Bar-B-Clean franchise: cost, fees & unit track record
Opening a Bar-B-Clean franchise takes $78,200 – $136,620 all-in, per its franchise disclosure filings (data as of 2026-05). The initial franchise fee is not disclosed in the filings we cover. Ongoing, franchisees pay a royalty of 8% on sales. To qualify, Bar-B-Clean asks for $23,000 in liquid cash and a $23,000 net worth. Anything the filings do not state is marked "Not disclosed" below — never estimated.
Bar-B-Clean franchise costs and fees
| Verification mark | Cost item | Low | High | Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise feeOne-time, paid to the franchisor at signing | Not disclosed1 | Not disclosed1 | ||
| Initial investment (all-in)FDD Item 7-derived range: build-out, equipment, opening costs | $78,200 | $136,620 | $78,200 to $136,620 | |
| Net worth requiredFranchisor's stated qualification minimum | $23,000 | $23,000 | $23,000 | |
| Liquid cash requiredFranchisor's stated qualification minimum | $23,000 | $23,000 | $23,000 | |
| Cash to open (all-in range) | $78,200 | $136,620 | $78,200 to $136,620 | |
- 1 "Not disclosed" means Bar-B-Clean's filings do not state this figure. We publish the gap instead of estimating it.
| RoyaltyOngoing, % of sales | 8% |
|---|---|
| Ad fundOngoing, % of sales | Not disclosed |
| Initial termLength of the first franchise agreement | 7 years |
See the full Bar-B-Clean cost breakdown — what's in that number and what isn't
How Bar-B-Clean's cost compares
A dollar figure means more with a yardstick. Here is where Bar-B-Clean's disclosed cost sits against the Professional Services category:
- Minimum startup cost of $78,200 — about in line with the Professional Services median of $84,700.
Category medians are computed from the Professional Services brands in our data that disclosed each figure — a benchmark for scale, not a quality judgment. See all Professional Services franchises
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How Bar-B-Clean's units have held up
Openings and closures from FDD Item 20-style unit history, 2014–2022: began the window at 1 units; 33 units opened, 11 closed, ending at 23 units. (partial records: 2018 is not in the source data — totals span the reported years only.)
What about earnings?
We don't publish per-brand earnings figures — for Bar-B-Clean or anyone else. The only primary source is Item 19 of the brand's own franchise disclosure document (FDD), and no law requires a franchisor to publish one, so the "average owner income" numbers circulating elsewhere are usually unsourced or survivorship-biased. Ask Bar-B-Clean for its current FDD and read Item 19 yourself — and if there is no Item 19, that silence is information too.
What this data can't tell you
Everything on this page comes from disclosure filings — fees, ranges, and unit counts. Four questions that matter just as much are not in any filing we can source, so we say so instead of guessing:
- The hours and the labor
- No dataset field says whether Bar-B-Clean is a manage-from-a-laptop business or a 60-hour week in disguise. Item 15 of the FDD states whether you're obligated to run the business personally, and Item 11 lists what the franchisor actually does for you — then ask current owners what their week looks like (validation calls), not the sales team.
- How hands-on the ownership really is
- "Semi-absentee" is a pitch, not a filing field. Treat any hands-off claim as unverified until it's consistent with Item 15 and with what multiple current franchisees tell you — what absentee ownership actually means.
- Your territory — whether it's protected, and whether it's open
- Two territory questions sit outside our data. Whether Bar-B-Clean grants a protected or exclusive area is set in Item 12 of the FDD and varies brand to brand — some grant none, and the carve-outs (online sales, national accounts) matter as much as the map. And filing data can't say what's open in your market this month; only Bar-B-Clean can confirm current availability. Ask both before you inquire, and get the answer in writing.
- What owners earn
- Covered honestly above: our dataset has no earnings fields, the only primary source is the brand's own Item 19, and here is how to read that evidence.
About the Bar-B-Clean franchise
Bar-B-Clean is a professional services franchisor with 23 units at the end of 2022 (FDD Item 20-style unit history). Between 2014 and 2022, it began the window at 1 units; its filings record 33 unit openings and 11 closures, ending at 23 units (partial records: 2018 is not in the source data — totals span the reported years only). Its parent company is Bar-B-Clean Franchising, Inc..
No franchise-related lawsuits reported in the disclosure data we hold (FDD Item 3, as of 2026-05) — an absence in our sources, not a guarantee; confirm against the brand's current FDD.
From the franchisor's materials
Bar-B-Clean franchisees operate mobile businesses that clean and service barbecues for residential and commercial customers within a specific geographic area ("Bar-B-CleanBusiness (es) ").
Bar-B-Clean franchise: quick answers
- How much does a Bar-B-Clean franchise cost?
- $78,200 – $136,620 all-in to open, per Bar-B-Clean's franchise disclosure filings (data as of 2026-05).
- How many Bar-B-Clean units are there?
- 23 units at the end of 2022 (FDD Item 20-style unit history).
- How have Bar-B-Clean's units held up?
- 76.7% of units at risk between 2020 and 2022 did not close, per our metric recomputed from FDD Item 20-style unit history (methodology published on our verification page).