Budget Blinds

Budget Blinds structures fees in two parts that combine at signing. The Initial Franchise Fee is $19,950 — but you also pay an Initial Territory Fee of $30,000 (Tier 3, under 25,000 households), $45,000 (Tier 2, 25,000–36,000 households), or $70,000 (Tier 1, 36,000+ households) when purchasing from the franchisor. Your real up-front cost is $49,950 to $89,950 before any other pre-opening expense.

Total investment ranges from $100,500 to $211,250 (excluding office/workspace costs). The largest variable is the vehicle: $10,000–$48,000 for a compliant white cargo van. Ongoing royalty is the greater of 3.5% of monthly Gross Revenue or the territory-tier minimum ($2,500/month for Tier 1). The technology fee adds $600/month for the first territory. Veterans receive a 15% discount on both the franchise fee and first territory fee — one of the better veteran discount structures in the sector.

Budget Blinds provides genuine Item 19 data from 253 single-territory franchisees who were open and reporting for all of 2024 — 80% of eligible franchisees. The single-territory average was $853,650 (up from $795,612 in 2023); the median was $556,955 (up from $539,603). The gap between average and median is large because a small number of high-revenue operators (one reported $8,706,835) skew the average significantly.

A more useful benchmark: the 25th percentile was $407,517, and the 75th percentile was $966,358. That means the middle 50% of single-territory franchisees reported revenue between roughly $400K and $970K. At the median ($556,955) with a 3.5% royalty plus $600/month tech fee and ~$1,000/month ad fund, your monthly fee burden is approximately $2,945 — about 6.4% of median monthly revenue. Operators who build toward multi-territory ownership show significantly better economics: two-territory franchisees averaged $1,252,032 with a median of $968,124.

Budget Blinds is owned by Home Franchise Concepts (HFC), which also owns Tailored Living and Concrete Craft. The parent company provides operational scale and shared services. The system has been around since 1992 and is genuinely the category leader — there's no national franchise competitor at comparable scale in residential window coverings.

The unit trajectory is flat: 1,298 territories at end-2022, 1,362 at end-2023, 1,366 at end-2024. This isn't decline — the existing base is stable and revenue per territory is growing year-over-year — but the system isn't adding net new territories at any meaningful rate. If you're evaluating this brand, the relevant question is why the territory count has stalled, given the strong per-territory revenue. The territory fee structure ($30K–$70K) may be filtering out buyers, or prime territories may simply be sold out in most major metros.

Three things to verify before signing. First, the territory tier system matters more than the headline franchise fee. A Tier 3 territory at $30,000 has under 25,000 households — that's a small market. A Tier 1 territory at $70,000 has 36,000+ households — that's where the median revenue figures are likely concentrated. Ask the franchisor for Item 19 data broken down by territory tier, not just single vs. multi-territory.

Second, mandatory convention attendance (up to $2,000/year plus travel) and the prospect of monthly minimum royalties ($2,500/month Tier 1 = $30,000/year minimum regardless of revenue) create a known fixed cost floor in early years when revenue is still building. In month one, you're paying $2,500 minimum royalty + $600 tech + ~$1,000 ad fund = $4,100/month before you've earned anything.

Third, the franchise fee has no refund provision and the territory fee structure means a significant amount of capital is deployed before any revenue. Ensure you have genuine additional working capital beyond the stated $25,000–$40,000 in Item 7 — window covering sales have a sales cycle (measure, quote, order, install) that means revenue doesn't hit immediately after your first customer interaction.