Kitchen Guard Franchise
Cost, fees, owner earnings, closure rate and litigation for a Kitchen Guard franchise — pulled from the franchisor's own public FDD (2024), not its sales material.
Disclosure honesty
Kitchen Guard discloses earnings (Item 19) — but the grade is how honestly. We graded it C.
What their own earnings claim actually says
Affiliate-owned business data (2023): $7.07M gross receipts, $881,968 net income after royalties/fees. 10+ year operation, 3x larger territory, 2 locations. No audit performed.
What a Kitchen Guard franchise actually costs to run
| Fee | Disclosed | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $49,000 | Item 5 — paid up front, before you open |
| Royalty | 9% of gross sales | Item 6 — charged on revenue, not profit |
| Advertising fund | 1.5% of gross sales | Item 6 — brand marketing, spent at the franchisor's discretion |
| Total recurring fees | 10.5% of gross sales | Before rent, labor, food or debt service |
| Total initial investment | $173,700 – $308,550 | Item 7 — franchisor's own low/high estimate |
Royalty 8-10% tiered; $750-$2,000 monthly minimum; 1-2% ad fund; $499 tech fee; transfer $5,000-$10,000.
Royalty and ad-fund percentages are charged on gross sales — an owner pays them whether or not the location is profitable.
Kitchen Guard system size and owner turnover
| Total outlets | 1 |
| Ceased operations | 0 |
| Terminated by franchisor | 0 |
| Transferred to new owners | 0 |
| Closure rate | 0.0% of outlets |
Zero franchised outlets through 2023; company-owned only. Early-stage franchise system.
From Item 20 of the FDD 2024. Terminations and ceased operations are the franchisor's own count of owners who stopped — the number the sales pitch leaves out.
Is Kitchen Guard worth it? — how it compares to 47 similar franchises
| Ongoing fees | 10.5% of sales | steeper than 68% of cleaning services franchises |
| Startup cost | from $173,700 | pricier than 83% of peers |
| Disclosure honesty | Grade C | typical for the category |
| Closure rate | 0.0% of outlets | better than most (median 2.4%) |
| Disclosed lawsuits | 0 | fewer than most |
Benchmarked against every cleaning services franchise we've graded from public FDDs — the context the franchisor's pitch never gives you.
Owner take-home for a Kitchen Guard
The franchisor's framing: Affiliate-owned business data (2023): $7.07M gross receipts, $881,968 net income after roy… We reconstruct what an owner actually keeps, from their own FDD.
- Reconstructed owner P&L — net take-home after royalty, ad fund, rent, labor & debt
- Break-even timeline + cash-on-cash ROI
- Full fee stack + required-purchase markups
- Decoded real failure / closure rate
- How it ranks vs comparable franchises
- Validation-call playbook — the exact questions to ask
See a full sample report → · 30-day guarantee
Kitchen Guard franchise — frequently asked
- How much does a Kitchen Guard franchise cost?
- The FDD lists a total initial investment of about $173,700–$308,550, including a $49,000 initial franchise fee.
- How much do Kitchen Guard franchise owners make?
- Affiliate-owned business data (2023): $7.07M gross receipts, $881,968 net income after royalties/fees. 10+ year operation, 3x larger territory, 2 locations. No audit performed. We grade this disclosure C for honesty.
- What are the Kitchen Guard franchise fees?
- Kitchen Guard's FDD discloses a $49,000 initial franchise fee, a 9% royalty on gross sales, a 1.5% advertising-fund contribution, for roughly 10.5% of gross sales in recurring fees before rent, labor, or debt service. Royalty 8-10% tiered; $750-$2,000 monthly minimum; 1-2% ad fund; $499 tech fee; transfer $5,000-$10,000.
- What is the Kitchen Guard franchise profit margin?
- Kitchen Guard does not publish a franchisee net-profit margin — almost no franchisor does. What Item 19 actually shows: Affiliate-owned business data (2023): $7.07M gross receipts, $881,968 net income after royalties/fees. 10+ year operation, 3x larger territory, 2 locations. No audit performed. Recurring fees alone take about 10.5% of gross sales, before rent, labor, food or debt service. Margin has to be reconstructed from the disclosure, not read off it.
- What is the Kitchen Guard franchise failure rate?
- Zero franchised outlets through 2023; company-owned only. Early-stage franchise system.
- How many Kitchen Guard locations are there?
- Kitchen Guard's FDD reports 1 total outlets, with 0 that ceased operations in the most recent reporting year and 0 transferred to new owners. Item 20 is where system health shows up before the marketing does.
- Does Kitchen Guard have complaints or lawsuits?
- Kitchen Guard discloses no material litigation in Item 3 of the filing we reviewed. That's a positive signal, though it covers only what the franchisor is required to report.
- Is a Kitchen Guard franchise worth it?
- It depends on the numbers, not the pitch. Kitchen Guard scores C on disclosure honesty, carries about 10.5% of sales in ongoing fees. Get the real owner take-home before you sign.
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Compare Kitchen Guard to similar franchises
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Source: MN CARDS 31184-202404-06 (Clean FDD 2024). FranchiseValidate is independent and not affiliated with Kitchen Guard or its franchisor. Figures are extracted from the franchisor's own public disclosure document; verify against the current FDD before any decision.