Verified — real FDD extraction
SBA-eligible · directory code S2420 since 2018
Vision Source L.P.
Health & Wellness · independent · est. —
Vision Source L.P. is the franchising entity behind the Vision Source network of independent optometry practices. Member franchisees are practicing optometrists who keep their own offices and patient bases while gaining group purchasing power and practice-management support.
Vision Source L.P. net unit count grew +16.6% from 2013–2015 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 & steady
Distress
A real track record with an unremarkable region of the ledger: neither the growth nor the exits stand out, for better or worse. The main concern in the record: too many owners are failing outright rather than selling.
Exit rate · latest year
4.5%
vs 9.6% across 37 health & wellness systems
Cost to open
$500–$224K
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan defaults
4.8%
21 loans resolved — directional only
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
2013–2015
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
In fiscal 2015, 135 of 3,023 franchised outlets left the system — a 4.5% annualized exit rate, vs 9.6% across 37 health & wellness systems. Not every exit is a failure — but this is the measurable floor.
Show the outlet tables ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Status (FTC) | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets at start | 2,638 | 2,797 | 3,023 |
| Opened | 314 | 352 | 374 |
| Transfers | 19 | 42 | 25 |
| Terminations | 45 | 34 | 38 |
| Non-renewals | 58 | 41 | 25 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 52 | 51 | 72 |
| Outlets at end | 2,797 | 3,023 | 3,262 |
| Net change | +159 | +226 | +239 |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present
Banks have made 60 SBA-backed loans to Vision Source L.P. franchisees since 2011. Only 21 have resolved so far — too thin for a reliable default rate, but 1 of them charged off.
—
21 resolved · too thin to rate
—
avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $
—
default rate × loss severity
$997,896
what recent franchisees borrowed
46 mo
approval → charge-off, defaulted loans
10 vs 12
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 VISION SOURCE L.P. BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL
The owner's side of the deal
FDD × federal loan record
Who finances it
Vision One Cu
5.9% of this brand's loans
Who buys it
91.1%
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 60 SBA 7(a)/504 loans to Vision Source L.P. 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 $0 franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $500–$224K (Item 7). The franchisor publishes no earnings claim (Item 19) — ask current and former franchisees for real numbers.
To open (Item 7)
$500–$224K
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$0
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
2.75%
of sales, ongoing
Your figure — this brand discloses no Item 19 earnings; validate with current & former owners.
Royalty you'd pay / yr
$28K
2.75% of sales, before profit
Over a 10-yr term
$275K
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 Vision Source L.P. with an independent CPAModeled risk
FDD Risk Score · modeled from the public record
Modeled from the public record, this brand looks safer than 73% of systems we score.
Risk percentile
27 / 100
Loan-corroborated
Modeled SBA charge-off
9.5%
Observed SBA charge-off
4.8%
Top drivers: System size (log units) (lowers) · Single-lender dependence (raises) · Investment ceiling (log) (raises) · Share financed by high-loss lenders (lowers). 15+ resolved loans stand behind this estimate. 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 Vision Source L.P.. 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 Vision Source L.P.'s numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
Talk to an independent CPA before you buy →Vision Source L.P. franchise questions, answered from the filings
What percentage of Vision Source L.P. franchises closed last year?
In Vision Source L.P.'s latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2015), 135 of 3,023 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 4.5% — compared with 9.6% across 37 health & wellness 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 Vision Source L.P. franchise cost?
Per Vision Source L.P.'s 2016 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $0 (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $500–$224K (Item 7).
What royalty does Vision Source L.P. charge?
Vision Source L.P. charges an ongoing royalty of 2.8% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2016 FDD.
Does Vision Source L.P. disclose earnings (Item 19)?
No — Vision Source L.P.'s 2016 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.