Bottom line
- Total investment $427K – $2.3M including a $10K franchise fee, 15.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $9.3M/year (median $9.2M).
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 34/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 3 loans (below the industry average).
- System growing at 1240% CAGR over 3 years with 2684 total units — strong expansion trajectory.
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 Chick-fil-A unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
28%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Chick-fil-A units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$1.9M
on $9.3M purchase
Total debt
$7.5M
SBA $4.7M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Franchisees operate Chick-fil-A quick-service restaurants, primarily handling day-to-day management of food preparation, customer service, staffing, scheduling, and local marketing. Most locations are in high-traffic areas like malls, universities, or airports where the brand maintains corporate control over site selection and design standards.
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 · 11 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
Chick-fil-A presents a moderate-to-cautious risk profile with an attractive brand but concerning royalty structure, opaque profitability metrics, and weak contractual protections that warrant deep validation with current franchisees before investment.
Score breakdown · what drove the 34 / 100 rating
- 01MINORExtremely high royalty burden: 15% base fee plus 50% of net receipts creates potential 25-35% total fee exposure on typical QSR margins (6-9% net)
- 02MINORNo Item 19 (Average Unit Volume) disclosure prevents validation of $9.3M average revenue claim and actual franchisee profitability
- 03MINOROne-year term with no territory protection creates renewal uncertainty and vulnerability to encroachment
- 04HIGHRecent litigation history (cybersecurity and delivery fee class actions) indicates compliance and transparency issues
- 05MINORModest unit growth of 5.4% YoY is below industry standards for mature QSR brands and suggests market saturation
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
64 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Chick-fil-A · FDD (2025) PDF