Stratus Building Solutions franchise unit economics
Stratus owners in the Milwaukee region buy a set of commercial cleaning contracts worth $6,000 to $300,000 of billings a year. The price starts at 60 cents down to 21 cents on the dollar. The regional franchisor bills the customers and deducts 15% before remitting, or 20% with its insurance program.
- Primary source
- M&R Cleaning Solutions, LLC d/b/a Stratus Clean of Milwaukee, 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document
- Items read
- Items 5 and 6 for fees; Item 19 for sales and any profit figure
- Population
- 0 of 45 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.
You buy billing. Fifteen plans running from $6,000 to $300,000 of annual cleaning contracts, priced from 60 cents down to 21 cents for each dollar of that billing. The regional franchisor invoices the customers, deducts 15% and remits the rest, 20% if you join its insurance program.
- The price a dollar of billing falls from 60 cents to 21 cents. $3,600 for $6,000 of annual contracts against $62,100 for $300,000 *, so the largest plan buys revenue at a third of the smallest plan’s price.
- Fifteen percent is deducted before the money reaches you. A 5% royalty plus a 10% administration fee for billing and collection, and the optional insurance program takes it to 20% *.
- Financing adds exactly 11.1% to every plan. At every one of the fifteen levels *, $6,900 more on the largest plan, before the stated 10% to 15% interest.
- A $120,000 plan remits $102,000, or $96,000 with insurance. *, before labor, supplies, vehicle or the equipment package.
- The whole business opens for $4,725 at the smallest plan. Of which $3,600 is the plan itself. The work is done from home with zero premises required.
How much does a Stratus Building Solutions franchise make?
The 2026 FDD for Stratus Building Solutions does not publish unit revenue in a form that answers this directly. What it does publish is below. The royalty and administration fee come to 15% of billings. Plans run $6,000 to $300,000 of billings a year. The price a dollar of billing: 60¢ down to 21¢; Financing premium: 11.1% over the cash price.
Top performers
What separates the top Stratus Building Solutions performers
Stratus Building Solutions publishes no revenue figures, so neither the average nor the spread between locations is disclosed.
Decided before you open
- 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 $4,725 to $79,750, a 16.9× 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
- Accounts, the operating driver.This model bills on accounts. An account signed this year still bills next year, so keeping accounts matters more than winning them. 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 15.0% 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.
Context you underwrite around
- What the disclosure leaves out.Item 19 publishes no profit or cost data for franchised locations, no median, no performance bands, no attainment figure. Anything below the sales line has to come from the franchisor or from owners you call.
- What the rest of the category shows.Across the 66 Home Services brands in this library that do publish bands, the top group sells 8.9× the bottom at the typical brand, and a median 35% of locations reach their own average *. Assume a spread of that order here until the franchisor shows you otherwise.
Fifteen plans
The bigger the plan, the cheaper the revenue.
| Plan | Annual billing bought | Cash price | Cents a dollar of billing * |
|---|---|---|---|
| SBS-6 | $6,000 | $3,600 | 60.0¢ |
| SBS-12 | $12,000 | $5,850 | 48.8¢ |
| SBS-24 | $24,000 | $9,900 | 41.3¢ |
| SBS-60 | $60,000 | $17,550 | 29.3¢ |
| SBS-120 | $120,000 | $29,340 | 24.5¢ |
| SBS-300 | $300,000 | $62,100 | 20.7¢ |
The billing levels and cash prices are as the brand reported it and the cents column divides the fee by a year's billing, marked *.
The discount is steepest at the bottom of the range. 60 cents down to 41.3 cents across the first four plans *, then a slower slide to 20.7, so moving up early is worth the most.
Larger plans than SBS-300 are built on request. With zero stated maximum, so the pricing curve continues beyond the published table.
Veterans receive 10% off any plan at SBS-24 or above. $990 on SBS-24 and $6,210 on SBS-300 *, with at least 51% ownership and hands-on involvement required.
A shortfall in contracts offered earns a credit. The difference between the two plans’ fees, $2,250 in the worked example between SBS-24 and SBS-18.
The whole investment runs $4,725 to $79,750. Almost entirely the plan itself, with an equipment starter package of $650 to $2,000 and four months of funds at $150 to $2,000.
Cash or financed
Financing costs a flat eleven percent, then interest on top.
| Plan | Cash price | Financed total | Premium * | Down payment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SBS-6 | $3,600 | $4,000 | 11.1% | $1,500 |
| SBS-24 | $9,900 | $11,000 | 11.1% | $5,000 |
| SBS-60 | $17,550 | $19,500 | 11.1% | $11,000 |
| SBS-120 | $29,340 | $32,600 | 11.1% | $20,000 |
| SBS-300 | $62,100 | $69,000 | 11.1% | $47,000 |
Both price columns are as the brand reported it and the premium divides one by the other, marked *.
The premium is identical at every one of the fifteen plans. 11.1% *, so the cash discount is a flat 10% of the financed figure.
Interest of 10% to 15% a year runs on top of that premium. Over 36 monthly instalments, secured by a note and personal guarantee, so the financed route costs materially more than the table shows.
The down payment is 68% to 76% of the cash price at the larger plans. $47,000 down on a $62,100 cash price *, so financing defers a smaller share than it first appears.
There is no penalty for paying early. Which makes an early settlement the cheapest way out of the interest.
The financed column is principal only. Excluding interest and sales tax, so the true financed cost sits above $69,000 at the top plan.
What the brand deducts
Two percentages, taken before the money moves.
| Charge | Rate | On $24,000 | On $120,000 | On $300,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royalty | 5% or $50 a month | $1,200 | $6,000 | $15,000 |
| Administration | 10% of gross billings | $2,400 | $12,000 | $30,000 |
| Total deducted | 15% | $3,600 | $18,000 | $45,000 |
| Remitted | 85% | $20,400 | $102,000 | $255,000 |
| Optional insurance program | 5% more | $4,800 | $24,000 | $60,000 |
| Remitted with insurance | 80% | $19,200 | $96,000 | $240,000 |
The 5%, 10% and 5% rates are as the brand reported it and the dollar figures apply them to each plan's annual billing, marked *.
The administration fee is twice the royalty. Covering billing, collection and a monthly report, so the regional franchisor handles the invoicing and the chasing.
Uncollected billings are outside the base. Along with sales taxes and revenue from additional business services, so a customer who fails to pay costs the owner the work.
The $50 monthly royalty minimum binds below $12,000 of annual billing. *, which covers only the smallest plan.
A 1% advertising fee sits unused in the agreement. Introducible on 30 days’ notice, with zero obligation to spend any of it inside your territory.
Local advertising obligations are absent, and so is online presence. With zero required spend, and website, social media and app presence all needing written consent, so customer acquisition runs through the regional franchisor.
What you actually get
The contracts are the territory.
| Term | Detail |
|---|---|
| Territory | The Milwaukee region, expressly non-exclusive |
| What you actually work | The locations of the customer contracts assigned to you |
| Other franchisees in the same territory | Numerous, at the regional franchisor's discretion |
| Sales quota | Zero |
| Working outside the territory | Prohibited |
Every term is as the brand reported it, with the regional franchisor also able to open a company outlet to service overflow customers.
The operating unit is a contract. Services may be performed only at the locations of the contracts designated for you, so geography plays almost zero part.
Internet, catalog and telemarketing stay with the regional franchisor. Inside the territory, with zero compensation, and franchisees are encouraged.
Zero sales quota applies. So the plan you bought is the obligation, and growth beyond it is optional.
Required cover is $2,000,000 of liability and $50,000 of fidelity bonding. Plus statutory workers’ compensation, carried either directly or through the 5% program.
This is a regional franchisor’s own offering. Covering the Milwaukee territory licensed to it so the figures here describe one region.
Questions we get asked
Questions an owner asks.
What am I buying?
A plan of commercial cleaning contracts measured in annual billing, from $6,000 to $300,000, priced at $3,600 to $62,100 in cash. On our reading that is 60 cents down to 20.7 cents for each dollar of annual billing, so the larger plans buy revenue far more cheaply.
What does the regional franchisor take?
A 5% royalty with a $50 monthly minimum, plus a 10% administration fee covering billing, collection and reporting. Both are deducted from what it collects before remitting, so 15% stays behind. Its optional insurance program takes a further 5%.
What does that leave?
On our reading, $102,000 of a $120,000 plan, or $96,000 if you join the insurance program. Labor, supplies, vehicle and equipment come out of that.
Should I finance the plan?
The financed total is exactly 11.1% above the cash price at every plan on our reading. Interest of 10% to 15% a year runs on top across 36 instalments. There is no penalty for paying early, so settling early avoids the interest.
What does it cost to open beyond the plan?
Very little. Opening costs $4,725 to $79,750. Apart from the plan, the largest items are an equipment pack at $650 to $2,000 and insurance at $100 to $2,500 and four months of additional funds at $150 to $2,000. The business runs from home.
Is there a territory?
Only in name. The territory is the Milwaukee region and it is expressly non-exclusive, numerous franchisees are sold in the same territory. The regional franchisor may open its own outlet for overflow. What you actually work is the set of customer contracts assigned to you.
Do I have to find my own customers?
You are encouraged to, but there is zero requirement and zero local advertising spend. Any advertising you create needs approval from both the regional franchisor and the national brand, and any website, social media or app presence needs written consent.
Which two numbers should run monthly?
Billings against the plan you bought, because that is the test of whether the contracts arrived. Labor hours for each thousand dollars billed. Because 85% is what you keep and labor is the only lever you hold.
- No revenue figures. The filing makes no financial performance representation, so there is no disclosed sales number for any location.
- 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.
- No range. The filing does not show the highest and lowest locations, so the spread inside the system is unknown.
- No attainment figure. The filing does not say how many locations reached the average it publishes.
- 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 Stratus Building Solutions
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 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 Stratus Building Solutions 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 →Are your contracts billing what you bought?
A structured review of your unit economics, cash forecast. Reporting, built around 15% deducted before remittance, plans priced from 60 cents to 21 cents a dollar. Financing that adds a flat 11.1%.
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
Stratus Building Solutions reads against the rest of the commercial cleaning group: Aire-Master · Anago Cleaning Systems · City Wide Facility Solutions · 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?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.