Sunbelt

Founded: 1979 Franchising since: 1993
Sunbelt Business Brokers was founded in 1979 in Charleston, South Carolina. It began franchising in 1993 and has more than 180 franchises throughout the United States and internationally. The company is still based in Charleston.

7100 E. Pleasant Valley Rd., #300 Independence, Ohio 44131

Phone: (877)392-6278

Franchisor has 40 employee(s); 8 employee(s) in franchise department.

Franchise Growth

Year	U.S. Franchises	Canadian Franchises	Foreign Franchises	Company Owned
2008	224	28	66	0
2007	244	15	66	0
2006	241	14	40	0
2005	365	11	29	0

Where Seeking Franchisees
In the U.S. Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North carolina, North dakota, New hampshire, New jersey, New mexico, Nevada, New york, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode island, South carolina, South dakota, Tennessee, Texas, United states, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, West virginia, Wyoming
Worldwide

Exclusive territories available.
Territory size: 100,000/500,000 population

Total investment: $48.7K-111K Franchise fee: $27.5K/35K

Ongoing royalty fee: $525-725/mo. Term of agreement: 10 years, renewable

Type of Financing Available

	In-House	Third Party
Franchise Fee	Yes	Yes
Startup Costs	No	No
Equipment	No	No
Inventory	No	No
Accounts Receivable	No	No
Payroll	No	No

Third-party financing source(s): various lenders

Qualifications
Net worth requirement: $150K
Cash liquidity requirement: $25K
Business Experience:

• General business experience

Operations

• 18% of all franchisees own more than one unit
• Number of employees needed to run franchised unit: 2 - 5
• Absentee ownership of franchise is NOT allowed. (100% of current franchisees are owner/operators)

Training

• Available at headquarters: 1 week
• Regional training

Ongoing Support

• Newsletter
• Meetings
• Toll-free phone line
• Internet
• Purchasing cooperatives

Marketing Support

• Co-op advertising
• Ad slicks
• National media

Other marketing support

• Centralized PR services

Franchise 500® rank:
#367 (2008); #472 (2007); #436 (2006); #129 (2005);

Low-Cost Franchises:
#88 (2008);

America's Top Global Franchises:
#160 (2008); #102 (2005);