Verified — real FDD extraction
SBA-eligible · directory code S8203 since 2025
Wonderly Lights
Other · independent · est. —
Wonderly Lights designs and installs professional holiday and architectural lighting on homes and commercial buildings, handling the hanging, maintenance and end-of-season takedown. A franchisee runs a seasonal service business, selling lighting packages and sending install crews to customers' properties rather than operating a store.
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
The operating record is solid, but the FDD discloses a bankruptcy history (Item 4) — capped below a full endorsement. The main concern in the record: too many owners are failing outright rather than selling.
Exit rate · latest year
7.7%
fiscal 2025, per Item 20
Cost to open
$83K–$125K
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan defaults
Too few resolved
1 loans exist; too few resolved to rate
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
2021–2025
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
In fiscal 2025, 3 of 39 franchised outlets left the system — a 7.7% annualized exit rate. Not every exit is a failure — but this is the measurable floor.
Show the outlet tables ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Status (FTC) | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets at start | 0 | 0 | 15 | 32 | 40 |
| Opened | 0 | 14 | 17 | 9 | 6 |
| Transfers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Terminations | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Non-renewals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Outlets at end | 0 | 15 | 32 | 40 | 43 |
| Net change | 0 | +15 | +17 | +8 | +3 |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present
Banks have made 1 SBA-backed loans to Wonderly Lights franchisees since 2025. Most are still open, so there is not yet a resolved cohort large enough to rate.
—
0 resolved · too thin to rate
—
avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $
—
default rate × loss severity
$150,000
what recent franchisees borrowed
—
approval → charge-off, defaulted loans
—
distinct banks lending
Charge-off rate by loan approval year (%)
SOURCE: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA LOAN DATA (DATA.SBA.GOV), FY1991–PRESENT · MATCHED TO WONDERLY LIGHTS BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL
What it costs — and what it drags
FDD Items 5–7 · fees, investment, royalty
Buying in means a $30K franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $83K–$125K (Item 7). The franchisor publishes an earnings claim (Item 19) — read its methodology closely.
To open (Item 7)
$83K–$125K
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$30K
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
7%
of sales, ongoing
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 Wonderly Lights with an independent CPADistress signals
news-sourced · bankruptcies, closures, lawsuits
No recent closures, bankruptcies, or major lawsuits found in the news for Wonderly Lights. 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 Wonderly Lights's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
Talk to an independent CPA before you buy →Wonderly Lights franchise questions, answered from the filings
What percentage of Wonderly Lights franchises closed last year?
In Wonderly Lights's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2025), 3 of 39 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 7.7%. 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 Wonderly Lights franchise cost?
Per Wonderly Lights's 2026 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $30K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $83K–$125K (Item 7).
What royalty does Wonderly Lights charge?
Wonderly Lights charges an ongoing royalty of 7.0% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2026 FDD.
Does Wonderly Lights disclose earnings (Item 19)?
Yes — Wonderly Lights makes a financial performance representation in Item 19 of its 2026 FDD, reporting a median unit volume of $140K. Read it closely: franchisors choose which units and which metrics to include.