Bottom line
- Total investment $211K – $457K including a $59K franchise fee.
- Average unit revenue of $1.1M/year (median $1.1M). Estimated payback in 0.8 years.
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 60/100.
- System contracting at -23.8% CAGR over 3 years. Investigate whether closures are franchisor-driven (consolidation) or franchisee-driven (economics).
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 Crawl Space Ninja unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
36%
In Yale's "attractive" band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Crawl Space Ninja units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$1.1M
on $5.7M purchase
Total debt
$4.6M
SBA $2.9M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Crawl Space Ninja franchisees provide crawl space encapsulation, moisture control, insulation, and structural repair services to residential and commercial customers. Daily operations involve customer consultations, job estimation, crew management, and hands-on installation work in confined spaces. The business model relies on local marketing, repeat customers, and referral generation to maintain revenue.
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 · 17 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.
No SBA loan data available for this brand.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Declining franchise system with opaque financial representations and aggressive royalty structure creates material risk despite solid unit-level economics.
Score breakdown · what drove the 60 / 100 rating
- 01MEDUnit count declined 11.1% YoY (22 units) indicating system contraction and potential franchisee struggles
- 02MEDNo Item 19 (Financial Performance Representations) disclosed — cannot verify if average revenue/net income figures are achievable for typical franchisees
- 03MINORHigh initial investment ($210k-$457k) paired with declining unit count suggests ROI challenges and franchisee attrition
- 04MINORMinimum Performance Requirement royalty structure is vague — unclear what threshold triggers this and how it impacts cash flow
- 05MINOR5-year term is relatively short; rebuilding customer base takes time in service businesses, creating renewal risk
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
19 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Crawl Space Ninja · FDD (2025) PDF