Black Bear Diner
Bottom line
- Total investment $1.5M – $2.3M including a $55K franchise fee, 4.5% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $2.8M/year (median $2.7M). Estimated payback in 5.4 years.
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 47/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 10 loans (below the industry average).
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 Black Bear Diner unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
24%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Black Bear Diner units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
26.0%
3.17× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
3.20×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$15.6M
on $29.4M purchase
Total debt
$13.8M
SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Black Bear Diner franchisees operate full-service casual dining establishments serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner to families and local communities. Day-to-day operations include managing kitchen and front-of-house staff, sourcing food inventory, maintaining diner-style hospitality standards, and driving customer traffic through local marketing and community engagement.
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 · 18 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
Black Bear Diner presents moderate-to-cautious risk: stagnant unit growth, lack of financial disclosure documentation, and high capital requirements in a challenged dining category warrant careful validation before investment.
Score breakdown · what drove the 47 / 100 rating
- 01MINORStagnant unit growth of only 1.1% YoY indicates mature/declining system despite 162 units
- 02HIGHNo Item 19 financial performance representation (Going Concern: False) limits ability to verify $360k avg net income claim
- 03MINORHigh capital requirement ($1.5M–$2.3M) with modest 23% net margin creates long payback period and capital risk
- 04MINOR4.5% royalty on $2.8M average revenue = ~$126k annual fee is material cost burden
- 05MINORMature casual dining segment facing secular headwinds from labor costs and consumer spending shifts
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
84 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Black Bear Diner · FDD (2025) PDF