BingMicrosoft
MandatoryAdvertising may take any form you choose, and you may spend any additional amount you choose. As part of your Local Advertising, you must purchase internet marketing from Google, Bing, Yahoo, or simil
From the filings
HQ-led decisions
Ringside Development
Home servicesSoftware purchasing decisions at Ringside Development flow through a lean HQ team led by President Ben Kramer and Chief Revenue Officer J. Andrew Mengason. The most recent FDD does not mandate any specific technology systems, leaving the tech stack open for vendor evaluation. With 144 franchised locations and an average unit volume of $375,573.75, the addressable market is concentrated but offers a clear path to unit-level adoption.
For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.
Live signals
Total units
147
144 franchised
Unit growth YoY
-5.263%
vs prior filing
AUV
$376K
Item 19, 2025
Royalty
7.5%
of gross sales
Ad fund
2%
national + local
Initial fee
$60K
per unit
Investment range
$135K–$221K
all-in, Item 7
Procurement
Approved supplier
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.
9.5%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.
YahooYahoo
Mandatorytising may take any form you choose, and you may spend any additional amount you choose. As part of your Local Advertising, you must purchase internet marketing from Google, Bing, Yahoo, or similar se
Franchisor behaviours
What the franchisor requires
24 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 2 explicit no's; 8 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
We may, as outlined in the Operations Manual, require you to use certain designated software for accounting or bookkeeping purposes.
Does the franchisor have direct or independent electronic access to the franchisee's financial, sales or customer records?
YesItem 11
We will have independent access to your Computer System, except we will never disclose a Client’s personal information.
Must the franchisee submit periodic financial statements (monthly, quarterly or annual) to the franchisor?
YesItem 8
You are required to deliver certain reports as set forth in the Operations Manual, including regular monthly, quarterly, and annual reports, financial statements, and related reports.
How the franchisor buys
Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?
YesItem 8
Our approved vendor, our Affiliate, or we are the only sources for the content of the QSP Package.
Is there a franchisee advisory council, association or committee?
YesItem 11
We have a Franchise Advisory Council.
Does the franchisor reserve the right to change designated suppliers or systems at any time?
YesItem 8
We may modify any specification as to any good, service, supply, fixture, equipment, inventory, computer hardware, software, software supplier, or the like, at any time and on a local, regional, or national basis.
Does the franchisor or an affiliate receive rebates, commissions or other revenue from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
We receive certain rebates and material benefits from vendors with whom you are to do business.
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?
40Item 8
The cost of equipment and supplies purchased through us will represent 50% to 60% of your total purchases to establish the Business and approximately 40% to 60% of your total purchases during the operation of the business.
Does the franchisor charge a fee to evaluate a proposed supplier?
YesItem 8
There is no charge for this service though we reserve the right at any time to charge for this service.
Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?
YesItem 8
In some cases, you may wish to purchase a required good or service from a supplier that has not been previously approved by us.
Communications
Does the franchisor own or control the business telephone numbers, or take them over when the agreement ends?
YesFranchise agreement
You also agree to assign to us your telephone listings and telephone numbers, changing internet sites, web pages, and Uniform Resource Locators (URL) web pages, blogs, vlogs, social media addresses, “handles,” and the like.
Data and IT
Must the franchisee comply with PCI, data-security or cybersecurity standards set by the franchisor?
YesItem 1
You must abide by the requirements of (a) the Payment Industry Data Security Standards (PCI-DSS).
Franchise management
Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?
YesItem 11
may visit and inspect your Business, and use other methods to ensure that you and all other franchisees are delivering quality services and products that conform to the System
Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?
YesFranchise agreement
We may reasonably change or modify the System, the Franchisee Manuals, and the Marks, and you agree to accept, be bound by, use, implement, and display any such changes to the System.
Marketing
Is the franchisee prohibited from operating its own website or social media accounts, or required to use pages the franchisor provides?
YesItem 11
Unless otherwise approved in writing by us or outlined in the Manual, you will not establish a separate website on the internet.
Is a minimum grand opening advertising spend required?
YesFranchise agreement
During the first three months of operation, you must plan, pay a minimum of $750 for, and execute a marketing campaign (Grand Opening).
Is the franchisee required to spend a minimum amount on local advertising or marketing, as a percentage of sales or a fixed amount?
YesItem 11
You must additionally spend a minimum of $2,000 on local marketing in your PMT during each month of your operation.
Must the franchisee participate in a regional advertising cooperative when one exists?
YesItem 11
If a market region is formed, we will require all franchisees and company-owned and affiliate-owned Businesses to participate.
Operations
Must the franchisee buy products from a designated distributor?
YesItem 8
You must purchase the QSP Package from our approved vendor, an
Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
You must purchase the QSP Package from our approved vendor, an Affiliate, or us when you pay the IFF.
Payments
Are royalties and other fees collected by automatic bank debit (ACH or electronic funds transfer) from the franchisee's account?
YesFranchise agreement
The Royalty and all other fees due to us are paid monthly and will be delivered to us by such means as we may determine from time to time (including the delivery of EFT through an ACH transaction or EFT transaction by use of an authorization which must remain current and on file and allow us to draw funds owed…
Point of sale
Does the franchisor have independent access to the data in the franchisee's POS or computer system?
YesItem 11
We will have independent access to your Computer System, except we will never disclose a Client’s personal information.
Training
Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?
YesItem 6
Additional Training also includes any additional, advanced, or extraordinary training you request or, if we require it, that you must take.
Is attendance at an annual convention or conference mandatory for the franchisee?
YesItem 11
We do have a conference, and attendance is mandatory.
The filing answers no to 2 questions
- Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?Item 11
- Does the franchisor require minimum staffing levels or specific roles?Item 11
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 leadership: CEO/President + VP Ops/Franchise + a first dedicated IT/systems owner.
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 Ringside Development
Ringside Development operates a compact network of 147 home-services locations, 144 of which are franchised. The system posted an average unit volume of $375,573.75 in its 2026 FDD, with a 7.5% royalty rate flowing back to the franchisor. For software vendors, the immediate addressable base is those 144 franchised units, though year-over-year unit growth sits at -5.26%, signaling a contracting footprint that rewards efficiency-focused tools.
The absence of mandated technology creates a greenfield opportunity. Franchisees are not locked into a corporate-selected POS, CRM, or field-service management platform, meaning a vendor who can demonstrate ROI at the unit level faces no incumbent displacement battle. The three company-owned units may serve as a testing ground if HQ is open to pilot programs.
Who controls software purchasing
The leadership roster from Item 1 of the FDD lists Ben Kramer as President and Member of the Board of Directors, supported by J. Andrew Mengason (Chief Revenue Officer), Colt Florence (Chief Growth Officer), and Claire Benge (Vice President of Operations). No dedicated technology executive appears on file. This structure suggests that revenue and operations leaders hold sway over tools that impact top-line growth or field efficiency. A vendor pitch should speak to unit economics and operational lift, not IT architecture.
Because no operator footprint is mapped in our corpus, the influence of individual franchisees on purchasing decisions is unclear. However, without a mandated tech stack, franchisees likely retain significant autonomy in selecting their own software, making a dual-pronged approach—HQ endorsement plus ground-level adoption—the most viable path.
Mandated and current tech stack
The 2026 FDD contains no named systems or vendors in its technology disclosures. No POS provider, scheduling platform, or back-office system is mandated or recommended. This is unusual and represents a blank slate. For a vendor, the absence of an incumbent means the sales cycle hinges on proving value directly to operators, rather than unseating an entrenched provider.
Vendors should verify whether any informal standards exist by speaking with franchisees, but the legal document that governs the system imposes no restrictions.
Procurement, renewals, and timing
Procurement signals from Item 8 are not captured in the available data, so the formal purchasing model—whether designated supplier, approved supplier, or fully open—remains undisclosed. In practice, the lack of mandated technology points toward an open model.
Renewal terms offer a strategic window. The initial franchise agreement runs 10 years, with one additional 10-year term available if the franchisee meets conditions including no outstanding material defaults, no more than three default notices, and the franchisor’s reasonable business judgment. Critically, the renewal requires signing the then-current Franchise Agreement, which may contain materially different terms. This clause means that as agreements approach renewal, franchisees face a potential change in their contractual obligations—an ideal moment for a software vendor to introduce tools that help them adapt to new requirements or improve profitability under a potentially higher-cost agreement.
How to read the Ringside Development FDD
The full 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document is embedded below. For software vendors, the most relevant sections are Item 11 (Franchisor’s Obligations) to confirm the absence of mandated technology, Item 8 (Restrictions on Sources of Products and Services) to understand procurement rules, and Item 17 (Renewal, Termination, Transfer) to map contract windows. The executive team listed in Item 1 identifies your buyer personas. With no parent company on file, Ringside Development appears independently owned, keeping decision-making concentrated at its Utah headquarters.
For a ranked target list of franchise systems matched to your software category, FranCloud can help you prioritize where to pitch next.
Questions vendors ask
Ringside Development, answered from the filing
The buying center includes President Ben Kramer and Chief Revenue Officer J. Andrew Mengason. With no CIO or CTO on file, revenue and operations leadership likely drive technology evaluation and approval.
The 2026 FDD does not capture any mandated or recommended POS, operational, or IT systems. The tech stack appears to be entirely open for franchisee choice.
The system has 147 total units: 144 franchised and 3 company-owned. This represents a small, home-services footprint with a year-over-year unit decline of 5.26%.
The procurement model is not disclosed in the FDD. No designated or approved supplier language was captured, suggesting an open purchasing environment for franchisees.
Franchise agreements run for an initial 10-year term, with one additional 10-year renewal available. Renewal requires signing the then-current agreement, which may contain materially different terms, creating natural re-evaluation points.
The FDD was filed with state franchise regulators in 2026. You can review the full document in the embedded PDF viewer below to analyze Item 11 and Item 8 disclosures directly.
Source
Read the filing itself
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FDD alert
Tell me when this brand refiles.
We’ll email you the moment Ringside Development files a new annual FDD, usually the freshest signal of a vendor change.
Operator footprint
Who runs the locations
48 operators run 48 mapped locations. 0 of them are multi-unit. Aggregate counts from the filing; no names.
Operators by units owned
Single-unit48
Top states by locations
| TX | 12 |
|---|---|
| CA | 9 |
| WI | 4 |
| AZ | 3 |
| TN | 3 |
Ownership
The portfolio behind Ringside Development
holding_vehicle of FirstService Brands.
Sibling brands
Related Home services brands
Primary franchise filings · updated June 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.