FranchiseVerdict
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FV-00780·STRONGExcellent91

DoodyCalls

Personal Services - Pet CareFranchising since 2004Website
Investment
$64K – $83K
17th pct Pet Care
Avg revenue
$392K
13th pct Pet Care
Royalty
Units
88
80th pct Pet Care
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $64K – $83K including a $49K franchise fee.
  • Average unit revenue of $392K/year (median $179K).
  • Rated STRONG with a risk score of 39/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 31 loans (below the industry average).
  • System growing at 59.3% CAGR over 3 years with 88 total units — strong expansion trajectory.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
DoodyCalls Franchising SPE LLC
Parent company
AB Assetco LLC
Incorporated in
Delaware
HQ
7120 Samuel Morse Drive, Suite 300, Columbia, Maryland 21046
Auditor
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$104K
vs $191K prior year

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 DoodyCalls unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
FDD Item 19 reports $392,031
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: automotive
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $64K–$83K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $3K–$8K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

87%

Above typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$69K
EBITDA margin
17.5%
Total invested
$79K
Payback
14 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 DoodyCalls 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

$823K

on $4.1M purchase

Total debt

$3.3M

SBA $2.1M + senior + seller note

Overview

About

DoodyCalls franchisees operate a pet waste removal and yard cleanup service, visiting residential clients on recurring schedules (typically weekly or bi-weekly) to scoop and dispose of dog waste. Day-to-day work involves route management, customer acquisition/retention, scheduling, and direct service delivery or team supervision. Revenue scales with customer count and service frequency.

CEO
Thomas Swift, Jr.
Founded
2021
FDD year
2024
States available
27

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$64K – $83K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$3K – $8K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$49K
Royalty
greater of: (a) 7.5% of Gross Revenue; or (b) the Minimum…
Ad fund
1.5%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
9.0%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

Avg gross sales
$392K
Per unit, per year
Median gross sales
$179K
Item 19 type
Aggregate Gross Revenue
Sample size
39 units
vs category median 12 · large
Range (low → high)
$14K$1.4M
Cohort dispersion
Transparency
4 / 5
vs category median 4 / 5 · typical
Revenue rank13th
vs Personal Services - Pet Care peers
Investment cost rank17th
Lower investment ranks lower (better)
Royalty rate rank83th
Lower royalty = lower percentile (better)
Unit count rank80th
vs Personal Services - Pet Care peers
Risk score rank2th
Lower risk = lower percentile (better)

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
88
Opened
17
Last reporting year
Closed
2
Turnover rate
2.3%
Company-owned
2
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
98%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
+19.4%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+59.3%
Compounded over last 3 years
2022
86+14
Franchised units
2023
72
Franchised units
2024
54
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 23 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 · 23 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
31
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

39
Risk · 0-100
STRONG39 / 100

Moderate-to-caution risk: Pet waste removal is recession-resistant, but opaque profitability metrics, undisclosed minimum royalties, and lack of earnings claims create uncertainty around actual franchisee ROI and unit sustainability.

Score breakdown · what drove the 39 / 100 rating

  1. 01MEDNet income not disclosed in FDD — cannot assess actual profitability or ROI; $392k revenue does not guarantee acceptable earnings
  2. 02MINORMinimum Royalty Fee structure not specified — franchisees could owe 7.5% of revenue regardless of profitability, creating cash flow pressure
  3. 03MEDHigh initial investment ($64-83k) relative to disclosed average revenue ($392k) yields thin margins if net income is materially lower than gross
  4. 04MINORRapid unit growth (19.4% YoY) without profitability disclosure raises sustainability concerns — growth may mask franchisee struggles
  5. 05MINORNo Item 19 (Earnings Claims) means franchisor provides zero financial performance guarantees; results highly variable and unverified

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Household and Zip Code based
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
Maryland

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
31 hrs
On-the-job training
12 hrs
POS system
PoopNET
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

54 numbers

Locked
(585) 880-••••
NY
(617) 777-••••
MA
(804) 317-••••
VA

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

DoodyCalls · FDD (2024) PDF

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