Bottom line
- Total investment $2.8M – $6.9M including a $55K franchise fee, 4.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $3.5M/year (median $3.4M). Estimated payback in 10.6 years.
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 16/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 132 loans (below the industry average).
- System growing at 1280% CAGR over 3 years with 944 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 Culver's unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
12%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Culver's units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
25.2%
3.08× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
3.34×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$18.2M
on $33.1M purchase
Total debt
$14.9M
SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Franchisees operate a fast-casual restaurant featuring Culver's proprietary menu (fried cheese curds, butter burgers, custard desserts) with full-service and drive-thru components. Day-to-day involves managing 40-80 employees across food prep, customer service, inventory, and seasonal staffing fluctuations, with heavy operational focus on custard production and food quality consistency.
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 · 5 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
Culver's presents moderate-to-low risk with strong unit economics and zero litigation, but high capital requirements and modest growth rate warrant careful due diligence on territory saturation and real-world payback timelines.
Score breakdown · what drove the 16 / 100 rating
- 01MINORHigh initial investment ($2.8M-$6.9M) creates significant capital requirement and payback pressure
- 02MINOR4% royalty plus typical 2-3% marketing fund reduces net margin; at $457K avg net income, ongoing fees consume ~26% of profit
- 03MINORModest unit growth (5.8% YoY) is healthy but slower than QSR category average (8-10%), suggesting market saturation in mature regions
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
100 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Culver's · FDD (2024) PDF