Glass Doctor Franchise: Revenue, Costs & Profits (2023)

With more than 175 franchised locations in the US and Canada, Glass Doctor is arguably the leading glass repair franchise. It’s also a rather affordable franchise if you are looking for a recession-proof, stable franchise business.

Indeed, you would have to invest (only) $203,900 to set up a new franchise. But beyond the startup costs, is this really a profitable business?

We do think so, and that’s what we will cover in this article. We will see how much a Glass Doctor franchise really costs, how profitable it is, and whether it’s a good investment. Let’s dive in!

Key stats

Franchise fee	$35,000
Royalty fee	5.5%
Marketing fee	5.0%
Investment (mid-point)	$204,000
Average sales	$396,000
Sales to investment ratio	1.9x
Payback period	7 years
Minimum net worth	$150,000
Minimum liquid capital	$50,000

What is Glass Doctor?

Glass Doctor is a chain of full-service glass franchises headquartered in Waco, Texas. 

Established in 1962, the company offers the best in glass repair, maintenance and replacement services, including auto glass care, full windshield replacement, windshield ding repair, window tinting, landscaping and cleaning and headline restoration.

The brand operates as a subsidiary of Neighborly, catering to the automotive, commercial and residential markets. 

The private company has been franchising since 1977, offering two franchising opportunities: the auto glass and the home and business franchises. 

As of 2022, Glass Doctor operates close to 190 units in the US and Canada of which 176 are franchised-owned.

Glass Doctor franchise pros and cons

The pros:

• Comprehensive training: The franchisor provides extensive on-site training to help business owners and franchisees offer the best customer experience. The biannual classroom and additional training help franchisees become glass gurus. 
• 2 unique franchise opportunities: Glass Doctor offers auto and home and business glass franchises to suit every professional experience. 
• Recession-resistant model: Glass must be repaired or replaced when it breaks, regardless of the economic situation. 
• Flexible working hours: Franchise owners can pursue other business interests thanks to the flexible working hours and limited emergency work and late-night operations. 
• Exclusive territory protection: The franchisor provides exclusive territory rights to protect franchisees from competition against other Glass Doctor franchises. 
• Variety: The franchisor provides several glass repair services, building a solid reputation as a trusted service provider. 
• No prior glass experience required: Aspiring business owners don’t need glass experience to run a thriving franchise. 
• Marketing support: The franchisor helps with on-brand advertisements to ensure franchisees operate an attractive business model that can retain clients. 
• Financial support: The franchisor offers funding support through its excellent relations with third-party financial sources. 

The cons:

• No absentee ownership: The franchisor doesn’t support absentee ownership. Franchisees must be involved in every operation within their warehouses. 
• Not a part-time investment opportunity: Glass Doctor franchises require a long-term, full-time commitment. 
• Minimum employee requirement: Every warehouse must have at least 5-6 employees to operate. 
• Can’t run from home or as a mobile unit: Glass Doctor franchises can’t be operated from home or as mobile units.
• Competition from other similar franchises such as Speedyglass, Safelite or to a lesser extent even car repair franchises like Midas, Meineke Car Care, Carstar or Maaco to name a few

How much does a Glass Doctor franchise cost?

You would have to invest on average $203,900 top open a Glass Doctor franchise if you choose the auto option, and $196,400 for the home and business option.

As for the investment, what are you paying for exactly? Well, you are paying for a number of startup expenses. The investment covers all the start-up costs you may need to open a Glass Doctor franchised business.

You must pay the franchisor an initial franchise fee of $35,000, which depends on the population of your territory. In addition to this franchise fee, the investment also covers:

• Formulation costs include: initial training, travel, lodging, food, deposits, permits, business licences, professional fees, call centre setup fees, etc.
• Equipment, supplies, and inventory, and auto businesses, vehicles.
• Initial marketing: initial advertising and promotion
• Operating costs: insurance, rent, additional funds for 3 months, etc.

Startup costs

Here’s the full breakdown of costs per business format:

Startup cost	Amount
Initial franchise fee	$35,000
Formulation costs	$5,300-$15,500
Equipment and vehicle	$27,000-$105,000
Initial Marketing	$24,000
Operating costs	$41,000-$96,000
Total	$132,300 – $275,500

How much revenue does a Glass Doctor franchise make?

On average, Glass Doctor franchises made $396,000 in sales per year in 2020 if they operated under auto-option. This is the average sales per franchised business for 140 of the 167 franchised businesses that were open for all of 2020. This is a decrease vs. 2019 (-9.9%, $440,000 for 135 franchised businesses) as the franchise was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

If the franchise operate under the Flat Option instead, it would make on average $670,000 in revenue. This is the average sales per franchised business for 148 of the 167 franchised businesses that were open for all of 2020. This is a decrease vs. 2019 (-3.5%, $695,000 for 137 franchised businesses).

How profitable is a Glass Doctor franchise?

We estimate that a Glass Doctor franchise makes $51,000 in profits per year. That’s a 13% EBITDA margin, before amortization, interest expense, taxes and other non-operating expenses.

Note that Glass Doctor does not provide any detailed cost information in its FDD else than royalty and marketing fees, rent costs and revenue. Therefore, we had to estimate other costs (especially COGS and staff) using our own benchmarks.

Profit and loss	Amount	% revenue	Source
Revenue	$396,000	100%	as per FDD
COGS	$(118,800)	30%	industry average
Gross Profit	$277,200	70%	industry average
Staff	$(118,800)	30%	industry average
Royalty and marketing fees	$(21,780)	11%	as per FDD
Rent	$(38,000)	10%	as per FDD
Other operating costs	$(27,720)	7%	assumption
EBITDA	$51,100	13%

Is a Glass Doctor franchise a good investment?

So is buying a Glass Doctor franchise a good investment? Is this a profitable business? We do think so.

Indeed, we found that the payback for a Glass Doctor franchise is 7 years on average. This means that you would need only 7 years to reimburse the initial investment (the $203,900 if you go for an auto Glass Doctor franchise).

That’s an excellent payback: after 5 years you can finally reap the profits of your business. As such we consider Glass Doctor to be a great franchise investment.

The reason for such a good payback period is partly due to the low initial investment compared to the turnover ($396,000 per year).

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