FRANCHISE·WATCH·DESK

Verified — real FDD extraction

SBA-eligible · directory code S0010 since 2017

101 MOBILITY

Other · independent · est. —

101 Mobility sells and installs mobility and accessibility equipment such as stairlifts, wheelchair ramps, vehicle lifts, and home elevators. A franchisee runs a local sales-and-installation operation, often anchored by a showroom, serving seniors, people with disabilities, and their families in a protected territory.

101 MOBILITY net unit count declined -7.8% from 20232025 per its FDD Item 20.

New to franchising? Start here

A franchise is a business where you (the franchisee) pay a company (the franchisor) for the right to open and run a location using their brand and system — think a local Anytime Fitness or Taco John's owned by a small-business owner, not the corporation.

Before you can buy in, U.S. law requires the franchisor to give you a Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) — a long legal filing covering its fees, finances, and history. The numbers on this page come straight from that document:

  • Franchise fee — the one-time cost to buy in.
  • Royalty — the ongoing cut of your sales you pay the franchisor.
  • Item 20 — how many locations opened and closed, the basis for our verdict (from Proven & strong down to Distressed — or Too new to judge).

The verdict

Proven & steady

Distress

0
STABLE

A real track record with an unremarkable region of the ledger: neither the growth nor the exits stand out, for better or worse. The main concern in the record: the system is shrinking.

Exit rate · latest year

13.5%

fiscal 2025, per Item 20

Cost to open

$196K–$281K

Item 7 total investment range

SBA loan defaults

7.1%

14 loans resolved — directional only

Behind the verdict

the record, factor by factor · Item 20

hi-1.0.0
Net unit growth35%

3-yr trend · Item 20 Table 1

Weak
Exit quality25%

terminations + ceased-ops vs. all exits · Table 3

Fair
Transfer / churn15%

transfers vs. base · Table 3

Strong
Promise-keeping10%

actual vs. projected openings · Table 5

Not Disc.
Transparency15%

Item 19 disclosure + completeness

Strong

Systemwide units

2023–2025

-7.8%
193202319420241782025

Survival record

FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year

In fiscal 2025, 24 of 178 franchised outlets left the system — a 13.5% annualized exit rate. Not every exit is a failure — but this is the measurable floor.

Show the outlet tables
Status (FTC)202320242025
Outlets at start188193194
Opened5110
Transfers3410
Terminations002
Non-renewals007
Reacquired by franchisor000
Ceased — other reasons0015
Outlets at end193194178
Net change+5+1-16

The lender's view

SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present

Banks have made 26 SBA-backed loans to 101 MOBILITY franchisees since 2014. Only 14 have resolved so far — too thin for a reliable default rate, but 1 of them charged off.

Charge-off rate

14 resolved · too thin to rate

Loss given default

avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $

Expected loss

default rate × loss severity

Avg. loan · FY2020+

$323,840

what recent franchisees borrowed

Median time to default

66 mo

approval → charge-off, defaulted loans

Lenders · FY21+ vs FY16–20

8 vs 12

distinct banks still lending

Charge-off rate by loan approval year (%)

SOURCE: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA LOAN DATA (DATA.SBA.GOV), FY1991–PRESENT · MATCHED TO 101 MOBILITY BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL

The owner's side of the deal

FDD × federal loan record

Who finances it

the Huntington National Bank

11.5% of this brand's loans

That lender charges off 10.1% of its loans to other franchise brands, vs 14.8% nationally.

Who buys it

64.0%

first-time franchise owners

The rest already owned at least one other franchise. Across the corpus, brands bought mostly by repeat operators charge off at roughly 10% versus 17% for brands sold mostly to newcomers.

Does experience help here?

Not enough resolved loans to split

Computed from 26 SBA 7(a)/504 loans to 101 MOBILITY franchisees joined to the brand's own FDD. Debt service assumes level amortization at the average disclosed term and rate. A lender's rate excludes its loans to this brand, so it reads the lender, not the brand.

What it costs — and what it drags

FDD Items 5–7 · fees, investment, royalty

Buying in means a $74K franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $196K–$281K (Item 7). The franchisor publishes an earnings claim (Item 19) — read its methodology closely.

To open (Item 7)

$196K–$281K

all-in investment range

Franchise fee (Item 5)

$74K

upfront, one-time

Royalty (Item 6)

7%

of sales, ongoing

If a unit does this in annual sales…$1M/yr

Your figure — cross-check against this brand's Item 19 and current-owner validation.

Royalty you'd pay / yr

$70K

7% of sales, before profit

Over a 10-yr term

$700K

royalties alone, excl. ad fund

This is not profit. It's the only money the FDD actually pins down — what you put in, and the royalty you owe on every dollar of sales. Your real take-home depends on labor, rent, food cost, and ramp-to-breakeven, none of which any FDD discloses.

Build a real pro-forma for 101 MOBILITY with an independent CPA

Labor record

US Dept. of Labor enforcement · franchisee-level · FY2005–present

Federal investigators have concluded 1 wage case against operators of this system, recovering $5K in back wages for 1 worker. These cases name franchisee-owned locations, not the franchisor itself.

Concluded cases

1

Back wages owed

$5K

Employees affected

1

Since 2020

0

Read this carefully. The employers in these cases are individual 101 MOBILITY franchisees — separately owned businesses operating under the brand name — not 101 MOBILITY itself. The franchisor is not the respondent and in most cases is not a party. What the record shows is how this system's operators run their payrolls, which is worth knowing before you become one of them. Counts rise with system size and with age: a 20-year-old, 10,000-unit system will out-count a young one regardless of conduct. Source: DOL Wage and Hour Division concluded compliance actions, FY2005–present, most recent finding 2020.

Modeled risk

FDD Risk Score · modeled from the public record

Elevated

The public record puts this brand toward the riskier end of the systems we score — but the evidence is thin, so treat it as a range, not a number.

Risk percentile (range)

64–88 / 100

Directional

Modeled SBA charge-off

16.6%

Observed SBA charge-off

7.1%

Top drivers: Single-lender dependence (raises) · Net unit growth (raises) · Item 20 exit rate (raises) · Investment ceiling (log) (raises). Thin loan history — treat this as a range, not a number. A linear scorecard built from this brand's own disclosure figures plus the federal loan record behind its franchisees; full spec and cross-validated accuracy on the methodology page. A score is context, not a verdict.

Distress signals

news-sourced · bankruptcies, closures, lawsuits

No recent closures, bankruptcies, or major lawsuits found in the news for 101 MOBILITY. That's a good sign — but it reflects news coverage, not a guarantee.

Before you sign anythingfree · 30 min · no commission

A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. An independent CPA is paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing 101 MOBILITY's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.

Talk to an independent CPA before you buy →

101 MOBILITY franchise questions, answered from the filings

What percentage of 101 MOBILITY franchises closed last year?

In 101 MOBILITY's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2025), 24 of 178 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 13.5%. That counts terminations, non-renewals, and "ceased operations — other reasons." There is no official failure rate, and not every exit is a failure, but this is the measurable floor.

How much does a 101 MOBILITY franchise cost?

Per 101 MOBILITY's 2026 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $74K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $196K–$281K (Item 7).

What royalty does 101 MOBILITY charge?

101 MOBILITY charges an ongoing royalty of 7.0% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2026 FDD.

Does 101 MOBILITY disclose earnings (Item 19)?

Yes — 101 MOBILITY makes a financial performance representation in Item 19 of its 2026 FDD. Read it closely: franchisors choose which units and which metrics to include.

Is 101 MOBILITY a good franchise to buy? Health score, exit rate & costs (2026) · Franchise Watch Desk