A transparency grade, not a profitability score. We never rank franchises by income. Not investment, legal, tax, or financial advice.
The Franchise Transparency Score, in full
Seven factors, fixed weights, and a 0 to 10 scale for each. Add them up and you get a single 0 to 100 transparency grade, reproducible from this page. Here is every factor and exactly how it is scored.
The Franchise Transparency Score grades how openly a franchise discloses cost, litigation, owner turnover, support, territory, control, and earnings. It does not measure or predict profitability. Each factor below grades a section of the Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) on how clearly and completely it is disclosed, never on the underlying numbers.
Item 19 is the only place a franchisor may disclose financial performance, and about 40% disclose none. We grade whether they disclose, and how honestly: is the basis given, the sample size, gross versus net, what is excluded, and does it avoid cherry-picking top performers? 10 = detailed with full context. 1 = no Item 19 at all. The figures themselves are never scored.
The true cost to open and operate: initial fee, other fees, and the estimated initial investment. 10 = itemized with low and high columns and clear ongoing costs. 1 = key categories missing or buried behind "varies".
Volume, recency, and nature of material litigation, especially franchisees suing the franchisor. 10 = little or none, plainly presented. 2 = significant, patterned, or hard to interpret. Disclosure that is open is rewarded even when the history is not clean.
Units opened, closed, transferred, and reacquired over three years: the "who stayed and who left" signal. 10 = strong retention, clearly tabulated. 2 = high turnover or numbers that cannot be reconciled.
How specific the franchisor is about what it actually commits to provide, versus what it "may" provide at its discretion. 10 = defined, enforceable commitments. 1 = minimal or all-discretion language.
Whether your territory is exclusive and protected, including whether the franchisor can sell nearby or online into it. 10 = clear, protected, defined boundaries. 2 = unclear or contradictory terms.
How clearly your obligations and the franchisor's control are spelled out: required purchases, pricing, transfer, renewal, and non-competes. 10 = fully spelled out. 2 = obligations buried or vague.
The grade bands
Sub-scores are weighted and summed to a whole-number 0 to 100 grade, reported in five bands.