Dealer Specialties
Bottom line
- Total investment $17K – $45K including a $10K franchise fee.
- No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
- Rated CAUTION with a risk score of 72/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 2 loans (below the industry average).
- System contracting at -45.7% 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 Dealer Specialties unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
349%
Above typical band (30–60%)
Overview
About
Franchisees operate dealer lot management and vehicle marketing services, providing photo production, listing clipping, and labeling services to auto dealers. Revenue depends on transaction volume (per-VIN fees) rather than recurring dealer subscriptions, creating highly variable and unpredictable cash flow.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
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
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 25 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
Dealer Specialties presents HIGH RISK: a rapidly contracting franchise system (down 24.2% YoY) with undisclosed financials, unprotected territory, litigation history around non-compete enforcement, and a confusing per-vehicle royalty model that creates margin uncertainty.
Score breakdown · what drove the 72 / 100 rating
- 01MEDSystem shrinking rapidly: 24.2% unit decline YoY (73 units) signals franchisee dissatisfaction or failed model
- 02MEDNo financial transparency: Average revenue and net income not disclosed in Item 19, making ROI impossible to validate
- 03HIGHAggressive litigation history: Three disclosed cases including breach of non-compete claims suggest enforcement disputes and potentially restrictive covenants
- 04MINORUnprotected territory: Franchisees face direct competition from other franchisees and company-owned operations
- 05MINORComplex, opaque royalty structure: Per-vehicle fees ($0.83 labels + $0.65 clipping + $1.75 photos = $3.23/VIN minimum) create unpredictable margins; $100/lot floor may be insufficient for small operators
- 06MINORLow initial investment masks ongoing variable costs: $17,400–$44,900 entry fee is deceptively low given per-vehicle fee structure requiring high volume to justify
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
31 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Dealer Specialties · FDD (2024) PDF