Seniors Helping Seniors franchise unit economics
Seniors Helping Seniors franchisees run an in-home care agency built around hiring older caregivers, covering a territory of roughly 250,000 people. 134 reporting units averaged $905,861 during 2025 against a median of $668,384. The 51 running the current model (outside office, personal care services, full-time hours) averaged $1,478,764. Caregiver wages takes 53.3% of revenue and office staff another 12.8%.
- Primary source
- Seniors Helping Seniors, 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
- 134 of 224 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.
Your territory protection here is conditional on your sales. From month 49 the sales standard is $25,000 a month. An owner below it pays the minimum royalty and gives the brand the right to license a competing business inside their own territory. The part-time group averages $171,225 a year ($14,269 a month) so an entire operating style sits beneath the line that keeps a market exclusive.
- Falling under $25,000 a month from month 49 costs you territory exclusivity. Part-time owners average $14,269 a month, which is 57% of the standard.
- Running the current model is worth $572,903 a year. Outside office, personal care and full-time hours averaged $1,478,764 against $905,861 system-wide.
- Caregiver wages takes 53.3% of revenue, office staff 12.8% and advertising 7.2%. That is 73.3% of the top line before royalty, rent or the owner.
- Revenue climbs from $367,253 in year one to $1,369,400 in year three. Medians run $253,935, $641,401 and $1,175,983.
- Bill rates run $27.20 to $47.00 against pay rates of $13.90 to $23.50. Both ends of the range give up about half the hour to the caregiver.
How much does a Seniors Helping Seniors franchise make?
The average Seniors Helping Seniors unit reported $905,861 of revenue in the 2026 FDD, and the median reported $668,384. 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 12% 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.
Where the money goes
Where the money goes.
| Line | Share | At $905,861 |
|---|---|---|
| Caregiver wages | 53.3% | $482,824 |
| Office staff wages | 12.8% | $115,950 |
| Advertising and marketing | 7.2% | $65,222 |
| Royalty | 5.44% | $49,293 |
| Regional advertising fund | 1.0% | $9,059 |
| Office rent | 2.37% | $21,456 |
| Website fee | 0.04% | $360 |
| What is left | 17.85% | $161,697 |
Caregiver wages, office staff wages, advertising and rent as the brand reported it from a survey of 62 franchisees past their first year. We worked out the royalty, regional fund, website fee and dollar column, applying the published rates to the 2025 system average of $905,861 across all 134 reporting units.
Two thirds of the top line is wages before you count yourself. 53.3% to caregivers and 12.8% to office staff. The median unit runs it leaner at 53% and 10%, which on the $668,384 median leaves 23.04% against 17.85%. The whole difference between the two is office staffing and advertising discipline.
The median franchisee spends exactly what the agreement requires on advertising. The local marketing commitment is 5% of gross sales, and the surveyed median advertising spend is 5%. The average is 7.2%, so the spenders above the line are pulling that number up while half the network treats the requirement as the budget.
Office rent is 2.37% and barely worth arguing about. $1,788 a month at the average and $1,288 at the median, against a 350 square foot minimum. 43 of the 62 surveyed franchisees keep an outside office. The units that do are the ones inside the $1,478,764 current-model group, so the rent line buys revenue.
The hour itself.
| Measure | Average | Median | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| hourly rate | n/a | n/a | $27.20 to $47.00 |
| Pay rate | n/a | n/a | $13.90 to $23.50 |
| Clients | 69 | 56 | n/a |
| Caregivers | 52 | 41 | n/a |
| Office rent a month | $1,788 | $1,288 | n/a |
As the brand reported it, from 62 franchisees who had completed at least their first year.
Both ends of the rate range give up about half the hour. A wage of $13.90 against a rate of $27.20 leaves 48.9%. A wage of $23.50 against $47.00 leaves 50.0%. Markets with a higher hourly rate pay higher wages. That is why the surveyed wages share lands at 53.3% wherever you sit.
You need three caregivers for every four clients. 52 caregivers to 69 clients at the average, 41 to 56 at the median. Every caregiver who leaves takes a share of that book with them until you replace them. This brand's whole recruiting proposition is aimed at older workers who want part-time hours.
A client is worth about $13,128 a year at the average unit. $905,861 across 69 clients. Moving from the median's 56 clients to the average's 69 is 13 more households, a quarter a week for a year. On those figures it is worth roughly $170,000 of revenue.
Top performers
What separates the top Seniors Helping Seniors performers
Seniors Helping Seniors splits its locations into groups instead of publishing one average. The best group averaged $1,478,764 a year. The worst averaged $171,225. Both run the same brand, on the same agreement, paying the same fees. The middle location sold $668,384. The average was $905,861. More than half the system is below the number the brand quotes.
Decided before you open
- Trade area and site.A 8.6× 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, quoted at 250,000 people. 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 $95,235 to $155,940, a 1.6× 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.
- Lease economics.Occupancy cost ran 2.4% of sales in this filing. The rent does not fall when sales do, so the same lease is a far heavier line at the bottom of the system than at the top. That is how a weak site compounds into a weak profit line.
Live operating levers
- Wages, the dominant line.Wages take 53.3% of sales. Staff productivity, scheduling against demand hour by hour, and the balance of base pay to commission are where this is won.
- Occupancy, the line that does not flex.Rent and building costs take 2.4% of sales here. Sales per square foot and the hours the space is earning are the only two ways to move it, because the rent itself is fixed at signing.
- Billed hours, the operating driver.This model bills on billed hours. The owner pays for every hour worked and bills only the hours a client accepts, so the job is to keep those two close and to protect the gap between the rate charged and the rate paid. 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 12.0% 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.
- 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.134 of 224 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, no attainment figure. Anything below the sales line has to come from the franchisor or from owners you call.
Sales
Revenue by year in business.
| First year | Second year | Third year | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Units | 29 | 24 | 18 |
| Average | $367,253 | $665,175 | $1,369,400 |
| Median | $253,935 | $641,401 | $1,175,983 |
| Highest | $1,179,525 | $1,675,784 | $5,207,417 |
| Lowest | $19,742 | $49,291 | $179,074 |
As the brand reported it, covering full-time and part-time franchisees together.
How we calculated this
41.3% of first-year units, 45.8% of second-year units and 27.7% of third-year units reached their own group's average.
The median almost triples between year one and year two, then doubles again. $253,935 to $641,401 to $1,175,983. Year two is where a referral base starts feeding itself. Year three is where the caregiver roster is deep enough to say yes to the cases that arrive. An owner flat at $400,000 entering year three is a year behind the middle of the network.
In year three the lowest owner sold $179,074 and the highest $5,207,417. Twenty-nine times apart after the same three years. The table below shows how the two operating models differ.
What the current model is worth.
| Group | Units | Average | Median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current model, outside office, personal care, full-time | 51 | $1,478,764 | $1,296,196 |
| Full-time owners | 116 | $1,019,856 | $709,913 |
| Whole system | 134 | $905,861 | $668,384 |
| Part-time owners | 18 | $171,225 | $127,555 |
As the brand reported it.
Three operating choices are worth $572,903 a year. An outside office, personal care services and full-time hours. Excluding first and second-year owners the premium is $580,835, so it holds as the network matures. Everything else on this page is downstream of those three decisions.
Full-time owners bill nearly six times what part-time owners bill. $1,019,856 against $171,225, and the medians are $709,913 against $127,555. The part-time group's highest unit reached $424,626, under a third of the full-time average. This is a brand where the owner's own hours are the largest single variable in the model.
Personal care is the service line the ladder runs on. Hands-on care is charged at a higher hourly rate and runs more hours for each client. Is why the current-model median of $1,296,196 sits at nearly twice the system median of $668,384. Adding the line means licensure in most states, which is the $1,200 to $7,000 permits line in the opening investment.
Standards & network
The standard that guards your territory.
| Months open | Monthly standard | Annual equivalent | Minimum royalty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 to 12 | $7,500 | $90,000 | $450 |
| 13 to 24 | $10,833 | $129,996 | $650 |
| 25 to 36 | $15,833 | $189,996 | $950 |
| 37 to 48 | $20,833 | $249,996 | $1,250 |
| 49 and beyond | $25,000 | $300,000 | $1,500 |
Monthly standards and minimum royalties as the brand reported it; the annual column is marked *.
Exclusivity is earned monthly. The protection against another business opening in your territory holds while you meet the standard, so a quiet quarter is a commercial risk. The full-time average of $84,988 a month clears the top rung three times over; the part-time average of $14,269 falls under every rung past month 24.
The whole part-time group sits beneath the mature standard. Its highest unit billed $424,626, or $35,386 a month, and only that one clears $25,000. For an owner running this part time past year four, the standard is the number that decides whether the territory stays theirs alone.
The minimum royalty is small. Missing the standard can also cost the exclusive rights to the territory. $1,500 a month is $18,000 a year, at the part-time average of $171,225 that is 10.5% against the 6% a compliant unit pays, which stings. Losing the exclusive right to a 250,000-person market is the part that ends the business.
What the fees come to.
| Group | Revenue | Royalty | Local marketing | Regional fund | Total | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current model, average | $1,478,764 | $77,938 | $73,938 | $14,788 | $167,024 | 11.29% |
| Full-time, average | $1,019,856 | $54,993 | $50,993 | $10,199 | $116,545 | 11.43% |
| System average | $905,861 | $49,293 | $45,293 | $9,059 | $104,005 | 11.48% |
| System median | $668,384 | $37,419 | $33,419 | $6,684 | $77,882 | 11.65% |
| Part-time, average | $171,225 | $18,000 | $8,561 | $1,712 | $28,633 | 16.72% |
Ours, applying the 6% royalty on gross sales to $400,000 and 5% above, the local marketing commitment of the greater of 5% of gross sales or $2,000 a quarter, the regional advertising fund at its 1% ceiling and the $30 monthly website fee.
Five of the eleven and a half points stay in your own market. The local marketing commitment is spend you place with approved suppliers, and at the average that is $45,293 a year under your own direction. Together with the grand opening requirement of $20,000 in the first three months, this brand asks for more marketing spend than most in the category.
The royalty rate falls to 5% above $400,000 of annual sales. Reconciled each January against the prior year, and annualized in your first year once you have six months of trading. At the system average the combined rate is 5.44%; at the current-model average it is 5.27%.
What it costs to open.
| Line | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Franchise fee and training fee | $60,000 | $60,000 |
| Grand opening advertising, three months | $20,000 | $20,000 |
| Licenses, permits and licensing consulting | $1,200 | $14,000 |
| Salaries, three months | $0 | $15,000 |
| Office, equipment, software, insurance, apparel, travel, professional fees | $9,035 | $36,240 |
| Additional funds, three months | $5,000 | $10,700 |
| Total | $95,235 | $155,940 |
As the brand reported it, except the grouped line. Is marked *, adding rent and deposits, utility deposits, building work, furniture and fixtures, insurance, signage, office equipment, software, career apparel, training travel and legal and accounting.
The $20,000 grand opening requirement is a fifth of the low-end investment. It is due across the first three months, against a first-year median of $253,935, so the marketing spend arrives before almost any of the revenue does. Plan the opening cash around that line.
The network of locations.
| Year | Start | Opened | Terminated | Non-renewed | Ceased | End | Transfers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 121 | 26 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 135 | 4 |
| 2024 | 135 | 49 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 180 | 5 |
| 2025 | 180 | 54 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 224 | 2 |
As the brand reported it.
The network grew 85% in two years, from 121 to 224. 129 units opened across the period against 26 departures. 54 of the 2025 openings will report their first full year in the next filing at something near the $367,253 first-year average. Will pull the system average down even as the mature group keeps climbing.
Terminations jumped from 2 to 9 in 2025 while transfers fell to 2. Owners are leaving through termination. Against the monthly sales standard above, that pattern is worth reading carefully. The units that fall under the standard are the ones with the shortest route to the exit.
Questions we get asked
What should my unit be billing?
Across 134 reporting units the 2025 average was $905,861 with a median of $668,384. By year: $367,253 in year one, $665,175 in year two and $1,369,400 in year three, with medians of $253,935, $641,401 and $1,175,983. Full-time owners averaged $1,019,856 and part-time owners $171,225. Units running the current model (outside office, personal care, full-time) averaged $1,478,764.
What should my cost structure look like?
From the franchisee survey: caregiver wages 53.3% of revenue on average and 53% at the median, office staff wages 12.8% and 10%, advertising and marketing 7.2% and 5%. Add royalty at a combined 5.44%, the regional fund at 1%, the website fee and office rent averaging $1,788 a month. The average unit has 17.85% left before insurance, software and the owner's own pay. The median unit, running leaner on office staff and advertising, keeps 23.04%.
What happens if I miss the sales standard?
Two things. The owner pays the minimum royalty for that month, $450 in months 4 to 12, rising to $1,500 from month 49. The brand's promise to keep other Seniors Helping Seniors or competing businesses out of your territory lapses. The franchisor may also require additional training. The standard runs $7,500 a month early and $25,000 a month from month 49, which is $300,000 a year against a system median of $668,384.
What does the brand cost in total?
About 11.5% of gross sales: royalty at 6% to $400,000 and 5% above, a local marketing commitment of the greater of 5% of sales or $2,000 a quarter that you spend yourself, a regional advertising fund of up to 1%, and a $30 monthly website fee. A brand development fund of up to 1% sits in the schedule with zero charge at present. Opening also requires $20,000 of advertising in the first three months.
Who does bookkeeping for a Seniors Helping Seniors franchise?
Royalty steps from 6% to 5% at $400,000 of annual gross sales and is reconciled each January against the prior year. So the rate you pay in any month depends on a figure set twelve months earlier. That reconciliation belongs on a schedule. Missing the monthly sales standard costs both a fee and the exclusive territory. Track monthly sales against it. Watch caregiver wages at 53.3% of sales weekly, with overtime on its own line. An hour paid at time and a half against a $27.20 rate takes that hour's margin from 49% to 23%. Averan provides bookkeeping, controller, and fractional CFO support for franchise owners and has Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisors on the team.
- No profit figure. The filing reports sales and not earnings, so what an owner keeps is not disclosed.
- No attainment figure. The filing does not say how many locations reached the average it publishes.
Questions worth putting to Seniors Helping Seniors
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 Seniors Helping Seniors locations closed, were sold, or changed hands last year, and why?
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