If you’re exploring franchise opportunities, you may be considering concepts in different industries – from health-focused juice bars to essential service businesses like commercial cleaning. Pure Green is one rising franchise in the wellness space that often catches aspiring entrepreneurs’ attention. In this comprehensive review, we’ll examine what the Pure Green franchise offers, including its background, costs, and support, and then compare the juice bar industry to the commercial cleaning business franchise model. We’ll also show how our own Assett Franchise (a commercial cleaning franchise led by founder Matt Pencarinha) stacks up, especially for those seeking a scalable, stable, and semi-absentee business.
What Is the Pure Green Franchise Opportunity?
Company Overview and Industry
Pure Green is a fast-growing franchise brand in the juice bar and smoothie segment of the food and wellness industry. The company was founded in 2014 in New York City by wellness entrepreneur Ross Franklin. Franklin started Pure Green with a mission to “build healthier communities” by offering nutrient-dense smoothies, açaí bowls, cold-pressed juices and wellness shots. After several years operating company-owned locations, Pure Green began franchising in 2020, which has since fueled an impressive expansion across the United States.
As of mid-2025, Pure Green has over 70 locations open nationwide and is operating in more than 25 states. This reflects rapid growth – in fact, the chain grew from 43 to 70 open units in just the first half of 2025 (a 63% increase). The company aims to reach 100 locations by early 2026 at its current pace. This momentum has earned Pure Green recognition as one of the fastest-growing franchises in the healthy food sector – for example, Entrepreneur Magazine ranked it among the Top New & Emerging franchises in 2022. The brand also made the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies in 2024, highlighting its strong revenue growth.
In terms of financial performance, Pure Green’s franchise model has shown promising early results. According to its Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) for 2022, the average annual sales per store were $719,452 in 2021. This indicates robust unit-level revenue for a juice bar concept. (Pure Green notes that its “financial performance as shown in item 19 of our FDD speaks for itself”.) Another analysis estimates newer Pure Green franchises average around $596,000 in yearly gross sales, with an owner-operator’s earnings in the range of $72,000–$89,000 per year. At those levels, the payback period for the initial investment is roughly 5 to 6 years, which is a key consideration for prospective buyers evaluating ROI. Overall, Pure Green is positioned in a growing niche of the food industry – one driven by consumers’ rising demand for convenient, healthy dining options.
What Franchisees Get
A Pure Green franchisee operates a retail juice bar café offering a menu of handcrafted superfood smoothies, açaí and pitaya bowls, cold-pressed juices, and wellness shots. The concept prides itself on high-quality ingredients (no fillers or added sugars) and delicious taste, aiming to attract health-conscious customers ranging from fitness enthusiasts to busy professionals looking for nutritious grab-and-go options. Customers are primarily individuals (B2C) visiting the store in person, though Pure Green also leverages delivery apps and even has wholesale partnerships that extend its brand presence (for example, supplying products to sports teams, gyms, airlines and hotels). This hybrid model of franchised retail plus a wholesale division is somewhat unique – it provides franchise locations with pre-bottled juices and shots from Pure Green’s central suppliers, so they don’t have to produce these in-store. For an owner, this means no need for expensive juicing equipment or complex food manufacturing on-site; all cold-pressed juice inventory comes ready-to-sell, allowing the business to focus on serving customers quickly. Smoothies and bowls are made to order, but even these use standardized recipes and require only blenders and refrigeration rather than any cooking or venting, keeping operations simpler than a typical restaurant.
Support and training are a notable part of the Pure Green franchise package. New franchisees attend an initial training program (reported as about 1 week at headquarters in Florida plus 1 week on-site at the new store) to learn all facets of running a Pure Green location. The franchisor assists heavily with site selection, using data and real estate experts to find high-traffic, high-income areas (ideal locations are near gyms, boutique fitness studios, upscale supermarkets, colleges or dense residential neighborhoods). They even help with lease negotiation, store layout design, and build-out oversight to ensure new stores open efficiently.
Once open, franchise owners benefit from ongoing support systems. Pure Green provides a “Pure Green University” online portal for continued training on operations, product knowledge, marketing, etc.. Each franchisee is also assigned a dedicated support manager. The corporate team conducts regular coaching calls – for example, weekly marketing calls and monthly operations conferences – and even performs quarterly site visits to help owners optimize their performance. On the marketing side, Pure Green helps manage each store’s digital presence: they set up the Google Business profile, handle local SEO, maintain the store’s page on the Pure Green website, and even respond to online reviews on behalf of the franchisee, according to ifpg.org. This level of centralized marketing and reputation management is a big advantage for owners who may not be experts in digital marketing. Overall, franchisees get a turnkey system including branding, supply chain (for juice products), tech tools (point-of-sale and loyalty systems via Square), and ongoing mentoring to help grow the business. Pure Green’s goal is to let franchise owners focus on delivering a great customer experience while the franchisor provides the playbook and support infrastructure.
Startup Costs and Ongoing Fees
Investing in a Pure Green franchise requires a significant upfront commitment typical of a brick-and-mortar food business. According to the company’s 2025 franchise disclosure, the total initial investment ranges from $177,450 to $446,900 to open a Pure Green location. This range includes the build-out of a 500–1,000 sq. ft. store, equipment (e.g. blenders, refrigerators, POS system), initial inventory, signage, working capital, and other opening costs. Pure Green’s franchise fee is $40,000 (paid upfront). Additionally, like most franchises, there are ongoing royalties and marketing fees: Pure Green charges a 6% royalty on gross sales and a 2% marketing fund fee. These fees contribute to the franchisor’s support services and national marketing efforts.
Prospective owners need to meet certain financial criteria. Pure Green requires a minimum liquid capital (cash investment) of about $40,000–$50,000 and a minimum net worth of $300,000 to qualify. The model is not home-based – you’ll be securing a retail lease – and typically each unit employs around 8 staff members (juice bar servers and shift managers) to cover operating hours. While Pure Green does allow semi-absentee ownership, new franchisees are expected to be actively involved full-time for at least the first 3 months to learn the business and ensure a smooth launch. After that, an owner can step back and hire a manager, but hands-on oversight in the beginning is important.
Other ongoing expenses include standard business costs (rent, utilities, labor, insurance, supplies). Because the company’s supply chain delivers pre-made juices, franchisees avoid the cost of industrial juicing equipment and the headache of complying with juice manufacturing regulations on-site. This helps keep operating costs lower than a typical juice bar where squeezing produce daily can be labor-intensive and wasteful. Pure Green also notes that its smaller store footprint and lack of kitchen ventilation means lower rent and build-out costs than many food franchises. The franchisor offers a discount of 5% off the franchise fee for qualified military veterans, as part of its incentives. Importantly, Pure Green does provide an Item 19 in its FDD, meaning they share financial performance data of their stores – a transparency that can help candidates evaluate the earnings potential. As mentioned earlier, average annual sales per store have been reported around $700k, which – if achieved – could yield healthy profit margins for an owner-operator. However, individual results vary, and factors like location quality, local competition, and an owner’s management skills will influence actual profitability.
How the Industry Itself Compares
When considering Pure Green, it’s not just about the franchise – it’s about the juice bar industry it operates in. For someone weighing this opportunity against a commercial cleaning business, it’s useful to compare the characteristics of the two industries: health-food retail vs. B2B cleaning services. Both have advantages, but they differ in market dynamics, revenue patterns, and operational demands. Below, we break down what the juice bar/wellness food industry offers and then contrast it with the commercial cleaning industry in practical terms.
Pure Green’s Industry Advantages
Franchising with Pure Green means entering the booming health and wellness sector, specifically the niche of juice bars and smoothie cafes. This industry has some attractive advantages. First, there is a strong consumer trend toward healthy living and demand for nutritious, on-the-go food. Pure Green cites “massive growth” and pent-up demand in the juice bar market following COVID-19 as people refocus on wellness. Indeed, industry reports project the broader U.S. juice and smoothie market to continue growing steadily in the coming years. By operating a Pure Green, franchisees can capitalize on this trend, serving customers who are willing to pay premium prices (often $8–$12 per item) for cold-pressed juices and superfood smoothies as part of a healthy lifestyle.
Another advantage of the juice bar industry is the relatively simple menu and small footprint compared to full-service restaurants. Pure Green locations don’t require cooking or chefs – the model uses pre-formulated recipes and centralized juice production, which streamlines operations for franchisees. With stores typically around 800–1,000 sq. ft., build-out costs and rents are more manageable than a large restaurant would be. The concept also tends to require less heavy equipment (no ovens or grills; mainly blenders, coolers, and prep tools), which keeps maintenance and utilities lower. These efficiencies can lead to healthy profit margins on each drink or bowl sold. In fact, gross margins in juice bars can be quite high since raw ingredients (fruits, vegetables, supplements) are a relatively small portion of the retail price – much of the value is added by the branding and convenience.
The brand appeal and marketing power in this industry is another plus. Pure Green has built a modern, trendy image that resonates with younger and health-conscious demographics. The brand’s presence in high-end gyms and even professional sports (through its wholesale division supplying NBA and NFL teams) boosts credibility and recognition. A franchise owner benefits from national brand marketing, influencer partnerships, and the general “cool factor” of running a hip juice bar that customers might post about on social media. Compared to some service industries, owning a smoothie café is tangible and customer-facing – many entrepreneurs find it rewarding to see customers enjoying their products in real time and to feel they are making a positive impact on people’s health. For those passionate about nutrition and community wellness, this industry offers a chance to align business with personal interests.
That said, succeeding in the juice/healthy food sector does require navigating certain challenges (which we’ll contrast with cleaning below). It’s a consumer discretionary business, meaning sales can be influenced by trends, seasons, and economic swings. But in the right location, a Pure Green franchise can ride the wave of the health-food movement, potentially building a loyal customer base who incorporate your smoothies and juices into their daily routine. The industry’s advantages lie in its growth potential, feel-good mission, and the operational simplicity of a focused, streamlined product offering.
Compared to Commercial Cleaning Industry
Now, let’s compare all of the above with the commercial cleaning industry, which is the arena in which Assett Franchise (and other janitorial service franchises) operate. On many key factors – market size, revenue stability, scalability – the commercial cleaning business model holds significant advantages. Here are some points to consider:
- Massive Market Demand: Commercial cleaning is a truly enormous and fundamental market. In the United States, businesses and institutions spend roughly $100 billion annually on cleaning and janitorial services. (The commercial segment alone accounts for about $70 billion, with the rest being residential cleaning.) Every office building, school, hospital, retail store, and warehouse needs cleaning services regularly, regardless of the economic climate. This dwarfs the juice bar niche in size – for perspective, the entire US juice bar market is estimated in the tens of billions at most, and it’s driven by consumer trends rather than absolute necessity. Cleaning, by contrast, is essential and non-optional; even during recessions or pandemics, facilities must be cleaned and sanitized. Franchise experts often call commercial cleaning “recession-resistant”, since companies rarely cut cleaning out of the budget even when tightening belts. By entering a needs-based B2B industry, you tap into a stable demand that isn’t a fad or seasonal trend.
- Recurring Revenue & Contracts: A hallmark of commercial cleaning is its recurring revenue model. Most commercial clients (e.g. office buildings, schools, medical centers) sign ongoing service contracts – typically annual or multi-year agreements – for cleaning services performed daily or several times per week. This means a cleaning franchise builds up a book of long-term clients providing steady, predictable income month after month. In contrast, a juice bar relies on individual consumer purchases that can fluctuate daily and seasonally; revenue is tied to foot traffic and one-off transactions. Cleaning contracts create a far more “sticky” revenue stream – once you win a client and do a good job, they usually continue service indefinitely, and you don’t need to resell them each day. There’s also less seasonality: while a frozen treat shop might slow down in winter, offices get cleaned year-round on a consistent schedule. This contract-based, B2B revenue provides stability and compounding growth as you add more accounts.
- Low Cost of Entry & Overhead: Compared to a retail food franchise like Pure Green, a commercial cleaning business has a much lower startup cost and overhead structure. You typically do not need a retail storefront or commercial kitchen – many cleaning franchisees start from a home office or small warehouse space for supplies. There’s no expensive real estate lease in a premium shopping district as required for a juice shop. Equipment needs are minimal: basic cleaning tools, vacuum machines, maybe a floor buffer, and a vehicle – nowhere near the cost of outfitting even a small restaurant. For example, Assett Franchise’s total startup investment ranges around $72k–$116k, which is less than half of what a Pure Green costs to open. You also don’t carry inventory in the same way; cleaning supplies are purchased as used, without risk of spoilage (whereas a juice bar must manage perishable inventory and food waste). The result is a lean cost structure. As one industry leader notes, commercial cleaning is a “low overhead franchise model with fast ramp up,” since you aren’t weighed down by property or equipment investments. This makes it an accessible first business – and it’s easier to scale up because you can add clients (revenue) without proportionally adding huge fixed costs.
- High Income Potential and Scalability: Despite lower costs, cleaning contracts can generate high revenues as you scale. The commercial cleaning industry’s fragmentation means even a small market share can translate into significant sales. It’s common for a single ambitious franchise territory to grow to $1 million+ in annual recurring revenue, given a few dozen medium-sized contracts. Notably, cleaning franchises have no natural ceiling – you’re not limited by store capacity or foot traffic; you can keep signing new client contracts and hire more cleaning crews to service them. Growth only depends on your ability to market and manage the operations. With an executive model (where the owner focuses on business development and employs cleaners), it’s possible to run a $1M business with a relatively small team, and do so in a semi-absentee manner once systems are in place. Additionally, cleaning services can diversify into multiple revenue streams (floor waxing, window washing, disinfection services, etc.), often upselling existing clients – whereas a juice bar has a fixed menu and only so many smoothies one person can buy. The scalability and high ROI on added contracts give cleaning franchises an edge in long-term profitability.
- Lifestyle and Operational Simplicity: For an owner, a commercial cleaning business can be run with a very flexible schedule, especially compared to a retail food business. Juice bar franchisees must typically manage daily store operations, long operating hours (early mornings for smoothie bowls through evening rushes), and a large hourly staff with customer-facing roles. In contrast, cleaning mostly happens after-hours (e.g. nighttime office cleaning) and crews often work independently at client sites. As an owner you don’t need to be on-site constantly, and you can schedule your management tasks around your life. In fact, many commercial cleaning franchise owners operate in a semi-absentee capacity, devoting perhaps 5–10 hours per week to oversight once the business matures. Pure Green does allow semi-absentee ownership, but realistically a retail food franchise will always need close attention to customer service, inventory, and daily sales – it’s harder to step away completely. Cleaning franchises are often pitched as ideal for executive owners or first-time entrepreneurs because the model is straightforward: it’s about managing contracts and teams, not handling complex recipes, perishable inventory, or trend-driven marketing. The business is also largely immune to consumer fickleness – offices don’t cancel cleaning because of a fad or personal taste, and cleaning “is not trend-dependent” at all. This can make it a lower-stress, lower-complexity operation in the long run.
- Resilience and Risk Factors: Commercial cleaning checks many boxes for a stable venture. It’s often cited as recession-proof or recession-resistant because companies must maintain cleanliness and sanitation regardless of economic downturns. Even during the 2020 COVID crisis, cleaning businesses were considered essential services and saw increased demand for deep cleaning and disinfection. By contrast, a smoothie shop is a discretionary spend – if consumers tighten budgets, a $10 green juice might be one of the first things cut. The cleaning industry is also protected from certain disruptors: it cannot be offshored or replaced by e-commerce (every building physically needs janitorial care). There’s also less competitive saturation from big corporations – the market is fragmented, with many small players rather than a few giants controlling everything. This means a new franchise can grab local market share more easily. Juice bars, on the other hand, face competition not only from direct smoothie chains (Jamba Juice, Smoothie King, etc.) but also from cafés, health food stores, and even grocery prepared-food sections. It’s a more crowded space fighting for consumer attention. Finally, the emotional factor differs: selling B2B cleaning is a relatively rational, contract-based sale (focused on reliability and cost), whereas selling smoothies is a B2C play influenced by brand hype, customer cravings, and seasonality. For an entrepreneur looking for a “steady Eddie” business with predictable cash flow, commercial cleaning tends to be more forgiving and stable over the long haul.
In summary, the commercial cleaning industry offers an expansive, essential market with recurring B2B revenue, low startup costs, and strong resilience. The juice bar industry offers growth and excitement in the wellness trend, but comes with higher operating complexity and exposure to consumer whims. Both can be successful, but if your goal is long-term stability, scalability, and simpler operations, the cleaning industry often has the edge.
How the Assett Franchise Compares
We’ve looked at Pure Green in depth and discussed the juice franchise world versus commercial cleaning. So where does Assett Franchise fit into the picture? Assett is our commercial cleaning franchise brand, founded and led by Matt Pencarinha. For someone comparing Pure Green to a cleaning franchise like Assett, there are some key differences in our model’s design and philosophy. Assett was built specifically for first-time business owners who want a high-income business without the high complexity. Below, we highlight a few ways Assett stands out – from simpler systems and automation to the personal support you receive in a family-owned franchise.
Simpler Systems, Bigger Potential
Assett Franchise operates in the commercial cleaning industry, so right away it benefits from all the industry advantages we outlined – a $100B+ essential market, recession-resistant demand, recurring contract revenue, and so on. But beyond that, Assett’s model is deliberately engineered to be simple to run and scalable for our franchisees. We like to say we want owners to work on the business, not in it. In practical terms, this means as an Assett franchisee you are an executive, not a janitor. You’re not buying a job where you’ll be mopping floors each night; you’re building a company where your focus is on growth, client relationships, and team management while cleaners handle the day-to-day service work according to bizbuysell.com. Assett is structured as an “Executive Franchise” – you are the single franchise owner in your territory, and you have full control to scale up, hire staff, and expand without restrictive quotas. This contrasts sharply with some cleaning franchises that sell low-cost “unit franchises” (essentially cleaning job packages) with high fees and limited upside. Assett was designed to avoid those pitfalls and give owners the playbook to reach $1M+ in recurring revenue while maintaining a reasonable work-life balance.
The earning potential with Assett is significant. Our founder Matt proved the concept with his own cleaning business: starting from scratch, he grew to over $557,000 in annual recurring revenue within 12 months, and well beyond that in the following year – all while building a team that ran the daily operations. This rapid growth and profitability are what enabled him to turn the system into the Assett franchise offering. Today, we advertise that each Assett franchise territory has “over $1,000,000/year potential” in revenue, and that isn’t just a marketing line – it’s grounded in actual results from our model’s early success. Because we don’t require expensive leases or equipment, the path to hitting that seven-figure revenue mark is more attainable (for example, by signing a few dozen steady commercial contracts). We also do not require prior industry experience – new owners get a full business playbook and training from us on everything from acquiring clients to managing operations. Matt Pencarinha distilled his years of experience (both successes and mistakes) into a proven model so that franchisees can essentially fast-track through the learning curve with a 10-year head start. In short, Assett offers a simpler operational model (no storefront, no daily inventory prep, no fickle customer base) with equal or greater income potential when compared to trendy retail franchises.
Automated Hiring = Time and Money Saved
One of Assett Franchise’s most innovative differentiators is our Automated Hiring System. If you ask any service business owner, they’ll tell you that hiring and retaining employees is the #1 challenge in growing the company. Commercial cleaning traditionally has high turnover and recruiting cleaners can eat up countless hours or require a full-time HR person. Matt recognized this early and, in 2019, developed a proprietary system to streamline and automate the hiring process for cleaners. This system, continually refined over the years, now gives Assett franchisees a huge edge. In fact, our Automated Hiring System saves an owner 20–30 hours per week of personal time that would otherwise be spent posting jobs, screening, interviewing, and onboarding staff. What used to be a constant headache is largely handled by our technology and processes, which reduce the owner’s role to just 2–5 hours per week of involvement in hiring tasks.
Think about what that means: you either save yourself the salary of hiring an HR manager (because the system does the heavy lifting), or you free up dozens of hours in your week that you can now dedicate to signing new contracts and growing revenue. It also means you can scale your workforce quickly without chaos – when you land a big new client, our system helps you efficiently find and onboard the additional cleaners needed to service it. Assett’s franchisees report that this hiring automation leads to better quality teams and lower turnover, because it finds good-fit candidates and sets expectations properly. By having a consistently staffed and trained crew, you keep clients happier (no missed cleanings due to staff shortages) and “keep clients longer”, which boosts your recurring revenue. Overall, this unique system removes what is often the biggest growth bottleneck in cleaning businesses. Assett owners can confidently bid on more contracts knowing the labor side is under control, and they won’t have to personally scramble to fill shifts. In a sense, our automated hiring is like having a 24/7 recruiting department built into your franchise – it’s a modern solution that saves significant time and money, and it’s something you simply won’t find in most other franchise opportunities.
Personalized and Founder-Led
Lastly, when comparing Assett to larger franchise brands, a key difference is the personal touch and leadership accessibility you get with us. Assett Franchise is a family-owned and operated company, not a venture capital or private equity-owned system. Matt Pencarinha, our founder and CEO, remains directly involved in the day-to-day franchise operations and personally invests in the success of each franchisee. When you join Assett, you’re not just a number on a corporate balance sheet; you have direct access to the founder and our core team for mentorship. Franchisees regularly communicate with Matt and benefit from his guidance, which is something that can be rare in franchise systems once they reach a certain size. We purposefully grow with a “people first” mentality – our mission is to help our franchisees build life-changing businesses (as our tagline suggests), and that means fostering a close-knit community where everyone knows each other by name.
Because we’re smaller and mission-driven, we can provide a level of personalized support that big brands often can’t. We tailor coaching to your specific market and challenges, and we celebrate each owner’s milestones as a family would. Assett is also built on strong core values – honesty, partnership, professionalism, and a service mindset – which Matt instilled from his own journey and faith. We’re proud to be headquartered in Asheville, NC, and to grow organically with owners who share our values. This contrasts with many franchise systems that, after rapid expansion, might be sold to investment groups focused purely on financial metrics. With Assett, you can trust that the leadership’s interests are aligned with yours for the long haul. Our community-focused model means we encourage franchisees to build relationships locally (with schools, churches, nonprofits, etc.), reinforcing that our work isn’t just about making money, but also about making a positive impact in communities by providing stable jobs and cleaner, healthier facilities. In summary, if having a personal connection with the franchisor and a say in the franchise family is important to you, Assett offers that in spades. You’ll be working alongside the founder and fellow owners as partners, not just following edicts from a distant corporate office.
Final Thoughts
Both Pure Green and commercial cleaning franchises like Assett have their merits – the right choice depends on your goals and what you want from your business. Pure Green offers a cutting-edge brand in a trendy industry, and it could be a great fit for someone passionate about health food and who enjoys the fast-paced nature of food retail. It has a strong product, solid average revenues, and the excitement of being part of a growing wellness movement. For the right owner – one who maybe wants a hands-on, customer-facing enterprise – Pure Green could indeed be “right for you.”
However, it’s important to honestly consider the trade-offs. Running a juice bar franchise means dealing with retail operations, higher overhead, and the ups and downs of consumer behavior. If you’re the type of buyer who instead prioritizes long-term stability, scalability, and a simpler path to profitability, then Assett Franchise offers more advantages. With Assett, you get a business in an enormous, essential market that provides predictable recurring revenue. You avoid a lot of the operational complexity and risk that come with trendy B2C concepts – there’s no heavy equipment, minimal inventory, and no need to constantly attract foot traffic with marketing gimmicks. Our model is built for executive ownership, meaning you can operate semi-absentee, focus on big-picture growth, and let systems (and your team) handle the daily work. The result is a scalable, stable business that can deliver high income with low risk and a faster ROI. And you do it all while being supported by a founder-led, family-owned franchisor that truly cares about your success.
In the end, the Assett Franchise is a compelling alternative for entrepreneurs who want a cleaner path to business ownership – one that emphasizes low operational complexity, recurring B2B revenue, and a modern support system to eliminate headaches. We acknowledge Pure Green’s strengths for the right owner, but if you’re looking for a scalable, stable business with minimal guesswork, commercial cleaning (and Assett in particular) is hard to beat.
If you’re exploring franchise opportunities and want a model that can deliver long-term income, flexibility, and control — we’d love to show you how Assett Franchise can help you build a business that works for your life. Visit https://assettfranchise.com to connect with our team and learn more.
