FranchiseVerdict
BAKE CHEESE TART logo
FV-00228·STRONGExcellent86

Bake Cheese Tart

Food & Beverage - BakeryFranchising since 2018Website
Investment
$206K – $440K
36th pct Bakery
Avg revenue
$771K
26th pct Bakery
Royalty
5.0%
4th pct Bakery
Units
1
2nd pct Bakery
SBA default

Bottom line

  • Total investment $206K – $440K including a $40K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
  • Average unit revenue of $771K/year.
  • Rated STRONG with a risk score of 53/100.
  • Auditor disclosed a going-concern note — flagged doubt about the franchisor's ability to continue operations. Verify against the latest FDD.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
BAKE FRANCHISE, INC.
Parent company
BAKE USA, Inc.
Incorporated in
California
HQ
10250 SANTA MONICA BLVD, SUITE 2900, LOS ANGELES, CA 90067
Auditor
SCHILD & CO., INC.
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$0
vs $0 prior year
⚠ Going-concern note
Disclosed in FDD 2025
Auditor flagged doubt about continued operations. Verify against the latest FDD before deciding.

Yale framework · single-unit ROIC

Returns Analysis

Pulls Item 7 (investment) and Item 19 (revenue) from this brand's FDD into the Yale unlevered-ROIC formula. Override any input to stress-test it against your own assumptions.

The model · Yale framework

What would one BAKE CHEESE TART unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
FDD Item 19 reports $771,069
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: restaurant
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $206K–$440K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $9K–$15K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

28%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$93K
EBITDA margin
12.0%
Total invested
$335K
Payback
43 mo
Unit-level only. A multi-unit portfolio gives up roughly 5–15% of this to shared services (corporate G&A) before reaching the ~10-unit break-even Yale describes.

Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing

What would 25 BAKE CHEESE TART units return on equity?

Edit assumptions

Equity IRR · 5-yr

49.9%

7.57× MOIC

Year-1 DSCR

1.88×

EBITDA ÷ debt service

Equity required

$771K

on $3.9M purchase

Total debt

$3.1M

SBA $1.9M + senior + seller note

Overview

About

Franchisees operate retail bakery/café locations specializing in Japanese-style cheese tarts and baked goods, managing daily production, food safety compliance, POS operations, and customer service. Day-to-day responsibilities include inventory management, staff scheduling, food preparation/quality control, and retail sales in a fast-casual or quick-service format.

CEO
Hidekazu Kasai
Founded
2018
FDD year
2025
States available
1

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$206K – $440K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$9K – $15K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$40K
Royalty
5.0%
Gross Revenues · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
1.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
6.0%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

Avg gross sales
$771K
Per unit, per year
Median gross sales
Item 19 type
Company-owned
Sample size
1 units
vs category median 23 · small
Range (low → high)
$630K$967K
Cohort dispersion
Transparency
6 / 5
vs category median 4 / 5 · above
Revenue rank26th
vs Food & Beverage - Bakery peers
Investment cost rank36th
Lower investment ranks lower (better)
Royalty rate rank4th
Lower royalty = lower percentile (better)
Unit count rank2th
vs Food & Beverage - Bakery peers
Risk score rank34th
Lower risk = lower percentile (better)

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
1
Opened
0
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Turnover rate
0.0%
Company-owned
1
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
0%
vs corporate-owned
Multi-unit owners
4.3%
2023
0±0
Franchised units
2024
0
Franchised units
2025
0
Franchised units

Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.

Item 20 · 4 states with active franchisees

The Territory Map

Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator — not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).

AK
ME
VT
NH
MA
RI
CT
NY
NJ
PA
DE
MD
DC
WA
OR
CA
NV
ID
MT
WY
UT
CO
AZ
NM
ND
SD
NE
KS
OK
TX
MN
IA
MO
AR
LA
WI
IL
MS
TN
MI
IN
KY
AL
OH
WV
GA
VA
NC
SC
FL
HI
Registered · 4 states
Not registered

States derived from franchisee phone area codes (Item 20). Approximate — ported numbers may show the original state, not the franchisee's current location.

Government records

SBA Loan Data

Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.

No SBA loan data available for this brand.

FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17

Risk & Legal

53
Risk · 0-100
STRONG53 / 100

Extremely limited franchisee base (1 unit) combined with undisclosed net income and wide investment range creates significant due diligence gaps and unproven franchise economics.

Score breakdown · what drove the 53 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINOROnly 1 franchised unit reported — indicates minimal system growth and unproven franchise model scalability
  2. 02MEDNet income not disclosed in FDD Item 19 — impossible to assess actual profitability or validate $771k average revenue claim
  3. 03MEDHigh initial investment range ($205k-$440k) relative to disclosed average revenue with unknown profit margins creates ROI uncertainty
  4. 04MINOR5% royalty on gross revenues (not net) is favorable, but lacks transparency on actual franchisee take-home after CoGS and labor
  5. 05MINORSingle unit makes validation nearly impossible — cannot compare performance across multiple locations or market conditions

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Radius or defined geographical area
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
10 years
Online sales rights
Granted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
0
Right of first refusal
Yes
Franchisor can buy back on resale
Mandatory arbitration
Yes
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Optional
Governing law
California

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
11 hrs
On-the-job training
44 hrs

Item 20

Franchisee Contacts

Phone numbers extracted directly from this brand's FDD Item 20. After purchase, you'll also receive a list of validation questions tailored to this brand.

Franchisee contacts

4 numbers

Locked
(360) 902-••••
WA
(916) 445-••••
CA
(517) 373-••••
MI

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

BAKE CHEESE TART · FDD (2025) PDF

Single-page checkout · instant download · CSV export of contacts available separately above