Home Instead Franchise Due Diligence

About Home Instead Franchise

In-home senior care franchise providing companionship, personal care, and Alzheimer's support.

The total initial investment for a Home Instead franchise ranges from $115,000 to $150,000, which includes the initial franchise fee of $55,000. These figures come from the most recently available Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) filed with state regulators.

Beyond the initial investment, franchisees pay ongoing royalties of 5% of gross sales and marketing/advertising contributions of 1% of gross sales. These ongoing fees significantly impact your real profit margin, and they are often underestimated by prospective franchisees.

What the Home Instead FDD reveals

Based on the Home Instead, Inc. 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document (issuance date April 2024 with subsequent state amendments; fiscal year 2024 data), Franchise Chatter FDD Talk analysis published November 2025, FranDB 2025 FDD summary, Independent Association of Home Instead Franchisees February 2022 memorandum, Honor Technology acquisition announcement (August 2021), Home Health Care News reporting from November 2022 through July 2024, and the US District Court for the District of Nebraska docket in Home Instead, Inc. v. Elderly Care Services, LLC (8:2023cv00431). Home Instead was founded in 1994 by Paul and Lori Hogan in Omaha, Nebraska. Honor Technology, Inc. acquired the brand on August 6, 2021 as a subsidiary, with Seth Sternberg serving as Honor CEO and Jeff Huber continuing as Home Instead CEO reporting to Sternberg. Home Instead ranked No. 153 on Entrepreneur's 2025 Franchise 500 list.

Item 5 and 6: Fee Structure

Initial franchise fee is $54,000, with a 20% discount available to honorably discharged US military veterans who meet other requirements. Ongoing royalty is 5.0% of gross sales per the 2025 FDD. The national advertising and marketing fund contribution is approximately 2% of gross sales. Combined ongoing fee burden of roughly 7% sits below the US franchise industry median of 4% to 8% on royalty alone. Per Item 7 of the 2025 FDD, total initial investment ranges from $91,040 to $269,750, including the franchise fee. That range is materially wider than summary figures quoted by secondary sources, which vary from $98,000 to $125,000 (SharpSheets) up to $113,000 to $157,000 (franchiseinvestordata.com). The FDD Item 7 range is the one that will appear in your signed agreement. Franchise agreement term is five years with a five-year renewal option on then-current terms.

Item 19: Earnings Disclosure

The 2025 FDD reports on 603 Home Instead US Franchised Businesses in operation during the entire calendar year ending December 31, 2024. Average gross sales were $2,609,616. Median gross sales were $2,261,503. Reported brackets span $0 to $499,999 on the low end up through $7,500,000 and above on the high end, with significant variance across the network. A critical caveat from the FDD itself: the Item 19 data reflects only those franchises using the Honor Care Platform and operating under a Joint Service Agreement with Honor. Franchises not on the Care Platform are excluded from the earnings disclosure entirely. Prospective franchisees evaluating Item 19 are therefore reading a selected sample, not a universal one. Cost of sales, operating expenses, caregiver wages, insurance, and other deductions are not in the Item 19 tables and must be modeled separately.

Item 20: Unit Count and Growth Trajectory

As of end of fiscal year 2024, the system includes 619 US franchised outlets and three company-owned outlets, with approximately 1,275 total locations globally across 13 countries. US unit count has been stable with modest net growth through the Honor integration period, and no mass closures have been reported. The 2025 FDD Item 3 litigation section discloses a franchisee dispute that went to mediation on March 18, 2024, resulting in a stipulated judgment in the franchisor's favor, a permanent injunction requiring the franchisee to debrand and honor a two-year geographic non-compete, and a settlement in which monetary damages would not be enforced unless the franchisee violated the injunction. SBA 7(a) loan data shows 366 historical loans to Home Instead franchisees with an average loan amount of $628,073 and a historical default rate between 0.8% and 2.0% depending on the reporting period, both of which compare favorably to the broader franchise industry.

Top 3 Red Flags

1. Honor Care Platform governance creates a fiduciary-duty asymmetry the franchise agreement does not resolve. In a February 2022 memorandum published by the Independent Association of Home Instead Franchisees, legal counsel representing the association warned members that Honor's directors and officers owe a fiduciary duty to Honor investors, not to franchisees, and that the Full Operations Model agreements as originally drafted did not include franchisee legal input. The association at its peak represented 253 owners and 325 franchise locations, accounting for more than 60% of Home Instead US revenue. By mid-2024, Home Health Care News reported that some of that tension had eased, with association chair Bill Mishkin describing himself as having turned from cynic to optimist. Honor maintains its own Franchise Exchange Council as the official feedback channel, which is organizationally separate from the Independent Association. The Item 19 earnings sample bias described above is one concrete consequence of this asymmetry: the most current earnings data is Care Platform data, which places indirect pressure on franchisees to adopt terms that were originally drafted without their legal representation. Read the Joint Service Agreement and any Visionary Investment Program Addendum in full before signing.
2. Caregiver wage floors are rising faster than Medicaid reimbursement in multiple core markets. In 2025, the national caregiver average wage was approximately $16.06 per hour with a range of $13.70 to $17.31. State minimum wages for home care caregivers rose or are scheduled to rise through 2026: New York downstate from $19.10 per hour to $19.65 per hour in January 2026, Florida from $14 per hour to $15 per hour in September 2026, California at $20 per hour in effect. In the same period, state Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services reimbursement has generally not kept pace. The CMS 2024 final rule takes effect July 2026 and mandates state-level HCBS payment rate analyses, but the rule does not itself raise reimbursement. Labor is the single largest line item in a Home Instead unit's operating statement, and wage floor increases compress operating margin directly. Franchisees in high-minimum-wage jurisdictions should build pro formas on 2026 and 2027 wage scenarios, not on 2024 historicals.
3. 2023 HQ layoffs and executive churn introduce brand-specific institutional knowledge risk. In 2023, Honor laid off approximately 15% of Home Instead HQ staff, including long-tenured Home Instead employees. Subsequent executive hires were weighted toward technology and franchise-scale backgrounds rather than in-home senior care subject matter expertise: a new CFO joined from a global investment advisory firm, a new Chief Communications Officer joined from Amazon, and the Franchise Development Program Director joined from Yum! Brands KFC in November 2023. For a business model where each franchised unit recruits, trains, and deploys tens of caregivers serving older adults in home settings, corporate-level depth in home care operations, state-level Medicaid compliance, and caregiver certification standards materially affects the quality of field support and training resources a franchisee receives. The integration has improved since 2022, but the institutional knowledge loss from the 2023 layoffs is not fully backfilled, and the franchise-scale playbooks imported from Yum! Brands are not a direct transfer to home care.

Verdict

Best fit for operators with prior human resources, healthcare operations, or franchised service business experience, $150,000 to $275,000 in liquid capital to cover the full FDD Item 7 range plus 12 to 18 months of working capital, and willingness to engage with or operate under the Honor Care Platform. Honorably discharged veterans qualify for a 20% franchise fee discount, bringing the $54,000 fee to $43,200. The demographic tailwind is legitimate and durable: approximately 10,000 Americans turn 65 every day through 2030, and home care demand is projected to grow well above GDP. Territory availability remains meaningful in secondary markets, though prime urban and high-income suburban ZIPs are typically taken. Not a good fit for first-time franchisees seeking a semi-absentee model (caregiver recruitment and retention is hands-on HR-intensive work that does not delegate cleanly in the first two years), buyers in states with caregiver wage floors already above $18 per hour who do not have clear Medicaid reimbursement visibility in their target market, or operators who decline to sign the Honor Care Platform Joint Service Agreement and therefore may not access the Item 19 earnings performance the most recent FDD discloses. Before signing, model your unit economics on 2026 and 2027 wage scenarios, read the Joint Service Agreement and any Visionary Investment Program Addendum with counsel, and speak to Independent Association of Home Instead Franchisees members in your region as well as franchisees Honor refers you to.

This analysis reflects patterns visible in the Home Instead 2025 FDD, Independent Association of Home Instead Franchisees published materials, Home Health Care News reporting, and US District Court public filings. Your specific deal terms, protected territory, Care Platform election, and Joint Service Agreement or Full Operations Model addenda are not publicly disclosed. Have our AI FDD Analyzer review your specific franchise agreement for deal-level red flags.

Compare Home Instead with similar franchises

Buyers evaluating Home Instead typically also review these related FDD analyses for structural, unit-economics, and ownership comparison.

• Seniors Helping Seniors - Senior care franchise comparison: Home Instead's established scale versus Seniors Helping Seniors model

Key Questions Before Investing in Home Instead

These are the due diligence questions most buyers skip before signing a franchise agreement. They go beyond what's in the FDD.

• What is the realistic Year 1 take-home pay? After royalties (5% of gross sales), ad fund contributions (1% of gross sales), rent, labor, COGS, insurance, and debt service. What do you actually keep? Use our Profit Margin Calculator to find out.
• What is the closure rate? Check Item 20 of the FDD. How many Home Instead locations have closed, been terminated, or "ceased operations" in the last three years? A high number is a red flag.
• Are the territories truly protected? Item 12 defines your territory. Does Home Instead reserve the right to sell through alternative channels (delivery apps, online, grocery) in your territory? Many do.
• What happens when you want out? Item 17 covers renewal, termination, and transfer. What does Home Instead charge to transfer? Is there a non-compete after you leave? How long?
• What do current and former franchisees say? The FDD lists every franchisee's name and phone number. Call at least 10 current and 5 former ones. Our Validation Call Scripts tool gives you the exact questions to ask.
• Does the franchisor make money from you or with you? Check Item 21 (audited financials). Does Home Instead earn most of its revenue from royalties on operating franchisees, or from selling new franchise licenses? The latter is a warning sign.
• Can you afford to lose this money? If Home Instead fails in 18 months, what is your total financial exposure including the lease, SBA loan personal guarantee, and sunk costs? If the answer makes you sick, reconsider.

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