Delmar vs Budget Blinds

Budget Blinds wins on budget and timing, while Delmar’s edge is purely in TAM (unit count) and an open procurement terrain that looks appealing on paper. Budget Blinds’ average unit revenue of $774,915 and investment range topping $211k signal franchisees who can—and must—spend on software to run a complex operation. That’s a stark contrast to Delmar’s micro-investment of $5,750–$10,100, which implies a tiny revenue base with near-zero discretionary budget for POS, marketing automation, or back-office tools. Meanwhile, Delmar is hemorrhaging units at -8.6% YoY, shrinking your addressable market and indicating financial distress that kills buying intent; Budget Blinds is essentially stable at -0.8%, a much safer bet for sustained license revenue.

The tradeoff is classic quantity-versus-quality: Delmar’s 2,011 open-buying units are easily accessible without a franchisor gatekeeper, but they’re low-value and falling away fast. Budget Blinds’ franchisor-controlled procurement is a single-throat-to-choke sale that, once won, locks in all 1,355 units with a mandate—far more efficient and lucrative per seat. AUV and timing overwhelm the unit-count deficit; you’d need multiple Delmar units to equal one Budget Blinds franchisee’s lifetime software spend, and the churn rate makes that math even worse.

Verdict: Budget Blinds is the superior immediate opportunity because unit economics and growth stability trump open-access terrain and raw location count.