FranchiseVerdict
BIG BLUE SWIM SCHOOL logo
FV-00298·STRONGExcellent81

Big Blue Swim School

Education - Tutoring & Test PrepFranchising since 2018Website
Investment
$2.1M – $3.8M
100th pct Tutoring & Te…
Avg revenue
55th pct Tutoring & Te…
Royalty
6.0%
3rd pct Tutoring & Te…
Units
42
57th pct Tutoring & Te…
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $2.1M – $3.8M including a $50K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated STRONG with a risk score of 54/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 48 loans (below the industry average).
  • System growing at 228.6% CAGR over 3 years with 42 total units — strong expansion trajectory.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Big Blue Swim School Franchising, LLC
Parent company
Big Blue Swim School Investment Holdings, LLC
Incorporated in
Illinois
HQ
112 Krog Street NE, Suite D-135, Atlanta, Georgia 30307
Auditor
Citrin Cooperman & Company, LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$4.4M
vs $5.8M prior year

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 BIG BLUE SWIM SCHOOL unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
Item 19 not disclosed — typing your own estimate
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: education
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $2.1M–$3.8M
Working capital
$
FDD reports $55K–$145K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

4%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$113K
EBITDA margin
15.0%
Total invested
$3.0M
Payback
324 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.

Overview

About

Franchisees operate swim schools delivering swimming and water safety instruction to children and adults. Day-to-day operations include managing instructors, scheduling classes across multiple pool times, maintaining customer relationships, handling facility logistics, and ensuring compliance with health/safety standards.

CEO
Brandon Bean
Founded
2018
FDD year
2025
States available
13

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$2.1M – $3.8M
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$55K – $145K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$50K
Royalty
6.0%
Gross Revenue · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
2.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
10.0%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

This franchisor did not disclose financial performance representations in Item 19, or our extractor could not parse them.

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
42
Opened
8
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Turnover rate
0.0%
Company-owned
19
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
55%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
+53.3%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
Outlier (see FDD)
Likely small-sample artifact
2023
23+8
Franchised units
2024
15
Franchised units
2025
7
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 19 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 · 19 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
48
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

54
Risk · 0-100
STRONG54 / 100

High capital requirement combined with undisclosed unit economics, explosive growth rate, and franchisor financial concerns create substantial risk without transparent profitability data.

Score breakdown · what drove the 54 / 100 rating

  1. 01MEDFinancial performance metrics (avg revenue and net income) not disclosed in FDD Item 19 — prevents ROI validation
  2. 02MEDHigh initial investment ($2.1M–$3.8M) with no disclosed average unit volumes to justify capital requirement
  3. 03MINORRapid unit growth of 53.3% YoY raises sustainability and quality control concerns — typical of aggressive recruitment over profitability
  4. 04HIGHGoing concern status is False — suggests potential financial instability or recent restructuring at franchisor level
  5. 05MINOR6% royalty on gross revenue (not net) is problematic for low-margin or seasonal swim school operations
  6. 06MED42 total units is a small system with limited track record and operational maturity

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Drive time
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
10 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
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Required
Governing law
Georgia

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
73 hrs
On-the-job training
57 hrs
POS system
LESSONBuddy
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

39 numbers

Locked
(385) 509-••••
UT
(201) 469-••••
NJ
(213) 268-••••
CA

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

BIG BLUE SWIM SCHOOL · FDD (2025) PDF

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