What is the Brightstar Care franchisee's obligation regarding the location of customers serviced?
Brightstar_Care Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
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 outlined in the Operations Manual.
Source: Item 12 — TERRITORY (FDD pages 67–75)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Brightstar Care's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, franchisees are generally required to service customers within their designated Protected Territory. The Protected Territory is defined by zip codes and typically includes a population of 200,000 to 300,000 people, with a minimum of 15,000 people aged 65 and older. Franchisees are not allowed to service customers with service addresses or services performed in another franchisee's protected territory. However, franchisees can solicit referral sources outside their Protected Territory after providing written notification to the franchisee who owns that territory.
There are exceptions to the rule that Brightstar Care franchisees must service customers within their protected territory. Franchisees may retain customers sourced from an unclaimed territory that later becomes another franchisee's protected territory, at Brightstar Care's discretion, but only those customers secured before the territory was purchased. Franchisees cannot solicit staffing business outside their Protected Territory without permission, and business outside the territory (excluding National Accounts) cannot exceed 25% of their Net Billings. If these limits are exceeded and the franchisee meets expansion criteria, they may be required to acquire an additional franchise for an adjacent territory.
Brightstar Care can grant permission to a franchisee to service clients within another franchisee's protected territory if that franchisee lacks the proper licensure or accreditation, or chooses not to provide services. Conversely, Brightstar Care can allow other franchisees or company-owned locations to service clients within a franchisee's Protected Territory if the franchisee lacks the necessary qualifications or declines to provide services. All Net Billings (except for National Account Net Billings) from business outside the Protected Territory will not count towards meeting performance or renewal criteria.
If a Brightstar Care franchisee violates the Cross-Territorial Policy, it constitutes a default and potential grounds for termination of the Franchise Agreement. The Cross-Territorial Policy, outlined in the Operations Manual, may include financial penalties. The franchisee is responsible for any payments or penalties owed to other franchisees for violations of this policy. When permission is granted to solicit business outside the Protected Territory, several conditions apply, including maintaining revenues inside the Protected Territory at or above the System-level average and ensuring that at least 75% of total monthly Net Billings come from business inside the Protected Territory (including National Accounts).