Start a Color Glo Franchise in 2025

2025 Franchise 500 Rank: #252 Ranked #229 last year

Initial investment: $63K - $68K

Units as of 2024: 139 0.7% over 3 years

From working on the interiors of cars, boats, and planes to homes, hospitals, and businesses, Color Glo has recolored and repaired damaged leather, vinyl, fabric, carpet, cloth, velour, wood grain, hard plastics, and other items since 1975.

Whether burnt, broken, worn, or faded, Color Glo uses high-quality, water-based, and earth-friendly products to restore and repair damaged interiors of vehicles, airplanes, homes, and workplaces. Color Glo started franchising in the U.S. in 1983 and has since branched out to over 50 countries worldwide, including Canada. There are more than 50 franchises located in the United States, as well as another 50+ internationally.

Why You May Want to Start a Color Glo Franchise

Color Glo built its reputation on a legacy of service to customers, franchisees, and the community. Color Glo expects its franchisees to have the same desire to produce the right results every time.

Opening a Color Glo franchise may offer a more predictable outcome than investing in a completely new brand that could struggle to thrive in an already crowded and competitive industry.

Opening a Color Glo franchise is opening a complete turn-key business. As a turn-key business, this may eliminate the need to find a location, negotiate a lease, and do all the other hard work associated with starting a business from scratch.

What Might Make a Color Glo Franchise a Good Choice?

Color Glo is Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) accepted; owning this franchise may open you to a wide range of clients. You also get exclusive territorial rights, full support, and back-up 24/7 throughout the year. In addition, you'll receive a national or international website for clients, suppliers, and other interested parties that may make it easy to reach you and your franchise.

To be part of the Color Glo team, you should make sure you're financially ready for an initial investment made up of a franchise fee and other startup costs. You should also be prepared for ongoing fees that will include royalty fees. Franchisees will also need to meet the company's set net worth and liquid capital requirements.

How To Open a Color Glo International Franchise

Before making any financial commitment or signing an agreement, you must perform your due diligence and establish if this is the right opportunity for you. As part of your due diligence, you may want to speak to existing franchisees and ask the Color Glo franchising team questions.

Other existing Color Glo franchisees will guide franchisees through the certified Color Glo training program at their facilities. This training takes multiple weeks, is fully paid for by Color Glo, and provides franchisees with first-hand field knowledge.

Franchisees will also receive high-quality equipment and Color Glo's proprietary products to put them on the path to the most possible growth. Ongoing support in advertising, market share development, social media, web design and maintenance, new product development, new techniques, seminars, newsletters, and more are available.

Once you've completed the training, it will be time to glow.

Company Overview

About Color Glo

Industry	Maintenance
Related Categories	Leather & Vinyl Repair, Miscellaneous Home-Improvement Businesses, Restoration Services
Founded	1975
Parent Company	CGI Int'l.
Leadership	Gary Smith, President
Corporate Address	9825-35 W. 74th St. Eden Prairie, MN 55344
Social	Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest

Business Overview

Franchising Since	1983 (42 years)
# of employees at HQ	16
Where seeking	This company is offering new franchises throughout the US. This company is offering new franchises worldwide.
# of Units	139 (as of 2024)

Information for Franchisees

Here's what you need to know if you're interested in opening a Color Glo franchise.

Financial Requirements & Ongoing Fees

Here's what you can expect to spend to start the business and what ongoing fees the franchisor charges throughout the life of the business.

Initial Franchise Fee Definition: The initial fee paid to a franchisor to join their system What you need to know: Found in Item 5 of the FDD, this may be a flat fee, or may vary based on territory size, experience, or other factors.The franchise fee is an up-front (one-time) cost that a new franchisee pays to the franchisor. This fee is usually due at the signing of the franchise agreement and covers the right to use the franchisor's trademarks, name, and related business systems.	$40,000
Initial Investment Definition: The total amount necessary to begin operation of the franchise What you need to know: The initial investment includes the franchise fee, along with other startup expenses such as real estate, equipment, supplies, business licenses, and working capital. This is outlined in a chart in Item 7 of the FDD, showing a range of possible costs from low to high.	$63,300 - $68,375
Net Worth Requirement Definition: The minimum net worth you must have in order to qualify to become a franchisee of this company What you need to know: Net worth is the value of a person's assets minus liabilities. Assets include cash, stocks, retirement accounts, and real estate. Liabilities include items like mortgages, car payments, and credit card debt.	$50,000
Cash Requirement Definition: The minimum liquid capital you must have available in order to qualify to become a franchisee of this company.	$50,000
Veteran Incentives Definition: A discount or other incentive offered to military veterans who buy a franchise with this company.	10% off franchise fee
Royalty Fee Definition: A ongoing fee paid to the franchisor on a regular basis. What you need to know: Most franchisors require franchisees to pay an ongoing royalty fee, which is detailed in Item 6 of the FDD. This fee is typically a percentage of weekly or monthly gross sales, but may also be a flat weekly, monthly, or annual fee.	4%+
Term of Agreement Definition: The length of time your franchise agreement will last. What you need to know: Franchise terms are typically anywhere from 5 to 20 years in length, but are sometimes instead dependent on factors such as the term of your lease. Once your term is up, you may have the option to renew your agreement, typically for a smaller fee than the original franchise fee.	10 years
Is franchise term renewable?	Yes

Financing Options

Some franchisors offer in-house financing, while others have relationships with third-party financing sources to which they refer qualified franchisees.

In-House Financing	Color Glo offers in-house financing to cover the following: equipment, inventory
Third Party Financing	Color Glo has relationships with third-party sources which offer financing to cover the following: franchise fee, startup costs, accounts receivable, payroll

Training & Support Offered

Franchisors offer initial training programs and a variety of ongoing support options to help franchisees run their businesses.

On-The-Job Training	40 hours
Classroom Training	80 hours
Ongoing Support	Purchasing Co-ops Newsletter Meetings & Conventions Toll-Free Line Grand Opening Online Support Security & Safety Procedures Field Operations Proprietary Software Franchisee Intranet Platform
Marketing Support	Co-op Advertising Ad Templates National Media Regional Advertising Social Media SEO Website Development Email Marketing Loyalty Program/App

Operations

Additional details about running this franchise.

Is absentee ownership allowed?	No
Can this franchise be run from home/mobile unit? Definition: The business can be run from your home and/or a vehicle, and it is not necessary to have a retail facility, office space, or warehouse.	Yes
Can this franchise be run part time? Definition: This business can be run by the owner on a part-time basis (less than 40 hours per week) and/or as a side business; it is not necessary for the business to be open/run full-time.	No
# of employees required to run	-5
Are exclusive territories available? Definition: An exclusive territory is a fixed area in which you are given the right to operate and in which no other units of the same franchise may be opened. What you need to know: Territory size may be based on factors such as radius, population size, zip codes, and more. Details can be found in Item 12 of the FDD.	Yes