How Much Does a Grounds Guys Franchise Owner Make?

It officially measures annual Gross Sales, not owner earnings. For the 105 reporting franchised businesses open at least three years, the 2025 median was $533,092 and the average was $820,392. Only 37 businesses, or 35%, met or exceeded that average.

The younger cohort tells a different ramp-up story. Among 56 reporting franchised businesses open less than three years, median 2025 Gross Sales were $294,312, average Gross Sales were $392,054, and 20 businesses, or 36%, reached or exceeded the average. These are per-business revenue figures, not per-owner income figures.

The estimate uses the mature-cohort median Gross Sales as the central revenue anchor, then applies transparent revenue and operating-margin sensitivities. The results are independent scenarios, not results reported by The Grounds Guys.

The 80% and 120% revenue points are editorial modeling spreads because Item 19 does not publish quartiles. The margin anchor is NYU Stern's January 2026 12.27% pre-tax unadjusted operating margin for 155 U.S. public companies classified as Business & Consumer Services. Because those companies are larger and are not a direct match for a single landscaping franchise, the conservative and base scenarios apply six- and three-percentage-point reductions. The upside case reaches the benchmark but does not exceed it.

This is an all-in operating-margin proxy. It is treated as including normal operating expenses, a paid manager, depreciation, and recurring franchise obligations; therefore, the Item 6 fees are not subtracted a second time. It excludes interest, financing principal, personal income taxes, distributions, and capital expenditures. Actual cash available can differ because depreciation is noncash and replacement equipment requires cash.

Owner involvement changes what the number represents. A manager-run business produces residual operating profit for the owner; an owner-operated business can also compensate the owner for performing management work. The second figure is therefore owner-operator benefit, not pure business profit.

The 2026 FDD generally requires an individual owner to perform or supervise the business unless The Grounds Guys consents otherwise. For an entity, direct on-site supervision generally must be performed by a trained designated owner unless the franchisor consents to a manager. The brand's official U.S. franchise information likewise describes the owner as leading service professionals, building community relationships, and serving as the face of sales and marketing.

At the base revenue anchor, the modeled license fee, MAP fee, a 5% post-Year-2 local-marketing amount if imposed under the FDD’s reserved right, base software fee, and base call-center fee total about $79,555 a year, or 14.9% of Gross Sales. This is a derived FDD cost burden, not the business's complete expense structure.

Variable call-center appointment charges, additional users, QuickBooks service, reunion travel, Local Marketing Group assessments, Key Accounts fees, supplier costs, and other contingent charges are not included in that subtotal. Initial franchise fees and the Item 7 startup investment are also excluded because they are not recurring annual operating expenses.

The scenario margin is an all-in proxy, so the $79,555 is shown to reveal the franchise and marketing burden—not deducted again from the estimated owner earnings.

Confidence is LIMITED because the current same-brand FDD gives strong revenue evidence but no same-brand operating expense, profit, owner compensation, or cash-flow evidence. The largest modeling uncertainty is the operating margin after labor, direct costs, fleet and equipment expense, insurance, and required franchise obligations.

Sales population

Item 19 includes 161 reporting businesses across two age cohorts, all franchised, that reported at least nine months of 2025 Gross Sales.

Excluded operations

The disclosure identifies new businesses, ownership transfers, closed businesses, and seasonally operated businesses that lacked nine reported months. Those exclusions can make the reporting cohort stronger or simply different from the full system.

Reporting quality

Franchisees supplied the Gross Sales data through the software system and were not required to use generally accepted accounting principles.

Benchmark mismatch

The margin proxy covers public Business & Consumer Services companies, not single-unit Grounds Guys franchisees. Scale, capital structure, service mix, and fee economics differ.

System movement

Item 20 reports 229 franchised outlets at the start of 2025 and 219 at year-end, a net change of -10, plus eight transfers. There were no company-owned outlets to provide a same-brand corporate operating-margin proxy.

A buyer should treat the range as a screening model and replace every material assumption with territory-specific evidence. Item 19 says written substantiation is available to prospective franchisees on reasonable request.

• Request the written Item 19 substantiation and reconcile the reported businesses, reporting months, transfers, closures, and seasonal exclusions.
• Interview mature franchisees separately by owner-operated and manager-run structure; ask for normalized income statements rather than verbal “take-home” numbers.
• Verify labor hours, crew wages, payroll burden, manager compensation, subcontractor use, workers' compensation, and owner hours required during peak season.
• Confirm current license, MAP, local marketing, software, call-center appointment, Local Marketing Group, and Key Accounts charges in writing.
• Model vehicles, fuel, repairs, equipment replacement, materials, insurance, premises, bad debt, and weather-related downtime for the proposed territory.
• Keep debt service separate. Financing interest and principal can reduce cash distributions even when unit-level operating earnings are positive.
• Do not estimate after-tax take-home pay from this article; entity structure, jurisdiction, deductions, and owner circumstances control the tax result.