FranchiseVerdict
Diesel Barbershop logo
FV-00751·STRONGExcellent86

Diesel Barbershop

Personal Services - Beauty & SalonFranchising since 2017Website
Investment
$361K – $503K
66th pct Beauty & Salon
Avg revenue
$422K
18th pct Beauty & Salon
Royalty
7.5%
67th pct Beauty & Salon
Units
31
43rd pct Beauty & Salon
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $361K – $503K including a $45K franchise fee, 7.5% ongoing royalty.
  • Average unit revenue of $422K/year.
  • Rated STRONG with a risk score of 41/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 17 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
Diesel Barbershop Franchising, LLC
Incorporated in
Texas
HQ
11255 Hubner Road, Suite 104, San Antonio, Texas 78230
Auditor
Kezos & Dunlavy
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$1.5M
vs $1.2M prior year
⚠ Going-concern note
Disclosed in FDD 2025
Auditor flagged doubt about continued operations. Verify against the latest FDD before deciding.

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 Diesel Barbershop unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
FDD Item 19 reports $422,111
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: personal services
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $361K–$503K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $25K–$25K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

20%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$91K
EBITDA margin
21.5%
Total invested
$457K
Payback
60 mo
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.

Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing

What would 25 Diesel Barbershop units return on equity?

Edit assumptions

Equity IRR · 5-yr

49.9%

7.57× MOIC

Year-1 DSCR

1.88×

EBITDA ÷ debt service

Equity required

$1.2M

on $6.1M purchase

Total debt

$4.9M

SBA $3.1M + senior + seller note

Overview

About

Franchisees operate a full-service barbershop offering haircuts, grooming, and related services. Day-to-day operations include staff scheduling, customer booking management, inventory control (products/supplies), and service delivery in a retail environment, typically requiring 40–50 weekly operating hours.

CEO
Kelly Smentek
Founded
2017
FDD year
2025
States available
9

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$361K – $503K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$25K – $25K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$45K
Royalty
7.5%
Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
1.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
8.5%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

Avg gross sales
$422K
Per unit, per year
Median gross sales
Item 19 type
Gross Revenue
Sample size
26 units
vs category median 34
Range (low → high)
$149K$1.1M
Cohort dispersion
Transparency
3 / 5
vs category median 4 / 5 · below
Revenue rank18th
vs Personal Services - Beauty & Salon peers
Investment cost rank66th
Lower investment ranks lower (better)
Royalty rate rank67th
Lower royalty = lower percentile (better)
Unit count rank43th
vs Personal Services - Beauty & Salon peers
Risk score rank1th
Lower risk = lower percentile (better)

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
31
Opened
2
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Turnover rate
0.0%
Company-owned
4
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
87%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
+8.0%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+17.4%
Compounded over last 3 years
2023
27+2
Franchised units
2024
25
Franchised units
2025
23
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 30 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).

AK
ME
VT
NH
MA
RI
CT
NY
NJ
PA
DE
MD
DC
WA
OR
CA
NV
ID
MT
WY
UT
CO
AZ
NM
ND
SD
NE
KS
OK
TX
MN
IA
MO
AR
LA
WI
IL
MS
TN
MI
IN
KY
AL
OH
WV
GA
VA
NC
SC
FL
HI
Registered · 30 states
Not registered

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.

Total loans
17
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

41
Risk · 0-100
STRONG41 / 100

Moderate-to-cautious risk profile driven by undisclosed profitability metrics, high capital requirements relative to average revenue, and slow system growth in a competitive barbershop market.

Score breakdown · what drove the 41 / 100 rating

  1. 01MEDNet income not disclosed in Item 19 — unable to validate ROI claims or profitability benchmarks
  2. 02MINORSlow unit growth of 8.0% YoY suggests modest expansion and potential market saturation in mature barbershop sector
  3. 03MINORHigh initial investment ($360k–$503k) against average revenue of $422k creates tight margin for error in Year 1 and cash flow concerns
  4. 04MINOR7.5% royalty on gross sales (not net) reduces profitability and increases franchisee vulnerability during revenue downturns
  5. 05MINORNo disclosure of franchisee failure rate, unit closures, or multi-unit performance data

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Radius and Population
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
10 years
Online sales rights
Restricted
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
Texas

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
28 hrs
On-the-job training
54 hrs

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

35 numbers

Locked
(512) 475-••••
TX
(608) 266-••••
WI
(504) 342-••••
LA

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Diesel Barbershop · FDD (2025) PDF

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