Brightway Insurance Franchise Costs, Fees & FDD

Year Business Began: 2003

Franchising Since: 2008

Headquarters: Jacksonville, Florida

Estimated Number of Units: 360

Franchise Description: The franchisor is Brightway Insurance, LLC. Franchisees (which the franchisor refers to as “agency owners”) operate a Brightway location that will primarily engage in the business of selling, servicing and delivering property and casualty insurance policies, but that may also offer certain other insurance services to its clients.
Training Overview: The franchisor will provide the principal and other initial employees with initial training regarding insurance products, sales and marketing, sales processing, management systems, office procedures, its web-based systems, computer software, and other matters as it deems necessary. Such training is mandatory, and the franchisor will not authorize franchisees to open their Brightway location until the training has been successfully completed to the franchisor’s satisfaction. Initial training will be conducted by the franchisor or its designee virtually via its intranet or other online portal, or, if held in-person, at its corporate offices, the franchisee’s premises, or such other site as the franchisor designates. Training for additional producers will be conducted by the franchisor virtually via its intranet or another online portal it designates, or may be scheduled either at the franchisor’s corporate offices or at the franchisee’s location, subject to the availability of training staff. The franchisor has the right at any time to require that the principal and/or any other staff attend and complete, to its satisfaction, any and all additional training deemed necessary or appropriate. In addition to the training it provides, the franchisor strongly encourages that franchisees periodically attend additional training provided by its contracted companies.

Territory Granted: Under the Franchise Agreement, franchisees may only operate their Brightway location at a specific location which must be approved by the franchisor. Franchisees may not conduct any business at the premises other than the Brightway location. Franchisees will not receive an exclusive territory. There are no restrictions on the areas in their state in which franchisees may solicit or accept new customers, nor are other franchisees restricted from soliciting new customers in the area of their Brightway location, provided that franchisees must comply with the franchisor’s customer control policies regarding existing Brightway customers.

Obligations and Restrictions: In the event franchisees are a corporation, limited liability company, partnership or other business entity, the “controlling interest” identified in the Franchise Agreement must at all times have the right to control the operations of the business. In the event franchisees are a corporation, limited liability company, partnership or other business entity, each individual who owns an equity interest in the entity must sign a Guaranty, under which they each assume and agree to perform all of the obligations under the Franchise Agreement. Franchisees must comply with all staffing requirements. Franchisees must sell only products and services approved by the franchisor and the contracted companies, and they must use commercially reasonable efforts to sell products and services for the contracted companies, lines of business, and policy types that the franchisor authorizes them to sell.

Term of Agreement and Renewal: The length of the initial franchise term is five years. If franchisees are not in default and continue to have the right to occupy their premises, they may renew for successive additional five-year renewal terms.

Financial Assistance: The franchisor currently offers financing for a portion of the initial fee for new agency owners. To qualify for financing, a prospective agency owner must satisfy certain uniform criteria. Except as provided, the franchisor does not offer direct or indirect financing. The franchisor will not guarantee a franchisee’s note, lease or other obligation.

Estimated Initial Investment

Name of Fee	Low	High
Initial Fee	$10,000	$25,000
Lease Deposit and First Month’s Rent	$0	$7,000
Leasehold Improvements	$0	$10,000
Furniture, Furnishings, and Fixtures	$0	$7,000
Equipment	$2,300	$6,700
Signage	$125	$15,000
Professional Fees	$600	$2,500
Insurance Policies	$300	$4,000
Licensing Fees	$0	$1,200
Opening Advertising Expense	$0	$3,500
Additional Funds – Six Months	$10,000	$55,000
ESTIMATED TOTAL	$23,325	$136,900

 
Other Fees

Type of Fee	Amount
Sales Commissions – New Business	20% of sales commissions on new business.
Sales Commissions – Renewal Business	50% of sales commissions on renewal business.
Franchisee Shared Expenses – Consolidated Technology Fees	Portion of expenses borne by the franchisor, amount varies.
Agency Owner Shared Expenses – Miscellaneous Fees	Portion of expenses borne by the franchisor, amount varies.
Post-Term Extended Earnings	Variable.
Other Advertising and Marketing Programs; Cooperative Advertising	Reasonable cost.
Costs and Attorneys’ Fees Associated with Enforcement or Collection	The franchisor’s costs and expenses.
Indemnification	The losses and expenses incurred by the franchisor and its affiliates.
Transfer Fee – Majority Interest	The initial fee in effect as of the date of transfer.
Transfer Fee – Minority Interest	$2,500
Insurance	Premium cost plus administrative costs of 18%.
Supplier/Product Evaluation	The franchisor’s testing costs.
Financial Records and Reports	Cost of preparing required financial reports.
Taxes	Amount of tax.
Bad/No Email Address Fee	$5 per customer per year.
FCI Commission	Varies.

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