Most franchise systems give their owners three to seven ways to earn. A Stratus Clean master franchisee, the regional developer for an exclusive territory, has nine. Roughly 90% of that revenue is recurring. Franchised regions averaged $3.2 million in unit volume in 2025, and system-wide sales reached $238 million, per Item 19 of our Franchise Disclosure Document.*
This article explains where that money comes from. You will see each of the nine revenue streams, how they build on one another as your network grows, what the model costs to enter, and where the line sits between what we can show you publicly and what belongs in the FDD.
As a Stratus Clean master franchisee, you hold two rights inside a protected territory: the right to award unit franchises and the right to secure commercial cleaning contracts. You win the account and assign it to a unit franchisee in your network, who performs the work.
You do not clean. You do not carry a crew payroll. Your unit owners are independent business owners who bought a franchise, not employees. Your job is business development and network leadership: recruit owners, win contracts, and help both grow. Every one of the nine streams below is a direct result of doing those three things well. For a fuller picture of the role, see what it means to own a Stratus Clean territory and our comparison of master versus unit franchise ownership.
The nine streams are easiest to understand in three groups: revenue you earn when the network grows, revenue you earn every month the network operates, and revenue you earn on project work.
| Revenue stream | When you earn it | How it works |
|---|---|---|
| Franchise fees | Growth | Earned each time you award a unit franchise inside your territory. Every unit you add grows the network that feeds the recurring streams. |
| Finance fees | Growth | Earned when you finance a unit franchise purchase, turning a single sale into a multi-year payment stream. |
| Transfer fees | Growth | Unit franchises are assets. When an owner sells to a new operator, you earn a transfer fee. |
| Royalties | Recurring | Ongoing royalties on unit franchisee revenue. As your owners service more buildings, your royalty base grows without adding an employee to your office. |
| Contract sales | Recurring | You secure commercial cleaning contracts with schools, medical offices, warehouses, gyms, and offices, then assign them to unit owners. These recurring contracts drive the roughly 90% recurring figure. |
| Admin fees | Recurring | Administrative fees within the system that recur for as long as the accounts are active. |
| Insurance revenue | Recurring | Our national insurance program covers your unit owners and generates recurring revenue for your territory. |
| Supply sales | Recurring | Your owners clean with Stratus Clean proprietary, Green Seal-certified products. You earn a markup, and consumption rises with every contract you assign. |
| Special services | Project | Floor care, carpet cleaning, window and pressure washing, and post-construction cleanup, sold as one-off jobs that add margin on top of the recurring base. |
Ty Redmond, our Milwaukee master, put it this way when he was evaluating the opportunity: "I can follow a playbook very well so that was intriguing, plus the 9 streams of income we can potentially earn."
Buildings need cleaning every week, in every economy. That is the single most important fact behind the earnings model. A janitorial contract does not end when the job is done. It renews, month after month, and the royalties, admin fees, insurance revenue, and supply sales attached to it renew with it.
Recurring revenue matters to you for three reasons:
The demand side is durable too. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics counted about 2.4 million janitor and building cleaner jobs in 2025 and projects roughly 321,800 openings a year through 2035, driven by the continued need for clean and healthy spaces. Commercial cleaning is an essential service in a market worth roughly $100 billion a year, and it held up through the 2008 recession, the pandemic, and the inflation cycle that followed. We cover the evidence in detail in why commercial cleaning is one of the most recession-resilient businesses you can own.
The nine streams are not independent. Each action you take as a regional developer triggers several of them at once. Here is the sequence in practice:
Repeat that sequence across dozens of owners and hundreds of accounts, and you have a territory business where the majority of revenue arrives whether or not you closed a new sale that month. This is the executive model: you sell, lead, and support, and the network does the servicing.
This structure also explains why unit owners choose Stratus Clean. Rather than asking new owners to find their own customers, the master brings the business development capability, wins the account, and assigns a paying contract. Your success and theirs are tied to the same contracts.
The following figures describe the strength of the Stratus Clean system. They are context for the model, not a representation of what an individual master franchisee earns.
*Calculation and further explanation of the Average Unit Volume, Average of Top 5 Performing Regions, and System-wide Sales appear in Item 19 of the FDD. Individual results may differ. See Item 19 for financial disclosures and Item 7 for total investment information.
The external validation is consistent with those numbers. Entrepreneur named Stratus Clean the #1 Fastest-Growing Franchise for four consecutive years, including 2026, and the #1 Commercial Cleaning Franchise on the Franchise 500, ranked #21 overall. We hold #228 on the Franchise Times Top 400. Franchise Business Review named us a 2025 Top Franchises Award winner, with 86% of master franchisees saying they would do it again.
The master model is an executive investment, not a storefront build-out. Your capital goes into the license and the working capital to develop your network, not equipment, inventory, or a lease.
| What you invest in | Typical amount |
|---|---|
| Master license fee | About $125,000 on average |
| Working capital | About $150,000 on average |
| Total investment, all in | Typically $275,000 to $300,000 |
| Net worth requirement | $250,000 or more |
| Liquid capital | About $125,000 to $150,000 |
Territories are sized by population and can be a state or a cluster of counties. Item 7 of our FDD is the authoritative source for total investment, and the Investment Opportunity page shows the full published ranges. Because your overhead is a small office team rather than cleaning crews, labor cost stays low and you operate mainly on weekdays.
You should be skeptical of any franchisor that quotes master-owner income on a web page. The FTC Franchise Rule requires franchisors to provide a disclosure document containing 23 specific items of information, and Item 19 is the only place a financial performance representation belongs. We hold to that standard. Earnings vary by owner and by territory, and any financial performance representation we make appears in Item 19.
What we can do is put the full FDD in your hands during our six-step discovery process and connect you with existing masters so you can hear first-hand what building a territory involves. That validation step is where the model becomes concrete for most candidates. Our guides on what an FDD is and why it matters, why the validation process matters, and our master franchise buyer's checklist covering Items 5 through 7 and 19 will help you prepare the right questions.
Nine streams only pay if you can sell contracts, recruit owners, and run a clean back office. Our support structure is built around exactly those three functions.
The people behind this system bring 150+ years of combined franchising experience and a methodology tested since 2006. That is why masters from education, insurance, engineering, sales, and retail backgrounds succeed without a day of prior cleaning experience.
David Smith, Stratus Clean of Nashville: "When I discovered Stratus, I loved the recurring revenue model and the idea of selling a need rather than a want. That made complete sense to me from both a business and lifestyle standpoint."
Ralph Sizemore, Stratus Clean of Columbia, SC: "I would definitely do the franchise with Stratus over again. They've been so supportive."
Michael Seiler, Stratus Clean of Southeast Louisiana: "Would I do it over? Probably three more times."
How does a Stratus Clean master franchisee make money? Through nine revenue streams: franchise fees, finance fees, contract sales, special services, admin fees, insurance revenue, royalties, transfer fees, and supply sales. Roughly 90% of that revenue is recurring because it is tied to janitorial contracts that renew month after month.
Does the master franchisee do any cleaning? No. Cleaning is performed by independent unit franchisees who purchased a Stratus Clean franchise. The master's role is business development and network leadership: awarding unit franchises, securing and assigning cleaning contracts, and supporting the owners in the territory.
What makes 90% of the revenue recurring? Commercial janitorial contracts are serviced daily or weekly and renew continuously. Royalties, admin fees, insurance revenue, and supply sales are all attached to those contracts, so they repeat every month the account is active.
How much does a master franchisee earn? Earnings vary by owner and territory. Any financial performance representation appears in Item 19 of our Franchise Disclosure Document, which you receive during the discovery process. System context: franchised regions averaged $3.2 million in unit volume in 2025 and system-wide sales reached $238 million, per Item 19. Individual results may differ.
What is the total investment for a Stratus Clean master franchise? Typically $275,000 to $300,000 all in: a master license fee averaging about $125,000 plus roughly $150,000 in working capital. Candidates should have a net worth of $250,000 or more and $125,000 to $150,000 in liquid capital. Item 7 of the FDD is the authoritative source.
Is a master franchise a passive investment? No. It is an executive-style business where you actively sell contracts, recruit and support unit owners, and lead the territory. The model requires few employees and runs mainly on weekdays, but it rewards owners who show up to build. See why your franchise business will not run itself.
Exclusive territories remain open in many U.S. and Canadian markets, from statewide rights in Idaho, Montana, and Mississippi to metro markets like Raleigh/Durham, Knoxville, El Paso, and Buffalo. Review current available territories, then start a conversation with Rob Lancit, VP of Franchise Development, at (516) 551-4773 in the U.S. or (604) 833-0911 in Canada. You will receive the FDD, walk through Item 19 with our team, and speak directly with masters who are running this earnings model today.
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