A reasonable manager-run estimate at City Wide's 2025 median Gross Sales level is about $185,000 to $570,000 in annual pre-tax cash available to the ownership group. Because an approved full-time Manager must hold at least 20% ownership, one principal owner's distribution cannot be inferred from the FDD. Under an illustrative 80% pro-rata split, the principal-owner share would be about $145,000 to $455,000. An owner who personally performs the day-to-day manager role may have an estimated owner-operator benefit of roughly $320,000 to $705,000; the added amount compensates the owner for labor and is not passive business profit.
This range is an independent analytical scenario, not an Item 19 financial performance representation by City Wide Franchise Company Enterprises, LLC. It combines identified 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document facts with separately identified operating-overhead assumptions and a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics wage benchmark. Actual results can differ materially by territory, sales, service mix, independent-contractor costs, employee payroll, occupancy, financing, owner involvement, and execution.
Legal franchisor: City Wide Franchise Company Enterprises, LLC. FDD: issued April 1, 2026. Item 19 status: official Gross Sales and Gross Margin data, but no operating profit, Net Income, owner compensation, EBITDA, or cash-flow disclosure. Population: 99 standard-agreement franchisees that operated continuously throughout 2025 and had been open for at least one full 12-month period. The historical figures were supplied by the predecessor, City Wide Franchise Company, Inc., and were not audited or independently verified. External benchmark: May 2025 General and Operations Managers wage data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Date checked: July 20, 2026.
What does the 2026 City Wide FDD actually disclose?
Officially, Item 19 discloses revenue and gross margin, not owner earnings. For the 12 months ended December 31, 2025, the 99 qualifying franchisees reported median Gross Sales of $5,518,501 and average Gross Sales of $9,821,794. The same Item 19 gives quartile-level Gross Margin percentages after independent labor and additional cost of goods sold, but it does not deduct the office, management, sales, technology, occupancy, insurance, franchise fees, financing, or other costs needed to reach owner earnings.
The difference matters because Gross Sales is customer revenue, while Gross Margin is revenue remaining after the FDD-defined direct service costs. Neither measure is the owner's salary, distribution, or take-home pay. The official franchise site similarly describes a B2B sales and management model in which franchisees oversee customer relationships and operations while independent contractors perform much of the underlying service work.
The central revenue observation for 99 qualifying franchisees, not owner earnings.
Only 36 of 99 reporting franchisees met or exceeded the average.
Average of the 2025 second- and third-quartile median margins: 33.37% and 33.27%.
Four operating franchisees failed one or more reporting criteria.
5% royalty plus the current 1% National Marketing Fund contribution, before any eligible rebate.
May 2025 national mean wage for General and Operations Managers; benefits and payroll taxes are not added.
How widely did 2025 Gross Sales vary across the Item 19 quartiles?
Official median annual Gross Sales by quartile; the ranking is based on 2025 revenue, not profitability.
Interpretation: Revenue scale varied by more than 13 times between the fourth- and first-quartile medians. A single average therefore provides a weak basis for predicting one buyer's earnings.
Source: 2026 City Wide FDD, Item 19, Tables 2(b)(ii) through 5(b)(ii), pp. 40–45. Values are official Gross Sales, not profit.
The $9.82 million average is pulled upward by very large territories. The $5.52 million median is the more defensible central revenue anchor, but it still says nothing by itself about the owner's compensation, debt burden, or personal taxes.
How is the City Wide owner-earnings range estimated?
The estimate applies three transparent overhead cases to the 2025 median Gross Sales figure. It starts with a derived 33.32% Gross Margin anchor, subtracts the disclosed 5% royalty and current 1% National Marketing Fund fee, then reserves 24%, 20%, or 17% of sales for all other operating overhead. The resulting manager-run pre-tax cash available to the ownership group is approximately $185,000, $405,000, and $570,000.
- Conservative: 24% overhead reserve for manager compensation, office payroll, occupancy, technology, insurance, accounting, local advertising, travel, professional costs, bad debt, and other operating expenses.
- Base: 20% overhead reserve, representing stronger operating leverage but still including normal manager-run staffing and the recurring obligations listed in Item 6.
- Upside: 17% overhead reserve, requiring disciplined staffing, pricing, service mix, account retention, and administrative efficiency. It is not an Item 19 result or a forecast.
What do the three manager-run business scenarios produce?
Estimated annual pre-tax cash available to the ownership group at the same $5.52 million revenue anchor.
Interpretation: At a fixed revenue and gross-margin anchor, the largest swing comes from the overhead reserve. A three-point difference in overhead equals about $165,555 at $5.52 million of sales.
Sources and method: 2026 City Wide FDD, Item 19, pp. 37–46; Item 6, pp. 6–9. Overhead percentages and all resulting earnings figures are independent editorial scenarios.
| Base-case bridge | Amount | Treatment |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 median Gross Sales | $5,518,501 | Official Item 19 revenue anchor |
| Direct labor and cost of goods sold | ($3,679,736) | Implied by the derived 33.32% Gross Margin |
| Gross Profit after FDD-defined direct costs | $1,838,765 | Derived; still not owner earnings |
| Royalty plus National Marketing Fund | ($331,110) | 5% plus 1% of Gross Sales |
| Other operating overhead reserve | ($1,103,700) | 20% scenario assumption; includes manager and fixed operating obligations |
| Estimated pre-tax cash available to ownership | $403,954 | Displayed as approximately $405,000 |
- Included
- FDD-defined direct service costs, 5% royalty, current 1% National Marketing Fund fee, manager compensation in the manager-run case, office and sales payroll, occupancy, insurance, technology, accounting, local advertising, and other normal operating overhead through the scenario reserve.
- Excluded
- Personal income taxes, financing principal, owner-specific interest expense, depreciation, major capital expenditures, and unusual one-time costs. Item 10 states that City Wide does not offer or guarantee financing, so no uniform debt service is assumed.
- Not a startup-year estimate
- The revenue anchor comes from businesses open for at least one full 12-month period. Item 19 cautions that first-year Monthly Gross Sales are likely to be lower, while Item 6 requires $2,500 per month of Accounting Services and $3,500 per month of Business Development Services during the first 12 months.
How does active owner involvement change the result?
Active operation can increase the owner's economic benefit by the value of a manager role, but it does not create extra passive profit. Item 15 requires the franchisee to personally oversee day-to-day operations and live in the Designated Territory. A full-time Manager is permitted only with City Wide's prior approval and must generally live in the territory, be trained, and hold at least a 20% ownership interest. The official City Wide franchise FAQ describes the franchisee as the local chief executive responsible for sales growth, team development, client relationships, and overall performance.
For comparison, the owner-operator scenarios add $134,940, the May 2025 national annual mean wage for General and Operations Managers in the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. This is a labor-value proxy, not a City Wide wage, and it excludes employer payroll taxes and benefits.
How might the principal owner's economic benefit differ by role?
The outlined endpoint is an illustrative 80% pro-rata share when an approved Manager owns the minimum 20%; the teal endpoint assumes the principal owner performs the manager role.
Interpretation: The gap reflects both the manager's illustrative 20% ownership share and the $134,940 labor-value proxy. Actual distributions may not be pro rata, may be retained in the business, and depend on the ownership and compensation agreements.
Sources: 2026 City Wide FDD, Item 15, p. 32; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS. The approved-manager case assumes exactly 20% Manager ownership, no other owners, full distribution, and a pro-rata 80% principal share. All values are independent scenarios rounded to the nearest $5,000.
A City Wide franchise is structurally different from a passive investment. Even when an approved Manager handles daily operations, the Manager must satisfy ownership and residency requirements, and the franchisee is expected to support that role. A buyer should test the actual management structure with existing franchisees rather than assume semi-absentee economics.
Which City Wide fees materially affect annual earnings?
The most material disclosed recurring charges are the royalty, National Marketing Fund fee, technology charges, and first-year support-service fees. The scenario subtracts royalty and marketing explicitly. All other recurring unit costs are included within the 24%, 20%, or 17% overhead reserve, so they are not deducted a second time.
| FDD obligation | Disclosed amount | Earnings-model treatment |
|---|---|---|
| Royalty Fee | Greater of 5% of Gross Sales or minimum | Subtracted explicitly at 5%; the minimum reaches $5,000 per month after month 22. A 1% rebate may apply above $10 million of qualifying territory sales. |
| National Marketing Fund | Up to 1%; currently 1% | Subtracted explicitly at 1% of Gross Sales. |
| Technology Development Fee | $2,300 per month | Included in the other-overhead reserve. |
| Accounting andBusiness Development Services | $2,500 + $3,500 per month | Required for the first 12 months; relevant to startup-year cash flow, not separately added to the established-year model. |
| IT As A Service | $130 per user per month | Required for the first 36 months and included in the overhead reserve. |
| Technology licenses | $26.25–$350 per user per month | Included in the overhead reserve; actual cost depends on role and user count. |
| Local advertising and system programs | At least $1,200 per year, plus other stated charges | Local advertising, City Wide YOU, payroll services, National Meeting, and Franchise Advisory Council costs are included in overhead. |
Source: 2026 City Wide FDD, Items 6 and 11, pp. 6–9 and 18–25. Item 6 permits fee changes through the Operating Manual, so a buyer should request the current fee schedule and actual invoices.
What could move actual owner earnings outside the range?
Actual earnings can be lower, negative, or materially higher because the FDD does not disclose complete operating expenses. Revenue dispersion is substantial, the Item 19 population includes businesses with different ages and territories, and Gross Margin excludes many costs that determine the owner's residual cash flow.
- Revenue scale and ramp: 2025 quartile medians ranged from about $1.50 million to $20.17 million, and Item 19 says first-year Monthly Gross Sales are likely to be lower.
- Contractor and service mix: Independent Labor Cost and additional cost of goods sold determine the disclosed Gross Margin. A territory with different service categories or subcontractor pricing may not match the central 33.32% anchor.
- Management payroll: The number and compensation of sales executives, operations staff, client managers, and an approved day-to-day Manager can materially change overhead.
- Territory economics: Market wages, rent, insurance, travel, customer concentration, bad debt, and account retention vary by geography and customer mix.
- Financing: The estimate is before debt principal and owner-specific interest. Item 10 provides no standardized financing terms, so leveraged buyers may retain materially less cash.
- Taxes and reinvestment: Personal taxes are excluded. Distributions may also be lower when the business retains cash for hiring, working capital, technology, or growth.
Item 19 includes 99 of 103 franchisees operating as of December 31, 2025, but only outlets that operated continuously for the full year and met the reporting criteria. The figures are franchisee-supplied, unaudited, and do not provide a distribution of operating profit or owner compensation.
The U.S. Census Bureau classifies direct janitorial establishments under NAICS 561720, Janitorial Services, but City Wide's management-and-subcontracting model is not directly comparable to a typical direct-service operator. For that reason, this analysis does not apply a generic janitorial net-margin benchmark to City Wide revenue.
What should a prospective owner verify before relying on the estimate?
A buyer should reconstruct actual profit-and-loss statements from comparable territories rather than rely on the published sales average. The Federal Trade Commission's Consumer's Guide to Buying a Franchise recommends examining Item 19 carefully, asking for written substantiation, and testing whether the disclosed results apply to the buyer's circumstances.
- Request Item 19 written substantiation and confirm the exact definition of Gross Sales, Independent Labor Cost, additional cost of goods sold, Gross Margin, and Net Royalties.
- Ask several franchisees near the median revenue band for normalized income statements showing owner compensation, manager payroll, sales payroll, occupancy, technology, insurance, bad debt, and retained earnings.
- Separate manager-run business profit from owner salary, draws, distributions, and labor performed by the owner.
- Compare first-year, third-year, and five-year staffing structures; Item 19's monthly ramp tables show that scale changes materially with operating age.
- Confirm all current Item 6 charges, user counts, payroll-service costs, required programs, and any fee changes made through the Operating Manual.
- Review Item 20 contacts and interview current and former franchisees about account concentration, contractor availability, customer retention, working capital, and the time required from the owner.
What is the strongest defensible City Wide earnings range?
The strongest defensible business-level range is approximately $185,000 to $570,000 in annual pre-tax cash available to the ownership group for a manager-run business operating at the 2025 median Gross Sales level. This is a Limited-confidence, FDD-anchored scenario, not an official City Wide profit claim. If an approved Manager owns the minimum 20% and distributions are strictly pro rata, the principal owner's illustrative 80% share is about $145,000 to $455,000. An active owner performing the manager role may realize an estimated owner-operator benefit of roughly $320,000 to $705,000, of which about $135,000 represents labor value rather than passive return.
The most important earnings driver is the amount of office, management, sales, and administrative overhead needed after the FDD-defined Gross Margin. The largest unresolved uncertainty is that Item 19 does not report Operating Profit, Net Income, owner compensation, or a complete expense structure. Before making a decision, a buyer should verify Item 19 substantiation, current Item 6 fees, actual income statements from comparable franchisees, and the owner-versus-manager labor split in franchisee interviews.