FranchiseVerdict
Daddy’s Chicken Shack logo
FV-00698·MODERATEExcellent81

Daddy’s Chicken Shack

OtherFranchising since 2022Website
Investment
$169K – $826K
57th pct Other
Avg revenue
50th pct Other
Royalty
50.0% (?)
Likely extraction error
Units
15
43rd pct Other
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $169K – $826K including a $125K franchise fee, 50.0% ongoing royalty.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 62/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 6 loans (below the industry average).
  • Auditor disclosed a going-concern note — flagged doubt about the franchisor's ability to continue operations. Verify against the latest FDD.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Daddy’s Chicken Shack Franchising, LLC
Parent company
Daddy’s Chicken Shack Holdings, LLC
Incorporated in
Delaware
HQ
480 East Happy Canyon Road, Castle Rock, CO 80108
Auditor
Citrin Cooperman & Company, LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$6K
vs $93K prior year
⚠ Going-concern note
Disclosed in FDD 2024
Status as of 2024; may have been resolved in a later filing we don't yet have.

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 Daddy’s Chicken Shack 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: generic
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $169K–$826K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $25K–$40K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

-42%

Negative

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$-225K
EBITDA margin
-30.0%
Total invested
$530K
Payback
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 quick-service chicken restaurants under the Daddy's Chicken Shack brand, managing daily front-of-house and back-of-house operations including food preparation, order fulfillment, inventory management, staffing, and customer service. Day-to-day responsibilities include managing labor costs, ensuring food quality standards, maintaining equipment, handling local marketing, and meeting corporate compliance and royalty obligations.

CEO
Dave L. Liniger, Jr.
Founded
2021
FDD year
2024
States available
8

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$169K – $826K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$25K – $40K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$125K
Royalty
50.0%
Split of fees collected from RD Territory Franchisees · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
n/d

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
15
Opened
3
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)
+25.0%
Net unit change last year
2022
15+3
Franchised units
2023
12
Franchised units
2024
0
Franchised units

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

Item 12 · 8 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.

8

states with franchisees (per FDD Item 12)

Government records

SBA Loan Data

Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.

Total loans
6
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

62
Risk · 0-100
MODERATE62 / 100

Early-stage QSR franchise with opaque financial performance, aggressive dual-layer royalties, minimal scale, and insufficient disclosure to assess risk-adjusted returns on a six-figure investment.

Score breakdown · what drove the 62 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINORNo average revenue or net income disclosure (Item 19) — inability to assess profitability and ROI on $168k-$826k investment
  2. 02MINORExtremely high royalty structure (50% of franchise fee + 50% of ongoing royalties) creates dual revenue extraction that may limit franchisee margins
  3. 03MEDOnly 15 units system-wide with 25% YoY growth — very small, early-stage franchise with limited operational track record and higher failure risk
  4. 04MINORWide investment range ($168k-$826k) suggests high variability in unit economics and unclear cost structure for franchisees
  5. 05MINOR$125,000 franchise fee is substantial for a 15-unit system with no proven profitability data to justify it
  6. 06MED10-year term is lengthy commitment with limited historical performance data to evaluate long-term viability

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
RD Territory (designated geographic area)
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
10 years
Online sales rights
Granted
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
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Required
Governing law
Colorado

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
16 hrs
On-the-job training
8 hrs
POS system
franchise sales management CRM platform
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

2 numbers

Locked
(916) 690-••••
CA
(844) 432-••••

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Daddy’s Chicken Shack · FDD (2024) PDF

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