Estimated owner-operator benefit: a reasonable U.S. scenario range is approximately $34,766 to $113,882 annually, with a base case near $73,002. A manager-run structure produces a materially lower modeled residual—from about a $18,064 loss to $61,052 of profit—before debt principal and personal income taxes.
The current disclosure reports revenue, close rate, sale price, Gross Product Margin, and projects, but it does not report net income, EBITDA, owner compensation, or cash flow. The earnings range therefore depends materially on an external operating-margin proxy.
Legal franchisor: Made in the Shade Blinds and More LLC. FDD: issued April 28, 2026. Item 19 population: U.S. franchisees opened before January 1, 2025 and still open December 31, 2025; 69 of 106 eligible franchisees responded. Model: 2025 same-brand revenue and Gross Product Margin, 2023 IRS sole-proprietorship data for furniture and home furnishing retailers, and May 2025 BLS retail-manager wages. Checked July 18, 2026.
What does the current disclosure actually measure?
Officially, the document discloses sales activity and product gross margin—not owner earnings. For calendar 2025, the 69 respondents reported average annual sales of $730,016 and median annual sales of $496,655. Revenue is defined as sales of goods or services less sales tax, discounts, allowances, and returns. It is not take-home pay.
The survey average was pulled upward by higher-volume operators: only 23 of 69 outlets, or 33%, attained or surpassed the $730,016 average. Reported sales ranged from $40,000 to $3,074,186, but those endpoints are too extreme to treat as normal low and high earnings cases. The disclosed Gross Product Margin averaged 45%, the median was also 45%, and the reported range was 35% to 85%.
At average reported sales, the disclosed 45% product margin implies approximately $328,507 of product gross profit after roughly $401,509 of product cost. Payroll, vehicles, insurance, local marketing, installation labor, office costs, technology, accounting, financing, and other expenses still have to be paid from that $328,507.
Item 20 reported 131 franchised U.S. outlets and no company-owned outlets at the end of 2025. The system opened 21 franchised outlets during 2025, while two were terminated or not renewed, two were reacquired, and three ceased operations for other reasons. Because there are no company-operated outlets, there is no same-brand company-store profit proxy to fill the missing expense data. Sources: 2026 Made in the Shade Blinds and More LLC FDD, Item 19, pp. 33–35; Item 20, pp. 35–43.
How were the annual owner-earnings scenarios calculated?
For the modeled territory, the estimate applies a 7%–13% pre-tax active-owner margin to annual sales anchored to the disclosure. The base margin is the IRS 2023 net-income margin for profitable sole proprietorships classified as furniture and home furnishing retailers: $276.147 million of net income divided by $2.768 billion of business receipts, or approximately 9.98%. The model rounds that to 10% and applies a three-percentage-point sensitivity band.
The IRS category is broader than window-treatment franchises, and Schedule C net income may compensate an owner for labor as well as capital. The profitable-business subset also excludes loss-making businesses. For context, the same IRS table shows only a 0.31% net-income-less-deficit margin when profitable and unprofitable sole proprietorships are combined. Those limitations are why the confidence rating is LIMITED.
| Scenario | Revenue and margin | Owner-operator benefit | Manager-run residual |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | $496,655 FDD median sales at 7% | $34,766 | ($18,064) |
| Base | $730,016 FDD average sales at 10% | $73,002 | $20,172 |
| Upside | $876,019, equal to 120% of FDD average sales, at 13% | $113,882 | $61,052 |
These cases are sensitivity points, not probabilities. The lower case pairs the disclosed median sales level with a margin three percentage points below the benchmark. The central case uses the disclosed average and the rounded proxy. The upper case assumes sales 20% above that average and a margin three points above the proxy; neither assumption appears in the disclosure. The range does not capture first-year ramp-up, unusually high warranty work, a temporary owner absence, a major local cost shock, or a sustained demand decline. It also does not mean the middle figure is the most likely result. Because the available evidence covers one annual survey period and provides no same-brand operating statements, a buyer should rebuild the model with monthly quotes, conversion, ticket size, merchandise cost, payroll, vehicle, promotion, and installation records from comparable territories. That replacement analysis may produce a narrower or wider result. The practical use is comparative: test the same workload and cost structure under several local assumptions, then see whether the result remains acceptable when one or two inputs weaken together. A resilient purchase case should not depend on every favorable input occurring at once.
Revenue and margin both change across the Conservative, Base, and Upside analytical scenarios.
Interpretation: the range is driven by both revenue dispersion and margin uncertainty; it is not a probability forecast. Source: 2026 FDD Item 19; IRS nonfarm sole-proprietorship statistics; editorial revenue and margin assumptions described above.
At $730,016 of annual sales, the disclosed 45% product margin produces $328,507 after merchandise cost. A 10% active-owner result leaves $73,002, implying approximately $255,506—or 35% of sales—for payroll, occupancy, vehicle, marketing, installation, insurance, support fees, and other operating expenses. This is a reconciled analytical bridge, not a franchisor-reported income statement.
How does owner involvement change the result?
In the model, active operation materially increases the result because the owner supplies management, sales, and business-development labor. Item 15 says the Operating Principal is not required to work full time, but must use best efforts to actively sell products and promote the business. That language does not support treating the franchise as fully passive.
For the manager-run comparison, the model subtracts the BLS May 2025 mean annual wage of $52,830 for first-line supervisors of retail sales workers. The benchmark is broad retail data rather than a window-treatment-specific wage, and it excludes employer payroll taxes and benefits. A locally competitive manager package could therefore reduce residual profit further.
Each row uses the same revenue and margin scenario; only the $52,830 manager-wage assumption changes.
Interpretation: replacing owner labor with a paid manager reduces modeled annual residual by $52,830 before payroll burden or benefits. Sources: 2026 FDD Item 15, p. 27; BLS Retail Trade occupational wage data, May 2025.
Which fees and operating obligations can move earnings most?
For this U.S. operating format, the strongest earnings drivers are product margin, local promotion, labor structure, and sales volume—not a royalty percentage. Item 6 does not list a royalty fee. It does require basic marketing, technology, and accounting support totaling at least $350 per month, plus $5 per payroll employee each month. Sample-product replenishment is listed at $100–$200 per month or as needed.
The franchisor recommends—but does not require—local marketing equal to 4% of gross sales. At the three scenario revenue levels, 4% equals approximately $19,866, $29,201, and $35,041 per year. That spending can improve lead flow, but it also consumes margin if conversion and average sale price do not respond. The disclosure also highlights a minimum $75,000 annual inventory and supply purchase obligation. The model treats that obligation within product cost rather than adding $75,000 on top of cost of goods.
Item 10 gives an example of a $50,000 franchisor loan at 7% APR over 24 months with an estimated $2,239 monthly payment, or $26,868 per year. That payment is separate from operating earnings because it includes financing principal. In the base scenario, paying that illustrative debt service would reduce cash remaining after debt service from $73,002 to about $46,134 for an owner-operator; it would exceed the modeled $20,172 manager-run residual.
Sources: 2026 FDD Item 6, pp. 5–10; Item 10, pp. 17–18; the official Made in the Shade franchise FAQ also describes the no-royalty structure and recurring support fees.
What should a buyer verify before relying on this range?
For the eligible 2025 U.S. cohort, the range is an uncertain due-diligence framework, not a forecast. The largest unresolved uncertainty is the absence of same-brand operating-expense and bottom-line data for the 69 respondents. A buyer should replace the proxy assumptions with territory-specific evidence before making a capital decision.
- Request Item 19 written substantiation. Reconcile the 69 responses, 106 eligible U.S. franchisees, outlet-age rule, and treatment of transfers, closures, and unusually high performers.
- Ask franchisees for complete income statements. Separate product cost, installation labor, sales commissions, vehicle cost, marketing, insurance, software, accounting, and owner compensation.
- Test the 45% Gross Product Margin locally. Verify manufacturer mix, discounts, freight, installation pricing, warranty callbacks, and whether reported product cost excludes any labor.
- Clarify the owner’s required workload. Quantify weekly time spent selling, measuring, scheduling, installing, managing vendors, and developing referral sources.
- Model manager cost by territory. Use local wages plus payroll taxes, workers’ compensation, incentives, benefits, recruiting, and turnover—not the national wage alone.
- Keep debt and taxes separate. Match financing amount, rate, term, and payment timing to the actual transaction; obtain tax advice for the chosen entity and state.
The FTC advises buyers to distinguish gross sales from net profit, examine how many outlets achieved an average, request written substantiation, and interview current and former franchisees. The closest government industry classification is NAICS 449122, Window Treatment Retailers, but the IRS margin used here is available only at the broader furniture and home furnishing retailer level.
What is the strongest defensible earnings takeaway?
The strongest defensible estimate is approximately $35,000–$114,000 of annual owner-operator benefit, with a base scenario near $73,000. It is scenario-based, not an official Made in the Shade owner-income disclosure. The most important driver is the interaction between sales volume and the disclosed 45% product margin; the largest uncertainty is the undisclosed operating-expense structure below product gross dollars.
Owner involvement is economically significant. The FDD contemplates an Operating Principal who actively sells and promotes the business, and replacing that labor with a manager can reduce residual profit sharply. Before relying on any point in the range, a buyer should verify Item 19 substantiation, obtain actual franchisee income statements, and compare owner-operated and manager-assisted businesses with similar territory demographics, maturity, close rates, sale prices, and marketing intensity.
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