How does Brightstar Care define a 'Protected Territory'?
Brightstar_Care Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
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ITEM 12 TERRITORY
You will operate your Agency from a location we approve ("Approved Location"). If you have secured a site for the Agency when you sign the Franchise Agreement, you will establish the Agency at the approved site. If you have not yet secured a site for your Agency when you sign the Franchise Agreement, you will enter into our Site Selection Addendum, attached as Exhibit J to the Franchise Agreement, which will govern the site selection process. You may relocate the Agency only with our prior written approval. Whether or not we allow relocation depends on circumstances at the time and what is in the Agency's and our system's best interests. Factors include, for example, the new site's area, its proximity to other premises in our system, whether you are in compliance with your Franchise Agreement, and how long it will take you to open at the new site.
We assign you a specific geographic area ("Protected Territory") within which we agree not to (i) open company-owned Agencies using the Marks if you are not in default under your Franchise Agreement, or (ii) authorize any other party to open an Agency using the Marks if you are not in default under your Franchise Agreement. We will designate the boundaries of your Protected Territory by zip codes. A protected territory if you acquire a standard size territory typically includes a population of 200,000 to 300,000 people with a minimum of 15,000 in population 65 years of age and older. If a protected territory has a population over 300,000, you must pay us $100 per each additional 1,000 people (pro rata) in the Protected Territory over 300,000.
If your territory is or at any time becomes a "jumbo territory," meaning it contains or has grown to a population of 800,000 or more, we may require you to maintain additional offices and/or additional key personnel if certain metrics are not met as set forth in the Operations Manual.
If you acquire a franchise for an Agency to operate in a Medium Density Market territory or a Small territory, your Protected Territory will include a population of less than 200,000 people.
We determine protected territory populations using GbBis mapping application, and statistics are updated every 6 months as released by the United States Census Bureau. More information regarding GbBis can be found at www.gbbis.com.
Referral sources are not exclusive, and you may call on referral sources outside your Protected Territory with the prior notification in writing to the franchisee that owns the territory in which you will be marketing. All customers serviced must be in your Protected Territory and cannot be customers with service addresses, or services performed, in another franchisee's protected territory held under a Franchise Agreement. If you service customers who are sourced from an unclaimed territory that later becomes the protected territory of another franchisee, you may, in our sole discretion, retain those and only those customers whom you secured prior to the unclaimed territory being purchased by the other franchisee. You may not solicit staffing business outside your Protected Territory without permission; the staffing business, along with any other business (excluding Net Billings from National Accounts) outside your Protected Territory, cannot exceed 25% of your Net Billings. Staffing business must be transitioned to the new franchisee per the Cross-Territorial policy o
Source: Item 12 — TERRITORY (FDD pages 67–75)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Brightstar Care's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, a franchisee will operate their agency from a location that Brightstar Care approves. Brightstar Care assigns a specific geographic area, known as the "Protected Territory," within which they agree not to open company-owned agencies using the Brightstar Care marks, provided the franchisee is not in default under their Franchise Agreement. Brightstar Care also agrees not to authorize any other party to open an agency using the Brightstar Care marks within the franchisee's protected territory, again, provided the franchisee is not in default. The boundaries of the protected territory are designated by zip codes.
For a standard size territory, the protected territory typically includes a population of 200,000 to 300,000 people, with a minimum of 15,000 people aged 65 and older. If the protected territory's population exceeds 300,000, the franchisee must pay Brightstar Care $100 for each additional 1,000 people (pro rata) over 300,000. If a territory becomes a "jumbo territory" with a population of 800,000 or more, Brightstar Care may require the franchisee to maintain additional offices and/or key personnel if certain metrics outlined in the Operations Manual are not met.
For franchisees acquiring an agency to operate in a Medium Density Market territory or a Small territory, the protected territory will include a population of less than 200,000 people. Brightstar Care uses the GbBis mapping application to determine protected territory populations, and statistics are updated every 6 months based on data released by the United States Census Bureau. More information regarding GbBis can be found at www.gbbis.com. Referral sources are not exclusive, and franchisees may solicit referral sources outside their protected territory after providing written notification to the franchisee owning that territory. However, all customers serviced must be within the franchisee's protected territory, and cannot have service addresses or services performed in another franchisee's protected territory.