FirstLight Home Care

Franchise fee: $42,500 to $50,000 depending on territory population.

Royalty: 5% of gross revenues, with a twist — from month 4 onward, you pay the greater of 5% of actual gross revenue or 5% multiplied by the minimum performance standard for that month. This means as your minimum performance standard escalates (reaching $77,400/month by month 82+), your royalty floor rises whether or not your revenue keeps pace.

Total investment: $126,825 to $218,820. This is a service-based franchise with minimal physical overhead — most of the investment is working capital, initial marketing, caregiver recruitment costs, and pre-opening expenses. There is no commercial kitchen, specialized equipment, or retail buildout required.

FirstLight's Item 19 data covers franchised locations — specific sample counts weren't disclosed in the extraction, but the reporting period is full-year 2024. Average annual gross revenues: $1,626,514. Median: $1,134,061. The 43% gap between average and median is consistent with home care franchising generally, where a small number of operators who build large caregiver teams drive outsized revenue.

At the median ($1,134,061) and a 5% royalty, your annual royalty is $56,703. By month 82+ the minimum performance standard reaches $77,400/month ($928,800 annualized) — if you're near median, your actual royalty and the minimum will be close. Owners who scale above $1.5M in annual revenue benefit from the 5% rate being applied to a large base with reasonable margin characteristics.

FirstLight operates 238 franchised locations — all franchisee-owned, with no company-operated units. The 238-unit system is smaller than competitors like Comfort Keepers or BrightStar Care, but size in home care matters less than territory density and caregiver workforce quality. The brand was founded in 2009 and has grown steadily without the aggressive over-saturation that affected some larger home care brands.

US senior care demographics are structurally favorable: the 65+ population is growing faster than any other age group, and the preference for home-based care over nursing facilities is well-documented. FirstLight's non-medical focus keeps regulatory requirements lower than medical home health agencies — a significant operational simplification.

The minimum performance standard schedule is the most important financial planning tool in this FDD. The standard escalates from $0 (months 0–3) to $5,000/month (months 4–15) to $19,750/month (months 16–34) to $46,450/month (months 35–57) to $69,675/month (months 58–81) to $77,400/month (months 82+). If your actual gross revenue falls below these thresholds, you're paying royalties on phantom revenue. Model your expected ramp against these milestones before signing.

Home care franchising is operationally intensive even though the physical overhead is low. Caregiver turnover in this sector runs 60–80% annually in many markets — your business is fundamentally a continuous caregiver recruitment and retention operation. Operator burnout and staffing challenges are the primary reasons home care franchise businesses stall at $500K–$700K in annual revenue rather than scaling to $1M+.

With no Item 20 company-owned units, FirstLight can't point to a company demonstration of the model — all profitability evidence comes from franchisee performance data.