Detroit Wing Company
Bottom line
- Total investment $506K – $662K including a $30K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $1.7M/year (median $1.7M).
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 56/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 18 loans (below the industry average).
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 Detroit Wing Company unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
41%
In Yale's "attractive" band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Detroit Wing Company units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
36.3%
4.71× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
2.26×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$4.6M
on $13.7M purchase
Total debt
$9.1M
SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Detroit Wing Company franchisees operate quick-service or full-service wing restaurants focused on Detroit-style or specialty wings, managing daily food preparation, customer service, inventory, staffing, and point-of-sale operations. Franchisees are responsible for local marketing, rent, labor costs, and meeting 6% gross sales royalty obligations to the franchisor.
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 · 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).
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
Rapidly expanding micro-franchise with undisclosed unit economics, franchisor financial concerns, and unvalidated profitability claims creates significant investment risk.
Score breakdown · what drove the 56 / 100 rating
- 01MEDNo Item 19 (Average Unit Volume) disclosed despite $1.7M avg revenue claim—unable to verify actual franchisee profitability
- 02HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE, indicating potential financial distress or structural instability at franchisor level
- 03MINORExplosive 66.7% YoY unit growth (7→11 units) is unsustainable and suggests aggressive expansion without proven unit economics
- 04MEDHigh initial investment ($506K-$662K) combined with 6% royalty on disclosed $1.7M revenue leaves unclear net margins after COGS, labor, and rent
- 05MEDOnly 11 total units is extremely small system with limited data reliability and high per-unit franchisor dependency
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
26 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Detroit Wing Company · FDD (2022) PDF