FranchiseVerdict
Blowfish Poke logo
FV-00329·MODERATEExcellent91

Blowfish Poke

Food & Beverage - Full ServiceFranchising since 2025Website
Investment
$123K – $339K
8th pct Full Service
Avg revenue
$293K
2nd pct Full Service
Royalty
6.0%
54th pct Full Service
Units
5
26th pct Full Service
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $123K – $339K including a $35K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
  • Average unit revenue of $293K/year (median $262K).
  • Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 55/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 4 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
Blowfish Franchise LLC
Incorporated in
Maryland
HQ
12175 Clarksville Pike, Suite 206, Clarksville, MD 21029
Auditor
SMITH, BUZZI & ASSOCIATES, LLC
Audited financials
⚠ 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 Blowfish Poke unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
FDD Item 19 reports $292,760
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: generic
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $123K–$339K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $10K–$40K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

19%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$50K
EBITDA margin
17.0%
Total invested
$256K
Payback
62 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 Blowfish Poke 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

$586K

on $2.9M purchase

Total debt

$2.3M

SBA $1.5M + senior + seller note

Overview

About

Franchisees operate fast-casual poke bowl restaurants or mobile food truck/trailer concepts, preparing and selling fresh raw fish bowls with customizable toppings and sauces. Daily operations include inventory management, food prep, customer service, staffing, and point-of-sale management across either brick-and-mortar locations or mobile routes.

CEO
Jennie Kwon
Founded
2024
FDD year
2025
States available
2

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$123K – $339K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$10K – $40K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$35K
Royalty
6.0%
percentage of gross revenue · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
0.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
6.0%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

Avg gross sales
$293K
Per unit, per year
Median gross sales
$262K
Item 19 type
Historic Financial Performance Representation
Sample size
5 units
vs category median 15 · small
Range (low → high)
$83K$571K
Cohort dispersion
Transparency
4 / 5
vs category median 4 / 5 · typical
Revenue rank2th
vs Food & Beverage - Full Service peers
Investment cost rank8th
Lower investment ranks lower (better)
Royalty rate rank54th
Lower royalty = lower percentile (better)
Unit count rank26th
vs Food & Beverage - Full Service peers
Risk score rank30th
Lower risk = lower percentile (better)

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
5
Opened
0
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Turnover rate
0.0%
Company-owned
5
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
0%
vs corporate-owned
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 · 16 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 · 16 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
4
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

55
Risk · 0-100
MODERATE55 / 100

Blowfish Poke presents elevated risk due to an underdeveloped franchise system (5 units), missing profitability disclosures, and unvalidated financial performance claims despite moderate investment requirements.

Score breakdown · what drove the 55 / 100 rating

  1. 01MEDOnly 5 units system-wide indicates extremely limited operating history and unproven scalability model
  2. 02MEDNet income not disclosed despite average revenue of $292,760 — inability or unwillingness to share profitability metrics is a major transparency concern
  3. 03MINORWide investment range ($122,750–$338,750) with unclear cost drivers suggests inconsistent unit economics or hidden variables
  4. 04MEDNo disclosed growth trajectory for the 5-unit system raises questions about franchise appeal and unit economics viability
  5. 05MINORItem 19 financial performance representations absent — cannot validate that $292,760 average is achievable or sustainable for new franchisees

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 (Brick and Mortar) or Population (Food Truck)
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
Optional
Governing law
Maryland

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
31 hrs
On-the-job training
92 hrs
POS system
Clover POS
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

17 numbers

Locked
(518) 473-••••
NY
(517) 373-••••
MI
(701) 328-••••
ND

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Blowfish Poke · FDD (2025) PDF

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