Bottom line
- Total investment $3.4M – $5.8M including a $50K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $2.9M/year (median $2.7M). Estimated payback in 18.4 years.
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 55/100.
- 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 BrewDog unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
10%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 BrewDog units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
26.1%
3.19× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
3.17×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$15.1M
on $28.8M purchase
Total debt
$13.6M
SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Franchisees operate BrewDog branded gastropubs combining craft beer service with food operations. Day-to-day involves managing on-premise beverage and dining service, staff scheduling, inventory management, maintaining brand standards, and driving local marketing within protected territory.
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 · 14 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.
No SBA loan data available for this brand.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
BrewDog's micro-franchise network (8 units), modest unit economics, and thin profit margins present execution risk despite protected territories and no litigation.
Score breakdown · what drove the 55 / 100 rating
- 01MEDOnly 8 units system-wide with unknown growth trajectory suggests limited proven scalability and potential contraction risk
- 02MINORNet profit margin of 8.6% ($248,068 on $2.87M revenue) is thin for hospitality, leaving minimal buffer for underperformance or economic downturns
- 03MINORHigh initial investment ($3.4M-$5.75M) relative to modest average net income creates extended payback period (13-23 years)
- 04MINORRoyalty structure of 5% on total receipts (not net profit) provides BrewDog recurring revenue while franchisee bears operational risk
- 05MINORExtremely small unit count (8) raises questions about viability of support infrastructure, supply chain leverage, and brand leverage
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
15 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
BrewDog · FDD (2024) PDF