirement.
What the brand deducts
Deductions from billing
| Charge | Rate | Cap | On $84,000 a year | On $300,000 a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royalty | 15% of sales | n/a | $12,600 | $45,000 |
| Advertising fund | 2.5% currently | 3% | $2,100 | $7,500 |
| Technology and innovation | 0.5% currently | 2% | $420 | $1,500 |
| Insurance program | 3.6% if enrolled | n/a | $3,024 | $10,800 |
| Total deducted | 21.6% | 23.6% | $18,144 | $64,800 |
| Remitted to the owner | 78.4% | n/a | $65,856 | $235,200 |
The rates and caps are as the brand reported it and the dollar figures apply them to twelve months of the OW 7 and OW 25 package volumes, marked *.
The royalty is 15% of billing. It covers the brand’s billing and collection work as well as the license, so the owner handles cleaning and little else.
The advertising and technology caps would add two points. That would take the deduction from 21.6% to 23.6% *, which on a $300,000 book is a further $6,000 a year *.
Local advertising obligations are absent entirely. There is no required spend, no cooperative and no council. The fund contribution is the whole marketing obligation.
The $300 monthly royalty minimum stays uncollected today. It would bind below $2,000 a month of billing *, well under every package offered.
Insurance at 3.6% applies only if you enrol or let cover lapse. So carrying your own policy is the one deduction an owner can remove.
How long the money takes
Delivery windows by package
| Package | Monthly billing bought | Window, days | Window, months * |
|---|---|---|---|
| OW 7 | $7,000 | 240 | 7.9 |
| OW 25 | $25,000 | 780 | 25.6 |
| Each $5,000 above OW 25 | n/a | 150 more | 4.9 more |
The day counts are as the brand reported it and the months column divides them by 30.44, marked *.
The largest package can take more than two years to arrive in full. The window is 780 days from completion of your requirements *, so the $72,000 buys a book that builds.
The fee becomes refundable only if the window closes unfilled. That makes the window the central term of the agreement.
Each further $5,000 of monthly volume adds 150 days. So a $40,000-a-month book has 1,230 days of window *, more than three years.
Territory is a 60-mile radius shared with everyone. Other franchisees and the brand compete inside it, and the brand keeps internet, catalog and direct mail channels there.
Working outside the radius is prohibited. The rule holds even for customers who approach you unprompted, so the book of accounts is the only route to growth.
The network of locations
Franchised outlets, 2023 to 2025
| Year | Start | Opened | Terminated | Non-renewed | End |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 654 | 65 | 102 | 2 | 615 |
| 2024 | 615 | 56 | 257 | 0 | 414 |
| 2025 | 414 | 77 | 89 | 0 | 402 |
| Three years | n/a | 198 | 448 | 2 | n/a |
Every figure is as the brand reported it, with zero company-owned outlets in any of the three years.
2024 alone accounts for 257 of the 448 terminations. That is 57% of the three-year total *, so a single year reshaped the OpenWorks system.
Openings rose to 77 in 2025 as terminations fell to 89. That is the closest the two have come in three years, so the contraction has nearly stopped.
One hundred and one new outlets are projected for the coming year. Against 402 trading, that is a 25% addition if they all arrive *.
Transfers ran to one a year. There was one in 2024 and one in 2025, so there is very little resale market here.
Zero outlets are company-owned. The brand’s regional offices sell franchises and support them.
Questions we get asked
Questions an owner asks
How much does an OpenWorks franchise make?
OpenWorks’ 2026 FDD, issued 9 April 2026, makes no financial performance representation in Item 19, so it gives no sales or profit figure. An OpenWorks franchise costs $4,250 to $134,480 to open, including a $24,850 initial franchise fee. OpenWorks charges a royalty of 15% of sales and a 2.5% brand fund contribution.
What am I buying at OpenWorks?
You buy a book of commercial cleaning accounts measured in monthly billing. Packages run from $7,000 to $25,000 a month at $24,850 to $72,000, and two packages include no accounts at $2,500 and $6,000. On our reading the accounts cost 24 to 29.6 cents for each dollar of annual billing.
What fees does OpenWorks charge?
OpenWorks takes a 15% royalty, 2.5% for the advertising fund and 0.5% for technology, all deducted from what it collects on your behalf, plus 3.6% for insurance if you enroll in its program. On our reading that is 21.6% before the money reaches you, and the stated caps would make it 23.6%.
How long until the accounts arrive at OpenWorks?
Delivery takes between 240 days for the $7,000 package and 780 days for the $25,000 one, roughly 7.9 to 25.6 months on our reading. Each further $5,000 of volume above that adds 150 days. The fee becomes refundable only if the window closes without the volume being offered.
What does a book actually net at OpenWorks?
A $25,000-a-month book bills $300,000 a year and remits $235,200 after the deduction, on our reading. A $7,000-a-month book bills $84,000 and remits $65,856. Wages, supplies and vehicle costs come out of those figures.
How do I add accounts at OpenWorks?
You pay three times one month's billing on the new account, 25 cents for each dollar of annual billing on our reading. That is more than the OW 25 package costs and less than either smaller package, so the size you start at matters.
How much does an OpenWorks franchise cost to open?
$4,250 to $134,480, of which $2,580 to $72,080 goes to the brand. The business is home-based with no premises requirement, so nearly all of it is the package itself.
Is there an OpenWorks territory?
An OpenWorks territory is a 60-mile radius from your business address. It is expressly non-exclusive, and other franchisees and the brand compete inside it. The two account-free packages have the continental United States instead. You may work only inside your radius.
Which two numbers should run monthly at OpenWorks?
Track billing against the package you bought, because that is the test of whether the model delivered. Then track labor hours for each thousand dollars billed, because 78.4% is what you keep and labor is the only lever you hold.
- The filing gives no revenue figures. The filing makes no financial performance representation, so there is no disclosed sales number for any location.
- The filing gives no profit figure. The filing reports sales and not earnings, so what an owner keeps is not disclosed.
- The filing breaks out no cost lines. Wages, rent and cost of goods are not broken out, so margin cannot be rebuilt from the document.
- The filing gives no range. The filing does not show the highest and lowest locations, so the spread inside the system is unknown.
- The filing gives no attainment figure. The filing does not say how many locations reached the average it publishes.
- The filing shows no ramp. The filing does not show how a new location builds up, so the first-year curve has to be assumed.
Questions worth putting to OpenWorks
These are questions the OpenWorks filing leaves open. An owner or a buyer can put them to OpenWorks directly.
- What do locations at the median spend on wages and rent as a share of sales? The filing reports sales only.
- What did the highest and lowest locations sell last year, and what explains the gap?
- 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 OpenWorks locations closed, were sold, or changed hands last year, and why?
Run your own numbers.
The Franchise Numbers Check 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 book full yet?
We review your unit economics and cash forecast and build your reporting around 21.6% deducted before remittance, accounts at 24 to 29.6 cents a dollar. A delivery window that can run 780 days.
Talk to Averanthe franchise library, all 447 brands · how franchise unit economics work · running the books across several locations · what Averan does for franchise owners
OpenWorks reads against the rest of the commercial cleaning group: Anago Cleaning Systems · Coverall · Enviro-Master · JAN-PRO. The commercial cleaning guide compares all of them on the same figures.
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?It works out the sales level where a minimum fee stops applying.
- How much cash do I fund before a new location covers its own costs?It builds a 13-week forecast for the months before break-even.
- My payroll percentage keeps climbing. Is that a payroll problem?It shows how to tell whether payroll is rising or revenue is falling.
- At what point do spreadsheets stop coping?It explains what changes at around ten units and why lenders care.
- I run several locations. Which ones actually make money?It shows each location's contribution to profit and the reporting it takes to see it.
Where these figures come from.
Every figure here comes from O.P.E.N. America, Inc. D/b/a OpenWorks’ 2026 FDD and is unaudited by us, we are unaffiliated with the brand, calculations of our own are marked with an asterisk where they appear, the figures describe past performance at other businesses and are not a projection of yours. This page is an educational summary. It is not an offer to sell a franchise, and it is not financial, legal or tax advice. OpenWorks® is a registered trademark of its owner. How Averan reads a Franchise Disclosure Document.
These figures come from the brand's disclosure. They are not a forecast, an offer to sell a franchise or advice. Source: O.P.E.N. America, Inc. dba OpenWorks, 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, issued 9 April 2026.