Verified — real FDD extraction
SBA-eligible · directory code S1609 since 2017
SPRING-GREEN
Other · independent · est. —
Spring Green is a lawn and tree care franchise providing fertilization, weed control, pest control, and related turf services on recurring visit schedules. A franchisee operates a route-based service business with treatment vehicles and technicians, serving residential and commercial lawns in a protected territory.
SPRING-GREEN net unit count grew +2.6% from 2023–2025 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 & strong
Distress
Enough units and history to judge, and the record is good: growing or stable units with clean exits by the standards of its disclosed record. The standout in the record: owners who leave mostly sell rather than fail.
Exit rate · latest year
0.8%
fiscal 2025, per Item 20
Cost to open
$119K–$135K
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan defaults
0.0%
20 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
2023–2025
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
In fiscal 2025, 1 of 126 franchised outlets left the system — a 0.8% annualized exit rate. Not every exit is a failure — but this is the measurable floor.
Show the outlet tables ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Status (FTC) | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets at start | 154 | 152 | 156 |
| Opened | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| Transfers | 2 | 5 | 6 |
| Terminations | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Non-renewals | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Outlets at end | 152 | 156 | 156 |
| Net change | -2 | +4 | 0 |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present
Banks have made 25 SBA-backed loans to SPRING-GREEN franchisees since 1991. Only 20 have resolved so far — too thin for a reliable default rate, but 0 of them charged off.
—
20 resolved · too thin to rate
—
avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $
—
default rate × loss severity
$303,125
what recent franchisees borrowed
—
approval → charge-off, defaulted loans
3 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 SPRING-GREEN BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL
The owner's side of the deal
FDD × federal loan record
Who finances it
U.S. Bank, National Association
13.0% of this brand's loans
That lender charges off 12.6% of its loans to other franchise brands, vs 14.8% nationally.
Who buys it
Too few identified operators
Does experience help here?
Not enough resolved loans to split
Computed from 25 SBA 7(a)/504 loans to SPRING-GREEN 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 $45K franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $119K–$135K (Item 7). The franchisor publishes an earnings claim (Item 19) — read its methodology closely.
To open (Item 7)
$119K–$135K
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$45K
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
10%
of sales, ongoing
Your figure — cross-check against this brand's Item 19 and current-owner validation.
Royalty you'd pay / yr
$100K
10% of sales, before profit
Over a 10-yr term
$1M
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 SPRING-GREEN with an independent CPALabor record
US Dept. of Labor enforcement · franchisee-level · FY2005–present
Federal investigators have concluded 1 wage case against operators of this system, recovering $7K in back wages for 20 workers. Some of these cases are recent, not ancient history. These cases name franchisee-owned locations, not the franchisor itself.
Concluded cases
1
Back wages owed
$7K
Employees affected
20
Since 2020
1
Read this carefully. The employers in these cases are individual SPRING-GREEN franchisees — separately owned businesses operating under the brand name — not SPRING-GREEN 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 2022.
Modeled risk
FDD Risk Score · modeled from the public record
Modeled from the public record, this brand sits mid-pack: riskier than 60% of systems we score.
Risk percentile
60 / 100
Loan-corroborated
Modeled SBA charge-off
14.2%
Observed SBA charge-off
0.0%
Top drivers: Share financed by high-loss lenders (lowers) · Investment ceiling (log) (raises) · Single-lender dependence (raises) · Item 20 exit rate (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 SPRING-GREEN. 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 SPRING-GREEN's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
Talk to an independent CPA before you buy →SPRING-GREEN franchise questions, answered from the filings
What percentage of SPRING-GREEN franchises closed last year?
In SPRING-GREEN's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2025), 1 of 126 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 0.8%. 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 SPRING-GREEN franchise cost?
Per SPRING-GREEN's 2026 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $45K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $119K–$135K (Item 7).
What royalty does SPRING-GREEN charge?
SPRING-GREEN charges an ongoing royalty of 10.0% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2026 FDD.
Does SPRING-GREEN disclose earnings (Item 19)?
Yes — SPRING-GREEN makes a financial performance representation in Item 19 of its 2026 FDD, reporting a median unit volume of $929K. Read it closely: franchisors choose which units and which metrics to include.