Costa Vida Management Franchise Cost & 2025 FDD Data
54/100
Second tier
54 this brand51 Quick-Service Restaurants medianlikely 48–60: narrower with more SBA loans (high confidence)
Higher is better · an editorial assessment, not investment advice
#1,461 of 3,068 graded brands
Why a B: Helped by legal record and transparency. Held back by unit growth. See all six factors
- Total investment
- $675K – $1.3M
- excl. land and real estate
- Avg net sales
- $2.2M
- 83 outlets reporting; not profit
- SBA charge-off
- 7.1%
1 in 14 SBA 7(a) loans to Costa Vida Management owners charged off (1 of 14 resolved loans, approved since FY1991); Quick-Service Restaurants median 17.6%. Loans approved FY2015–FY2017: 0 of 10 resolved loans charged off (0.0%); newer loans have not had time to default, so this is not a trend.
Data from the FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records. Analysis by FranchiseVerdict · Methodology · Website · Report an error · Franchisor? Claim this listing
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2025 FDD
Per the 2025 FDD, a Costa Vida Management franchise requires a total initial investment of $675K – $1.3M, excluding land and real estate, including a $30K franchise fee. Once open, the ongoing royalty is 6.0%. Per the 2025 FDD, average net sales were $2.2M (83 outlets reporting; net sales, not profit). SBA 7(a) loans show a 7.1% charge-off rate on 14 resolved loans. Verdict grade: B (Second tier), an editorial assessment, not investment advice.
Sources: 2025 FDD · SBA 7(a) loan records (FOIA) · What one unit could make and lose →
Sources, dates and evidence
FDD issued: · Data extracted: · Last cited check: · Staleness risk: medium (issued 12 to 24 months ago; a newer filing is likely on file)
Evidence for the headline figures: strong✓ Investment (Item 7)✓ Item 19 status✓ Units and owners (Item 20)✓ SBA loan coverage✓ Litigation (Item 3)✓ Financial statements (Item 21)✓ Franchisor identityhow this is scored8 of 8 headline figures on this page cite a page of the filing.
Overview
Quick verdict · vs Quick-Service Restaurants median
Top edge: green = better than the Quick-Service Restaurants median by more than 10%, red = worse by more than 10%, gray = within 10% or no benchmark. Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a).
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Methodology
Bottom line
- RETURNSAverage net sales of $2.2M/year (outlet median $2.0M; 83 outlets reporting; net sales, not profit).
- GROWTHIn the latest Item 20 year, the number of franchised outlets fell by 2 (1 opened, 3 left the franchised system, 2 of them bought back by the franchisor).
- DECLINE-9 franchised outlets over the two years to 2024 (56 to 47, -16.1% in total, -8.4% a year compounded). Ask whether closures are franchisor-driven (consolidation) or franchisee-driven (economics).
AT STAKEOne unit at the Item 7 midpoint: $130K a year in payments on assumed SBA 7(a)-style terms.You put in about $201K of your own cash and personally guarantee a $806K loan. Assumptions are labeled in Sales; not investment advice.See what one unit could make and lose
Things to check before you sign (2)
- Net -2 franchised outlets in 2024 (Item 20, outlet counts). Ask owners why outlets closed.
- The franchisor keeps the right to compete inside your territory (Item 12, territory).
Checked and clear: no auditor doubt that the franchisor can keep operating, no lawsuit naming the franchisor in Item 3, SBA charge-off rate 7.1%, below the 17.6% category median, no supplier rebates to the franchisor, no rule that the owner must run it personally and the full filing on file, and an Item 19 average from 83 units. Not on file here, so ask: jury-trial waiver.
What to do next
Step 1: Read the FDD itself.
Free: the franchisor must give it to you at least 14 days before you sign or pay. Or look it up in a state registry (Wisconsin, Minnesota, California). What to read first.
Step 2: Talk to current and former owners.
Free: Item 20 of the FDD lists every current owner and those who left last year, most with a phone number. Questions to ask.
Step 3: Talk to an SBA lender.
Free: the SBA's Lender Match, or the lenders already lending to this brand in the SBA section. Ask what you would personally guarantee and what the monthly payment would be. If you plan to use retirement savings, ask a CPA about the rules for that first.
Step 4: Have a franchise attorney review the FDD and agreement.
Free: your state bar's lawyer referral service can name franchise lawyers, and many offer a short first consultation. Bring the checks listed above.
Research steps, not investment or legal advice.
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost (the Item 7 midpoint) is 2.1× the Quick-Service Restaurants median ($487K).
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 5–7 (fees and startup costs)
The filing's Item 7 TOTAL row prints $674,500 to $1,340,000. Its own line items add to $674,500 to $1,330,000. The total is shown as the franchisor printed it; the lines are listed as printed. No printed line accounts for the $10,000 difference in the high.
Do you qualify? The filing states no minimum net worth or liquid capital. Ask Costa Vida Management, LLC (Item 1: 1333 S. Valley Grove Way, Suite 500, Pleasant Grove, UT 84042) and your lender what they require, and keep living costs for the first year outside the deal.
Full Item 7 breakdown13 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Franchise Fee | $30K | $30K | |
| Travel and living expenses while training | $15K | $15K | |
| Tenant improvements and build-out | $300K | $614K | |
| Building and design permit and professional fees | $14K | $49K | |
| Restaurant equipment including POS & computers | $150K | $255K | |
| Trade dress, woodwork, furniture, Design package, & fixtures | $55K | $99K | |
| Opening supplies & inventory | $10K | $15K | |
| Small wares | $15K | $30K | |
| Signage | $8K | $50K | |
| Grand opening promotion & special assistance | $25K | $50K | |
| Security & utility deposits | $1K | $18K | |
| Insurance | $1.5K | $5K | |
| Additional funds - three months | $50K | $100K | |
| Total initial investment | $675K | $1.3M |
Line items extracted from FDD Item 7. Ranges reflect the franchisor's stated low and high per line. The total row is the total as printed in Item 7; the lines above add to $674,500 to $1,330,000, $10,000 at most from the printed total, which is the figure shown. Actual costs may fall outside this range depending on market and build-out scope.
Item 6 · what you pay once you are open
Ongoing fees
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 6.0% of net sales |
| Marketing / ad fundBrand-wide marketing pool. National Marketing Fund: up to 2% of Net Sales (if collected) | 2.0% of net sales |
Technology feesThe filing's detailInformation Systems Administration Fee (ISAF) up to 0.25% of Net Sales; digital menu system $75/month; music subscription $39/month; centralized data system $50-$150/month | See the list |
| Transfer fee | $10,000 |
| Renewal fee | $7,500 |
| Total fee loadabove the Quick-Service Restaurants median of 7.0% (heavy) | 8.0% of sales |
What do units actually make?
Average net sales are 2.3× the Quick-Service Restaurants median ($950K).
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 19 (sales and earnings)
Items 6 (other fees), 7 (startup costs) and 19 (sales and earnings) · assumptions labeled
What you could make and lose: one unit
What one Costa Vida Management unit would ask of you, from the filing's Item 7 total and labeled assumptions.
Average net sales are $2.2M (FDD p.61), and the royalty and ad fund take about $173K of that a year (Item 6). This brand's Item 19 prints cost or operating-income lines that are not on this page yet. Read them in Item 19 and enter them here. So this box does not estimate a profit. To cover the loan payment alone, one unit has to clear $130K a year after its food, labor, rent and other costs and the franchisor's fees.
How these figures are worked out
- Loan (assumption): 80% of the $1.0M Item 7 midpoint is a $806K loan, paid over 10 years at 10.5%: $130K a year. SBA 7(a)-style terms on a long-term rate; your lender sets yours. Costa Vida Management's past SBA 7(a) loans averaged 6.1% at approval; 7(a) rates move with the prime rate, so 10.5% is a current-rate assumption, not this brand's history.
What you put at risk
Your own cash in: about $201K Assumption (the part the loan does not cover of the $1.0M Item 7 midpoint), plus whatever anything Item 7 leaves out (its notes say what). The loan is $806K.
Personal guarantee. SBA 7(a) loans require a personal guarantee from anyone who owns 20% or more of the business. If the unit cannot pay, the lender can collect from you personally, which can include your savings and your home. The worst case is losing the cash you put in and still owing the rest of the loan.
Gross sales are not profit, and none of these figures is take-home pay until tax and every operating cost are paid. The assumptions are ours, not the filing's. Not investment advice.
Returns modelOne unit · several units · editable
One unit
One unit: what is left after the loan payment
Gross sales, minus the franchisor's fees and the operating costs, is the unit's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization). Minus an assumed loan payment, that is what is left for you, before tax. Gross sales are not profit.
This brand's Item 19 prints cost or operating-income lines that are not on this page yet. Read them in Item 19 and enter them here. Invested capital is the Item 7 total, which already includes its working-capital (additional funds) line.
Returns model · one unit
What would one Costa Vida Management unit leave you each year after the loan payment?
Item 19 reports $2,158,661 per unit.
Gross sales, not profit: the costs below decide what is left.
This brand's Item 19 prints cost or operating-income lines that are not on this page yet. Read them in Item 19 and enter them here.
Illustrative category typicals, not sourced to any filing, survey or sample. Replace them with figures from franchisee validation calls before you rely on the output.
Item 7 midpoint of $675K to $1.3M
Item 7's $50K to $100K additional funds are already in the total
Left after the loan payment · per year
The unit's EBITDA minus the assumed loan payment. Before tax, depreciation and any cost your inputs leave out (insurance, accounting and legal, licenses, technology fees): not take-home pay.
Gross sales are not profit. Neither the filing nor a stated assumption on this page supplies COGS, labor, rent / occupancy and other operating costs. Enter your own (a lease quote, owner calls) and the model runs on it.
Loan of $806K at 10.5% over 10 years, an assumption, not a quote. Return and payback are before tax, depreciation and the costs above. The loan usually needs your personal guarantee.
Buying several existing units? The acquisition scenario
Buying several units
What buying a few existing units could return
Prices an existing operator of a few units off the single-unit EBITDA above, after shared services, and finances it with an SBA 7(a) loan, a conventional loan and a seller note. It shows the yearly return on your cash (IRR), whether year-1 earnings cover the loan payments (DSCR) and how the price is paid for. It starts at 5 units; every deal term is an assumption you can change, and none is from the FDD.
Not modelled yet
Gross sales are not profit. Neither the filing nor a stated assumption on this page supplies COGS, labor, rent / occupancy and other operating costs. Enter your own (a lease quote, owner calls) and the model runs on it.
This scenario starts from a per-unit EBITDA. Fill in the operating costs in the one-unit model above and it runs on that figure, or take it to the full ROI workbench, where the multi-unit and acquisition models accept your own per-unit economics.
These models are for research and scenario planning only. Not investment advice. Actual results depend on your specific location, management, and market conditions. Consult a franchise attorney and accountant before signing any franchise agreement.
Item 19 · Source: 2025 FDD · filed by Costa Vida Management, LLC
Financial performance
- Range (low → high)
- $763K→$4.6MSource: 2025 FDD, page 61
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
Percentile ranks within Quick-Service Restaurants
Each rank is among the Quick-Service Restaurants brands that report that figure (the count is under each bar).
vs Quick-Service Restaurants medians
How Costa Vida Management compares
Category median of published Quick-Service Restaurants brands that report the figure; the middle half spans the 25th to 75th percentile and n counts the brands behind it. Medians are used because a few very large systems pull an average far from the typical brand. Revenue is disclosed gross sales, not profit.
Who are you contracting with?
Costa Vida Management, LLC, owned by CV Holdings, LC.
Same franchisor, other program: Costa Vida Fresh Mexican Grill. Each is a separate offering with its own page.
Item 1 (the franchisor) · who you're contracting with
The franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Costa Vida Management, LLC
- Parent company
- CV Holdings, LC
- FDD Item 1, page 9 of the 2025 FDD
- Predecessor
- Costa Vida Management, Inc. / Costa Vida Holdings, LLC / CVM, LLC
- Prior franchisor entity
- CEO title
- Co-President and Co-Chief Executive Officer
- Sean Collins / Dave Rutter
- Incorporated in
- Utah
- HQ
- 1333 S. Valley Grove Way, Suite 500, Pleasant Grove, UT 84042
Same owner · FDD Item 1, page 9
1 other brand on this site names CV Holdings, LC as parent or ultimate parent in its own FDD.
- Costa Vida Fresh Mexican Grill (grade B)
Grouped by the owner's name as each filing prints it (this page: the 2025 FDD). Spelling variants of the same group may be listed apart; a brand is never grouped with an owner its filing does not name.
Overview
About
Fast-casual Mexican restaurant franchise (Costa Vida Fresh Mexican Grill) selling burritos, salads, enchiladas, tacos, quesadillas, tropical beverages and desserts
- CEO
- Sean Collins / Dave Rutter
Is the system healthy?
-9 franchised outlets over the two years to 2024 (56 to 47, -16.1% in total, -8.4% a year compounded).
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 20 (outlets opened, closed and transferred)
Item 20 (outlet counts) · unit dynamics
The growth chart
- Company-owned
- 46
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 1%
- vs corporate-owned
Last fiscal year · Item 20 rates and pipeline
- Reacquired
- 2
- Franchisor bought back
- Signed, not yet open
- 3
- 1 for every 31 open outlets · Item 20 Table 5
- Projected new
- 2
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
Item 20 · franchised units at year end
Franchised units fell from 56 in 2022 to 47 in 2024
Axis does not start at zero.
Source and method
A system that lost more than 10% of its franchised outlets across the Item 20 years is a red flag. Check whether closures are concentrated in specific regions.
Government records
SBA loan data
Lenders charged off 7.1% of 14 resolved SBA 7(a) loans, below the 17.6% category median. 7(a) is the SBA's main small-business loan; a resolved loan was paid in full or charged off.
- Loans on file
- 17
- SBA 7(a) loans matched to this brand, incl. those still being repaid
- Loan volume
- $8.9M
- Average loan
- $522K
- loan volume divided by loans
- Charge-off rate
- 7.1%
- 1 of 14 resolved loans
- Paid in full
- 92.9%
- of resolved loans
- Charge-off, loans approved FY2015–FY2017
- 0.0%
- 0 of 10 resolved loans; newer loans have not had time to default, so this is not a trend
- Lenders
- 9
- Average interest rate
- 6.1%
- Jobs reported
- 515
- Lender concentration
- 29%
- top lender's share
Cumulative: every 7(a) loan matched to this brand in the SBA’s FOIA files, approved FY1991 onward. Historical lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
Benchmark: the median Quick-Service Restaurants brand charges off 17.6% (175 brands with a published rate, same cumulative window and source). This brand is 10.5 points below it.
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Full SBA lending reportlenders · charge-off rate · trend
Lender network · SBA 7(a)
SBA Lending Report
Lender, state and yearly detail for Costa Vida Management from SBA 7(a) FOIA loan records.
- Average SBA guarantee
- 71%
- Average interest rate
- 6.1%
- Lender concentration
- 29%
- Jobs reported
- 515
Top 10 SBA lenders by loan count
| Loans | Volume | Charge-off |
|---|---|---|
| Five Star Bank | ||
| 5 | $2.4M | Not on file |
| JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association | ||
| 4 | $700K | Not on file |
| Columbia Bank | ||
| 2 | $2.3M | Not on file |
| First Business Bank | ||
| 1 | $721K | Not on file |
| Central State Bank | ||
| 1 | $534K | Not on file |
A lender’s rate counts only its resolved loans, the loans that have finished (paid in full or charged off); a 0.0% often means few of its loans have finished. Under 10 resolved loans, the rate reads “Too few”.
Charge-off rate by state (top 10 by loans)
| State | Loans | Charged off | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA California | 5 | 0 | Too few3 resolved |
| CO Colorado | 4 | 0 | Too few3 resolved |
| WA Washington | 3 | 0 | Too few3 resolved |
| GA Georgia | 1 | 1 | Too few1 resolved |
| ID Idaho | 1 | 0 | Too few1 resolved |
| KS Kansas | 1 | 0 | Too few1 resolved |
| MN Minnesota | 1 | 0 | Too few1 resolved |
| TX Texas | 1 | 0 | Too few1 resolved |
Rate: charged-off loans over resolved loans (paid in full plus charged off), shown from 10 resolved loans. "Too few": under 10 resolved. The Loans column counts every approval in the window, including loans still being repaid.
SBA 7(a) loans approved per year
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA loan-level data, matched to the brand by FranchiseVerdict.
What are the risks?
Main risk: a shrinking system. Franchised outlets fell from 56 to 47 over the two years to 2024.
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Verdict grade + FDD Items 3 (litigation), 4 (bankruptcy), 8 (required suppliers), 16 (what you may sell), 21 (audited financials)
Risk and legal
Grade B: Second tier, 54/100 (category median 51); the full grade is at the top of the page.
How the grade is built
Why a B, factor by factor
- Financial health NeutralAudited financials; no going-concern doubt
- Unit economics NeutralAvg net sales $2.2M on a $1.0M investment midpoint, 2.1x (net sales, not profit)
- Unit growth Weighs on it, weakest dimension-9 franchised outlets over the two years to 2024 (56 to 47, -16.1% in total, -8.4% a year compounded); turnover 3.2%
- Scale Neutral47 franchised units, +46 company-owned (93 in all); franchising since 2004; mostly company-owned (1% franchised)
- Legal HelpsNo litigation naming the franchisor in Item 3
- Transparency HelpsItem 19 discloses financial performance; audited financials; no franchisor financial figures on file
From the six scored dimensions, an editorial assessment, not investment advice. How the score is built
Litigation (Item 3)
Subject: officers or affiliates. The franchisor is not a named party in these cases.
No litigation required to be disclosed in Item 3
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
Ask what the franchisor earns on the supplies it sells you or the rebates it takes (Item 8).
- Franchisor sells you products: Yes
- Franchisor takes supplier rebates: No
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 8.0% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before your own operating costs.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12 (territory), 15 (owner participation) and 17 (renewal, termination and disputes)
Contract and territory detail
| Protected territory | Yes |
|---|---|
| Exclusive territory | Yes |
| Territory radius | 1 mi |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Who runs it (Item 15) | A manager may run it |
| Non-compete (years) | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles) | 5 mi |
| Right of first refusal | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 30 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Curable defaults | 3 |
| Mandatory arbitration | No |
| Governing law | Utah |
Items 10 (financing), 11 (training and support)
Training and operations
- Classroom training
- 57 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 490 hrs
- Training location
- Franchisor's Headquarters (Utah)
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 2–10 mo
- From signing to launch (FDD p.39)
- Site selection
- Franchisee selects, subject to Franchisor approval
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
Items 5 (initial fees) & 11 (training and support)
Franchisor support
Franchisee contacts
We hold no owner list for this brand. Item 20 of the FDD lists the current and former owners; the free FDD is the source.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to open a Costa Vida Management franchise?
Per the 2025 FDD, the total investment to open a Costa Vida Management franchise ranges from $675K to $1.3M, with an initial franchise fee of $30K. This is the Item 7 total in the Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD): the startup costs the franchisor lists, such as build-out, equipment, inventory and working capital. The filing says these totals do not include land and real estate.
What do Costa Vida Management franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Costa Vida Management FDD, average net sales were $2.2M (83 outlets reporting; net sales, not profit). The median is $2.0M. Reported as net sales, not gross sales. What an owner keeps depends on location, operating costs and management.
Who owns Costa Vida Management?
Costa Vida Management is franchised by Costa Vida Management, LLC. Its parent company is CV Holdings, LC. Source: FDD Item 1, 2025 filing.
What is Item 19 in the Costa Vida Management FDD?
The FDD section where a franchisor may disclose financial performance of its outlets. Disclosure is optional and formats vary; figures are typically gross sales, which is revenue before expenses, not profit. FranchiseVerdict extracts these figures directly from the Costa Vida Management FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Costa Vida Management's franchise failure rate?
There is no published franchise failure rate. What is measurable is Costa Vida Management's SBA charge-off rate: 7.1% on 14 resolved loans. Put plainly: 1 in 14 SBA 7(a) loans to Costa Vida Management owners charged off (1 of 14 resolved loans, approved since FY1991); loans approved FY2015–FY2017: 0 of 10 resolved loans charged off (0.0%); newer loans have not had time to default, so this is not a trend. The SBA charge-off rate is the share of a brand's resolved SBA 7(a) loans to its franchisees that the SBA wrote off, including purchased guarantees. Resolved means paid in full or charged off; active loans are excluded because their outcome is not yet known. It is a lending outcome, not a count of closed businesses. A franchisee can repay and close, or default and keep trading.
How many Costa Vida Management franchise locations are there?
Per the 2025 FDD, Costa Vida Management has 47 franchised units and 46 company-owned (93 in all). In the latest year, the number of franchised outlets fell by 2 (1 opened, 3 left the franchised system, 2 of them bought back by the franchisor).
Is Costa Vida Management a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict gives Costa Vida Management a B Verdict grade (Second tier) with a verdict score of 54 out of 100 (higher is better), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Helped by legal record (no litigation naming the franchisor in Item 3) and transparency. Held back by unit growth (-9 franchised outlets over the two years to 2024: 56 to 47, -16.1% in total, -8.4% a year compounded). The “Why a B” section on this page lists all six dimensions and any adjustment. Speak with current franchisees before making any investment decision.
Other Quick-Service Restaurants franchises
Similar investment first, then by grade
This information is provided for research purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Verify all figures with the franchisor's current Franchise Disclosure Document before making any investment decision.