Bottom line
- Total investment $810K – $1.9M including a $30K franchise fee, 4.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $1.4M/year.
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 46/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 84 loans (below the industry average).
- No protected territory and the franchisor reserves the right to compete in your area. Clarify territorial boundaries before signing.
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 Golden Chick unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
18%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Golden Chick units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
35.1%
4.50× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
2.33×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$5.1M
on $14.4M purchase
Total debt
$9.3M
SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Golden Chick franchisees operate quick-service chicken restaurants, managing daily food preparation, order fulfillment, staff scheduling, and customer service across dine-in, drive-thru, and takeout channels. Unit economics depend heavily on labor costs, supply chain management, and local marketing to drive traffic in an unprotected territory vulnerable to new brand openings.
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 · 3 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
Golden Chick presents moderate-to-caution risk due to undisclosed profitability metrics, unprotected territory enabling internal competition, and slow growth trajectory that questions system health and franchisee returns.
Score breakdown · what drove the 46 / 100 rating
- 01MEDNet income not disclosed in FDD — unable to validate profitability claims against $810k–$1.8M investment
- 02MINORUnprotected territory creates direct competition risk; Golden Chick can open units near yours without restriction
- 03MINORSlow unit growth of 6.2% YoY suggests market saturation or franchisee satisfaction concerns in 220-unit system
- 04MINORHigh investment range ($1M+) combined with only 4% royalty requires strong unit economics to justify ROI
- 05MINORAverage revenue of $1.44M is modest for QSR; breakeven timeline unclear without net income data
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
20 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Golden Chick · FDD (2024) PDF