Bottom line
- Total investment $222K – $283K including a $47K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $284K/year (median $260K).
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 44/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 10 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
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 BARKSUDS unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
22%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 BARKSUDS units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$796K
on $4.0M purchase
Total debt
$3.2M
SBA $2.0M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
BARKSUDS appears to be a mobile or location-based dog grooming franchise. Franchisees operate grooming services—bathing, styling, nail care, and related pet hygiene services—either from a salon unit or mobile grooming vehicle. Day-to-day operations include scheduling appointments, performing grooming services, managing pet health/safety protocols, and handling customer relations.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
Item 19
Financial Performance
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 7 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).
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.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Early-stage pet grooming franchise with undisclosed unit economics, regulatory compliance history, and insufficient scale to validate the business model viability.
Score breakdown · what drove the 44 / 100 rating
- 01MEDNet income not disclosed despite $284K average revenue — inability or unwillingness to demonstrate profitability raises earnings claim concerns
- 02MINOR2024 Virginia regulatory investigation and settlement indicates compliance issues with franchise disclosure laws
- 03MINOR14-unit system is extremely small; 120% YoY growth from tiny base is mathematically easy but operationally unproven at scale
- 04MINOR6% royalty on gross sales (not net) is high-end for pet services and compounds if profitability is marginal
- 05MINOR$222K-$283K investment with $46.5K franchise fee is material commitment for unverified income potential
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
Item 11
Training & Operations
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
22 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
BARKSUDS · FDD (2025) PDF