Bottom line
- Total investment $542K – $1.0M including a $30K franchise fee, 4.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $1.2M/year (median $1.1M).
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 52/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 51 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 Donatos Pizza unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
19%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Donatos Pizza units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$1.4M
on $7.2M purchase
Total debt
$5.8M
SBA $3.6M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Franchisees operate Donatos Pizza locations—a fast-casual pizzeria brand offering made-to-order pizza, wings, and salads. Day-to-day operations include managing 15-30 employees, inventory/food cost control, marketing execution, delivery/takeout coordination, and maintaining brand standards across dine-in, carryout, and third-party delivery channels.
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 · 19 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
Donatos presents meaningful investment risk due to declining unit economics, undisclosed profitability data, historical litigation tied to current leadership, and lack of Item 19 disclosure—warranting deep franchisee validation before committing $541K-$1M.
Score breakdown · what drove the 52 / 100 rating
- 01MINORDeclining unit count (-1.6% YoY) suggests system contraction and potential franchisee struggles
- 02MEDNo disclosed net income data prevents accurate ROI assessment despite $541K-$1M investment requirement
- 03HIGHMaterial litigation history (2014-2020) involving current Donatos officers raises governance and disclosure concerns
- 04MINORHigh investment-to-revenue ratio ($541K-$1M capex vs. $1.2M avg revenue) creates thin margin for error
- 05MINORAbsence of Item 19 financial performance representation limits franchisee ability to validate earnings claims
- 06MED10-year term with 4% royalty may not provide sufficient break-even runway given unit decline trajectory
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
99 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Donatos Pizza · FDD (2025) PDF