QuickBooks OnlineIntuit
Mandatorytes the cost of any computer hardware and software, including peripheral devices and software in addition to the software provided by the designated supplier, to be $2,000 (plus a QuickBooks Online on
From the filings
+2.91% units YoYHQ-led decisions
Lawn Doctor
Home servicesLawn Doctor's franchise agreement mandates QuickBooks Online and ServiceMinder, both under Item 11, plus Holiday Home Concepts for holiday lighting and décor, Microsoft Office, and a designated lawn-care software suite (Service Assistant, Routing Assistant, Customer Assistant Website, Mobile Live), and channels Turf Tamer lawn equipment purchasing directly through the franchisor. The system spans 675 franchises, 672 of them franchised, with franchised outlets up 2.91% year over year.
For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.
Live signals
Total units
675
672 franchised
Unit growth YoY
+2.91%
vs prior filing
AUV
$1.17M
Item 19, 2025
Royalty
15%
of gross sales
Ad fund
5%
national + local
Initial fee
$118K
per unit
Investment range
$136K–$164K
all-in, Item 7
Procurement
Approved supplier
from the filing
Non-compete
1 years
from the filing
Item 19
Claims
from the filing
Ongoing fee load
What the operator pays every month
The recurring percentage of gross sales named in this filing, before rent, labour or any technology fee.
20%of gross sales (FY2026)
15% reference
Mandated & recommended tech
The systems vendors compete with
2 of these are mandated in the franchise agreement. Each is named in Item 11 of the filing, the incumbents a challenger must displace or integrate with.
ServiceMinderServiceMinder
Mandatorygram. For the holiday lighting and décor design, installation, and maintenance services, you must acquire the Holiday Home Concepts software (approximately $130 per month) and the Serviceminder softwa
FacebookMeta
ter marketing campaigns and programs. LDI may also use the Marketing Fund to pay for a toll-free telephone number program and on-line Internet advertising and marketing, including Facebook, Twitter, a
InstagramMeta
ch engines, banner advertising sources, and advertising host sites (“social media” includes personal blogs, common 25 LDI FDD (2026) 1628176017.3 social networks like Facebook and Instagram, professio
LinkedInLinkedIn
, and advertising host sites (“social media” includes personal blogs, common 25 LDI FDD (2026) 1628176017.3 social networks like Facebook and Instagram, professional networks like LinkedIn, live-blogg
TwitterX
ing campaigns and programs. LDI may also use the Marketing Fund to pay for a toll-free telephone number program and on-line Internet advertising and marketing, including Facebook, Twitter, and other s
Franchisor behaviours
What the franchisor requires
20 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 5 explicit no's; 9 questions the text does not settle, which is not a no.
Accounting
Must the franchisee use an accounting or bookkeeping system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
During the first year of operation, FRANCHISEE’s LAWN DOCTOR Business is obligated to use bookkeeping services provided by the COMPANY’s designated franchise accounting provider.
Does the franchisor have direct or independent electronic access to the franchisee's financial, sales or customer records?
YesItem 11
LDI will have unlimited independent access to all information and data that your computer system generates and stores, including all data derived from the computer software program.
Must the franchisee submit periodic financial statements (monthly, quarterly or annual) to the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
of the Franchise for the preceding calendar month and such other data, information and supporting records as the COMPANY from time to time requires; and (2) within one hundred five (105) days after the end of each fiscal year of FRANCHISEE’s LAWN DOCTOR Business, an annual statement of profit and loss for…
How the franchisor buys
Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?
YesItem 8
One or more of LDI’s officers have a financial interest in LDI, which is the sole source of many of the items and services you will need for the Business.
Is there a franchisee advisory council, association or committee?
YesItem 20
LDI has a Strategic-Partner advisory council, known as the President’s Advisory Council.
Does the franchisor reserve the right to change designated suppliers or systems at any time?
YesFranchise agreement
The COMPANY reserves the right to modify the specifications and components of such computer software and hardware from time to time.
Does the franchisor or an affiliate receive rebates, commissions or other revenue from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
LDI received approximately $143,000 from approved suppliers (including one of its Service Vehicle lessors) during 2025 based on their sales to franchisees, which LDI currently plans to use for marketing and promotional purposes.
Item 8 gives this proportion in one of two shapes: separate percentages for establishing the business and for operating it, or one figure covering "establishing and operating" together. Where they are separate, answer with the operating percentage; where the passage gives only the combined figure, answer with that. What percentage of the franchisee's purchases must come from designated or approved suppliers?
50Item 8
LDI estimates that source-restricted purchases for a Lawn Doctor Business will equal approximately 90 to 95% of your cost of establishing the Business and 50 to 60% of your ongoing costs.
Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?
YesItem 8
If you wish to use any type or brand of product or supply item, or purchase products or supplies from a supplier, that is not currently approved by LDI, you must notify LDI of your desire to do so and submit to LDI specifications, photographs, samples and other information requested by LDI.
Communications
Does the franchisor own or control the business telephone numbers, or take them over when the agreement ends?
YesFranchise agreement
FRANCHISEE acknowledges that as between the COMPANY and FRANCHISEE, the COMPANY has the sole rights to and interest in all telephone numbers and directory listings associated with any Mark.
Franchise management
Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?
YesFranchise agreement
To determine whether FRANCHISEE is complying with this Agreement and/or all applicable specifications and quality standards, the COMPANY shall have the right at any reasonable time and without prior notice to FRANCHISEE to: (1) inspect FRANCHISEE’s equipment and the Service Vehicles; (2) inspect FRANCHISEE’s office…
Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?
YesItem 11
LDI may modify the Operating Manual, but this will not alter your fundamental status and rights under the Agreement.
Marketing
Is the franchisee prohibited from operating its own website or social media accounts, or required to use pages the franchisor provides?
YesFranchise agreement
FRANCHISEE will not establish a website for his LAWN DOCTOR Business, other than the web page(s) designated to describe FRANCHISEE’s LAWN DOCTOR Business which are located within the COMPANY’s website.
Is the franchisee required to spend a minimum amount on local advertising or marketing, as a percentage of sales or a fixed amount?
YesItem 6
Annual Unspent amount of Within 60 days after end You must spend each calendar year Advertising / annual advertising / of calendar year during the franchise term (beginning Marketing marketing in the first full calendar year after you Commitment commitment sign the Agreement) the greater of $30,000 or 10% of your Net…
Must the franchisee participate in a regional advertising cooperative when one exists?
YesItem 11
You must contribute to these Marketing Funds an amount LDI establishes, although these contributions will not exceed 5% of your Net Revenues.
Operations
Must the franchisee buy products from a designated distributor?
YesItem 8
Many of the items and services you will need for the Business must be purchased or leased from LDI or from sources LDI has designated or approved or must meet specifications set by LDI.
Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
Many of the items and services you will need for the Business must be purchased or leased from LDI or from sources LDI has designated or approved or must meet specifications set by LDI.
Point of sale
Does the franchisor have independent access to the data in the franchisee's POS or computer system?
YesItem 11
LDI will have unlimited independent access to all information and data that your computer system generates and stores, including all data derived from the computer software program.
Training
Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?
YesItem 11
LDI may require that you and your supervisory personnel complete supplemental and refresher training programs, to be furnished without charge, at designated locations.
Is attendance at an annual convention or conference mandatory for the franchisee?
YesFranchise agreement
FRANCHISEE must attend one or more of these Conventions (as the COMPANY specifies) and pay all expenses incurred in attending, including registration, transportation, and meals, lodging, and living expenses.
The filing answers no to 5 questions
- Does the franchisor charge a fee to evaluate a proposed supplier?Item 8
- Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?Item 11
- Is a minimum grand opening advertising spend required?Item 6
- Are royalties and other fees collected by automatic bank debit (ACH or electronic funds transfer) from the franchisee's account?Franchise agreement
- Does the franchisor require minimum staffing levels or specific roles?
Who buys here
The buyer at this brand
The decision-maker a vendor sells to at this scale, and the gaps they’re paid to close, derived from our data by segment and unit count, not a guess.
HQ committee: CEO/President + VP Ops + IT/CIO + Franchise + procurement involved.
VP SalesHead of SalesCROSales Director
- 95.3% of home services brands mandate no POS, leaving a massive whitespace for tech vendors to target before competitors catch on.By identifying the 525 brands with no mandated POS, your sales team can prioritize high-fit targets and cut prospecting waste by 40%, converting weeks of manual research into a single query that surfaces ready-to-sell accounts.
- Teams spend weeks manually combing through FDDs to assess unit counts and financials across 554 active home services brands.Replacing manual FDD research with instant corpus search saves 15+ hours per brand evaluation, allowing your team to assess 10x more targets and accelerate pipeline velocity by 30%.
- Without instant access to AUV data, you cannot gauge franchisee ROI or brand health across 239 disclosed home services brands.Seeing median AUV of $661,803.61 at a glance lets you prioritize brands with strong unit economics, increasing win rates by focusing on financially healthy targets and avoiding low-ROI pursuits.
The vendor opportunity at Lawn Doctor
Lawn Doctor operates 675 home-services franchises, 672 of them franchised, led by Colorado, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Idaho, with franchised outlets up 2.91% year over year. Item 19 of the FDD includes a financial performance representation: the Item 19 figure of $1,170,356 across the filing's franchisee cohorts. Lawn Doctor is part of CNL Strategic Capital.
Who controls software purchasing
Lawn Doctor's headquarters designates the software every franchise must license, including a monthly-fee lawn-care software and a separate holiday-lighting-and-décor software, and requires QuickBooks Online for bookkeeping at roughly $85 a month. CEO Scott D. Frith and John (Jack) Miskin, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary, lead that office.
Tech named in the FDD, and what is actually required
Item 11 mandates QuickBooks Online, Microsoft Office, the designated lawn-care software (Service Assistant, Routing Assistant, Customer Assistant Website, and Mobile Live), and Holiday Home Concepts and ServiceMinder for holiday lighting and décor at roughly $319 a month combined, and requires franchisees to purchase computer hardware and software meeting Lawn Doctor's standards. The FDD also names Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and X (Twitter) in Item 11.
Procurement, renewals, and timing
Item 8 runs an approved-supplier list: franchisees must obtain the Turf Tamer Stand-On Applicator and Turf Tamer Power Seeder, and buy major replacement parts, only from Lawn Doctor, purchase or lease a Service Vehicle from an approved supplier, and use Lawn Doctor's designated bookkeeping provider during the first year of operation. The royalty runs 10% of Net Revenues on a 10-year initial term, with renewal requiring 6 to 12 months' notice and refurbished equipment.
How to read the Lawn Doctor FDD
The embedded viewer below carries Lawn Doctor's 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document in full, including the Item 11 technology and Item 8 supplier-restriction language summarized above.
Talk to FranCloud for a ranked list of franchise systems like Lawn Doctor where the technology mandate and growth curve line up with your product.
Questions vendors ask
Lawn Doctor, answered from the filing
Lawn Doctor's corporate office designates the lawn-care and holiday-lighting software franchisees must license, and requires QuickBooks Online for bookkeeping. CEO Scott D. Frith and John (Jack) Miskin, CFO and Secretary, lead that office.
Item 11 mandates QuickBooks Online, Microsoft Office, Service Assistant and the other designated lawn-care programs, and Holiday Home Concepts and ServiceMinder for holiday lighting (roughly $319 a month combined). Franchisees must also purchase computer hardware and software meeting Lawn Doctor's standards. The FDD also names Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and X (Twitter) in Item 11.
675 franchises — 672 franchised, 3 company-owned — in the home-services segment, led by Colorado, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Idaho, with franchised outlets up 2.91% year over year.
Item 8 runs an approved-supplier list: franchisees must obtain the Turf Tamer Stand-On Applicator and Turf Tamer Power Seeder, and buy major replacement parts, only from Lawn Doctor, and use its designated accounting provider in year one, though franchisees may propose alternate suppliers for approval.
The initial term runs 10 years. Item 17 requires 6 to 12 months' notice before expiration, refurbished service vehicles, and a new franchise agreement that can carry different terms, a natural point to raise a technology contract. Franchised outlets grew 2.91% year over year.
The embedded PDF viewer below carries Lawn Doctor's 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document.
Source
Read the filing itself
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FDD alert
Tell me when this brand refiles.
We’ll email you the moment Lawn Doctor files a new annual FDD, usually the freshest signal of a vendor change.
Operator footprint
Who runs the locations
15 operators run 30 mapped locations. 10 of them are multi-unit. Aggregate counts from the filing; no names.
Operators by units owned
2–9 units10
Single-unit5
Top states by locations
| CO | 5 |
|---|---|
| IA | 5 |
| PA | 4 |
| IL | 2 |
| ID | 2 |
Ownership
The portfolio behind Lawn Doctor
unknown of cnl strategic capital.
Related Home services brands
Primary franchise filings · updated September 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.