FranchiseVerdict
Celebree School logo
FV-00483·STRONGExcellent95

Celebree School

Education - Children's ProgramsFranchising since 2018Website
Investment
$838K – $3.0M
83rd pct Children's Pr…
Avg revenue
$1.7M
53rd pct Children's Pr…
Royalty
7.0%
29th pct Children's Pr…
Units
46
74th pct Children's Pr…
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $838K – $3.0M including a $75K franchise fee, 7.0% ongoing royalty.
  • Average unit revenue of $1.7M/year (median $1.6M). Estimated payback in 7.2 years.
  • Rated STRONG with a risk score of 44/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 86 loans (below the industry average).
  • System growing at 566.7% CAGR over 3 years with 46 total units — strong expansion trajectory.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Celebree Enterprises, LLC
Incorporated in
Maryland
HQ
8029 Corporate Drive, Nottingham, Maryland 21236
Auditor
EisnerAmper LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$1.2M
vs $2.8M 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 Celebree School unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
FDD Item 19 reports $1,726,043
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: $838K–$3.0M
Working capital
$
FDD reports $175K–$250K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

11%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$242K
EBITDA margin
14.0%
Total invested
$2.1M
Payback
106 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 Celebree School units return on equity?

Edit assumptions

Equity IRR · 5-yr

40.3%

5.44× MOIC

Year-1 DSCR

2.11×

EBITDA ÷ debt service

Equity required

$3.5M

on $12.1M purchase

Total debt

$8.6M

SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note

SBA 7(a) request ($6.0M) exceeds the $5M program cap. Excess capped automatically; backfill via conventional or equity.

Overview

About

Celebree School franchisees operate early childhood education and care centers serving infants through preschool-age children. Daily operations include classroom instruction, curriculum implementation, staff management, parent communication, facility maintenance, and regulatory compliance with childcare licensing standards. Revenue derives from tuition fees, with potential ancillary services like extended hours or summer camps.

CEO
Richard Huffman
Founded
2018
FDD year
2024
States available
4

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$838K – $3.0M
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$175K – $250K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$75K
Royalty
7.0%
Net Revenues · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
2.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
9.0%
vs 9–13% typical
Payback period
7.2 yrs
From v3 / Item 19

Item 19

Financial Performance

Avg gross sales
$1.7M
Per unit, per year
Median gross sales
$1.6M
Item 19 type
Average for 13 franchised schools
Sample size
13 units
vs category median 16
Range (low → high)
$820K$3.7M
Cohort dispersion
Transparency
8 / 5
vs category median 4 / 5 · above
Revenue rank53th
vs Education - Children's Programs peers
Investment cost rank83th
Lower investment ranks lower (better)
Royalty rate rank29th
Lower royalty = lower percentile (better)
Unit count rank74th
vs Education - Children's Programs peers
Risk score rank3th
Lower risk = lower percentile (better)

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
46
Opened
7
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Turnover rate
0.0%
Company-owned
26
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
44%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
+53.8%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
Outlier (see FDD)
Likely small-sample artifact
2022
20+7
Franchised units
2023
13
Franchised units
2024
3
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
86
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

44
Risk · 0-100
STRONG44 / 100

Rapid expansion with unvalidated unit economics and limited financial transparency creates execution risk despite absence of litigation.

Score breakdown · what drove the 44 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINORExplosive 53.8% YoY unit growth suggests rapid expansion that may outpace operational support infrastructure and quality control
  2. 02MEDWide investment range ($838k-$3.0M) with 258% spread indicates high variability in startup costs and potential hidden expenses not disclosed
  3. 03MINORNet income margin of 15.4% is modest for a childcare/education franchise requiring significant labor and facility costs
  4. 04MINORNo Item 19 financial performance representations (going_concern: False) limits ability to validate franchisor claims about profitability
  5. 05MEDRelatively small franchisee base (46 units) offers limited peer network for troubleshooting and reduces bargaining power with franchisor

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Protected Territory
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
5 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
No
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Required
Governing law
Maryland

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
38 hrs
On-the-job training
40 hrs
POS system
DayCare Works
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

69 numbers

Locked
(410) 808-••••
MD
(240) 529-••••
MD
(703) 673-••••
VA

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Celebree School · FDD (2024) PDF

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