Bottom line
- Total investment $296K – $658K including a $35K franchise fee, 7.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $777K/year (median $639K).
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 44/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 60 loans (below the industry average).
- System growing at 16.0% CAGR over 3 years with 261 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 FRED ASTAIRE DANCE STUDIOS unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
42%
In Yale's "attractive" band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 FRED ASTAIRE DANCE STUDIOS units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
31.8%
3.97× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
2.54×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$7.0M
on $17.1M purchase
Total debt
$10.1M
SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Franchisees operate dance instruction studios offering ballroom, Latin, swing, and other partner dance classes to adult students. Day-to-day activities include teaching group/private lessons, managing student retention and enrollment, handling studio operations, and executing marketing locally under Fred Astaire's brand guidelines.
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 · 11 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
Mature dance studio franchise with legacy regulatory baggage, undisclosed profitability, and slow growth raises concerns about market saturation and franchisee earning potential.
Score breakdown · what drove the 44 / 100 rating
- 01MINORNo Item 19 (Average Unit Volume) disclosure — unable to validate $777K average revenue claim or compare to your investment payback period
- 02MINORModest unit growth of 6.1% YoY suggests market saturation or franchisee churn in a mature 261-unit system
- 03MINORHistorical FTC consent order (1964/1989) for sales practices and 2016 Virginia settlement indicate regulatory compliance issues with franchise sales tactics
- 04MINORHigh investment range ($296K–$658K) creates wide performance variance; without net income data, ROI timeline is opaque
- 05MINOR7% royalty on gross revenue (not net) penalizes high-volume, low-margin operators
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
100 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
FRED ASTAIRE DANCE STUDIOS · FDD (2025) PDF