FRANCHISE·WATCH·DESK

Verified — real FDD extraction

SBA-eligible · directory code S3274 since 2018

BOR RESTORATION

Cleaning & Restoration · independent · est. —

Best Option Restoration (BOR) is a disaster restoration franchise handling water, fire, and mold damage cleanup for insurance-funded and private jobs. A franchisee operates a truck-and-equipment-based business dispatching technicians to damaged homes and commercial properties.

BOR RESTORATION net unit count grew +27.3% from 20182020 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

Too new to judge

Distress

0
STABLE

14 franchised units over 3 disclosed years is not a track record — systems this early have realized only a fraction of their eventual failures. Judge the disclosures, not a verdict.

Exit rate · latest year

15.4%

vs 3.1% across 25 cleaning & restoration systems

Cost to open

$120K–$166K

Item 7 total investment range

SBA loan defaults

Too few resolved

28 loans exist; too few resolved to rate

Behind the verdict

the record, factor by factor · Item 20

hi-1.0.0
Net unit growth35%

3-yr trend · Item 20 Table 1

Strong
Exit quality25%

terminations + ceased-ops vs. all exits · Table 3

Weak
Transfer / churn15%

transfers vs. base · Table 3

Weak
Promise-keeping10%

actual vs. projected openings · Table 5

Strong
Transparency15%

Item 19 disclosure + completeness

Weak

Systemwide units

2018–2020

+27.3%
112018132019142020

Survival record

FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year

In fiscal 2020, 2 of 13 franchised outlets left the system — a 15.4% annualized exit rate, vs 3.1% across 25 cleaning & restoration systems. Not every exit is a failure — but this is the measurable floor.

Show the outlet tables
Status (FTC)201820192020
Outlets at start41113
Opened823
Transfers100
Terminations001
Non-renewals000
Reacquired by franchisor000
Ceased — other reasons001
Outlets at end111314
Net change+7+2+1

The lender's view

SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present

Banks have made 28 SBA-backed loans to BOR RESTORATION franchisees since 2018. Most are still open, so there is not yet a resolved cohort large enough to rate.

Charge-off rate

4 resolved · too thin to rate

Loss given default

avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $

Expected loss

default rate × loss severity

Avg. loan · FY2020+

$176,646

what recent franchisees borrowed

Median time to default

46 mo

approval → charge-off, defaulted loans

Lenders · FY21+ vs FY16–20

5 vs 1

distinct banks still lending

Charge-off rate by loan approval year (%)

Loan performance by state

SOURCE: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA LOAN DATA (DATA.SBA.GOV), FY1991–PRESENT · MATCHED TO BOR RESTORATION BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL

The owner's side of the deal

FDD × federal loan record

Who finances it

the Huntington National Bank

46.4% of this brand's loans

That lender charges off 10.1% of its loans to other franchise brands, vs 14.8% nationally.

Who buys it

57.1%

first-time franchise owners

The rest already owned at least one other franchise. Across the corpus, brands bought mostly by repeat operators charge off at roughly 10% versus 17% for brands sold mostly to newcomers.

Does experience help here?

Not enough resolved loans to split

Computed from 28 SBA 7(a)/504 loans to BOR RESTORATION franchisees joined to the brand's own FDD. Debt service assumes level amortization at the average disclosed term and rate. A lender's rate excludes its loans to this brand, so it reads the lender, not the brand.

What it costs — and what it drags

FDD Items 5–7 · fees, investment, royalty

Buying in means a $39K franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $120K–$166K (Item 7). The franchisor publishes no earnings claim (Item 19) — ask current and former franchisees for real numbers.

To open (Item 7)

$120K–$166K

all-in investment range

Franchise fee (Item 5)

$39K

upfront, one-time

Royalty (Item 6)

7%

of sales, ongoing

If a unit does this in annual sales…$1M/yr

Your figure — this brand discloses no Item 19 earnings; validate with current & former owners.

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 BOR RESTORATION with an independent CPA

Modeled risk

FDD Risk Score · modeled from the public record

High risk

The public record puts this brand toward the riskier end of the systems we score — but the evidence is thin, so treat it as a range, not a number.

Risk percentile (range)

85–100 / 100

Directional

Modeled SBA charge-off

28.5%

Observed SBA charge-off

no resolved cohort

Top drivers: Share financed by high-loss lenders (raises) · System size (log units) (raises) · Single-lender dependence (lowers) · Investment ceiling (log) (raises). Thin loan history — treat this as a range, not a number. A linear scorecard built from this brand's own disclosure figures plus the federal loan record behind its franchisees; full spec and cross-validated accuracy on the methodology page. A score is context, not a verdict.

Distress signals

news-sourced · bankruptcies, closures, lawsuits

No recent closures, bankruptcies, or major lawsuits found in the news for BOR RESTORATION. That's a good sign — but it reflects news coverage, not a guarantee.

Before you sign anythingfree · 30 min · no commission

A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. An independent CPA is paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing BOR RESTORATION's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.

Talk to an independent CPA before you buy →

BOR RESTORATION franchise questions, answered from the filings

What percentage of BOR RESTORATION franchises closed last year?

In BOR RESTORATION's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2020), 2 of 13 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 15.4% — compared with 3.1% across 25 cleaning & restoration 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 BOR RESTORATION franchise cost?

Per BOR RESTORATION's 2026 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $39K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $120K–$166K (Item 7).

What royalty does BOR RESTORATION charge?

BOR RESTORATION charges an ongoing royalty of 7.0% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2026 FDD.

Does BOR RESTORATION disclose earnings (Item 19)?

No — BOR RESTORATION's 2026 FDD makes no financial performance representation in Item 19. That is legal and common, but it means the franchisor publishes no earnings claim; ask current franchisees for real numbers.

Is BOR RESTORATION a good franchise to buy? Health score, exit rate & costs (2026) · Franchise Watch Desk