Gold Medal Swim School
Bottom line
- Total investment $553K – $1.1M including a $30K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 67/100.
- Auditor disclosed a going-concern note — flagged doubt about the franchisor's ability to continue operations. Verify against the latest FDD.
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 Gold Medal Swim School unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
12%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Overview
About
Gold Medal Swim School franchisees operate swim instruction facilities serving children and adults through group classes, private lessons, and swim team programs. Daily operations include managing instructors, scheduling lessons, facility maintenance, student enrollment, and billing. Franchisees are responsible for facility lease/ownership, staff hiring/training, local marketing, and customer retention while adhering to franchisor curriculum and operational standards.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
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
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 6 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.
No SBA loan data available for this brand.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
A single-unit franchise system with undisclosed financial performance, high capital requirements, and no growth trajectory presents substantial execution and transparency risks.
Score breakdown · what drove the 67 / 100 rating
- 01MINOROnly 1 operating unit despite 15-year franchise history suggests severe system stagnation or recent collapse
- 02MEDNo disclosed average revenue or net income (Item 19) prevents ROI validation and indicates potential franchisor reluctance to share performance data
- 03MINORHigh initial investment range ($552.5K–$1.146M) with no published earnings benchmarks creates uncertainty about payback period and profitability thresholds
- 04MINOR6% royalty on gross revenue (not net) is punitive during low-revenue periods and suggests franchisor prioritizes fees over franchisee success
- 05MINORSingle unit makes territory protection claim unverifiable and raises questions about market viability or franchisee support quality
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
10 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Gold Medal Swim School · FDD (2023) PDF