The Grounds Guys franchise cost: investment, fees and the SBA default rate

Items 5, 6 and 7 · The Grounds Guys FDD 2026 · Updated 2026

A The Grounds Guys franchise costs $107,650–$252,850 in total initial investment, according to Item 7 of the brand's FDD (2026). The Grounds Guys charges a license fee of 5-6% of Gross Sales, the rate set by the prior year's annual Gross Sales, plus minimum license fees. On the lending side, The Grounds Guys franchisees defaulted on 36.4% of SBA 7(a) loans approved FY2010–FY2019 (20 of 55), and the average SBA loan to a The Grounds Guys franchisee in that cohort was $162,696.

The Grounds Guys franchise cost and SBA record.

Total initial investment (Item 7)	$107,650–$252,850
Advertising fund (Item 6)	2% of sales
Ongoing fees (Item 6)	The Grounds Guys charges a license fee of 5-6% of Gross Sales, the rate set by the prior year's annual Gross Sales, plus minimum license fees.
SBA 7(a) default rate, FY2010–FY2019	36.4%
Average SBA loan, 2010s cohort	$162,696
Average SBA loan since 2020	$178,222
Industry	Landscaping Services

How much does it cost to open a The Grounds Guys franchise?

Item 7 of the FDD estimates the total initial investment at $107,650–$252,850. It is the franchisor's own estimate of what a new franchisee spends to open one unit, typically the franchise fee, equipment, premises or vehicle costs, opening inventory and an initial working-capital reserve. The low and high ends usually reflect different unit sizes, leasing versus buying, and local costs. Total excludes the fee for territory beyond the 125,000-population minimum, charged at $350 per 1,000 population.

What does the SBA data add?

The federal loan record adds what the FDD cannot: The Grounds Guys franchisees defaulted on 36.4% of SBA 7(a) loans approved FY2010–FY2019 (20 of 55 resolved loans), against the Landscaping Services industry average of 7.0%, according to U.S. Small Business Administration data with statuses as of June 30, 2026. Since 2020 they have taken 162 new SBA loans, of which 20 have already charged off.

Set the investment range against the loans: an average SBA loan of $162,696 against the $107,650–$252,850 investment range says roughly how much of a typical The Grounds Guys opening was debt-financed in the 2010s. The brand page has the year-by-year record and the industry comparison.

Considering The Grounds Guys?

The Item 19 in The Grounds Guys's FDD was written by The Grounds Guys. The record on this page was written by the banks that lent to its owners and by the federal agency that paid when those loans went bad. Take that record with you, or have an analyst hold the brand's own disclosures up against it before you sign.

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The loan-level detail this page leaves out: the default rate of The Grounds Guys loans by the owner's situation (start-up, existing business, or bought an existing one), what owners who repaid borrowed against owners who defaulted, the year of the loan the charge-offs came in, how much was written off, the states with the most loans and the lenders that made them. Plus the rate by approval year, lending since 2020, nearest peers, what its FDD discloses and the CSV behind every table, in a PDF a loan officer will recognize. Stamped with your order. Yours the moment you pay.

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An analyst takes The Grounds Guys's own disclosures, the Item 19 revenue claim, the Item 20 closures and transfers, the Item 3 litigation, and reads them line by line against this federal record, ending in a written verdict you can put in front of your attorney and lender. SBA Record Snapshot the moment you pay; the full teardown by email within 24 hours.

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Most SBA default figures published online use loans approved since 2020 — loans that have had six years or less to fail — so those rates are floors, not outcomes. Every rate on this site is computed from the matured FY2010–FY2019 cohort: loans that have been paid in full or charged off, so the result is settled. Loans approved since 2020 are shown as counts so early charge-offs are visible without being mistaken for a rate.

Frequently asked

How much does a The Grounds Guys franchise cost?

What is the The Grounds Guys franchise fee?

The Grounds Guys's FDD Item 5 fee is not in this dataset; the total initial investment (Item 7) is $107,650–$252,850.

What royalty does The Grounds Guys charge?

The Grounds Guys charges a license fee of 5-6% of Gross Sales, the rate set by the prior year's annual Gross Sales, plus minimum license fees.

What is The Grounds Guys's SBA loan default rate?

36.4%: 20 of 55 SBA 7(a) loans approved FY2010–FY2019 to The Grounds Guys franchisees were charged off.

Source

Sources: The Grounds Guys Franchise Disclosure Document (2026, Wisconsin DFI filing 640755); U.S. Small Business Administration, 7(a) loan program charge-off data, FY2010–FY2019. Franchise data is matched on the SBA's franchise code / brand name. "Failure rate" here means the share of approved loans (resolved: paid in full or charged off) that were charged off; it is not a measure of unit closures. Last updated September 30, 2026.

Cite this page

Franchise Failure Rates (2026). The Grounds Guys franchise cost, Items 5–7, and SBA 7(a) default rate. From the The Grounds Guys FDD and U.S. SBA FOIA data, loan statuses as of June 30, 2026.

https://franchisefailurerates.com/franchise/the-grounds-guys/cost/ · Data & methodology

Author: Franchise Failure Rates · First published August 17, 2026 · Updated September 30, 2026 · Citation format