Verified — real FDD extraction
SBA-eligible · directory code S3357 since 2018
Bar-B-Clean
Food & Dining · independent · est. —
Bar-B-Clean is a mobile service that deep-cleans residential barbecue grills and sells related grill parts and accessories. A franchisee runs a van-based operation, traveling to homes to clean and repair grills for homeowners on one-time and recurring schedules.
Bar-B-Clean net unit count grew +269.0% 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 main concern in the record: owners are leaving at a high rate.
Exit rate · latest year
5.2%
vs 8.6% across 137 food & dining systems
Cost to open
$78K–$99K
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan defaults
Too few resolved
15 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
2023–2025
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
In fiscal 2025, 4 of 77 franchised outlets left the system — a 5.2% annualized exit rate, vs 8.6% across 137 food & dining systems. 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 | 24 | 29 | 78 |
| Opened | 9 | 59 | 33 |
| Transfers | 3 | 5 | 1 |
| Terminations | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Non-renewals | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Outlets at end | 29 | 78 | 107 |
| Net change | +5 | +49 | +29 |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present
Banks have made 15 SBA-backed loans to Bar-B-Clean franchisees since 2019. 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
$147,321
what recent franchisees borrowed
—
approval → charge-off, defaulted loans
6 vs 1
distinct banks still lending
Charge-off rate by loan approval year (%)
SOURCE: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA LOAN DATA (DATA.SBA.GOV), FY1991–PRESENT · MATCHED TO BAR-B-CLEAN 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 $50K franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $78K–$99K (Item 7). The franchisor publishes an earnings claim (Item 19) — read its methodology closely.
To open (Item 7)
$78K–$99K
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$50K
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
6%
of sales, ongoing
Your figure — cross-check against this brand's Item 19 and current-owner validation.
Royalty you'd pay / yr
$60K
6% of sales, before profit
Over a 10-yr term
$600K
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 Bar-B-Clean with an independent CPADistress signals
news-sourced · bankruptcies, closures, lawsuits
No recent closures, bankruptcies, or major lawsuits found in the news for Bar-B-Clean. 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 Bar-B-Clean's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
Talk to an independent CPA before you buy →Bar-B-Clean franchise questions, answered from the filings
What percentage of Bar-B-Clean franchises closed last year?
In Bar-B-Clean's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2025), 4 of 77 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 5.2% — compared with 8.6% across 137 food & dining systems tracked here. 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 Bar-B-Clean franchise cost?
Per Bar-B-Clean's 2026 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $50K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $78K–$99K (Item 7).
What royalty does Bar-B-Clean charge?
Bar-B-Clean charges an ongoing royalty of 6.0% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2026 FDD.
Does Bar-B-Clean disclose earnings (Item 19)?
Yes — Bar-B-Clean makes a financial performance representation in Item 19 of its 2026 FDD. Read it closely: franchisors choose which units and which metrics to include.