descriptionThe Franchise Dossier
FDD Sourced
Independent analysis. Not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Visiting Angels. All figures sourced from public FDD filings.
Franchise dossier · Senior care (in-home)

Owning a Visiting Angels: what actually happens

VERDICT · AN ASSET
A real, sellable agency with the lightest royalty in home care, but you are buying it with almost no disclosed financial picture and the fee climbs with territory size.
You'd pocket / yr*
$70K–$250K
1 unit · before your salary
Your time
30–55 hrs/wk
semi-absentee OK
Becomes an asset at
~1 unit
real wealth: 2-3 territories
Agreement term
10 yrs
then renewal
Year one, honestly

Year one is licensing, a small office, and building two pipelines at once: clients (through hospitals, rehab centers, senior living referral sources and families) and caregivers to staff them. Billing is by the hour, so revenue starts near zero and climbs one client at a time; minimum royalty and advertising amounts apply in the first months regardless. Expect the owner to be the salesperson, scheduler and after-hours backup, and expect losses for roughly the first 9-18 months. Visiting Angels gives franchisees more local operating latitude than some rivals, which helps strong operators and leaves weaker ones without much of a script.

Where each sales dollar goes
Supplies / goods ~1%Labor ~68%Rent ~2%Franchisor fees ~6%Other opex ~14%Left before debt & you ~13%

Illustrative split for a typical unit (industry estimate). The green slice is store cash flow before your loan payment and before paying yourself a salary — not profit.

If you want out

A mature home care agency is a sellable business: recurring hourly revenue, an active buyer pool of existing multi-territory owners and outside acquirers, and typical pricing at a multiple of earnings in the 3-5x range (industry estimate, not from the FDD). The 10-year term gives a buyer more runway than some competing brands. Transfers need franchisor approval and a transfer fee, and value depends on client hours and a stable caregiver roster, both of which can erode quickly under a weak operator.

Smart for

Hands-on operators who want the lowest royalty in the category and are comfortable building a local referral and recruiting machine themselves.

Dumb for

Buyers who need a franchisor-published earnings number to underwrite the deal, or who expect the business to run itself before year three.

The disclosure it's built on

The verdict above is our read of the numbers Visiting Angels files with regulators — here they are, cited.

Visiting AngelsFDD 2025
Item 5 · Initial franchise fee
$51,950
Item 7 · Initial investment
$125,460 – $171,150
Item 6 · Royalty
3.5%, stepping down to 3.0% at high volume
Item 6 · Ad / brand fund
2.5%, stepping down to 2.0% at high volume
Item 19 · Avg unit revenue
No unit average given
Item 20 · US units (~2024)
541
SOURCEEntrepreneur Franchise 500 listing: fee $51,950-$89,950, Item 7 $125,460-$171,150, royalty 3.5%-3%, ad fund 2.5%-2%, 10-year renewable term, all high confidence and matched by Franzy, FranchisePayback and Senior Care Authority. FranchiseInvestorData (2025 FDD) gives the tier breakpoints (royalty 3.25% above $125K/month and 3.0% above $225K/month; ad fund 2.25% above $150K/month and 2.0% above $250K/month) and the Item 19 bracket description, medium confidence, single source. Sources disagree on Item 19: FranchisePayback and FranchiseOverview say none is made, so the Item 19 flag is medium-low confidence. Unit count medium confidence: 539 franchisees (FranchiseInvestorData), 541-542 franchised units (FranchisePayback, Franzy); higher figures (600 to 748) appear to count territories or locations. fddYear 2025 is medium confidence because aggregators label the same fee and range as 2024, 2025 and 2026.
The catch

The initial fee is priced by territory population: $51,950 for up to 100,000 people, $64,950 for up to 200,000 and $89,950 for up to 325,000, with larger territories priced up from there. So the headline $51,950 buys the smallest territory, and a metro-sized one costs far more before you open. The low 3.5% royalty is real, but the Item 19 is only a chart of how many franchisees fall in each revenue band, with no average, no median and no costs, and it counts franchisees rather than territories. You cannot underwrite earnings from the FDD alone; you have to call existing owners.

*How to read these numbers. Disclosed (Entrepreneur listing and FDD summaries): fee tiers, Item 7 range, tiered royalty and ad fund, 10-year term. Item 19 is a revenue bracket chart with no average and no costs, so cost structure, take-home, hours and resale multiples are ESTIMATES (lower confidence) from home care industry norms and third-party revenue estimates of about $1.3M-$1.7M per franchisee. The take-home range describes a mature office; years one and two are typically at or below zero. — "You'd pocket" is estimated owner cash flow for one average unit before a salary for your own full-time work, so it is not take-home pay. Averages are not promises; your unit could earn far less. This is analysis, not advice — read the current FDD in full and talk to current and former franchisees before you commit.

Seriously considering Visiting Angels?

Pressure-test the affordability, then read the full FDD and validate Item 19 (or its absence) with existing franchisees. When we add vetted franchise-consultant and financing partners, they'll be clearly disclosed here and never change our analysis.

Run a rough affordability check →