Does Canopy Lawn Care or its affiliates act as the only designated or approved supplier of any Required Items?
Canopy_Lawn_Care Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
uppliers for other Required Items. Except as disclosed in this Item 8, neither we nor an affiliate is currently the only designated or approved supplier of any Required Items. We reserve the right, however, at any time and at our discretion, to designate ourselves or one of our affiliates as the only designated or approved supplier, or one of several designated or approved suppliers, of any additional Required Items.
Except for certain Required Items, we do not require that you purchase any equipment, tools, goods or services from us, our affiliates or any other source we designate. You may purchase these from any supplier, but we reserve the right to designate other required suppliers in the future. Except for your purchase of a GPS tracker for the Vehicle, you are not allowed to purchase or subscribe to any required software independently. The software that you will use through the accounts we provide will provide features such as booking services, scheduling, payment processing, and invoicing.
You must purchase or lease a vehicle that is large and durable enough to accommodate our standard complement of equipment, tools and accessories, and meets out then-current standards and specifications. We currently specify the options of make(s) and model(s) of Vehicle you must purchase or lease. Our recommended supplier for the Vehicle is currently Enterprise Fleet Management. You may currently purchase the Vehicle from any supplier as long as the Vehicle meets our then-current standards and specifications, but we reserve the right to require you in the future to purchase or lease Vehicles from a designated supplier. Your Vehicle must be in good working condition and be outfitted with our trade dress so that they will look the same as other franchisees' Vehicles when emblazoned with the CANOPY® name, logo and decorations. As your Lawn Care Business grows, you will be required to obtain additional Vehicles. You must keep your Vehicles and equipment in good working order and make the necessary repairs. There is not a cap on the amount that you may be required to spend to refurbish your business and Vehicles.
As described in more detail in Item 10, we have made arrangements with Enterprise FM Trust ("Lessor") whereby Lessor will lease Vehicles, which have been equipped and outfitted in accordance with our specifications. There is no assurance or guarantee that Lessor will agree to lease any Vehicle(s) to you or any other franchisee. The decision whether or not to lease to you will be in Lessor's sole discretion, and may include you meeting credit worthiness and other conditions for qualifications.
You must purchase and use computer hardware that meets our specifications. We may require that you upgrade or change your computer equipment and software periodically.
Source: Item 8 — RESTRICTIONS ON SOURCES OF PRODUCTS AND SERVICES (FDD pages 26–29)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Canopy Lawn Care's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, currently, neither Canopy Lawn Care nor its affiliates are the only designated or approved supplier for most Required Items. However, Canopy Lawn Care does reserve the right to change this at any time and at their discretion, to designate themselves or one of their affiliates as the sole approved supplier of additional Required Items.
Franchisees are required to use the bookkeeping service provided by Canopy Lawn Care or its affiliate for a fee, and must purchase QuickBooks Online from them or their affiliate. QuickBooks Payroll is also an optional service that may be purchased from Canopy Lawn Care or its affiliate. Franchisees are also required to use the credit card processing service that Canopy Lawn Care approves. Franchisees must also purchase a GPS tracker for the vehicle through Canopy Lawn Care.
Canopy Lawn Care estimates that purchases and leases required by them will equal approximately 75% to 85% of the total cost to establish your franchise, and approximately 75% to 85% of a franchisee's ongoing operating expenses. Canopy Lawn Care and its affiliates have the right to receive fees, payments, rebates, commissions or other consideration from third-party manufacturers, suppliers and/or distributors, which may range from less than 1% up to 10% or more of the total purchase price of those items. During the last fiscal year ending September 30, 2024, Canopy Lawn Care collected $9,100 of revenue for Bookkeeping Services (or 0.7% of their total revenue of $1,259,474), and $4,791.04 of revenue for Technology Fees (or 0.4% of their total revenue of $1,259,474) as a result of franchisee's purchases of products and services.