Ziebart Franchise Costs, Fees & FDD

Year Business Began: 1954

Franchising Since: 1963

Headquarters: Troy, Michigan

Estimated Number of Units: 400

Franchise Description: The franchisor is Ziebart Corporation. The parent company is Ziebart International Corporation. Franchisees operate a specialty business that sells protection, detailing window tint, accessories in accordance with the franchisor’s specifications. The required services provided by a Ziebart franchise include structural protective coatings; detailing and appearance protective coatings; scratch repair, scratch and scuff; films; accessories; and polyurethane protective coatings. Chip repair, wraps and graphics, dent removal, accessories, and automotive glass are optional.
Training Overview: The franchisor will provide training to franchisees (and/or their managing owner) on the system, system guidelines, and operational and brand standards. Franchisees and one technician must successfully complete the Sales, Management, and Technical Summary training programs before starting operations. Franchisees and an alternate technician must be certified in given individual services before offering those services for sale in the franchised business. Franchisees will be responsible for training their employees and independent contractors. The initial training for all the Ziebart services is approximately six weeks in duration, consisting of both classroom instruction conducted at the franchisor’s headquarters in Troy, Michigan, and on-the-job training. Initial or ongoing training programs held at the Troy office are available to franchisees and their employees free of charge. Costs of travel and living expenses during the training are the responsibility of franchisees. Field training for most services is also available. The cost of field training is $750 per day. The franchisor may also offer additional training to franchisees on an on-going basis through national, regional and local seminars, group meetings and workshops. Franchisees must attend the annual seminar at least once every 18-24 months.

Territory Granted: The franchise is only granted for a specific location, which will be designated in the Franchise Agreement. Franchisees will not receive an exclusive territory for their Ziebart franchise. Franchisees may face competition from other franchisees, from outlets owned by the franchisor, or from other channels of distribution or competitive brands that the franchisor controls. The franchisor has established a market development policy. This policy provides new franchisees with a protected area of a 10 mile radius from the store for a period of three years from the date of the Franchise Agreement.

Obligations and Restrictions: Franchisees are not required to personally manage their franchise. If franchisees are a legal entity, one individual owner must pass the sales and management training, but that individual does not need to spend his or her full time in the franchise. During all normal business hours, franchisees must have a Ziebart trained and certified technician in the franchise, but that person is not required to own any equity interest in the legal entity. Franchisees are required to offer for sale only services and products that have been approved and specified by the franchisor in the manual and any updates that are incorporated in the manual from time to time. Franchisees may not use the Ziebart franchise premises for any other purpose than the operation of a Ziebart franchise and the sale of services or products approved by the franchisor. Franchisees may not sell products or services from or at any location other than the location of their Ziebart franchise.

Term of Agreement and Renewal: The length of the initial Franchise Agreement is 10 years. To renew, franchisees must meet conditions prescribed in the franchisor’s then-current manual.

Financial Assistance: The franchisor does not offer financing, or guarantee any note, lease, or other obligation of franchisees. The franchisor and its affiliates have no past practice or future intent of selling, assigning or discounting franchisees’ financing arrangements to a third party, although it reserves the right to do so in the future. The franchisor will waive the initial franchise fee to qualified veterans who either have received an honorable discharge from one of the U.S. Military Branches or are currently serving in one of the U.S. Military Branches and eligible to receive an honorable discharge.

Estimated Initial Investment

Name of Fee	Low	High
Initial Franchise Fee	$45,000	$45,000
Exterior/Interior Décor Package, including Signage	$30,000	$100,000
Equipment Package	$100,000	$180,000
Opening Inventory/Supplies	$32,000	$50,000
Leasehold Improvements	$80,000	$300,000
Computer Equipment	$2,000	$4,000
Utilities, Rent & Deposits (first three months)	$38,100	$56,000
Insurance	$3,000	$9,000
Opening Advertising	$7,000	$10,000
Travel Expenses for Initial Training	$3,000	$5,000
Miscellaneous Shop Expenses	$10,000	$15,000
Additional Funds (initial period)	$100,000	$150,000
ESTIMATED TOTAL	$450,100	$924,000

 
Other Fees

Type of Fee	Amount
Royalty	8% of the gross sales, minimum $650 per week, on all products with certain exceptions. For those products, the royalty is 5% of the total weekly gross sales.
Minimum Product Purchases	10% of the gross sales in the categories listed in the FDD.
National Media Advertising d/b/a The Marketing Fund	2% of total weekly gross sales via EFT, with a cap of $30,000 per year.
North American Liability Fund (NALF)	$2.00 to $15.00 per rustproofing warranty, subject to change upon 90 days written notice.
Late Charges: Royalty	2% per month or the maximum amount permitted by law, whichever is less.
Audit Surcharge	Royalty due on unreported sales and audit expenses, plus 50% surcharge.
Credit Card Surcharge	1.5% credit card surcharge fee if franchisees want to pay by credit card.
Renewal Franchise Fee	15% of the new franchise fee the franchisor is charging to new franchisees at the time the franchisee obtains a renewal franchise.
Reminder Card Program	$1.10 for each of the first and second notice cards, handled through the franchisee’s computerized reporting.
Central Billing for National Fleet Accounts	3% of the amount charged by the processing franchisee.
Field Training Expenses	$750 per day, plus the franchisor trainer’s airfare expenses.
Training Cancellation Fee	$100 each occurrence, plus the amount of any non-refundable airfare for trips purchased by the franchisor’s trainers.
Supplier or Product Approval	Between $2,000 and $10,000, depending on the franchisor’s time and expenses in reviewing the supplier or product.
Application of Reimbursement to Overdue Payment	The amount the franchisee owed the franchisor for royalties, or for the franchisee’s purchase of goods or services from the franchisor.
Costs, Administrative Expenses, and Attorneys’ Fees	Actual costs, will vary under circumstances.
Indemnification	Actual costs, will vary under circumstances.

The above information has been compiled from the FDD of Ziebart. Year of FDD: 2025.
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