Bottom line
- Total investment $515K – $737K including a $40K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $537K/year (median $500K).
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 44/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 170 loans (below the industry average).
- System growing at 28.8% CAGR over 3 years with 144 total units — strong expansion trajectory.
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 Duck Donuts unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
8%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Duck Donuts units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$322K
on $1.6M purchase
Total debt
$1.3M
SBA $0.8M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Duck Donuts franchisees operate quick-service donut shops where customers customize fresh-made donuts with glazes and toppings. Daily operations include preparing donut batches, managing point-of-sale systems, staffing front-of-house and production roles, and maintaining inventory. Franchisees typically work on-site managing 5–15 employees and overseeing local marketing within their protected territory.
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 · 21 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
Duck Donuts presents moderate-to-caution risk due to regulatory violations, missing profitability data, and corporate financial uncertainty, offset somewhat by protected territory and reasonable royalty structure.
Score breakdown · what drove the 44 / 100 rating
- 01MINORNo net income disclosure (Item 19) prevents ROI verification on $537k average revenue
- 02MINORCalifornia regulatory violation in 2022 for operating without registration and deceptive advertising practices
- 03MINORModest unit growth of 7.5% YoY suggests slowing expansion momentum in competitive QSR market
- 04MEDHigh initial investment ($514k–$737k) relative to disclosed average revenue creates breakeven uncertainty
- 05HIGHGoing Concern status is False, indicating potential financial stability concerns at corporate level
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
98 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Duck Donuts · FDD (2025) PDF