FranchiseVerdict
Driving Academy logo
FV-00796·MODERATEExcellent81

Driving Academy

Education - Tutoring & Test PrepFranchising since 2022Website
Investment
$224K – $557K
73rd pct Tutoring & Te…
Avg revenue
55th pct Tutoring & Te…
Royalty
Units
6
20th pct Tutoring & Te…
SBA default

Bottom line

  • Total investment $224K – $557K including a $50K franchise fee.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 65/100.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Driving Academy Franchising, Inc.
Parent company
Driving Academy Acquisition Inc.
Incorporated in
New Jersey
HQ
200 East Edgar Road, Linden, New Jersey 07036
Auditor
Divine, Blalock, Martin & Sellari, LLC
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$134K
vs $455K 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 Driving Academy unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
Item 19 not disclosed — typing your own estimate
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: education
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $224K–$557K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $25K–$50K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

28%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$120K
EBITDA margin
16.0%
Total invested
$428K
Payback
43 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.

Overview

About

Driving Academy franchisees operate driver training and instruction facilities, offering defensive driving courses, teen driver education, and potentially commercial driver licensing programs. Day-to-day operations include scheduling driving lessons, managing instructor staff, maintaining training vehicles, and handling student registration and payments.

CEO
Jonathan Marques
Founded
2021
FDD year
2025
States available
4

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$224K – $557K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$25K – $50K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$50K
Royalty
The greater of (i) 10% of Gross Revenues per month, or (i…
Ad fund
1.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
11.0%
vs 9–13% typical

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

Total units
6
Opened
3
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Turnover rate
0.0%
Company-owned
2
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
67%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
Outlier (see FDD)
Likely small-sample artifact
3-yr CAGR
Outlier (see FDD)
Likely small-sample artifact
2023
4+4
Franchised units
2024
1
Franchised units
2025
1
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 20 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 · 20 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.

No SBA loan data available for this brand.

FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17

Risk & Legal

65
Risk · 0-100
MODERATE65 / 100

Aggressive early-stage franchise with critical financial transparency gaps (no Item 19), explosive growth metrics that may be unsustainable, and unclear franchisor financial health.

Score breakdown · what drove the 65 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINORNo average revenue or net income disclosure (Item 19) — impossible to validate ROI claims or profitability benchmarks
  2. 02MINORExtreme unit growth (300% YoY) with only 6 locations suggests either aggressive recent expansion or cherry-picked data; unsustainable growth rates often precede contraction
  3. 03HIGHGoing Concern flag is FALSE but should be verified — unclear if franchisor disclosed financial stability issues in FDD Item 21
  4. 04MEDHigh royalty structure (10% + $1,000 minimum) with undisclosed revenue makes break-even analysis impossible; $1,000 minimum may be unsustainable for struggling locations
  5. 05MINORLarge investment range ($224K-$557K spread) indicates high variability in startup costs; unclear what drives the 149% difference
  6. 06MINORProtected territory lacks specifics — size, density, and exclusivity definitions should be questioned
  7. 07MEDOnly 6 franchised units provides minimal track record and limited peer validation 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
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
5 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
Optional
Governing law
New Jersey

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
56 hrs
On-the-job training
85 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

22 numbers

Locked
(605) 773-••••
SD
(217) 782-••••
IL
(410) 576-••••
MD

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Driving Academy · FDD (2025) PDF

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