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What It Costs To Get Started

Every number a serious prospect needs — laid out clearly, without padding. If you have questions after reading this page, we’ll answer them directly.

The Numbers

What it costs to get started

$58,000 - Franchise Fee

 Covers your territory rights, brand license, initial training, operations playbook, and pre-launch support.

$100K – $200K - Total Estimated Investment

Includes franchise fee plus startup costs — office setup, initial staffing, insurance, working capital, and pre-launch marketing.

6% - Ongoing Royalty

Applied to gross revenue. Funds continued corporate support, system development, and marketing infrastructure.

Business Model Highlights

Why the model works

Home-based or small office, no brick-and-mortar required

You don't need a storefront, a facility, or a retail space. A Butterfly franchise is operated from a home office or small local office. Your caregivers work in clients' homes and communities, not in a building you're paying rent on. That keeps your fixed overhead low from day one and your startup costs within a range that doesn't require facility financing.

No equipment or inventory

There's nothing to stock, nothing to maintain, and nothing to order. The service your caregivers deliver requires training and relationship, not capital equipment or supply chains. Your investment goes into building the business, not into physical infrastructure that depreciates.

Non-seasonal, recession-resilient demand

The families Butterfly serves don't pause care because of the season or the economy. A child with autism needs support in January the same as July. A senior who needs daily living assistance doesn't defer care because of a market downturn. Demand for specialized home care is driven by demographics and diagnosis rates, both of which move in one direction regardless of what the broader economy is doing.

Recurring revenue from long-term client relationships

Clients don't come for a single visit. The populations Butterfly serves, autism, IDD, complex care needs, generate client relationships that run for years, sometimes decades. Your revenue base compounds month over month rather than resetting. Month twelve looks meaningfully different from month three because the clients from month one are still with you.

What the Franchise Fee Covers

What you're actually buying

The $58,000 franchise fee is not a licensing transaction, it’s the foundation of your business. Here’s what it covers:

Territory rights

Your market is defined and protected before you sign. Once awarded, no other Butterfly franchise operates within your territory, not a corporate agency, not another franchisee. The relationships and reputation you build there are yours to build without competition from inside the brand.

The Butterfly Certified Caregiver training program

Full access to Butterfly's twelve-module caregiver certification curriculum. This program lets you hire caregivers who can handle the clients that most agencies turn away. Autism, IDD, complex behavioral needs, non-verbal communication support, seizure response. The training standard is what earns family trust in your market, and it's yours from day one.

Complete operations playbook

Every intake form, care plan template, caregiver onboarding checklist, scheduling protocol, supervision framework, and compliance procedure, documented and ready to use. You don't build your operational systems in your first 90 days. That work is already done.

Initial franchisee training at headquarters

An intensive training program at Butterfly's Sterling, Virginia headquarters covering every dimension of running your agency, client intake, caregiver recruitment and matching, Medicaid waiver enrollment, referral development, care coordination, compliance, and financial management.

Pre-launch marketing support

Brand materials, digital presence setup, referral source outreach frameworks, and a grand opening campaign designed to put your agency in front of local referral sources and potential clients before your first official visit.

Brand credibility

Butterfly Home Care's reputation, built through years of consistent, specialized care and recognized by Franchise Journal as a Top Brand in 2024, travels with your franchise. Families in your market can research the brand before calling you. That trust doesn't have to be built from scratch.

The Revenue Model

How a Butterfly franchise generates revenue

Home care is a recurring revenue business. Clients don’t come in for a single appointment — they come in for ongoing support that often runs for months or years. A family with a child who has autism isn’t looking for a one-time service. They’re looking for a caregiver relationship that holds. When you build those relationships well, your revenue base compounds month over month rather than resetting. Month twelve looks meaningfully different from month three, not because you worked harder, but because the clients from month one are still with you.

Multiple revenue streams:
  • Private Pay
  • Medicaid Waiver Programs
  • Long-Term Care Insurance
  • Veterans Benefits
Why multiple streams matter

A franchise that accepts only private pay is dependent on household income. One that participates in Medicaid waivers, LTC insurance, and veterans programs has a broader, more stable client base, and more referral channels, because each funding source connects to a different referral network. Your first Medicaid waiver client comes through a different door than your first private pay client. More doors mean a faster ramp.

 

State Programs
Virginia CCC+ Waiver, DD Waiver
Georgia Elderly and Disabled Waiver Program (EDWP), Independent Care Waiver Program (ICWP), New Options Waiver Program (NOW), Comprehensive Supports Waiver Program (COMP), Service Options Using Resources in a Community Environment (SOURCE), Community Care Services Program (CCSP)
New Jersey Community Care Program for the Elderly and Disabled (CCPED), Supports Program Waiver, Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) Waiver, Personal Care Assistant (PCA) Waiver, Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Waiver, Managed Long-Term Services and Supports (MLTSS) Program
Maryland Home and Community-Based Options Waiver (Community Options Waiver), Medical Day Care Services Waiver, Community Pathways Waiver, Autism Waiver
Texas Community Living Assistance and Support Services (CLASS) Waiver, Home and Community-Based Services (HCS) Waiver, Deaf-Blind with Multiple Disabilities (DBMD) Waiver, STAR+PLUS Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Program / Waiver
Florida iBudget Waiver, Model Waiver, Statewide Medicaid Managed Care Long-Term Care (SMMC-LTC) Waiver
Profitability

An honest conversation about timeline

We won’t give you a specific profitability guarantee because every market, owner, and ramp-up is different, and anyone who promises you a specific number before knowing your market is telling you what you want to hear, not what you need to know.

What we will tell you, honestly, is this:

Home care agencies that are well-run, staffed with trained caregivers, and actively building referral relationships see their client census grow steadily through the first year. The agencies that ramp fastest share a few things in common: they invest in caregiver quality from the start rather than filling shifts with whoever is available, they build referral relationships with healthcare providers and therapists before they need clients, and they use Butterfly’s operational support rather than treating it as optional. The agencies that struggle in year one are almost always the ones that did the opposite of those three things.

The recurring revenue model matters here. Unlike a retail business, where each week starts from zero, a home care agency builds a base. A client who starts in month two is still with you in month eight. The work you put into caregiver quality and referral development in the first 90 days compounds; it doesn’t expire.

We provide realistic financial projections and performance data from existing Butterfly agencies during the discovery process. You make your decision based on actual numbers from real markets — not best-case scenarios built in a spreadsheet.

Funding Options

You don't have to fund it alone

ROBS — Rollover for Business Startups

If you have retirement savings, ROBS allows you to use those funds to invest in a franchise without early withdrawal penalties or tax consequences. It's the least-known funding option in franchising and often the most practical for candidates who have built savings over a career. It requires working with a qualified ROBS provider, Butterfly can point you toward resources during the discovery process.

SBA Loans

The Small Business Administration offers loan programs specifically structured for franchise businesses. Lenders familiar with franchise financing evaluate the brand and business model alongside your personal financials, which often makes qualification more accessible than a conventional small business loan. Butterfly can connect you with SBA lenders experienced in home care franchise financing.

Third-party franchise financing

Several lenders specialize specifically in franchise investment and are familiar with the home care industry's revenue model and client retention characteristics. These lenders understand recurring revenue businesses, which works in your favor compared to a lender evaluating a startup with no revenue history.

Personal capital and partnership structures

Some franchisees fund their investment through personal savings, a business partner, or a combination of sources. We evaluate all qualified candidates regardless of funding structure, and we're happy to discuss what makes sense for your situation during the discovery process.

Ready to take the next step?

If the numbers work for your situation and the mission resonates, the next step is a simple conversation. Reach out and we’ll schedule a Discovery Call — no pressure, no commitment, just an honest discussion about whether Butterfly is the right fit for you and your market.

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