Top Service Franchises

The service sector offers a diverse array of opportunities that include low-cost, home-based and seasonal franchises.

To determine this year’s top list, we surveyed over 19,495 franchisees from many of today’s leading franchise brands. Each survey participant was asked 33 benchmark questions about their franchisor that focused on areas such as leadership, training, and core values as well 16 more personal questions concerning their business lifestyle and overall enjoyment of running their franchise. Franchise brands are not allowed to pay for exposure on any of our lists; we determine our the best franchises based purely on our independent surveys. This year 88 brands made the FBR’s top-rated list! You can learn more about our research methodology here.

Know what kind of service franchise you prefer? Check out the lists for:

• Landscaping Franchises
• Window Cleaning Franchises
• Pest Control Franchises
• Home Improvement Franchises
• Utility Franchises
• Commercial Cleaning Franchises

Select any brand from our list below to learn more about the franchise. Once you are on the brand's page, you can opt to receive additional details directly from the franchise by entering your email into the contact form.

Select a Category Category Automotive Business Services Cleaning & Maintenance Home Services Services Travel & Hospitality

Select an Investment Level Investment Under $50K $50K to $99K $100k to $199K Over $200k

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FBR’s Survey and Research Methodology

Every year, Franchise Business Review surveys thousands of franchisees from hundreds of leading franchise brands to gauge franchisee satisfaction and performance — and to compile our lists of the top-rated franchise brands. Our independent franchisee satisfaction reviews measure the health of franchise systems that participate in our research based exclusively on the feedback of franchise owners... the real franchise experts!

Not all brands willingly open their doors to an independent research firm like Franchise Business Review, but those who do can offer investors, like you, a wealth of information on the system’s leadership, culture, training and support, financial outlook and franchisee community.

Learn more about FBR’s survey and research methodology.

Top 5 Service Franchise Segments by Income

As a prospective franchisee in the service segment, you can choose to run anything from mobile, to real estate, to advertising and sales, and everything in between. Below are the top five service segments by average income:

Real Estate: $138,678

Business Services: $97,317

General Services: $96,633

Home Services: $91,277

Advertising and Sales: $71,392

Investment Ranges and Capital Requirements for Service Franchises

The services sector offers a wide range of investment options for prospective franchisees. Some concepts require less than $50,000 to get started, while others can cost well over $500,000.

It’s critical that you go into a new business being properly capitalized. That being said, it’s important to emphasize that the figures listed above are the total initial investment, but with financing and lease options, the typical upfront cash requirements tend to be much lower.

Using the example of buying a home, the total value of a house might be $300,000, but you’re only required to put down $30,000 cash, or even less. Investing in a franchise business is similar.

For example, a College Hunks Hauling Junk & Moving franchise costs $89,300 - $208,000 “all in,” but the liquid capital requirements (the cash you need to invest) is $65,000, with the balance being financed through business loans.

Profitability and Income

There are a lot of varying service franchises, so you will have more brands and sectors to choose from. While Real Estate and Business Services are at the top tier of the service segment, profitability in most sectors of the service industry are quite comfortable. 

As of date, our research shows that seventy-one percent of service franchise owners earn less than $100,000 per year, and just twenty-nine percent – the “top performers” – earn more than $100,000 per year. The average annual income reported by all service operators that we surveyed is $91,461 for businesses open at least two years.

Facts about the franchisees surveyed for this report:

1. Sixty-one percent of service franchisees surveyed were male, while thirty-two percent were female. Six percent are male/female partnerships.

2. The majority of franchisees are between ages 45 and 64.

3. Forty-two percent of franchisees surveyed have a bachelor’s degree or higher.

4. Thirty-six percent of franchisees live in Southern U.S., with the Northeast, Midwest and West all representing about twenty-percent.