FranchiseVerdict
Compass by Margaritaville logo
FV-00608·CAUTIONStandard76

Compass by Margaritaville

Lodging - Hotels & MotelsFranchising since 2018Website
Investment
$10.2M – $37.4M
64th pct Hotels & Mote…
Avg revenue
7th pct Hotels & Mote…
Royalty
5.0%
7th pct Hotels & Mote…
Units
2
21st pct Hotels & Mote…
SBA default

Bottom line

  • Total investment $10.2M – $37.4M including a $65K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated CAUTION with a risk score of 75/100.
  • No Item 19 financial performance representation. Without franchisor-disclosed revenue data, you'll need to gather unit economics directly from existing franchisees.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Compass Margaritaville, L.L.C.
Parent company
Margaritaville Enterprises, LLC
Incorporated in
Delaware
HQ
6900 Turkey Lake Road, Suite 200, Orlando, Florida 32819
Auditor
Ernst & Young LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$74.9M
vs $92.5M 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 Compass by Margaritaville unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
Item 19 not disclosed — typing your own estimate
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: hospitality
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $10.2M–$37.4M
Working capital
$
FDD reports $300K–$500K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

0%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$101K
EBITDA margin
13.5%
Total invested
$24.2M
Payback
2868 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.

Overview

About

Compass by Margaritaville franchisees operate upscale resort or hospitality destinations featuring Margaritaville-branded amenities, food & beverage, and leisure experiences. Day-to-day operations involve property management, guest services, F&B operations, entertainment programming, and maintaining brand standards across a large physical footprint.

CEO
John Cohlan
Founded
1997
FDD year
2024
States available
2

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$10.2M – $37.4M
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$300K – $500K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$65K
Royalty
5.0%
Gross Revenue · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
1.5%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
6.5%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

This franchisor did not disclose financial performance representations in Item 19, or our extractor could not parse them.

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
2
Opened
0
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Turnover rate
0.0%
Company-owned
0
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
100%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
+0.0%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+100.0%
Compounded over last 3 years
2022
2±0
Franchised units
2023
2
Franchised units
2024
1
Franchised units

Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.

Item 12 · 2 states reported

The Territory Map

FDD Item 12 reports the state count, but the specific list isn't in our current data. The map will appear once we re-extract from the FDD or enough franchisee contacts are available.

2

states with franchisees (per FDD Item 12)

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

75
Risk · 0-100
CAUTION75 / 100

A capital-intensive resort/hospitality franchise with only 2 units, undisclosed financials, multiple legal disputes, regulatory compliance failures, and no territory protection represents extreme execution risk with questionable franchisor financial stability.

Score breakdown · what drove the 75 / 100 rating

  1. 01MEDExtremely high investment range ($10.2M–$37.4M) with zero disclosed average unit economics (no Item 19 revenue/income data)
  2. 02MINOROnly 2 operating units with unknown growth trajectory suggests failed or stalled system expansion
  3. 03HIGHGoing Concern = False indicates potential financial viability questions at franchisor level
  4. 04HIGHMultiple litigation cases including trademark disputes, deceptive practices lawsuits, and regulatory compliance failures (California administrative consent order 2020)
  5. 05MINORNo protected territory means franchisees face direct competition from other Compass locations
  6. 06MINORMargaritaville brand association carries reputational risk given parent company's past financial troubles and casual dining market headwinds

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Area of Protection
Protected territory
No
Initial term
20 years
Renewal term
10 years
Online sales rights
Restricted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
3
Right of first refusal
Yes
Franchisor can buy back on resale
Mandatory arbitration
Yes
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Owner-operator
Optional
Governing law
Delaware

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
7 hrs
On-the-job training
33 hrs
POS system
InfoGenesis
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

23 numbers

Locked
(605) 773-••••
CA
(360) 902-••••
CA
(804) 371-••••
CA

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Compass by Margaritaville · FDD (2024) PDF

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