Verified — real FDD extraction
SBA-eligible · directory code S2240 since 2017
ProLift Garage Doors
Home Services · independent · est. —
ProLift Garage Doors provides residential garage door repair, replacement, and installation services. A franchisee runs a mobile, van-based service business handling scheduled and emergency calls for homeowners in a defined territory.
ProLift Garage Doors net unit count grew +33.3% from 2017–2019 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
Too new to judge
Distress
16 franchised units over 3 disclosed years is not a track record — systems this early have realized only a fraction of their eventual failures. Judge the disclosures, not a verdict.
Exit rate · latest year
56.3%
vs 9.2% across 42 home services systems
Cost to open
$101K–$142K
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan defaults
47.6%
21 loans resolved — directional only
Behind the verdict
the record, factor by factor · Item 20
3-yr trend · Item 20 Table 1
terminations + ceased-ops vs. all exits · Table 3
transfers vs. base · Table 3
actual vs. projected openings · Table 5
Item 19 disclosure + completeness
Systemwide units
2017–2019
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
In fiscal 2019, 9 of 16 franchised outlets left the system — a 56.3% annualized exit rate, vs 9.2% across 42 home services systems. Not every exit is a failure — but this is the measurable floor.
Show the outlet tables ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Status (FTC) | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets at start | 5 | 12 | 16 |
| Opened | 10 | 10 | 9 |
| Transfers | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Terminations | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Non-renewals | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| Outlets at end | 12 | 16 | 16 |
| Net change | +7 | +4 | 0 |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present
Banks have made 63 SBA-backed loans to ProLift Garage Doors franchisees since 2018. Only 21 have resolved so far — too thin for a reliable default rate, but 10 of them charged off.
—
21 resolved · too thin to rate
—
avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $
—
default rate × loss severity
$149,169
what recent franchisees borrowed
30 mo
approval → charge-off, defaulted loans
10 vs 2
distinct banks still lending
Charge-off rate by loan approval year (%)
Loan performance by state
SOURCE: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA LOAN DATA (DATA.SBA.GOV), FY1991–PRESENT · MATCHED TO PROLIFT GARAGE DOORS BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL
The owner's side of the deal
FDD × federal loan record
Who finances it
United Midwest Savings Bank National Association
73.0% of this brand's loans
That lender charges off 34.7% of its loans to other franchise brands, vs 14.8% nationally.
Who buys it
80.7%
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 63 SBA 7(a)/504 loans to ProLift Garage Doors 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 $60K franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $101K–$142K (Item 7). The franchisor publishes no earnings claim (Item 19) — ask current and former franchisees for real numbers.
To open (Item 7)
$101K–$142K
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$60K
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
6%
of sales, ongoing
Your figure — this brand discloses no Item 19 earnings; validate with current & former owners.
Royalty you'd pay / yr
$60K
6% of sales, before profit
Over a 10-yr term
$600K
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 ProLift Garage Doors with an independent CPAModeled risk
FDD Risk Score · modeled from the public record
Modeled from the public record, this brand looks riskier than 100% of systems we score.
Risk percentile
100 / 100
Loan-corroborated
Modeled SBA charge-off
50.1%
Observed SBA charge-off
47.6%
Top drivers: Share financed by high-loss lenders (raises) · Item 20 exit rate (raises) · System size (log units) (raises) · Single-lender dependence (lowers). 15+ resolved loans stand behind this estimate. 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 ProLift Garage Doors. That's a good sign — but it reflects news coverage, not a guarantee.
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. An independent CPA is paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing ProLift Garage Doors's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
Talk to an independent CPA before you buy →ProLift Garage Doors franchise questions, answered from the filings
What percentage of ProLift Garage Doors franchises closed last year?
In ProLift Garage Doors's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2019), 9 of 16 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 56.3% — compared with 9.2% across 42 home services systems tracked here. 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 ProLift Garage Doors franchise cost?
Per ProLift Garage Doors's 2020 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $60K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $101K–$142K (Item 7).
What royalty does ProLift Garage Doors charge?
ProLift Garage Doors charges an ongoing royalty of 6.0% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2020 FDD.
Does ProLift Garage Doors disclose earnings (Item 19)?
No — ProLift Garage Doors's 2020 FDD makes no financial performance representation in Item 19. That is legal and common, but it means the franchisor publishes no earnings claim; ask current franchisees for real numbers.