Cleaning
ecomaids Franchise
ecomaids franchisees offer environmentally friendly cleaning services through a maintenance program for residential and commercial properties. Built its brand identity around green/eco-friendly products and practices as its point of difference from larger conventional cleaning-franchise chains.
Every franchisor has to file a document called an FDD before they can legally sell you a franchise. Buried in it are the two things a sales rep won't volunteer: what you'll actually spend to open, and whether existing locations are opening or closing. That's what's below, pulled straight from ecomaids's own filing.
What it costs to open
From the filing's investment breakdown -- not a "starting at" number a sales rep quoted you.
Franchise fee
$94,950
Total to open
$129,149–$150,949
Ongoing royalty
6.5% of gross sales
What you'd actually spend, over time
The upfront cost is only part of it. Plug in what you expect a location to bring in, and see the real total once royalties over a few years are added on top.
Defaulted to a rough cleaning industry average, not a figure from ecomaids's own FDD -- change it to your own estimate.
Total cost of ownership over 5 years
$259,149 – $280,949
Startup investment
$129,149–$150,949
Royalty per year (6.5%)
$26,000
Total royalty, 5yr
$130,000
When would you break even?
Revenue alone doesn't tell you this -- it depends on what's left after rent, labor, and everything else. ecomaids's FDD doesn't disclose a reliable profit figure (most franchisors don't), so this starts from a typical cleaning profit margin (~20%) and applies it to the revenue you entered above -- adjust the percentage to your own realistic estimate.
Defaulted to a general cleaning industry benchmark, not a figure from ecomaids's own filing -- this is a starting point to adjust, not a promise about what franchisees actually make.
At that profit, you'd break even in about
1.6–1.9 years
Weigh that payback period against what you already know: ecomaids is currently losing locations. A long payback period on a shrinking brand is a very different bet than the same payback period on a growing one.
Is ecomaids actually growing?
Franchisors have to report, every year, how many locations opened, closed, or changed hands. Most franchise sites never show you this. Here it is:
Locations opened vs. closed, by year
ShrinkingFrom Item 20 of ecomaids's FDD, the section franchisors use to disclose real openings and closings.
| Year | Franchised units, start | Franchised units, end | Net change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 50 | 83 | +33 |
| 2022 | 83 | 76 | -7 |
| 2023 | 76 | 58 | -18 |
Most recent year (2023): lost 18 franchised units, ending the year at 58 total.
What you're actually signing up for
The cost and growth numbers above are only part of the picture. These three FDD items are the ones a prospective franchisee tends to weigh most heavily once they're past the sticker price.
Training & ongoing support (Item 11)
Initial training is mandatory and substantial: about 22.5 hours of virtual pre-training, then roughly 6 days in person (about 21.5 hours classroom + 26 hours on-site) at ecomaids' headquarters or a flagship-location training center, run only 6 times a year. Ongoing support during operation is comparatively soft: guidance via an Operating Manual and a learning-management system, plus phone/office consultation "at its option" -- a discretionary, not guaranteed, commitment.
Territory protection (Item 12)
The Territory must contain at least 25,000 single-family residences, and comes with a real, ongoing performance bar: after 4 years of operation, your "Market Share" (the % of Territory households using ecomaids) must stay at or above 70% of the system-wide average for franchisees that age or older, or ecomaids can redraw (shrink) your Territory. Serving customers outside your own Territory triggers a real penalty royalty -- 12% of that revenue, on top of the standard 6.5% royalty.
Renewal & termination terms (Item 17)
10-year initial term with one 10-year renewal option. Payment/reporting defaults get just a 10-day cure window; most other defaults get 30 days. Disputes go through arbitration within 10 miles of ecomaids' corporate headquarters (currently New Jersey), and litigation/governing law both default to New Jersey as well -- a real logistical and legal-venue burden for a franchisee based elsewhere.
How ecomaids compares to other Cleaning franchises
Across the 7 cleaning franchises we've hand-verified so far, the typical range to open runs $113,364–$157,614, with royalties averaging around 7.3% of gross sales (based on the 6 of them that charge a flat %-of-revenue royalty).
ecomaids Franchise FAQ
How much does it cost to franchise a ecomaids?
Based on ecomaids's own FDD, total initial investment to open one location runs $129,149–$150,949, including the $94,950 franchise fee. California DFPI Registration Renewal, App ID app-32787, filed 8/5/2024, effective 1/16/2025. FDD issuance date August 5, 2024.
What is the ecomaids franchise fee and royalty rate?
The initial franchise fee is $94,950, and the ongoing royalty is 6.5% of gross sales, per the filing on record.
Is the ecomaids franchise growing or shrinking?
Shrinking. Across 2021–2023, ecomaids lost a net 8 franchised locations, per its own annual FDD filings.
Keep going
- ecomaids and Merry Maids are both cleaning franchises; Merry Maids's total investment starts about $2,269 lower than ecomaids's. Merry Maids Franchise
- ecomaids and The Maids are both cleaning franchises; The Maids's total investment starts about $11,429 lower than ecomaids's. The Maids Franchise
Where this came from: California DFPI Registration Renewal, App ID app-32787, filed 8/5/2024, effective 1/16/2025. FDD issuance date August 5, 2024. You can pull the same filing yourself from the California DFPI's public franchise search. Filed 2024-08-05. None of this is investment advice -- get the franchisor's current FDD and talk to a real attorney or accountant before you sign anything.
If you see a different unit count elsewhere: franchisors only have to refile their FDD annually, so the numbers here can run 6–18 months behind a franchisor's own real-time marketing claims -- which often aren't independently verified, and sometimes count signed-but-not-yet-open locations. A gap isn't necessarily an error on either side; it's two different snapshots in time from two different sources.