The Grounds Guys franchise unit economics
The Grounds Guys franchisees run crew-based grounds maintenance, landscaping, hardscaping and snow work across a territory of 125,000 to 500,000 people. Businesses past three years averaged $820,392 in 2025 against $392,054 for those under three, 2.09 times. The brand and marketing load runs 12.5% to 13.1% across most of the system, which is light for this family, and 44 of the 219 businesses trade under nine months a year.
- Primary source
- The Grounds Guys SPV LLC, 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document
- Items read
- Items 5 and 6 for fees; Item 19 for sales and any profit figure; Item 20 for the location count
- Population
- 161 of 219 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.
Getting past three years is worth 2.09 times the revenue, $820,392 against $392,054. Reaching that point is the harder part: openings fell from 43 to 12 across three years, 19 businesses were terminated in 2025 and another 19 in the first quarter of 2026 alone.
- Three years of trading is worth 2.09 times the revenue. $820,392 against $392,054 on the averages and $533,092 against $294,312 on the medians *, so the build-up in this business is measured in years.
- Nineteen terminations landed in the first quarter of 2026, matching the whole of 2025. Against 12 openings in the same year, and openings fell 43, 31, 12 across the three years while the franchised count went 211 to 229 and back to 219.
- The brand and marketing load is 12.5% to 13.1% across most of the system. $102,549 on $820,392 and $51,364 on $392,054 *, a 5% local marketing requirement against the 8% common across this family, which is worth about three points of revenue.
- Each license threshold is worth half a percent of itself. $3,750 at $750,000 and $8,750 at $1,750,000 *. The rate is set on the previous calendar year and applies to every week of the next one. So December’s closing figure decides the following twelve months.
- Forty-four businesses trade under nine months a year. One in five of the 219 open at year end *, and the license minimum is itself seasonal, charged at one rate for April to November and another for December to March.
How much does a The Grounds Guys franchise make?
The average The Grounds Guys unit reported $671,405 of revenue in the 2026 FDD. 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 12.5% 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 The Grounds Guys performers
The Grounds Guys splits its locations into groups instead of publishing one average. The best group averaged $820,392 a year. The worst averaged $392,054. Both run the same brand, on the same agreement, paying the same fees.
Decided before you open
- Trade area and site.A 2.1× 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 500,000 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 $107,650 to $252,850, a 2.3× 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 12.5% 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.
Context you underwrite around
- The reporting screen.161 of 219 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 median. Anything below the sales line has to come from the franchisor or from owners you call.
What three years is worth
Twice the revenue, three years later.
| Measure | Three years and over, 105 | Under three years, 56 | Mature against young * |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average gross sales | $820,392 | $392,054 | 2.09 times |
| Median gross sales | $533,092 | $294,312 | 1.81 times |
| Highest | $3,588,439 | $1,608,826 | 2.23 times |
| Lowest | $42,555 | $35,170 | 1.21 times |
| Reaching the average | 37, 35% | 20, 36% | n/a |
| Median as a share of average * | 65.0% | 75.1% | n/a |
Counts, averages, medians, ranges and attainment are as the brand reported it across the 161 businesses that reported at least nine months. The final column and the closing row are marked *.
The median business past three years bills $533,092. 65.0% of its own group average *, and 37 of 105 reach that average. So the mature group is carried by a long upper tail running to $3,588,439.
The young group is the tighter one. Its median is 75.1% of its average against 65.0% in the mature group *, new businesses cluster, and the range opens up as they age. That is what a business built on winning contracts one at a time looks like.
Attainment is identical in both group at about 35%. 37 of 105 and 20 of 56, so two businesses in three sit below their own group average whatever their age. The maturity gain is a gain in the level.
The highest-selling mature business bills 4.37 times its own group average. $3,588,439 against $820,392 *, and 84 times the lowest-selling in the same group, which is the widest internal range on this page.
Blending the two group gives $671,405 across the 161 reporting businesses. *, weighting 105 and 56, a figure worth carrying. Because the group are stated separately and a single system average is easy to assume and get wrong.
Fees and the season
Twelve and a half percent, and a fee calendar that knows about winter. (Items 5 and 6)
| Business | Gross sales | License fee * | Brand fund * | Required local spend * | Total * | Share of sales * |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highest-selling mature business | $3,588,439 | $179,422 | $71,769 | $179,422 | $430,613 | 12.00% |
| Mature average | $820,392 | $45,122 | $16,408 | $41,020 | $102,549 | 12.50% |
| Mature median | $533,092 | $31,986 | $10,662 | $26,655 | $69,302 | 13.00% |
| Young average | $392,054 | $23,523 | $7,841 | $20,000 | $51,364 | 13.10% |
| Young median | $294,312 | $17,659 | $5,886 | $20,000 | $43,545 | 14.79% |
| Lowest-selling young business | $35,170 | $9,360 | $703 | $20,000 | $30,063 | 85.48% |
The rates and minimums are as the brand reported it and every dollar figure is marked. With the license minimum taken at the $180 weekly rate that applies from week 157.
The license scale runs 6%, 5.5% and 5% on $750,000 and $1,750,000 of prior-year sales. Set on the previous calendar year and charged against every week of the next. So each threshold is a cliff worth half a percent of itself, $3,750 and $8,750 *.
The local marketing requirement is 5% against the 8% this family usually asks. The greater of $20,000 or 5% of prior-year sales, against a 2% brand fund. That is worth about three points of revenue at the mature average, or $24,612 a year *.
5% overtakes the $20,000 minimum at $400,000. The young group averages $392,054 *, just under it, so a business in its first three years is usually paying the flat minimum. Growth up to $400,000 dilutes that charge without adding to it.
The first two years each have $25,000 of local marketing, and $15,000 of it must fall in high season. Which is the fee schedule acknowledging what the trade already knows. The money has to be spent when the work is available.
The license minimum is charged at one rate from April to November and another from December to March. $90 a week rising to $180 by week 157, which is $9,360 a year at full years open *, and 6% overtakes it at $156,000 of sales.
Fixed software and call handling run about $10,253 a year. $654.45 a month for the software stack and $199.99 for the call center *, plus $15 for each appointment booked, which is 1.2% of the mature average and 2.6% of the young one.
The terminations
Twelve opened, nineteen were terminated.
| Year | At start | Opened | Terminations | Non-renewals | Reacquired | Ceased, other | At end | Net * |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 211 | 43 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 226 | +15 |
| 2024 | 226 | 31 | 21 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 229 | +3 |
| 2025 | 229 | 12 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 219 | −10 |
Every figure is as the brand reported it apart from the net column. That is marked *, and company-owned outlets stood at zero in all three years.
Another 19 businesses were terminated in the first quarter of 2026. As many in three months as in the whole of 2025. The franchisor states plainly that it is disclosing them because of the high number, a brand volunteering that figure is telling an owner something the outlet table leaves out.
Openings fell by 72% in two years. 43, then 31, then 12 *, and the projection for the next year is 21 new outlets against 19 agreements already signed with the outlet still to open.
Across three years 86 opened and 78 left. 58 terminations, 5 non-renewals and 15 that ceased for other reasons. So the system replaced its departures almost exactly. Ended 8 businesses higher than it started before the 2025 fall.
Twenty businesses closed during 2025, one of them inside its first twelve months. Their figures sit outside the tables on this page, so the averages describe the businesses that were still trading at the end of the year.
Territory and opening
Thirty-five cents a head, at any size.
Territory is priced at exactly 35 cents a head, whatever the size. $43,750 covers 125,000 people and each further 1,000 costs $350, so a 500,000-population territory costs $175,000 *. The maximum is generally 500,000, which is four times the base.
Opening costs $107,650 to $252,850. 13.1% to 30.8% of a mature year’s sales *. The business runs from home or from premises, and the printed advertising line caps at $15,000 against a first-year requirement of $25,000.
Snow and ice work sits alongside the grounds calendar. Property maintenance, landscaping, hardscaping, arboriculture, turf care, irrigation and lighting fill the warm months and snow fills the cold ones. Is why one business in five still trades under nine months and why the fee calendar splits at April and December.
Key account work has its own charge. Up to a further 5% on sales made through the brand’s key accounts program, on top of the license fee and the brand fund. So national contract revenue arrives at a materially lower margin than work you win yourself.
A local marketing group may take up to 3% more. Contributions count toward the required local spend, so the group absorbs the requirement, at the mature average that is up to $24,612 of the $41,020 already committed *.
Questions we get asked
Questions an owner asks.
What does a Grounds Guys business bill?
Across 161 businesses that reported at least nine months of 2025. Those open three years or more averaged $820,392 with a median of $533,092, on a range from $42,555 to $3,588,439. Those under three years averaged $392,054 with a median of $294,312, on a range from $35,170 to $1,608,826. combined across both group that is $671,405 on our reading. About 35% of each group reaches its own average.
What does the brand take?
A license fee of 5% to 6% of gross sales, paid weekly each Wednesday and set by the previous calendar year. 6% up to $750,000, 5.5% to $1,750,000 and 5% above. Plus a 2% brand fund fee. Minimum license fees run $90 a week rising to $180 by week 157, charged at different rates for April to November than for December to March. A local marketing group may take up to 3%, and key account sales have up to a further 5%.
What is the marketing requirement?
$25,000 in each of the first two years, of which $15,000 must be spent in high season. After that the franchisor reserves the right to require the greater of $20,000 or 5% of the previous year’s gross sales, in addition to the brand fund fee.
What does that work out at?
On our reading, 12.50% of sales at the mature average, 13.00% at the mature median, 13.10% at the young average and 14.79% at the young median. At the lowest-selling young business, billing $35,170, the minimums take it to 85.48%.
How big is the territory?
125,000 people as standard with a maximum generally of 500,000. The fee is $43,750 for the first 125,000 and $350 for each further 1,000, so the price per head is 35 cents at any size.
What does it cost to open?
$107,650 to $252,850, before any additional franchise fee for territory beyond 125,000 people. The printed advertising line runs to $15,000, which sits below the $25,000 the agreement requires in the first year.
How stable is the system?
219 franchised businesses at the end of 2025, down from 229, with zero company-owned outlets throughout. Across 2023 to 2025, 86 opened and 78 left, 58 terminations, 5 non-renewals and 15 that ceased for other reasons. Openings fell 43, 31, 12. A further 19 terminations occurred in the first quarter of 2026, which the franchisor puts on record expressly because of the number.
Which two numbers should run weekly?
Year-to-date gross sales against $750,000 and $1,750,000, because December’s closing figure sets the license rate for all twelve months that follow. And high-season sales against the rest of the year, because the fee calendar, the marketing requirement and the work itself all split on the same line.
- No median. Only an average is published, which a few large locations can lift on their own.
- 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 The Grounds Guys
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 The Grounds Guys 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 →Will December’s close move your rate?
A structured review of your unit economics, cash forecast. Reporting, built around the $750,000 threshold that sets next year’s license rate, a 5% marketing requirement that switches on at $400,000. A season that decides when the money can be spent.
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
The Grounds Guys reads against the rest of the lawn, pest and irrigation group: Conserva Irrigation · Lawn Doctor · Mosquito Joe · Mosquito Shield · Mosquito Squad · Pestmaster. The lawn, pest and irrigation 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.
- I run several locations. Which ones actually make money?Location-level contribution, and what it takes to see it.
- How much of Item 19 can I rely on?What a financial performance representation does and does not tell you.