The Grounds Guys Franchise Costs, Fees & FDD

Year Business Began: 2010

Franchising Since: 2010

Headquarters: Waco, Texas

Estimated Number of Units: 260

Franchise Description: The Grounds Guys SPV LLC is the franchisor. The franchisor is a direct, wholly-owned subsidiary of Neighborly Assetco LLC. Franchisees provide commercial, residential and municipal property maintenance, landscaping and hardscaping services; snow and ice maintenance services; trash and debris removal; arboriculture services; lawn renovation; residential, commercial and municipal turf care services; and other related services and products. Franchisees will not perform mosquito or flying pest control services.
Training Overview: The franchisor or its affiliate will provide franchisees and one other person with Phase I and Phase II Training. The franchisor (or its affiliate) may, but is not obligated to, provide Phase I Training which may be conducted at a location of its choosing or via webinar/videoconferencing. The Phase I Training will generally last 48 hours but training time may vary depending upon the knowledge, qualifications, and experience of the franchisee. If the franchisor requires, franchisees must attend the Phase I Training Webinar with their assigned Franchise Consultant or other designated person prior to participating in other training. After Phase I Training has been completed franchisees will attend Phase II Training, which generally will last four to five days. All Phase II Training occurs at the franchisor’s offices in Waco, Texas or at such other locations the franchisor may designate, or via webinar/video conferencing, at various times during the year. In addition, at a time the franchisor specifies, which is currently within 14 days of attending Phase II Training, franchisees will be required to attend field training including visiting the office of a designated existing franchised business selected by the franchisor for a period of one to five days to observe the office and field processes and procedures (although this training may be done remotely/virtually). The Technical Training Program is an optional, in-person training program available to franchisees and their employees through the franchisor’s technical training events. Franchisees must also attend, every year, at their expense, the annual training or conference event specified by the franchisor and currently referred to as “Reunion,” and any other training it designates as required.

Territory Granted: Franchisees will receive the right to operate the business at a location within their territory that meets the franchisor’s site selection guidelines. The Franchise Agreement will also specify a designated territory that will provide franchisees limited territory protection. The Franchise Agreement does not grant franchisees any territorial rights beyond the territory. The territory will have a minimum population that is generally at least 100,000 and a maximum population that is generally no more than 500,000. A larger population may be allowed under certain circumstances (e.g., densely populated urban areas or a high percentage of the prospective territory is impoverished). Franchisees will maintain rights to their territory even if the population in the territory increases. Franchisees will not receive an exclusive territory. However, provided franchisees are in full compliance with their Franchise Agreement, the franchisor will not operate or grant a franchise for the operation of another The Grounds Guys franchise with rights to market within the territory during the term of the Franchise Agreement. Beginning with the second full calendar year of operations, the franchised business must maintain the specified minimum performance standards. Failure to timely cure the default or transfer the business will give the franchisor the right to either reduce the size of the territory or terminate the Franchise Agreement.

Obligations and Restrictions: If franchisees are individuals, they must directly perform or supervise the operation of the business unless the franchisor consents otherwise. If the franchisor agrees that franchisees need not personally perform or supervise operation of the business, an individual who has successfully completed the training program (manager) must directly supervise the business, and that individual must be a bona fide manager, as determined by the franchisor. If franchisees are a corporation or other legal entity, direct, on-site supervision must be done by a designated owner who has successfully completed the training program unless the franchisor consents otherwise (principal owner). While franchisees own the business, they cannot have an interest or relationship with any competitors. Franchisees must offer and sell only the goods and services that conform to the franchisor’s standards and specifications. Franchisees must offer the goods and/or services that the franchisor designates as required for all franchisees and they may elect to offer other products and/or services only if the franchisor approves them in advance. Franchisees must honor the franchisor’s warranty policies for installations, repairs and replacements as described in the manuals.

Term of Agreement and Renewal: The length of the initial franchise term is 10 years. The Franchise Agreement may be renewed for one additional 10-year term by executing the then-current form of franchise agreement and meeting the other requirements for renewal.

Financial Assistance: The franchisor may agree to finance a portion of the initial franchise fee for qualified prospective franchisees under specified terms and conditions. The franchisor may periodically agree with third party lenders to make financing available to its qualified franchisees and it may, in its sole discretion, refer franchisees to a third party lender for financing. The franchisor may, in limited circumstances, agree to finance a portion of any renewal fee for qualified franchisees. The franchisor does not guarantee a franchisee’s obligations to third parties.

Estimated Initial investment

Name of Fee	Low	High
Initial Franchise Fee	$35,000	$35,000 + $350 per 1,000 additional population above minimum
Software Fee	$1,920	$1,920
Vehicle	$7,000	$82,000
Equipment, Supplies, Inventory	$21,000	$41,000
Insurance	$1,200	$3,000
Advertising & Promotional and Local Marketing Spending for Marketing Start-up Phase	$500	$15,000
Training, Travel, Lodging & Food	$2,700	$5,850
Deposits, Permits & Licenses	$50	$3,000
Professional Fees	$150	$2,000
Real Estate	$0	$6,000
Additional Funds – 3 Mo.	$5,000	$30,000
ESTIMATED TOTAL	$74,570	$224,770 plus any additional franchise fee

 
Other Fees

Type of Fee	Amount
License Fee	5-6% of gross sales except for “roll-in” sales. In addition, minimum license fees apply.
Marketing, Advertising and Promotion (MAP) Fee	2% gross sales except for “roll-in” sales.
Local Marketing Groups	Not to exceed 3% of gross sales.
Software System Monthly Fees	Varies. Currently, the monthly fees cover the use of and maintenance and support services for GGPro, Qvinci, FranConnect, one NPS provider location (currently, Broadly), one Greenius video training account, one Office365 E1 email account, and one Office365 E3 email account.
Late Fees (on Software System Monthly Fees)	$25 per month or the maximum amount allowed under the law, whichever is less.
Call Center Program Fees	Current fees: $199.99/month plus $15 per booked appointment.
Annual Convention (Reunion) Fees	The then-current fee. Currently up to $1,000, plus travel, lodging, meals and other expenses.
Transfer Fee	The greater of (i) $7,500 or (ii) 5% of the sales price.
Late Fees	$10 per day.
Dishonored Check or ACH Draft	$50
Interest	12% on unpaid balances.
Failure to Maintain Insurance	The actual cost for insurance premiums and a reasonable fee for expenses the franchisor incurs.
Audit	Cost of audit plus expenses plus any amount owed as shown by the audit, plus interest and late fees.
Audit Noncompliance Fee	$500 per document (up to $2,500 per audit) that franchisees fail to timely make available to the franchisor in connection with an audit; and/or: Cost of audit, if audit is rescheduled due to the franchisee’s failure to cooperate with the audit.
Renewal Fee	$5,000
Amendment Fee	$300
Unapproved Suppliers	The franchisor’s out-of-pocket costs of inspection or testing.
Indemnification and Attorneys’ Fees and Costs	Varies according to loss.
Tax Reimbursement	Varies according to tax.
Additional Training Fee	The then-current fee, currently up to $600 per day.
Key Accounts/Management Fee	See FDD.
Fees for Supplemental and Additional Websites	Annual fee of up to $15 for the domain name, plus a monthly fee of up to $30 for the website initially for each additional supplemental website franchisee elects to have beyond the initial supplemental website for the franchised business.

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