Gordo’s Bubble Waffles
Bottom line
- Total investment $189K – $454K including a $35K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $501K/year. Estimated payback in 1.7 years.
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 63/100.
- Emerging franchise — only 1 year of franchising with 2 units. Early-stage systems carry higher risk but may offer better territory availability.
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 Gordo’s Bubble Waffles unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
16%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Gordo’s Bubble Waffles units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$401K
on $2.0M purchase
Total debt
$1.6M
SBA $1.0M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Franchisees operate quick-service food counters specializing in bubble waffle desserts (likely waffle-based treats with bubble tea or tapioca toppings). Day-to-day operations include food preparation, inventory management, customer service, and retail point-of-sale management, typically in high-foot-traffic locations like food courts or shopping centers.
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.
No SBA loan data available for this brand.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Extremely early-stage franchisor with only 2 units, undisclosed growth plans, and going concern issues creates significant validation and survival risk.
Score breakdown · what drove the 63 / 100 rating
- 01MINOROnly 2 units in entire system with unknown growth trajectory—suggests early/stalled expansion
- 02HIGHGoing Concern flag is FALSE, indicating potential financial instability at franchisor level
- 03MEDNo Item 19 financial performance representations disclosed—cannot verify $501K revenue claims independently
- 04MINORWide investment range ($189K-$454K) with unclear cost drivers and scalability
- 05MEDHigh royalty burden (6%) plus franchise fee may strain margins on specialty food concept with limited unit density
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
3 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Gordo’s Bubble Waffles · FDD (2025) PDF