In this FDD Talk post, you’ll learn the following:
- Section I – Background information on the Card My Yard franchise opportunity, including relevant news updates
- Section II – Estimated initial investment for a Card My Yard franchise, based on Item 7 of the company’s 2020 FDD
- Section III – Initial franchise fee, royalty fee, marketing fee, and other fees for a Card My Yard franchise, based on Items 5 and 6 of the company’s 2020 FDD
- Section IV – Number of franchised and company-owned Card My Yard outlets at the start of the year and the end of the year for 2017, 2018, and 2019, based on Item 20 of the company’s 2020 FDD
- Section V – Presentation and analysis of Card My Yard’s financial performance representations, based on Item 19 of the company’s 2020 FDD, including information on the:
- 2019 gross sales and number of orders for each of the two company-owned Card My Yard businesses (Austin and Leander, Texas) that were open and operating as of December 31, 2019 and were in operation for the full 12 months from January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2019
- 2019 average, median, highest, and lowest gross sales and number of orders for the top 33%, middle 33%, bottom 33%, and all 92 franchised Card My Yard businesses that were open and operating as of December 31, 2019 and were in operation for the full 12 months from January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2019
Section I – Background Information
17 Things You Need to Know About the Card My Yard Franchise
Sees Monumental Growth Amid Ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic
1. As businesses across the U.S. experience layoffs, furloughs, and closures as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, sales have skyrocketed for one small and perhaps surprising segment: the yard greeting company. “It’s been a crazy year for us,” said James Stanley, who co-founded Card My Yard in Austin with his wife, Jessica Stanley, and their friends, Amy and Josh Arnold. “It’s been monumental growth.”
2. As people have in recent months looked for safe, socially distanced ways to celebrate milestones because of the coronavirus pandemic, Card My Yard has seen its gross volume increase across the franchise by more than 400%. During the first six months of 2020, Card My Yard made nearly $8 million in gross sales and fulfilled more than 65,000 orders across the United States. In the first six months of 2019, the company had made $1.5 million and fulfilled 14,000 orders.
3. Card My Yard co-founder Amy Arnold said, “I love getting to be a light in the darkness. There are people who are uncertain, who are scared, who don’t know how to celebrate, and we are there to help them. We will come do all the work for them, we will bring joy to their front yard. That keeps us going.”
4. On top of its traditional greetings, Card My Yard has added new, quarantine-themed graphics, such as toilet paper, emojis wearing masks, and bottles of hand sanitizer. In addition to its yard displays, Card My Yard also has provided greetings to hospitals and retirement homes that are prohibiting visitors.
5. Jessica Stanley recalled receiving a heartfelt call from a retirement home resident who received a Card My Yard greeting for his 100th birthday. “Amy and I texted each other, both crying,” Jessica Stanley said. “It was just the sweetest thing to hear these people still feel celebrated and loved when nobody could come and visit them. We love what we get to do.”
6. “During this pandemic we consistently get calls from our franchise owners that say, ‘You don’t know what a blessing this business has been to our family. It has sustained us through this hard time of my husband’s job loss,’” Jessica Stanley said. “That is something we don’t take lightly, that brings us so much joy, to know that we’ve created something that allows families to have additional income and be able to sustain their lifestyle through something like COVID.”
7. James Stanley said the Card My Yard co-founders were initially concerned about the effect of the pandemic on their business. “We thought, let’s just see what happens in the next two weeks, three weeks,” he said. “My hope was that we would stay where we were. My worry was that we would fall off.”
8. After a few slow days in mid-March, Card My Yard sent a well-timed email reminding customers that it’s a socially distant business and that yard greetings are a way to “spread joy, not germs.” Orders began to roll in. “All of our locations are essentially sold out every night,” Josh Arnold said. “We are adding new locations as fast as we can add them.”
9. James Stanley said he’s optimistic that Card My Yard will continue to see steady growth. He said, “The concept now, because of COVID, is well-established. The population of the U.S. is somewhere around 350 million. That’s nearly a million birthdays a night. We’re a fraction of that. That’s a lot of birthdays to celebrate and a lot of joy to spread. Right now, more than ever, people want that.”
Celebrates 5th Anniversary
10. At the beginning of November 2019, Card My Yard celebrated its 5th anniversary. Since launching in 2014 under the guidance of co-founders Amy Arnold and Jessica Stanley, the company has seen five years of continued growth and reached major milestones on its mission to serve joy in every community across the United States. At the time of the announcement, Card My Yard had over 150 franchisees operating in 32 states and had plans to open another 50 locations within the next 12 months.
11. Amy Arnold, co-founder of Card My Yard, said, “Spreading joy is what we get to do everyday. Card My Yard exists to serve our communities and to partner with local organizations to help them celebrate. As the premier yard greeting company, we strive to grow and expand while serving the needs of our customers.”
12. This news comes in the wake of many recent accomplishments and initiatives of the company, including:
- Launching CMY Cares, a platform to model and encourage franchisees to give back to their communities;
- Delivering its 50,000th yard greeting;
- Surpassing $2M in annual revenue;
- Opening its first location in California.
13. Jessica Stanley, co-founder of Card My Yard, added, “Our growth as a company has been a true blessing for us and our families, and we are so thankful for the support and love from our neighbors, friends, customers, and community.”
Company History
14. Card My Yard was founded in 2014 by Amy Arnold, Jessica Stanley, and their husbands in Austin, Texas. The brand says that it is the original yard greeting card service. Arnold and Stanley said that they started Card My Yard as a way to spread joy to their community.
15. Rather than sending a card through the mail, customers order custom yard greeting signs from Card My Yard to be delivered and set up in the recipients’ yards with a personalized touch in celebration of the important moments in the lives of their family, friends, and neighbors.
16. The Card My Yard concept was an instant success and the Arnolds and Stanleys began franchising the concept. By 2019, Card My Yard had grown to 150 franchises across 32 states. Today, there are Card My Yard locations all across the U.S.
Entrepreneur’s Franchise 500
17. Card My Yard did not rank on Entrepreneur’s 2020 Franchise 500 list.
Section II – Estimated Costs
- Please click here for detailed estimates of Card My Yard franchise costs, based on Item 7 of the company’s 2020 FDD.
Section III – Initial Franchise Fee, Royalty Fee, Marketing Fee, and Other Fees
- Please click here for detailed information on Card My Yard’s initial franchise fee, royalty fee, marketing fee, and other fees, based on Items 5 and 6 of the company’s 2020 FDD.
Section IV – Number of Franchised and Company-Owned Outlets
Franchised
2017
- Outlets at the Start of the Year: 0
- Outlets at the End of the Year: 64
- Net Change: +64
2018
- Outlets at the Start of the Year: 64
- Outlets at the End of the Year: 92
- Net Change: +28
2019
- Outlets at the Start of the Year: 92
- Outlets at the End of the Year: 150
- Net Change: +58
Company-Owned
2017
- Outlets at the Start of the Year: 2
- Outlets at the End of the Year: 3
- Net Change: +1
2018
- Outlets at the Start of the Year: 3
- Outlets at the End of the Year: 2
- Net Change: -1
2019
- Outlets at the Start of the Year: 2
- Outlets at the End of the Year: 2
- Net Change: 0
Section V – Financial Performance Representations (Item 19, 2020 FDD) and Analysis
- The following tables present historic gross sales and total order information for calendar year 2019 for each of the 92 franchised Card My Yard businesses and two company-owned Card My Yard businesses that were open and operating as of December 31, 2019 and were in operation for the full 12 months from January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2019 (the “Reporting Period”).
- Card My Yard had a total of 92 franchised Card My Yard Businesses operating as of the beginning of the Reporting Period. One franchised location (McAlester, Oklahoma) opened in March 2019 and was terminated in November 2019, so that location was excluded from this Item 19 along with all other locations that opened after January 1, 2019.
- The first table below shows the 2019 results of the two company-owned Card My Yard businesses that were in operation throughout the entire Reporting Period, each of which is owned and operated by Card My Yard’s affiliate, Card My Yard, LLC.
- The second table below shows the 2019 results for the 92 franchised Card My Yard businesses that were in operation throughout the entire Reporting Period.
- Card My Yard had 152 total Card My Yard Businesses (two company-owned and 150 franchised) open and operating as of December 31, 2019, but only 94 of those businesses (two company-owned and 92 franchised) began operating on or before January 1, 2019. Card My Yard businesses that were open for less than 12 months as of December 31, 2019 have been excluded from this Item 19 due to their limited operating history.
- The information listed below is limited to gross sales and total orders generated during the Reporting Period.
- The financial information below is from the unaudited books and records of Card My Yard’s affiliate and franchisees. This information has not been independently audited.
- Some outlets have earned this amount. Your individual results may differ. There is no assurance that you’ll earn as much.
Part 1 – Gross Sales and Total Orders in 2019 for Company-Owned Locations Operating as of December 31, 2019
Austin, Texas
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