FranchiseVerdict
Cottage Inn Pizza logo
FV-00638·STRONGExcellent91

Cottage Inn Pizza

Food & Beverage - PizzaFranchising since 2002Website
Investment
$216K – $840K
37th pct Pizza
Avg revenue
$17K
0th pct Pizza
Royalty
5.0%
22nd pct Pizza
Units
63
61st pct Pizza
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $216K – $840K including a $25K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
  • Average unit revenue of $17K/year (median $15K).
  • Rated STRONG with a risk score of 51/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 11 loans (below the industry average).
  • System growing at 22.2% CAGR over 3 years with 63 total units — strong expansion trajectory.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Cottage Inn Franchisor, LLC
Incorporated in
Michigan
HQ
4390 Concourse Drive, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48108
Auditor
Lotito & Lazzara, P.C.
Audited financials

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 Cottage Inn Pizza unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
FDD Item 19 reports $16,843
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: restaurant
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $216K–$840K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $36K–$90K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

0%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$2K
EBITDA margin
9.0%
Total invested
$591K
Payback
4679 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

Franchisees operate neighborhood-style pizza restaurants, managing dine-in, carryout, and delivery operations. Day-to-day duties include food preparation, staff management, inventory control, and local marketing. The model targets suburban and small-market communities with a casual dining or quick-service hybrid approach.

CEO
Christina Narra
Founded
2023
FDD year
2025
States available
3

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$216K – $840K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$36K – $90K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$25K
Royalty
5.0%
Percentage of Gross Revenue · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
4.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
9.0%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

Avg gross sales
$17K
Per unit, per year
Median gross sales
$15K
Item 19 type
Averages and Medians
Sample size
50 units
vs category median 40
Transparency
4 / 5
vs category median 0 / 5 · above
Revenue rank0th
vs Food & Beverage - Pizza peers
Investment cost rank37th
Lower investment ranks lower (better)
Royalty rate rank22th
Lower royalty = lower percentile (better)
Unit count rank61th
vs Food & Beverage - Pizza peers
Risk score rank19th
Lower risk = lower percentile (better)

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
63
Opened
5
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Turnover rate
0.0%
Company-owned
8
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
87%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
+10.0%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+22.2%
Compounded over last 3 years
2023
55+5
Franchised units
2024
50
Franchised units
2025
45
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 3 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 · 3 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
11
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

51
Risk · 0-100
STRONG51 / 100

Cottage Inn Pizza presents moderate-to-cautious risk due to lack of profitability disclosure, thin revenue base, slow growth trajectory, and inconsistent cost structure that limits visibility into realistic franchisee returns.

Score breakdown · what drove the 51 / 100 rating

  1. 01MEDNet income not disclosed in FDD Item 19 — impossible to validate profit claims or ROI timeline
  2. 02MINORWide investment range ($216K–$840K) suggests inconsistent unit economics or hidden costs
  3. 03MEDModest unit growth (10% YoY) with only 63 locations indicates slow expansion and limited brand momentum
  4. 04MINORAverage weekly revenue of $16,843 translates to ~$876K annually — relatively thin margins for pizza franchise model
  5. 05HIGHNo 'going concern' qualifier absent suggests potential financial stress or undisclosed franchisor challenges

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 Primary Responsibility
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
10 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
Yes
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Optional
Governing law
Michigan

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
6 hrs
On-the-job training
240 hrs
POS system
Speedline
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

67 numbers

Locked
(517) 787-••••
MI
(517) 267-••••
MI
(269) 262-••••
MI

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Cottage Inn Pizza · FDD (2025) PDF

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