FranchiseVerdict
Bar-B-Clean logo
FV-00237·STRONGExcellent95

Bar-B-Clean

Formerly known as BFI

Cleaning - Commercial & JanitorialFranchising since 2013Website
Investment
$78K – $99K
30th pct Commercial & …
Avg revenue
$416K
17th pct Commercial & …
Royalty
Units
29
36th pct Commercial & …
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $78K – $99K including a $50K franchise fee.
  • Average unit revenue of $416K/year (median $373K). Estimated payback in 0.6 years.
  • Rated STRONG with a risk score of 24/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 27 loans (below the industry average).
  • 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
Bar-B-Clean Franchising Inc.
Incorporated in
California
HQ
5390 Los Monteros, Yorba Linda, California 92887
Auditor
Suchan & Associates
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$119K
vs $336K prior year
⚠ Going-concern note
Disclosed in FDD 2024
Status as of 2024; may have been resolved in a later filing we don't yet have.

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 Bar-B-Clean unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
FDD Item 19 reports $415,708
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: restoration
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $78K–$99K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $8K–$13K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

46%

In Yale's "attractive" band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$46K
EBITDA margin
11.0%
Total invested
$99K
Payback
26 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 Bar-B-Clean 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

$333K

on $1.7M purchase

Total debt

$1.3M

SBA $0.8M + senior + seller note

Overview

About

Bar-B-Clean operates commercial barbecue equipment cleaning and restoration services for restaurants, catering companies, and food service establishments. Franchisees manage scheduling, client relationships, perform on-site deep cleaning using specialized equipment and chemicals, and handle invoicing for their protected territory.

CEO
Bryan Weinstein
Founded
2012
FDD year
2024
States available
8

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$78K – $99K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$8K – $13K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$50K
Royalty
greater of 6% of monthly Gross Revenue or $500 per month
Ad fund
2.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
8.0%
vs 9–13% typical
Payback period
0.6 yrs
From v3 / Item 19

Item 19

Financial Performance

Avg gross sales
$416K
Per unit, per year
Median gross sales
$373K
Item 19 type
Gross Revenue and Adjusted Earnings
Sample size
5 units
vs category median 32 · small
Range (low → high)
$254K$814K
Cohort dispersion
Transparency
10 / 5
vs category median 4 / 5 · above
Revenue rank17th
vs Cleaning - Commercial & Janitorial peers
Investment cost rank30th
Lower investment ranks lower (better)
Royalty rate rank66th
Lower royalty = lower percentile (better)
Unit count rank36th
vs Cleaning - Commercial & Janitorial peers
Risk score rank1th
Lower risk = lower percentile (better)

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
29
Opened
9
Last reporting year
Closed
4
Turnover rate
13.8%
Company-owned
1
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
97%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
+21.7%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+21.7%
Compounded over last 3 years
2022
28+5
Franchised units
2023
23
Franchised units
2024
23
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 24 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
Available · 24 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.

Total loans
27
Loan volume
Avg loan
Default rate
0.0%
vs <3% typical · system-wide
5-yr default

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

Risk & Legal

24
Risk · 0-100
STRONG24 / 100

Emerging franchise with unverified financial claims, high upfront costs relative to investment, and aggressive royalty minimums that pressure unit-level economics.

Score breakdown · what drove the 24 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINORHigh franchise fee ($49,500) represents 63% of total investment, limiting working capital flexibility
  2. 02MINORMinimum royalty floor of $500/month ($6,000 annually) creates break-even pressure for underperforming units
  3. 03MEDOnly 29 units with 21.7% YoY growth suggests emerging brand with limited operational track record and scale
  4. 04MEDNo Item 19 financial performance representations disclosed — cannot independently verify $415k revenue and $139k net income claims
  5. 05MINORAggressive royalty structure (greater of 6% or $500) means franchisees earning <$83,333 monthly revenue pay effective rate >7.2%

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/Household count
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
5 years
Online sales rights
Restricted
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
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
1 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Required
Governing law
California

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
4 hrs
On-the-job training
12 hrs
POS system
CRM
Operating tech stack

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

41 numbers

Locked
(818) 987-••••
CA
(541) 390-••••
OR
(212) 416-••••
NY

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Bar-B-Clean · FDD (2024) PDF

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